"Don't tease me out of this." Petra burst into tears. "I've lost a year of my babies' lives and it was my own fault, do you think I don't know that?"
There was a crying sound from one of the bedrooms.
Mrs. Delphiki rolled her eyes and went down the hall to rescue whoever it was that needed rescuing.
"You did what you had to do," said Peter. "Nobody's criticizing you."
"But you could take time for my children."
"I don't have any of my own," said Peter.
"Is that my fault?"
"I'm just saying I had time. And...I owed it to Bean."
"You owe more than that."
"But this is what I can do."
She didn't want Peter Wiggin to be the father figure in her children's lives.
"Petra, I'll stop if you want. They'll wonder why I don't come, and then they'll forget. If you don't want me here, I'll understand. This is yours and Bean's, and I don't want to intrude. And yes, I did want to be here when you opened that."
"What's in it?"
"I don't know."
"Didn't have one of your guys steam it open for you?"
Peter just looked a little irritated.
Mrs. Delphiki came into the room carrying Ramon, who was whimpering and saying, "My paper."
"I should have known," said Peter.
Petra held up the envelope. "Here it is," she said.
Ramon reached for it insistently. Petra handed it to him.
"You're spoiling him," said Peter.
"This is your mama, Ramon," said Mrs. Delphiki. "She nursed you when you were little."
"He was the only one that wasn't biting me by the time..." She couldn't think of a way to finish the sentence that wouldn't involve speaking of Bean or the other two children, the ones that had to go on solid food because they got teeth so incredibly young.
Mrs. Delphiki wasn't giving up. "Let your mama see the paper, Ramon."
Ramon clutched it tighter. Sharing was not yet on his agenda.
Peter reached out, snagged the envelope, and held it out to Petra. Ramon immediately began to wail.
"Give it back to him," said Petra. "I've waited this long."
Peter got his finger under the corner, tore it open, and extracted a single sheet of paper. "If you let them get their way just because they cry, you'll raise a bunch of whiny brats that nobody can stand." He handed her the paper, and gave the envelope back to Ramon, who immediately quieted down and started examining the transformed object.
Petra held the paper and was surprised to see that it was shaking. Which meant her hand was shaking. She didn't feel like she was trembling.
And then suddenly Peter was holding her by her upper arms and helping her to the sofa and her legs weren't working very well. "Come on, sit here, it's a shock, that's all."