After a long pause, the tablet said, "I'm going to read my book in the backyard."
When we heard his steps on the basement stairs, we stared at each other for a second and then burst out laughing. "I guess we're not done sneaking around," I said.
"Apparently not." He skimmed a thumb over my cheek. "I do love you."
I pushed some hair off his forehead. "I love you too."
He flattened a hand to the lid of the washing machine and stared at it for a minute. I'd barely noticed it running all this time. "The agitator is starting to go," he said.
"What? No. It's still new. I bought it when I moved in. It's only a few years old."
"They don't build these things to last anymore. If it were up to me, I'd hang onto the old ones as long as possible. They require a lot more attention and care but they're worth it." He stared at the washer for another moment before saying, "I'll add this to my list."
"Now you have a list? What else are you fixing up around here?"
A grin warmed his eyes as he cupped my cheek. "Anything you'll let me get my hands on."
chapter fifty-one
Audrey
Today's vocabulary word: inflection
Those first dayswith Jude and Percy quietly slipped into a week and then another, and soon I couldn't remember a time when they weren't here with me. On the other side of that came the sudden realization of how quiet and empty my house had been without them. It wasn't until my kitchen table was full every morning or Percy took over the entirety of my couch that I saw how little space I'd taken up before.
Jude caught up on work while Percy charged ahead with his so-called beast training sessions for Bagel. This mostly amounted to Percy setting up obstacle courses in the backyard and attempting to guide Bagel through…only for Bagel to roll around in the grass. Neither of them seemed to tire of it.
We baked a lot of bread and filmed a bunch of videos together. His little hands showed up in a few places where he added ingredients to the mixer or spread flour over the countertop. After some testing, we made individual cakes in the shape of Christmas trees. It wasn't my usual style of baking. I didn't get involved with anything that required much decorationand definitely nothing with food dyes since my whole angle was gentle eats for angry guts but we made it work. And Percy was so proud.
On the days when Jude was tied up with calls, Percy and I walked to the dog park or traveled to my school to start setting up my classroom. He liked arranging desks, cutting out laminated items for my bulletin boards, and organizing my library. When he finished with those projects, he wandered across the hall to help in the third-grade classroom or made himself at home with the beanbag chairs in my cozy corner while I worked on lesson plans.
We always had fun together, even when he asked if he could come to school with me every day and I had to figure out an answer that didn't sound like a side-step. It was a lot harder dodging an almost-five-year-old's questions than you'd think, especially given their willingness to follow it up withWhy?four thousand times.
I wanted it to be easier for him. For Jude too but Percy most of all. He wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere. I knew what that was like. Probably more than I'd taken time to recognize.
At night, when Percy was tucked away in the guest room with Bagel's crate parked beside the bed, Jude and I watched some of the TV series I was vaguely invested in. At least once an episode, he'd press pause and turn to me, asking, "What the fuck is this shit, Saunders?" or "You were going to haunt my ass if you died before seeing the end of this train wreck? Seriously?" or "Explain to me again why she's even interested in that dirtbag."
My favorite of Jude's complaints was "When I die, I'm going to hauntyoufor making me watch this."
I always patted his chest and promised we'd find reasons to haunt each other. We'd done it most of our lives so why wouldn't we do it in the next?
By virtueof chaotic summer schedules, I hadn't seen much of my friends. Jamie taught at a city art program in the mornings and waitressed at a rooftop bar in the evenings. Ruth was always in the middle of a work crisis. Emme was off on her honeymoon. Grace and Ben were visiting his family. Shay had one wedding after another lined up at Twin Tulip.
All that changed this weekend. Emme and Grace were still out of town but everyone else was heading down to Friendship, Rhode Island for one of the town's many festivals. I couldn't wait. I'd been telling Percy stories about Friendship and hyping up the festival for weeks.
Still, Jude had some questions.
"What do you mean we're going to acornfestival?" Jude asked once we hit the highway.
"Think of it as a corn party thrown by a bunch of the local farms," I said.
"That's not nearly the explanation you think it is, Saunders," he said.
"Daddy, it's a festival about corn," Percy's tablet announced from the back seat.
"You are correct, sir, although I still don't understand what takes place at a festival about corn," Jude replied.
"We eat the corn," Percy’s tablet said.
