“Laura, please,” Mom said. “I only wish I could offer you more. Miranda, get the bottle of lemon extract. That will give the water a bit of flavor.”
I ran back into the kitchen, found the extract, and returned it to the sunroom. I bumped into Alex as I did, and I blushed while I apologized.
“My fault,” he said. “I was in your way.”
I glanced at him, trying to act like I wasn’t looking. He reminded me a little of Syl, like he’d always been thin, like his body was used to it. His eyes were a very dark brown. I used to like more athletic boys, but I could see that he’d be good-looking under ordinary circumstances.
But these aren’t ordinary circumstances, and even though I couldn’t get over the idea that a guy had fallen into my sunroom, I was a lot more excited about Dad coming home.
“How’s Grandma?” I asked. “Did you get to her?”
“And what about your parents, Lisa?” Mom asked. “Are they all right?”
Lisa had finished feeding the baby and was patting him gently.
“Let me,” Charlie said, and Lisa gave Gabriel to him.
“We never got out west,” Dad said. “We don’t know.”
“It was horrible,” Lisa said. “We went from one evac camp to another, for as long as I could manage. Then the flu hit. By the time they lifted the quarantine, I was too far along to travel.”
“Everyone tried,” Dad said. “Lisa got extra food because she was pregnant. There were some great people: doctors, nurses, sacrificing their lives to help others. But by the time Gabriel was born, we’d been told not to try to go farther west. They said there was no point: Colorado, Nevada, were devastated. What survivors there were had been moved east or south.”
“We thought about you all the time,” I said. “Hoping and worrying.”
“You were never out of our thoughts,” Dad said. “Our thoughts and our prayers.”
“Was Gabriel really born on Christmas?” I asked.
“He sure was,” Charlie said. “I was there.” Gabriel was holding on to his ring finger with a possessive grip.
“Are you a doctor?” Matt asked.
Charlie laughed again. “Not hardly,” he said. “I was a telemarketer back in the day.”
We all laughed at the very thought of telemarketers.
“We met at the evac camp,” Dad said. “Charlie was great, helping everybody, boosting morale.”
“You make it sound like a prison camp,” Matt said. He was clutching Syl’s hand. I wonder what she’s told him about her time on the road.
“In some ways it was like a prison camp,” Dad said. “Especially during the quarantine. There was never enough food, or blankets, or medicine. But we held on, and Lisa had the baby, and thank God, they both came through.”
“Did you all meet there?” Jon asked. “I’m sorry. I’ve forgotten your names.”
“Alex and Julie Morales,” Alex said. “No. We met later, maybe two months ago? Time loses a lot of its meaning.”
“Lisa and I had decided to come back,” Dad said. “She knew how important it was for me to be with my children, all my children. Charlie came along because by then we couldn’t imagine life without him. He’s the best friend we’ve ever had. We ran into Alex and Julie, who were making their way back east, also.”
“You’ve stuck together all this time?” Syl asked.
“I know,” Dad said. “It’s unusual. In some ways we’ve become a family. Other people came and went, but the five of us held on.”
“Hal and Lisa have been kind to us,” Alex said. “Very protective of Julie.”
“She’s worth protecting,” Charlie said. “You both are.”
“I know it’s an imposition, Laura,” Dad said. “Us barging in on you like this. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t thought what our next step should be.”
“Julie and I won’t be staying,” Alex said. “We have other plans.”
Dad held his hand up to stop him. “Julie’s exhausted,” he said. “Look at her. She’s already fallen asleep. You need time to recover before you move on.”
I held my breath, waiting for Mom’s response to all this. It was one thing for me to be thrilled that Dad was back. It was another for her to welcome her ex-husband, his wife and baby, and three strangers.
“You caught us at a good time,” Mom said. “Matt and Jon have spent the past few weeks fishing in the Delaware.”
“No kidding,” Dad said. “The shad were running?”
“We got our share,” Matt said.
“Enough for all of us, at least for a few days,” Mom said. “We have some cans of food, too. There’ve been government handouts. We get food on Monday.”
“Maybe they’ll let Dad have some,” Jon said. “Like they gave some to Syl.”
“Well, we won’t know that until Monday,” Mom said. “But if you don’t mind eating fish for the next few days, I don’t see why you can’t stay here.”
“Oh, Laura,” Dad said.
“You and Lisa and the baby can sleep in the sunroom,” Mom said. “We can’t count on electricity, but the woodstove will keep you warm. That will be best for the baby. Julie can share the kitchen with Miranda and me, and Jon, Alex, and Charlie can sleep in the dining room. Between the mattresses and the sleeping bags and the blankets, we should manage all right.”
“This is very kind of you, Laura,” Charlie said. “And you’ll see. We’re great workers.”
“Good,” Mom said. “That’s settled. Jon, take a plastic bag and go to the garage and bring back some fish. A lot of fish. We’ll have to eat in shifts, I’m afraid, but at least we’ll all have supper.”
“We only eat two meals a day,” Matt said.
“Are you kidding?” Alex said. “Two meals a day? That’s luxury.”
“It is for us, too,” Matt said.
“It’ll be fine,” Mom said. “It’ll work out. We’ll make it work out.”
Last night, I wrote my diary entry in my bedroom closet, the most private place I could think of. Thanks to a couple of the flashlight pens Jon gave me, I had enough light, and although I could hear Matt and Syl murmuring in their room, the only other sound was Gabriel crying.
Gabriel cries a lot.
I hid my diary along with my other diaries, but I got it in my head my hiding place would be too easy to find if anyone really looked. It was hard enough after Matt brought Syl, but Charlie and Alex and Julie are strangers, and who knows what they were like before things happened, or even what they’re like now.
So I was in my closet, searching for a better hiding place, which was why I got to hear Mom and Matt arguing in Matt’s bedroom.
“They can’t stay,” Matt said. “You know that.”
“This is what I know,” Mom said. “I’ve already told Jon this, and I’ll tell Miranda when we have a moment alone. There is only one person in this house who matters and that’s the baby. He can’t survive without his mother, so that makes Lisa the second most important person. All the rest of us, even the girls, can get by if we have to. Syl’s shown me that. But the baby can’t, so we have to see to it that Lisa is taken care of, that she has enough to eat, that the baby is kept warm and dry. If that means all those people move into this house, then so be it. If that means we all eat a little less so Lisa can eat a little more, then so be it. No baby is going to die because I ate a second can of green beans. Do you understand me?”
“I do,” Matt said. “And on the face of it what you’re saying makes sense. But if you’re so concerned about that second can of green beans, how can you justify Dad eating it? Let alone all those other people. Mom, Jon and I worked hard for those fish. It wasn’t fun and games, especially not the second trip. You know as well as I do the food we’re getting from town isn’t enough to sustain us, and it sure isn’t going to last forever. We need to be as strong as possible when we have to leave here. Just having Dad and Lisa and that army they brought with them here cuts down on our chances. What if the rains stop? Will we fight with them for water?”
“I’m not turning them out,” Mom said. “This isn’t a way station for Hal. You’re his children. He has
