A Sliver of Sun Read Online Free Page A

the edge of the porch, and then went right back to grooming.
    Ginger came back out the door and plunked herself beside me.
    “What’d your daddy say about the room?” I asked.
    “Said we’ll have to see.”
    “See what? We measured real careful.”
    She stuck a peapod in her mouth. “I know. That’s what I told him.”
    “What’d he say then?”
    “Nothing.”
    I figured she’d told him dividing the room had been my idea. That’s probably why he didn’t like it. I sighed. “Speaking of things that don’t make sense, I know somethin’ you don’t.”
    She stopped in mid-crunch. “What?”
    “Mama and Ben have another surprise for us.”
    “What are you yapping about, Piper Lee?”
    “I heard Mama say. But she’s not sure we’ll like it.”
    Ginger’s eyes widened. “Well, what is it?”
    “Don’t know. Mama said we’d talk about it later.”
    “Got any guesses?”
    I shrugged. “Maybe dresses or something boring like that.”
    “Dresses? We just got dresses for the wedding.” She furrowed her brow, then her eyes lit up. “Maybe it’s a dog. A cat-eating dog.”
    I scowled at her. “It’s not a dog. Besides, Mowgli could handle a dog just fine. Scratch its eyes right out.”
    “That’s nasty, Piper Lee.” She shelled another pea. “Did Mama say
when
we’d talk about it?”
    “Why don’t you go ask her?”
    She hesitated a minute, then set her handful of peas aside and charged back through the screen door. I smiled. Ginger could stand not knowing a secret about as long as she could stand a June bug landing on her.
    Ginger was gone a long time, a lot longer than I expected. Just about the time I figured I might have to send out a search party, she came back outside. Before I could scold her for taking so long, Mama and Ben pushed through the screen door behind her.
    Ginger shot me a sly little glance of triumph and plopped down on the step beside me. Mama and Ben settled themselves on the porch swing. For several heartbeats the four of us just took turns staring around at each other with nobody saying a word. Mama had a smile on her face, but it looked kinda fake, and her hands were clasped together. Ben looked more relaxed. He draped his arm around Mama’s shoulders and gave the swing a lazy push with his bare feet.
    I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Somethin’ going on?”
    It was quiet enough to hear a dandelion grow.
    Ben winked at Mama. “Might as well go ahead and tell ’em, Heather.”
    Mama gave him a hesitant look, and her throat bobbed out a bit as she swallowed. “Girls,” she said, “uh, your daddy and I have somethin’ we wanna share with you.” She paused long enough to clear her throat. “Now, I know it’s gonna be a bit of a shock … but, well … in about five months you’re gonna have a little brother or sister.”
    Ginger let out a shriek and grabbed her face.
    I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
    Ginger jumped up and started hopping in place. “A baby! Daddy, is she serious?”
    Ben chuckled.
    My whole body jerked like I’d grabbed an electric fence. I searched Mama’s face as I replayed her words.
A little brother or sister? A baby? Mama and Ben’s … baby?
    Mama bit her bottom lip and stared back at me, and I could read her thoughts clear as day. She wanted me to be happy. She wanted me to say it was okay. But it wasn’t okay. It was just plain crazy. “You’re kidding, right?” I said.
    Mama flushed and looked down at her hands.
    Ben fixed me with a warning look. “It’s a little soon for us too, Piper Lee. But things don’t always go according to plan.”
    Then maybe you ought to have planned better, I wanted to say. But I felt too lost to say anything at all.
    My reaction seemed to take some of the crackle out of Ginger’s fire. She stopped jumping and sat back down. And it was a good thing, because there wasn’t any reason to be jumping for joy. In fact, the more I thought about the situation, the hotter I got. Mama had already turned my