“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad,” Uncle Chuck said with a little wave.
“I don’t understand,” Gaga said. You’ve worked for me for nearly forty years! I would know my own son if I saw him!”
“Not unless you were expecting him to be thirty years older than he should be,” Corey said. “Time travel. It’s a beast.”
“And who are you supposed to be?” Henry asked, looking down at Corey. “My great-grandfather or something?”
Corey laughed. “Close. I’m your grandson.”
At this Henry’s eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. “My grandson!”
“Yeah, you got three of them. Grandchildren, I mean. I’m Corey, and that’s your granddaughter, Ruby.” Corey motioned to Ruby, who waved and smiled. “She’s my twin, but we are nothing alike. And that’s your other grandson, Matt, or Mateo, so you don’t get him mixed up with our dad. We are also nothing alike, but not in the same way that Ruby and I are unalike. He was adopted from Colombia and is a total genius. He invented the Obsidian Compass, which is how we time-traveled to rescue you, and I guess it’s also how you got discarded in the first place. Ironic, huh? Or is that not the right word for this situation?”
“Is there a word for this situation?” Henry Hudson said. He was looking at Matt now, who wished he could disappear. Why did Corey have to point out all that? Was he trying to embarrass him or just being a total blabbermouth? He felt so exposed, and he would have liked to have made his own introduction to his long-lost grandfather.
“Okay . . . okay, so you’re all Matty’s kids. And is this your mom?” He nodded to Belamie.
“Oh, sorry, Dad,” Mr. Hudson said. “So . . . this is my wife, Belamie.”
Mrs. Hudson held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Henry.”
“Charles told me you were getting married. That was yesterday for me, but he was much younger then . . . though still older than I had left him. So, I’m guessing the wedding happened a while ago?”
Mr. Hudson nodded. “Twenty years. Sorry you couldn’t be there.”
“Guess I got a lot of catching up to do. A daughter-in-law . . . grandchildren . . . Wasn’t expecting that for a couple more decades, but okay. Life comes at you fast sometimes, I guess. And who are these two?” Henry asked, nodding to Jia and Albert. “You’re not my great-grandchildren, are you?”
Jia shook her head, then looked to Matt as though she didn’t know how to explain herself.
“This is Jia,” Matt said. “She’s my . . .”
“She’s our friend,” Ruby said.
“But sort of, like, Matt’s girlfriend,” Corey added.
“Shut up, she is not,” Matt said, feeling his face heat up. Now he couldn’t even look at Jia. He glared at Corey instead. Why did he always have to ruin everything by opening his big mouth?
“And you are a friend of the family, too, I assume?” Henry asked Albert.
“Ick, no way,” Corey said. “More like a family enemy.”
“Corey,” Mrs. Hudson chided.
“What? It’s true.” He turned back to Henry. “Albert’s in league with Vincent. That’s the guy who discarded you. He’s here by mistake, and now he’s our hostage.”
“He’s not our hostage,” Mrs. Hudson said.
Albert kept his head down and didn’t say anything, which Matt thought was probably wise, given the circumstances. Maybe he wasn’t their hostage, but he certainly wasn’t one of them.
“Man, this has been the weirdest day,” Henry said, and then looked back at Gaga, who was still staring at him like he was a ghost. “Gloria, I’m so sorry. The way I left . . . and you never knew what really happened . . .”
Gaga shook her head. “No, it’s not your fault. And I’m sorry too. If I had only known . . .” She then turned sharply to Mr. Hudson, her expression turning severe. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me any of this?!”
Matt backed up a bit. Corey and Ruby did too.
“I told you we should’ve told her,” Corey said under his breath.
“Mom, we’re really sorry,” Mr. Hudson said. “We honestly didn’t know about Charles or Dad until a few days ago.”
“You should have told me the instant you knew!” Gaga said. “And not just about your father, but all of it. I assume you thought I wouldn’t notice anything strange was going on?”
“I . . . well . . . ,” Mr. Hudson stuttered. Gaga bulldozed right over him.
“All this time I thought I was going crazy. I thought I was seeing things a few days ago when I looked out the window to see you and Belamie chasing after the kids in Chuck’s hunk of junk bus, when suddenly it disappeared into thin air, right before my eyes. And then a fluke storm rolled through, nearly destroyed my entire vineyard, and then you all reappear moments later, and everything seemed fine. I’m fine. We’re all fine. But then I’ve heard you all these past few days, whispering and conspiring who knows what. And then I start hearing about penguins in the desert and snowstorms in Jamaica, and an earthquake hits New York, and a monsoon floods everything and destroys my house and vineyard, and then a pirate ship appears and then . . . and then . . . my son who I thought had run away and my husband who I’d thought had died both suddenly appear, but my son is the same age as me and my husband’s four decades younger! And you thought that would all somehow escape my notice?!”
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Hudson said. “I just . . . we didn’t know how to tell you, or if it would even be helpful.”
“News flash,” Gaga said. “It’s always helpful for a grieving widow to know that her dead husband is actually still alive. How did this happen? And why?”
“I wouldn’t mind a few details myself,” Henry said.
“We know this is all a lot to take in at once, for both of you,” Mrs. Hudson said. “We’ll tell you everything, we promise.”
“Yes, you will,” Gaga said. “Every last detail. But not here. If I have to spend another minute on
