Page 75 of Into the Mountains
My heart sinks as she walks away to help Jacob throw the rest of their stuff in the bed of the truck. Charlotte left. To help our friends, but deep down, I know getting space from me was the catalyst of her decision.
The car ride back is silent. Not only is the sound silent, but it feels like all my senses have been dulled. The flowery perfume I smelled throughout the weekend is gone and only a faint part of it remains on my sweatshirt she wore the other night. If I could inhale it without looking like a psychopath, I would. But I don’t think there’s any way for me to do that.
Jacob pulls in front of his childhood home and Ethan comes bounding down the stairs, Isabelle and George not far behind. Ethan has Erebor wrapped around his shoulders and George has Sable snuggled into the crook of his arm. I do a double take as I see Isabelle feeding a white kitten treats from the palm of her hand as the cat perches on her shoulder like Frank’s parrot.
Ethan stops an inch away from me and I drop to my knees to wrap him in a tight hug. “Whoa, Dad. You were only gone a couple of days.”
“I just missed you is all.” My voice is muffled against his neck.
“Okay, well, you’re going to miss me more if you strangle me to death.” This kid. As much as I wish he would have gotten my sense of humor, I think he tends to tip more to Sky’s side. I can only imagine the sarcasm he’s going to conjure up as a teenager.
“Sorry.” I pull back from him and see his almost nine year old smile. Gums exposed and gaps here and there showing the stages of childhood. I notice one extra empty space right next to the top front teeth that just finished growing in and I dramatically tug on his upper lip.
“Excuse me, sir, someone seems to have stolen your tooth when you weren’t looking,” I yell. He bursts into a fit of laughter.
“Dad,” he draws out except it’s distorted because I still have his lip in between my fingers, pretending to examine him, searching for the long lost tooth.
“He bit into an apple and it was game over,” Isabelle explains.
“Ahhhh, the old apple to loosen the tooth trick.” I get an eye roll for that one. “How did you manage to wiggle it out this time?” I level him with the hardest dad look I can, but we both know it’s futile.
“Well, grandpa told me the oldest trick in the book,” he explains, puffing out his chest.
I glance over at George who has one arm around his wife and the other petting the head of what I am hoping is their new kitten, but I know better. He gives me a shrug as if that is going to be enough to explain whatever method they used to pull out—or probably, yank out in this case—Ethan’s tooth.
“Please tell me you didn’t try to use pliers?” I groan thinking about the story Sarah told me about her dad always suggesting getting his pliers to pull out a stubborn tooth and then actually doing it once with Hudson.
Hand up in defense, George says, “I did not use pliers.” My shoulders sag in relief. “Not for lack of trying though.”
“He did try, but I’ve heard Uncle Hud’s story and it sounds like a nightmare, so I opted for something else.” There’s a glimmer in his eye that tells me this idea wasn’t the safest.
“Alright, tell me.” A cramp simmers through one of my legs in my crouched position, so I decide to sit and cross them at the ankles, the grass poking through my pants for a brief second before it settles beneath me. Ethan mirrors my posture and Erebor climbs down from his shoulder to curl into his lap. The kitten closes his eyes and starts purring contentedly, pushing his head into Ethan’s hand.
“Well, first…” And he goes on to explain their elaborate plan of using some of George’s fishing line with his tooth tied to one end and a toaster tied to the other. How they managed to do that, I’m not sure I want to know.
“And then I walked up the stairs until I was halfway and tossed the toaster over the railing and it popped right out.” Hestartles Erebor with his loud voice and animated arms and he slinks away from his lap to crawl into mine.
“So, let me get this straight,” I say, looking over at George to confirm. “You actually tied a toaster to the other end of my kid and let him throw it over the stairs?” His face starts to redden, but he must have reeled in his embarrassment from the other end of his own fishing line and he lets a slight grin invade his features.
“Just making memories with my grandson.” And the conversation ended there. The unconventional ways of the generation before me is not a battle I care to fight in at the moment.
My knees make a crackling sound like a freshly poured bowl of Rice Krispies as I stand and turn to Isabelle this time, glancing down at the kitten now asleep in her arms. “And who might this be?”
“Oh, right. That’s Hobbles.” Ethan comes up behind me and reaches for the pure white kitten. It stirs and blinks its eyes a few times before looking up at me. One green and one blue, its eyes are observant, curious even as it examines me and wonders who I am to the people that have been looking after it.
“Aren’t they called hobbits?” I may not know everything aboutThe Hobbit,but I know enough to know the actual title of the movie and what they’re called.
“They are, buthisname,” he says, taking the kitten gently from his grandmother, “is Hobbles.”
When he holds the kitten up to me, I can’t help but laugh at the name. Where there would usually be a fourth leg, there’s a small stump at his shoulder, his full leg completely gone, which would obviously cause him to hobble a bit when he walks. A small, squeaking meow escapes from him as I grab him from Ethan and cradle him in my arms.
“And just where did you find him?”
“Well, he kind of heard the other two outside meowing and playing and he just walked right up to them and joined in. They all got along really well and I felt guilty leaving him all alone if he’s a stray, so Grandma and Grandpa said he could stay with us until you got home and then we could figure out what to do, but I really want him to stay with his friends, but I know I already pushed it with Erebor and three cats is a lot and I know you don’t love cats, but I can handle it and—”
“Ethan, breathe, kiddo.” If I didn’t interrupt his rambling, I have a feeling he could have gone on even longer in one breath. All I can do now is admire the heart and empathy he has for the smallest of creatures and put my old dislike aside. Which was really pushed away the second we met Sable.
“There’s nothing I’d rather do than give little Hobbles here a home with his friends, okay? You don’t even have to ask.”
