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“Henry’s mom?” I ask.
“Yes, honey, Henry’s mom. Well…”
“Mom’s dating Kristine!” Hannah interrupts. “What? You were taking too long to spit it out.”
Mom shoots her a look but clearly can’t stay mad for more than a moment. I don’t know how I didn’t see it last night. My mother is fully swooning.
“She was the girl next door,” Mom says wistfully.
I’m happy for my mom. All my own hangups about Dad aside, I want her to be happy and in love. He would want that too.
“They’re coming over for dinner tonight,” Mom says as she turns the coffeemaker on. “For the first night of Hanukkah. To celebrate.”
“They?” I ask, knowing exactly who they entails.
“Kristine and Henry, of course.”
Of course.
* * *
“How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me?” I bombard Hannah with questions, flopping dramatically onto her princess bed.
“I figured it out when I came home for Thanksgiving. They’re not subtle. It’d be too much if they weren’t so stinking cute all the time.”
“Thanksgiving?” It’s been a whole month of this ginormous secret.
“You were stuck working,” Hannah reminds me, repeating the excuse I made in November. “They’ve actually been dating for like, a year. Mom swore me to secrecy. She wanted to tell you herself. She thought you’d make a big thing about it.” My sister gives me a very pointed look, warning me to not start.
“I knew she was dating again, but…” Mom had always been open with us about her bisexuality, ever since she first gave us talks about our own bodies. She never wanted Hannah or me to think it was something she was hiding, or feel we ever had to do the same with anything of our own.
“But?” Hannah challenges.
“But Kristine? Henry’s mom? Really?”
“Yeah, that’s the part Mom was talking about. I always thought Kristine was really nice. She had the best Halloween candy.”
“Yeah, she’s great. But she’s Henry’s mom. My Henry.”
It slips out before I can even realize what I’ve said.
Hannah’s eyes grow wide with amusement. “Oh, he’s your Henry now, is he?”
She knows that’s not what I meant. She knows what went down back then.
She knows he was never mine.
I roll my eyes at her. “Of all the people in the greater Chicagoland area, she has to pick the one who birthed the boy who ruined my life.”
“Love is wild.”
I look at my sister, more serious than I’ve been with her in years. “Hannah Arielle Gold. I am begging you. If you ever loved me, ever had any sisterly goodwill toward me, you will let me borrow something tonight since Henry ruined the one piece of clothing I have left in this time zone that’s not, at minimum, eight years old.”
Hannah leans forward, eyes brimming with pity. “The way you treat your clothes? Not a chance.”
Chapter 4
The doorbell rings while Mom is basting the brisket and Hannah is nowhere to be found, so I drag myself to the door, take a deep breath, and welcome in our guests.
