Lazro tapped on Zira’s door and poked his head in.

“Hey Pea-Pod.”

Zira was still lying on her bed, but now under a mound of all her plushy stuffed earthies, which she had piled on herself, with only her arms and legs sticking out.

“Hey Lazro,” she said, muffled under the plushies.

He stepped into her room and sat on the edge of her bed. “What were you and Mom fighting about?”

She sighed dramatically and pushed the plushies off her face. “She still won’t let me have an earthling.”

“Oh, that.”

“Why is she so mean?!” Zira whined.

“She’s not mean—Well, sometimes. She just doesn’t want the house all messy with pet toys or … shedding or whatever. And that earthy smell. You know her.”

“I’ll clean up after it, and I’ll vacuum. She won’t even know!” Zira sighed again, spilling some of her stuffed toys onto the floor. “She still thinks I’m a little kid.”

Lazro snickered.

Then a new strategy hatched in Zira’s head. Her mom always liked Lazro best. “Will you talk to her for me?”

He shrugged. “I dunno what I’d say. It’s hard to change her mind. Like you.” He smiled.

“What if you say you’ll help me bathe it and take care of it? She’d say yes to you … She always does.”

Lazro thought about this for a moment. “You know what?” He bopped her lightly on the face with a plushy. “I will.”

···

That weekend on Blaturday morning, Zira was on the floor in her room, reading about the robot wars of 9812, when Lazro leaned through her doorway and said in a singsong voice, “Come on, Pea-Pod. We have a surprise for youuuu!”

He grinned at her, but it was an odd, goofy grin, not his normal, warm grin.

“What is it?” she asked.

“You’ll see. Get your shoes on and get in the car.”

“Where are we going?”

“So many questions!” he teased.

“But what’s the surprise? Tell me!” Zira was never good at waiting.

He walked away down the hallway and hollered, “You’ll see!”

Zira felt an explosion of excitement. She really didn’t need to ask at all because she already had a good hunch. She slipped her shoes on and sprang to the garage, but no one was in the car yet. So she stepped back into the house and hollered, “Hurry up! Let’s go!”

“One moment,” their mom yelled from the kitchen.

Her big sister Riffa emerged from her bedroom. She was the middle child, closer to Lazro’s age. “Yeah, Zira, hold your horfsies!” Riffa seemed to be in on the secret, too, because she was also giving Zira a weird smile.

Lazro hollered across the house, “Mom, where are the car keys?”

“Right where they alwa—”

“Never mind, found them!”

“Oh no,” teased Riffa, “Lazro’s driving?!”

Their mom shuffled toward the garage while organizing her purse. “Shush. He needs to practice for his license.”

Riffa said to Lazro nasally, “Try not to hit any trash cans this time!”

“Ha ha,” he sarcasticated.

They finally got in the car—a little too slowly, in Zira’s opinion. She climbed in the back seat and wiggled with impatience. “C’mon! Let’s go to the pet store!”

“The pet store?” said Lazro, overacting dramatically. “Who said anything about a pet store? No, Pea-Pod, we’re taking you to the dentist!” He looked back at her with that goofy grin again.