The Day Ruby Met Peyton
"Wait," Peyton said, upside down on the couch with her feet propped against the wall, the way she did her best thinking. "How did we even meet? Like, the actual first time. Do you remember?"
Ruby thought about it. Really thought about it, stretching the end of a sparkly pink hair tie, which was a thing she was not supposed to do and did anyway.
"No," she admitted. "I don't remember that far back. Do you?"
"I was a baby, Ruby. Babies don't remember anything."
"Well, I was basically a baby too."
They both turned, at the exact same time, toward the kitchen, where Ruby's mom was elbow-deep in a sink full of dishes and very obviously listening the whole time.
"Mom," Ruby said. "Tell the story. The first-time-we-met story."
Ruby's mom dried her hands on a dish towel, and got that soft, faraway look she always got right before she told a good one.
"Oh, I love this story," she said. "Sit down. Get comfortable. This one starts before either of you could talk."
It was a Tuesday, and it was raining, the soft kind of rain that doesn't really soak you, just makes everything smell green. Ruby's mom got the phone call in the morning — the good kind of phone call, the one where her voice went high and fast and happy all at once.
"She's here," Ruby's mom said, pressing the phone to her chest like she was hugging the news. "The baby's here. It's a girl."
Ruby did not know what a baby was, exactly, but she knew big news when she saw it, and big news at two years old means only one thing: something is about to happen, and you should probably put your shoes on immediately, just in case.
So she did. Left shoe on her right foot. Right shoe on her left foot. Perfect, as far as Ruby was concerned.
And there, wriggling in the blanket, was the smallest person Ruby had ever seen.
Peyton had a scrunched-up face and a tiny fist curled by her cheek and a fabulous tuft of dark hair. Ruby stared at her for a long, long time — long enough that the grown-ups in the room went quiet too, watching.
"Hi," Ruby said finally, very seriously, the way you say hello to someone important. "I'm Ruby."
Peyton, who was exactly four hours old and had no idea what was happening, yawned.
Ruby took this as a very good sign.
End of excerpt