Leo looked around the dim apartment, eyes wide with curiosity. It was huge, first off. It must take up the whole top of the building, it was so big. The ceilings were really high, and there were windows all over the place, that showed night time New York City.

Brina took his hand and led him to what must be her and Lottie's bedroom. Lottie held her finger up to her lips when a large doggy came to greet them, sniffing Leo at great length. Leo waited until she was finished sniffing, then they continued, into a large walk-in closet that had a door on the other side, Jack-and-Jill style.

"We share this closet with Clio and Francie, but you don't have to worry, they can't hear in here if their door is closed," Brina told him. She patted his hand before letting it go, and sat down against the wall, surrounded by clothes and stuffed animals. This closet obviously doubled as a play area. It was perfect, cozy and hidden, with the air of secrecy and magic that all play places had to have.

Lottie, who had disappeared, entered the closet holding juice boxes, cheese sticks, and a box of crackers. The large doggy followed her, and she shut the door and joined Leo and her sister on the floor.

"I brought supplies," she told them, putting everything in the middle in a pile.

She turned to Leo, asking, "How long do you want to stay?" Brina, too, turned interested eyes to Leo.

He thought about it, and shrugged. "I don't know. My parents really needed a break, and some bad things happened today, so I thought I should go."

"What bad things?"

Leo looked around the closet. Even in the dim light, he could see that it was a colorful riot of girls' clothing, along with stuffed animals, and there was even a bookshelf sitting on top of the shoe cubby. These guys obviously had a really nice life.

"I pushed someone down at school," he admitted. "And I pushed too hard on accident because of this." He lifted his cast. "I wanted to push him, because he was being really mean to me, but I didn't want for him to hit his head like he did. I didn't mean for that to happen, you know?"

The girls were looking at him, eyes wide with sympathy. They both nodded their curly heads.

"It's okay, Leo," Brina said, scrunching her face up. "You're nice, no one will think you did it on purpose."

"But they do!" Leo responded, his voice louder than he'd intended. "Dominick had to get his head scanned, and we have to pay for it! I was bad, I was really bad."

He looked down at the juice box he was holding. He didn't want to cry in front of them.

"I'm a bad boy," he repeated. "And I don't belong to anyone, so I think I'm going to have to just live here." He looked around the closet. "There's room for me, right? I can stay?"

The girls nodded again. "Sure," Lottie replied. "We can bring you food, and books to read and stuff."

Leo yawned. He was sleepy, which was so weird, because he was in a new place, and usually that made it hard for him to sleep.

"But you belong to your mommy and daddy, and they might want you back," Brina said.

Leo took a deep breath.

"I don't, though," he began. "My mommy's not my real mommy, she just married us last summer. My real mommy died when she was trying to have my sister borned."

Brina and Lottie stared at him. How could a mommy die?

"Your real mommy died?" Brina repeated. "That's so sad, Leo. Lottie's first mommy, the one who carried her around in her uterus, died, too, all the way over in Haiti. Then we adopted her, and she came here to live with us." She thought for a moment. "Did your new mommy adopt you? So you're hers now?"

Leo shook his head. "She didn't do anything. And I gave her a special present at the wedding, and she liked it for a while, but now it's not on our fridge anymore." And again, he looked away so he wouldn't cry in front of these nice girls whom he'd just met.

"But you're your daddy's, right?" Lottie comforted. "They made you with your daddy's sperm, right?"

These girls were scary smart, and they kept using words that Leo didn't know, like uterus and sperm, but he knew what they were trying to say.

Again, Leo shook his head. "I heard them one night, and daddy said that the Q-tip test we did showed that I wasn't his. He said, 'Leo's not mine,' in this really sad voice."

Both girls sat back, nonplussed. Lottie recovered first, and put her warm hand on Leo's arm as she spoke.

"But that doesn't matter," she assured him. "It sounds like what happened with Clio." She turned to her sister for confirmation. "She came out of our mommy's uterus, but mommy had sex with a different man, named Mr. Hawkins, and she made Clio with him." She looked back at Leo, who was listening raptly.

"But our mommy didn't love him, she loved our daddy and wanted Clio to belong to him."

"Yeah, and he really does," Brina chimed in. "I mean, he loves all of us, but he loved Clio first, and longest, because she's the oldest." She nodded for emphasis, red curls bouncing. "I've seen pictures from when Clio was a baby, before even Francie was born, and our daddy is so happy in them. You can tell how much he loves her."

Leo was getting confused. They were saying so many different names, and talking about things he didn't understand.

"And if you think about it," Lottie went on, "I don't belong to either of them, since I was made with completely different sperm, and came out of another woman's uterus. But mommy and daddy don't care about that, either. They love me as much as they love my sisters, or my baby brother Finn."

She smiled at Leo and nodded.

Finn?

"I'm really tired, you guys," Leo said. "I think I need to sleep."

"Sure," Brina said. "You can use any of the animals as a pillow, and there's an extra blanket right there."

