It sucked that she couldn't be around us as much.The twins finished first and headed upstairs after washing off their plates. They absently held hands...which made Allie arch her eyebrows at me. I wasn't one hundred percent convinced. Girls held hands. Sisters held hands.“So, what did you do?” I asked Allie once the twins were safely upstairs.“Hacked their laptops so their webcams are turned on,” said Allie. “We can watch what they're up to.”My jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? You can do. An old man dressed nicely and holding cards. That must have been the same old man that Tempest had seen the previous day! Vennoa grabbed Tempest’s hand, and pulled him towards Pua. However, the old man merged into the crowd and disappeared, while Pua turned towards the party and walked back.“What did he want?” Vennoa asked when Pua was close.“That old man? Nothing. He said something cryptic and likely meaningless, and then left,” Pua said.“What did he say?” Tempest asked, also eager to hear.“He. "My name is Carol. I'll be your exchange facilitator today," shesaid as she led me into a small room furnished with a chair, a toilet, ashower a counter, and a mirror; there was another door on the far side.Motioning me into the chair, she leaned back against the counter andlooked through the papers on her clipboard. "You've made an appointmentto exchange with Bianca Smith. Is that right?" I answered in theaffirmative. "You and Bianca have a pre-exchange agreement: no sharing ofpersonal. Her face a study in concentration, as she wiped away the blood and my tears.My mother ... again.I was older, but still of indeterminate age. Her face flashed into my mind. She was dressed for an outing, waiting at the front door for my father to pick her up and take her out. There was a tendril of memory, floating at the back of my mind, of a babysitter and my unhappiness at having this particular sitter stay with me.The still picture of my mother was engraved into my memory, because, instead.