Elliot shook his head. "No. If this wasn't our playroom, it'd be a great laboratory. Every boy needs one.”

He wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Besides, I don't want to disturb the dead here. It is...a memorial to my frog Geofferson, mostly." He said it with such a seriousness that Matthew wasn't sure if he was joking or not. He wasn't. "Also this's one of the only rooms in the house besides my room and that, like glass hallway over there – " He pointed back towards the dining room. " – that Uncle Jun lets me do my 'cultist crap' in. And sometimes, I just need more space."

"What, you don't want to find Geofferson's body?" he asked on cue.

That visibly caught Elliot off guard, who seriously took in what Matthew was suggesting. "I want everything dead thing I can find."

"Done," Matthew replied, pointing as if it further affirmed the deal. "What else did you lose in here?"

“What're we talking? Animals, supplies, tools, what?”

Matthew bit the inside of his cheek and groaned.

Elliot sighed. "Uh, a couple mice, a frog, some caterpillars –"

"Wait, another frog?" Matthew asked.

The boy nodded. "Yeah. Um, some caterpillars, I think a couple moths, too. Um...a...snake, I think. My...first snake...or first bird died in here. My first robin definitely died in here, or in my room. Oh, oh! And, at one point, I caught a bat."

Matthew whined.

“A lot of my stuff for electrocution's in here somewhere, too.” He swung his arms around. "But that doesn't include what Lilly lost in here. She lost the boringest stuff in here."

Lilly, arms full of plastic spray bottles, boxes of gloves, rags, and the cord to the vacuum cleaner, dumped them unceremoniously on the floor. "What?"

"What'd you lose?" Matthew asked, dreading the answer.

She blinked. "In here?"

He nodded.

The girl sighed and started counting on her fingers. "Um...I had a lot of paint stuff, like...like there was this sparkle green paint I really liked, but then I lost it somewhere. I think my bike...from my last birthday, like the one before my last birthday...the bike I got from Yéyé...um...all of my fairy books. The good ones. There was one I had, that had sparkle stickers in them. I took them out, but it was still a good b – oh! My Halloween costume from last year. I dressed up as a warrior mermaid butterfly..." She scratched her head, then immediately pointed to Elliot. "I think Elliot brought in poison ivy once, too."

Elliot, as if to affirm her accusation, immediately announced, "No I didn't! It was Lilly!"

Matthew groaned, wiping his face with his hands. And then immediately regretted wiping his face with his hands because of all the grime that had accumulated already. "Okay, game plan." He turned to Elliot. "You get to keep every dead thing you can find in here. Okay?"

The boy gave him a thumbs up.

"But, you have to wear a mask and gloves."

“We don't have masks,” Lilly chimed in. “We have these left over, though.” She held up two children-sized gas masks.

Matthew internally screamed.

“Why'd you go into my room?” Elliot asked. “You're not allowed.”

“So? You go in my room all the time!”

“Lil – ” Matthew caught himself, swallowing back the swears on the tip of his tongue. “Do you have one that can fit me?”

She shook her head.

He turned to the boy. “You. You're in charge of the dead things. And mold.”

Elliot's eyes sparkled. "I can get samples of the mold, too?"

“But, you have to wear the mask and gloves. No choice.”

"Whyyyyyy?" he moaned, hunched over and shuffling on his feet.

"Because you're small and growing, and I don't want you to die yet," Matthew enunciated.

"Yet," he clarified.

"Yes. Wear the gloves." Clicking his teeth, Matthew added, "Okay, for animals, find a bucket. You can dissect them later. But mold, gloves and mask." He sighed, tapping his foot on the sticky floor. "You can take samples of the mold to study and not use on anything if, and only if, you're wearing a mask and gloves. And you can keep every dead thing you find in here for the sole purpose of dissecting for learning and science and maybe a little light spellcasting. Deal?"

Fist-bumping the air, Elliot turned and skipped out.

Lilly, standing by the fireplace, puffed out her dress and stared, smiling. "Hi."

Matthew, taking in another slow breath, asked, "What's your favorite food?"

She cocked her head to the side. "I like macaroni and cheese pizza, and mashed potato pizza."

He squatted in front of her and asked, "I need to learn how to cook if I do this right, and your dad says I can stay and play with you guys. Can you show me how it's made if you help me?"

Eyes narrowing, she turned her head to the side. "Why're you asking?" She pointed to the pile of cleaning products by the door, some leaking into the grooves of the concrete tiles. "I like this room. I don't like that it's sticky. And it's windy sometimes, and it leaks when it rains. And you're asking for help instead of doing the thing other nannies do where they tell us to do something."

Matthew studied her carefully before asking, "Is there anything you want to do in here that you haven't done before?"

Lilly took in a breath, a big toothy smile erupting on her face. "I want to light the fireplace!" she shouted, bouncing and point to the opening. "It looks so good in the movies! And, and s'mores! I wanna do s'mores!"

He patted her shoulder. "Glove up, Lilly. Want to clear that out, first?"

She squealed and leaped for the only pair of rubber gloves. "Wait, it's sticky in here. I don't want to come in here if it's sticky." She flapped her house slippers on the floor.

"Do you have rain boots?"

Lilly, taking in the thought slowly, gasped at the realization. "Okay, one second! I'm going to go get my red boots! They have white flowers on them!"

Exhaling, his head still spinning, Matthew watched as Elliot returned to the playroom, a giant square tub over his head.

"Is this big enough?" Elliot asked, voice muffled by the plastic.

"Probably," he announced, pointing again. He immediately threw his hand down. Taking in a slow breath, he clasped his hands together. "Go get your boots, Lilly. Let's do this."