They got Leo set up, and left the closet, leaving the door cracked. "Tomorrow's Saturday, so I don't think Clio or Francie will come in the closet," Lottie told him.

Leo lay back on the stuffed animals, pulling the comforter over himself. He didn't think he'd be able to fall asleep, but he did, almost immediately.

*🦁*🔥*🦁*🔥*🦁*

Mouse rolled over and opened her eyes to find Happy staring at her intently.

"How did you get in here?" she asked. They usually slept with their door open, but she remembered shutting it last night so Henry could sleep in.

Happy continued to stare at her. She was panting, too, giving Mouse a face full of doggy breath. She considered calling Leo to let Happy out, but she didn't want to wake her husband, so she got out bed.

"Where's Leo?" she asked the dog as they walked down the hallway. "If you're up, he's up, right?"

Happy, of course, didn't respond, though she did pass Mouse to walk in front of her. And when they got to the living room, she went to the front door instead of the French doors that led to the terrace.

"No, we're not going for a walk, Happy, you have to use your potty, okay?" Mouse called. Normally, they didn't even say the "w" word in front of her because it made her so excited.

Mouse turned to look at the dog, who hadn't moved. "Happy," she finally said, exasperated. "I'm not even dressed, I can't take you out."

Like most dog people, she talked to Happy as though she could understand. It usually seemed like she did, too.

Happy looked imploringly at her mistress, then at the door again. She also raised her paw and patted the front door with it.

"Okay, okay," Mouse finally responded. At least the sky was blue, though it seemed to be ridiculously early. "I'll get dressed, and we can go.

"Leo," she called as she walked back down the hall. "Happy really wants a w-a-l-k, so let's get dressed and take her, okay? But we have to be quiet, because daddy's still sleeping." She laughed at herself, at the fact that she'd spelled the "w" word after Happy already knew they were going.

She swung open the door to his room. "Leo?" His room was empty, though his bed had been slept in.

"Leo? Come on, she's waiting by the door, she's probably going to start trying to tunnel out if we don't hurry," Mouse said with a laugh. She went to the bathroom, but the door was open, and her son wasn't there, either.

She sighed and went back, passing the dog, who was still next to the door. "Just a sec, okay?" Mouse called out to her. Leo must be in the pantry, getting food.

She went through the kitchen and to the butler's pantry.

"Did you hear me, big guy?" she began, but this room, too, was empty.

Where on earth could he be?

Mouse once again passed Happy, who was watching her intently, and went to the small maid's room, the one that had been hers when she first moved in. She checked the small closet and adjoining bathroom.

Empty.

She went next to the small room next to hers and Henry's bedroom, the one that was being converted into a nursery, but of course he wasn't there, either.

Quickly, Mouse ran back to the French doors and opened them, stepping out into the frigid January morning. The bright blue sky was all around her, the city vista spread out all the way to the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers.

Of course the terrace was empty, the furniture covered for the winter.

Mouse swallowed and forced herself to breathe.

Where could he be? She looked into the apartment, and she could see Happy, still standing by the front door.

She walked to the front door and looked down at Happy, who stared at her, somehow managing to convey worry. She looked hard at Mouse, then at the door, raising her paw to scratch at it.

Mouse noticed the knob for the deadbolt was in the wrong position. It was up and down, which meant it wasn't thrown.

But she remembered throwing it herself the night before, and how she's turned it quietly so the noise wouldn't disturb Leo.

She looked back at Happy, wishing she could talk.

She went back to their bedroom and sat on the side of the bed.

"Henry? Henry, wake up."

Her husband rolled and stretched. "It's Saturday, Mouse," he complained, his voice thick with sleep.

"I can't find Leo, I can't find our son. And the deadbolt's open, even though I know I closed it last night."

"I told you, it's Saturday, and on Saturday I don't have a son until after I've had my morning cup of--" He blinked his eyes and sat up as what she'd said sank into his brain.

"What?"

"Leo's gone, I've looked all over the apartment, and I don't know where he is. And someone's opened the deadbolt." Mouse just stared at Henry, eyes huge.

"That's ridiculous, this apartment's only two thousand square feet, there's nowhere he could be," Henry began as he got out of bed. "He's probably just playing a game.

"Leo?" he called out. His voice was much louder than Mouse's had been, partially because he wasn't trying to keep quiet for anyone's sake, partially because he was a man, and partially because he was scared.

"Leo? Where are you?" He walked down the hallway, Mouse trailing in his wake. Again, they passed Happy, who was still by the door.

"Son? You need to come out, you're scaring us," Henry continued, checking the pantry and quickly emerging.

"Leo?" Mouse tried again. "Please, Leo, where are you?"

The apartment remained ominously silent.

Another quick search ensued, this time with both Henry and Mouse searching. As Henry said, the apartment wasn't very big, there weren't many places he could hide. By the time they finished, a couple of minutes later, they had to admit the truth.

Leo was gone.