Page 103 of Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon
Ruth eats a deviled egg now, too. I know for a fact that she likes them even less than I do. “So, what does this guy look like again?” she asks.
“Ruth,” I say.
“He’s cute,” my mom says. “Right? Anyway. I don’t know about how sad he is exactly, but his mom’s still worried about him. She told me he moved back into his row house over in Federal Hill—you know, the one he and his wife shared before…” She sets a baking sheet of crab cakes on the counter, takes off her oven mitts. “Anyway. That all seemed like progress, right? Well, she told me yesterday that she went to visit him over the weekend, and, well, apparently, he’s living with a bunch of rodents.”
“What?” I ask.
“Rodents?” says Ruth.
“Are mice rodents?” asks Bella.
“Yes, honey,” my mom says. “Mice.Disgusting creatures. He’s keeping them in an aquarium in his living room. When she asked what in god’s name he was thinking, he told her it was too cold for them to be outside, so he’s keeping them until spring. She said he built a whole habitat for them. Egg cartons and torn-up newspaper. Which, let’s be honest, sounds like something someone would do who’s not doing so great. Like, what kind of grown man has pet mice?”
“Mom?” says Ian. “Are those…ourmice?”
I nod, putting it together. Henry kept taking the mice away. I guess I never really thought about where he was taking them once the weather turned. “Dammit, Henry,” I whisper.
For most of my life, I haven’t been much of a crier. Then Tim died, and now I cry at things like my sister secretly being knocked up and Sad Henry hoarding rodents.
“Why would Henry take our mice tohishouse?” asks Bella.
Ian and I look at each other.
“Because he knows they’ll die if he lets them go outside,” my smart boy says. “And he promised us he wouldn’t hurt them.”
Bella smiles. “Aww. That’s nice of him. Do you think he gave them names?”
I look out the window over my parents’ sink. It’s dark, but thefloodlights are on out back so I can see that the snow has died down a little. “Mom, you said he’s at his parents’?”
“Yeah,” she says.
“Where is that, exactly?”
“Just down the street. Three blocks, maybe. Why?”
“Kids, get your coats,” I say. “We’re going to see Henry.”
“Really?
“Yeah.”
“Yay!”
“Can Harry Styles come?” asks Bella. “He loves Henry.”
I tell my mom and Ruth that we’ll be right back.
“Screw that,” my sister says. “I’m coming, too.”
I’m in the family room now, dodging my relatives. I glance atLove Actually. The volume is low, but I can hear the music swelling. My mom shouts that she’s also coming and tells my dad to get his coat.
“My what?” he asks.
“Get your coat, Jack!”
“Where’s everyone going?” asks my brother-in-law.
“We’re going to see some guy named Henry,” Ruth says. “And you’re coming, too.”
