“Baby?”
“Calli? Honey?”
“Mmm . . .”
“You sleepin’?”
“Mmmmm . . .”
“ ’Kay, I’ll leave you alone.”
“Heeeeey . . . aahh. Wh-what’re you doin’?”
“Nothin’.”
“Tha— mmm . . . that doesn’t feel like nothing.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“I . . . I was sleepinngg.”
“Couldn’t be.”
“I was.”
“I’m a perfect gentleman, I would never disturb you when you’re sleeping.”
“Hmm . . .”
“Am I disturbing you?”
“Just . . .”
“Hmm?”
“Just shut up and keep doing that.”
“This?”
“No.”
“Oh. Okay. This?”
“You’re smiling.”
“You can’t possibly know that. The lights are off.”
“I can hear it when you’re smiling. I always can.”
“Huh. Neat trick. This?”
“Calli?”
“Y-yeah . . . yeah, do that.”
“You sure?”
“Bastard.”
“Now you’re smiling. And what a mouth on you.”
“I learned it all from y— tha-that’s new.”
“I’ve been reading in my spare time.”
“It’s . . . ’s a good book. C’mere.”
“Calli?”
“Mmm . . . yeah.”
“We need to get going.”
“Calli?”
“Yeah. I know. I’d just rather stay here.”
“It’ll be good to see everyone. I’m looking forward to meeting your folks.”
“I’m not.”
“You don’t want me to meet them?”
“No, you go and meet them. I’ll just stay here.”
“Heh. Funny girl. We really should get going though. We’re gonna be late.”
“Mmm. I’m tired. Someone woke me in the middle of the night.”
“Hotel pixies. Deadly little guys.”
“Mmm . . . c’mere.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I think the pixies are back.”
“Hey now, we need to—”
“You said something?”
“Didn’t say a thing.”
“That’s what I thought. You like the pixies?”
“They . . . must have been reading that book of mine.”
“I don’t need a damn book.”