Serafina had finished the last of her apologies and happily grasped the hand of the young man that she thought must be her brother because he was her sister Angie’s brother.  She tugged to pull Raph’s head to her level.  He complied but shook his head ‘”no” at her whispered request.  He stood up but she pulled him down again with a different request.  This time he hesitated before he agreed.  He knelt on the floor and the little girl climbed aboard for a piggyback ride.  He stretched out their trip, stopping at the bar to order a Shirley Temple for the little girl.

Angelica watched Raph, raised as the only male amidst a sea of women.  Even her littlest sister was growing up in a world of women, which could explain her devotion to Raph.  Angelica had to acknowledge, though, that her brother’s sweet attention had earned the child’s devotion.

Angelica laughed to herself, remembering that devotion was far from what she had felt when she first encountered her baby brother. 

She had been completely blindsided.  Had her Mama B taken her to Disneyland or Sea World or bought her a big present or a puppy, she would have been suspicious.  She had gotten her kitten when her mamas had split for the final time.  Instead, until the big reveal, it had been a regular Saturday with her Mama B—working behind the counter with her Aunt Kit at The Planet, her favorite banana strawberry chocolate chip pancakes, a trip to the park.  It had been an ordinary and glorious day. 

That afternoon, when they had finished playing in the pool, her Mama B had wrapped her in a huge towel after rinsing the chlorine from her body.  She had run off to draw, but had scampered back to ask if she could have a pudding cup. She had knocked on the bathroom door, just as she had been told, but the door was not closed and it had popped open.  She had been stunned at the funny bump she saw on her mother’s stomach and looked at it curiously.  She then remembered that when her friend Charlie’s mother had a bump like that, Charlie got a baby sister.