Jen's lunge was fast enough; she managed to silence a startled Joseph. "Come on, don't get yourself all worked up," she said. "Stop talking and just -- look, you can go upstairs and sleep on my bed, okay? I think you'll feel better after a nap."
Joseph's eyes were glaring at her.
"That's a good idea," Karyn seconded. "We'll take you up to Jen's room."
Joseph's expression softened a bit, and Jen felt it safe to remove her hand from over his mouth.
"What about Jon's room?" he asked.
"There is no 'Jon's room,'" Jen insisted. "My parents' room, Zoe's room, Mikey's room, and my room -- just four bedrooms upstairs."
"That's what I remember," Karyn said, nodding.
Joseph looked from Jen to Karyn. "Ridiculous," he finally said, and headed for the stairs. The girls followed.
As they climbed the stairs, Karyn nudged Jen and pointed to the family photos on the wall. Jen got her meaning, and said to Joseph, "Look at the photos to your right."
Joseph turned his head, then halted.
"Oh, I get it," he said. "You wanted to make sure I'd notice the Photoshop you had done, to put 'Jen' into all these pictures instead of Jon."
"No, this isn't Photoshop," Jen insisted. "We're trying to tell you --"
Joseph interrupted as he started walking again, "This is so elaborate, it's gotta be for a TV show. Where are the cameras hidden?" He got to the top of the stairs and into the hallway, where he swiveled his head. "Huh, great job of hiding them. But I bet they completely changed Jon's room, right?"
He walked through the door into Jon's room and said, "Yeah, I guessed it."
Jen and Karyn walked in to see Jen's room -- the furniture was in the same arrangement as it had been when it had belonged to Jon, but the decor was decidedly feminine, and it was much cleaner than it had ever been.
"This is not a prank show," Jen said. "Just lie down. I'll take your Coke and put it in the fridge."
Joseph sighed. "All right, I'll humor you." He handed the soda bottle to Jen, sat down on her bed, took his shoes off, and then laid on his back on top of her fuchsia bedspread.
Jen suggested, "It might be more comfortable if you --"
"I'm fine," Joseph said.
Jen glanced at Karyn, who shrugged.
"Okay, we'll wake you up in a couple of hours," said Jen, walking over to close her pastel-blue curtains, cutting most of the light from outside. She and Karyn left the room, closing the door behind them.
Karyn spoke softly as they walked downstairs. "I think it really is driving him insane. And he still has, what, 94 wishes? I think you've gotta tell him."
"I can't," Jen stated.
"What?!"
"Yeah, I didn't tell you that part. The wishing rock won't let me. It said I can't influence his wishes."
"Jeez," said Karyn. She realized she was still holding her own drink; she unscrewed the cap and took a long swig. Once she'd swallowed, she said, "Well, I think it might be worse with Joseph not knowing he just made a wish when something happens -- did you see the expression on his face when the Coke just appeared in his hand?"
Jen groaned. "Yeah, but him not knowing was a wish I made on the rock, so I'm not sure I can reverse it."
Karyn opened her mouth and said something, but what Jen heard was Joseph's voice, clear as a bell, in her head, speaking a wish.
