The room next to the twins' bedroom had been empty since they moved in.
Not storage. Not a guest room. Just a room with bare walls and a window that let in the summer light. It had taken less than an hour to clear out the few boxes that had found their way there, and now it stood clean and bright and waiting.
Lily and Leo were helping.
This meant Lily was pushing a damp rag across the floor with great energy and little precision, while Leo followed behind her with his own rag, carefully wiping the spots she'd missed. The whale sat on the windowsill, watching over the operation.
"The walls are boring," Lily announced. "They need paint. Can we paint them? At school, the art room has yellow walls. Yellow is nice. But blue is better."
"Why is blue better?" Franz asked from the doorway.
"Because it's like the sky. And the ocean. And Leo's whale. Blue is the best color. Everyone likes blue."
Leo paused his wiping and typed on his tablet: BLUE IS GOOD.
