“Moooooooooom!” Simon cried. He could be such a baby sometimes.

“What is it, sweetie?” Mommy replied distractedly. She was deeply engrossed in the money stuff of the Olympos Grade School parents’ council. Never a good time to bug her. If Simon was so smart, like everybody said he was, then he should know better. “Mother’s a bit busy right now.”

“River ruined my book!”

“What’s that, sweetie?” Mommy was really distracted. River didn’t know what Simon was making all that fuss about anyway. She hadn’t ruined anything. She’d only wanted to help. Simon had been making those faces like he was thinking really hard and she’d wanted to help. She’d fixed his book for him.

It had been pretty hard, too. Simon was just ungrateful. She was never helping that tattletale with anything ever again.

She had to give Simon one thing, though. He never let up. It was really, really, really annoying, but he could always get Mommy’s attention. She finally looked at him.

“My book of brainteasers that Dad gave me. She scribbled all over it. Every page!”

Sighing deeply, Mommy clipped her pen to the folder of papers, and folded it shut. The folder folded. River liked that—it was simple, it did as it should. Not like people. ‘Simon’ was supposed to mean ‘listener’ in some old language. But he never listened to her. Daddy had said that too—Simon wasn’t a listener. He was someone people would listen *to.*

Of course, River just meant ‘river.’ What was *she* supposed to do? Flow? That was just stupid.

Mommy knelt down by Simon, and took the book from him. Then, inevitably, she gave River a stern look and beckoned her to come over.

River did as told, but she stuck out her bottom lip in protest. It wasn’t *fair!*

“Regan, children.”

“Dad!” Simon and River shouted in unison. River didn’t know why her brother was so glad to see Dad. Dad would know that she hadn’t really done anything wrong. She hoped.

He raised an eyebrow. At the scene in front of him, his wife having gathered their children to her. “What’s going on here, then?”

“Your dau