Page 50 of Spit Screen

“But I know it’ll amazing. Iknowit.”

I pull Emma to me and kiss her. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Everything, Em.”

Emma caresses my cheek and looks back at the cookie debacle. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t here in time to save them.” She looks back at me with a smirk, and I laugh.

“Aw, what the hell. We’ll keep them.”

“Keep the cookies?” she asks.

“Sure. I’ll have them delivered to Bellson when he pisses me off. At least he won’t get food poisoning. Dentures, maybe."

Emma silences me with a kiss. “I love you,” she says.

“I love you too, Em. More than anything.”

epilogue: vicki’s view

SIX MONTHS LATER

Things have changed a lot in our family since I turned nine. Like everything. Living in a new place means answering a lot of questions about my parents. Mom got a part in a movie. It was one of those sappy ones. She was all excited, though, because she got to work with her friend Bryce again. I asked her who would name their kid Bryce Cannon and she laughed. Then she told me that Bryce wasn’t so bad. Momma always said she’d name a boy Cornelius. Mom must have threatened to stop making her cookies or something when Noah was born. I told Mom at least Momma didn’t choose Yukon. She didn’t seem to understand why I said that. She doesn’t pay attention to cartoons. Momma loves Rudolph, and she always giggles at Yukon Cornelius. When I explained what I was saying, Mom laughed. She told me that Momma also likes musicals, and then she sat me down to watchHello, Dolly!

I love watching musicals with Mom. She always sings to them. I told her I think she should play Dolly. She laughed at that, too. I don’t know why. She’ll be working in New York soon. She could be on Broadway! She can singandshe can dance. Shesaid I have more confidence in her than any Broadway producer. I don’t know what she means. I think she’d be great as Dolly. One thing I do know, Momma won’t be writing a musical for my mom to star in. She can barely play chopsticks on the piano! When I said that, Mom laughed even harder. She seems to laugh a lot lately. I think she’s happy living in our new house. I am, too. I think Hannah was a little sad about leaving Kansas until we got to Connecticut. That’s where Mom’s filmed her movie. We got to stay in a house on a lake all summer! Auntie Tam and Daniel came and stayed for a few weeks while Momma was in California and Mom was filming. It was awesome! We got to swimeveryday—unless there was a thunderstorm. King doesn’t like those too much, but he loved swimming in the lake with us.

We liked staying at the house so much that Mom and Momma found us a new house on a lake. It’s in a town called Brookfield. It’s not right on the lake but we can walk there. And Momma said we might get a pool. Mom raised her eyebrow when she heard the word pool, but I think she’ll say yes. She loves to swim as much as she likes to sing. And besides, this house has the biggest kitchen I’ve ever seen! She could probably bake cookies for the whole town! I won’t suggest that, though. I’ll keep my orders small—like for my class.

Grandma came to stay with us this week. She stayed in my parents’ room. But our new house has something called an in-law apartment. Grandma and Grandpa used it when they visited a few months ago. It even has its own kitchen, so when Grandma and Grandpa are here, she can bake cookies without using Mom’s kitchen. Sandra and Jeff stayed there a few weeks ago while they did some house hunting. I hope they move close to us. Tam and Christie found a house in Connecticut, too. It takes a couple of hours to get there, but we don’t have to get on a plane! It’s really neat andreallyold. Momma said it’s like 200 years old. Noah was excited because it had a pond in the backyard. Itold Auntie Tam I’m gonna look for ghosts while Noah looks for frogs. Momma rolled her eyes at me. IknowTam will go ghost hunting with me. She loves all that stuff. Mom heard us and told me I’d better not give Hannah and Noah nightmares.

My moms will be home today. They had some things to do back in California. I was a little jealous because they got to stay in our old house, but Mom said we’d spend our spring vacation there with Tam and Christie. I’ll bet that’s when they are putting in our pool!

Mom was on a few TV shows with Bryce last week because her new movie is coming out soon. Grandma lets me watch some of the shows Mom is on. Mom talked a lot about the new series she’s making with Momma. And I even got to watch them together on one show. Momma said the new show won’t start filming until the summer. That way, Mom will be home with us most of the time while we’re in school this year. That’s probably a good thing because the first year is important. Our new school has a lot of bake sales and events. I love Momma, but she should stick to writing and leave baking to the experts—like Mom and Grandma.

Mom had to leave for Connecticut right after my birthday party in June. I don’t know how it all happened. But I guess the lady who was supposed to be in the movie with Bryce got sick or something, and they asked Mom to take over for her. Momma stayed home with us in Kansas that week. Mom surprised us and came in time for our last day of school. It was a good thing, too, because I needed to bring cookies with me. Momma tried to make them, but they were—well, hard—kind of like the bricks on our new patio. I don’t think Mom minded making cookies when she got home, but she did say she might hold a funeral for her baking sheets. I don’t think she did, though.

The other night, Grandma let us all watch Mom present an award on TV. I’ve seen my parents dressed up and going toevents loads of times. Hannah and Noah haven’t, though—not that they remember. And I don’t think Noah has ever seen them on TV. It is kind of weird seeing them all dressed up and hearing people yell their names. They stopped to talk to some guy about Mom’s new movie, and he said Mom is sexier now than when she starred inOff Screen—that was the first TV show Momma wrote. Momma said, “Emma gets sexier by the day.” I think Mom blushed. I told Grandma it was gross. She laughed.

“You’re very lucky,” Grandma said. “You have two beautiful moms who love you more than anything.”

“Yeah, but it’s still weird,” I told her.

“I know. It is a little strange to see them that way, isn’t it?” she replied.

“How come everyone is taking their picture?” Hannah asked.

Grandma looked at the TV and smiled. “Your parents are special people, Hannah.”

“Cause Mom is in movies?” Hannah asked.

“To a lot of people, that’s what makes them special,” Grandma said. “But no. They’re special because they make people feel happy, and as many times as people tell them they’re special, they still feel and act like any other mom.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Like making us clean our rooms. Mom’s famous, right? Aren’t famous people supposed to pay people to do that sort of stuff?”

Grandma burst out laughing. “I’m sure some do,” she said. Then her eyes got all teary.

“Grandma, why are you crying?” Hannah asked.

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