Just Grace and the Double Surprise (10 page)

I had used up so much energy that when Mom said, "Do you want me to make pancakes?" I said, "Yes. Yes I do." It was unusual, but true: I was hungry for a second breakfast.

WHAT IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY

After breakfast I got some treats for Mr. Scruffers so I could start training her for a new name. At first I tried Coco because it was one of my favorites. It was not Mr. Scruffers's favorite. She wouldn't even look at me when I called her that.

I tried the rest of the names, but it was the same thing. She acted like she couldn't even hear me. I even tried just Scruffers, because at least that was better than having the Mr. part, but it still didn't work. Miss Scruffers wasn't any better. It was hopeless. I was a sort of glad about that though, because Miss Scruffers is kind of hard to say.

Mr. Scruffers was sniffing the ground over at the fence. She didn't care one bit that I was trying to give her a beautiful new girl name. "Mr. Scruffers, you are totally impossible!" I shouted. I turned around and walked a couple of steps away. And then, when I looked down, there she was, standing right at my feet. She was there because she heard her name. She couldn't help it, and whether I wanted it or not she was probably going to stay Mr. Scruffers. "We're perfect for each other," I said, and I hugged her. "We both have dumb names."

WHAT I COULD NOT WAIT TO DO

Sometimes when you have a new thing it's fun to see how it feels to take that new thing to your old regular places. Some new things can make you feel completely different, but it depends on the new thing.

WHAT IS NOT SO EXCITING

Mom said I was not allowed to wander all over town by myself with Mr. Scruffers. I said going to the park was not wandering all over town, but she said Dad had to come with me. I didn't want to hurt Dad's feelings, but the park was not going to be as much fun with him there. I was really wishing Mimi was back so she could come with me instead.

WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE GOOD

In the end it was good that Dad was with me. The park was filled with dogs. I was excited for Mr. Scruffers to meet them all. Everything was going perfectly fine until Mr. Scruffers met Bernie. As soon as she sniffed him, she turned crazy. She was barking and pulling, and pretty much everyone in the whole park was looking at us. I don't know why but she was 100 percent hating him.

Bernie is a nice little dog that Mimi, Sammy, Max, and I know really well. For a while we even had a job where we took him for walks. John, his owner, is also really nice, so it was doubly crazy that Mr. Scruffers was acting this way.

Dad had to pick up Mr. Scruffers and hold her just to get her to stop barking. I'm pretty sure everyone was happy that that worked. I'm really glad that we already knew John; otherwise the whole thing would have been even more embarrassing.

ANOTHER GOOD THING

John said he and Bernie were on their way home, and as soon as they left the park Mr. Scruffers stopped being upset. Dad put her down and she was fine again. We were lucky about that. I'm glad she wasn't going to be hating every other dog in the world.

WHAT IS TRUE

Even though Mr. Scruffers was not perfect, I still loved her. It was only the second day of us being together, but I was sure that was not going to change.

On the way home Dad wanted to talk about what happened, probably to make sure that I was not mad at Mr. Scruffers, but I didn't need him to do that. I said, "I'm in love with Mr. Scruffers just the way she is." Dad seemed happy with that. "I'm glad," he said.

WHAT IS WAS NOT EXPECTING WHEN I GOT HOME

Mimi's car was in the driveway. She was back! I couldn't believe it. I didn't think she would be home so soon. For a second I was disappointed that I didn't have a chance to stick my Welcome sign on her door, but that was only a small thing. Dad said he would take Mr. Scruffers into the house for a drink of water if I wanted to run over and see her right away. Of course I wanted to take Mr. Scruffers with me, but I could tell that he was not going to be letting me do that. He was probably worried that Mr. Scruffers would scare the new sister.

WHAT I WAS REALLY NOT EXPECTING

When I knocked on Mimi's door, Mimi's mom answered. She looked tired. Maybe the new sister was a baby. Babies were a lot of work. Mom said they pretty much made everybody tired. "Mimi is in her room," said her mom. "Maybe you can cheer her up." I raced up the stairs to see her. Maybe the baby had drooled on her. Babies did that too.

"MIMI!" I shouted. "I'm here! Guess...?" I stopped my words. I wanted to tell her about Mr. Scruffers and I wanted to ask about her new sister both at the same time—it was hard to decide which to do first. But Mimi was lying on her bed with her head down, and seeing her like that pushed both those thoughts right out of my brain. Something was not right. "What's wrong, Mimi?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF ALL

Mimi sat up. She had been crying. "The sister is not a sister!" she said, and then she started talking louder and louder until she was almost shouting. "The sister is not a girl! The sister is a BOY! I got a brother instead! I didn't get a SISTER!!!" My head was sitting on my neck like normal, but suddenly it felt all weird, like I could almost feel my brain trying to work. "What do you mean, you got a brother? What happened to the sister? Where did the sister go?" I had about a hundred questions. Mimi flopped herself back on the bed. "I can't talk about it," she mumbled.

I was 100 percent confused. Did she not want to talk about it, or was she not allowed to talk about it? Nothing was making any sense.

I couldn't decide what to do next. After a few minutes of watching Mimi I could tell that she was probably going to be staying lying down for a while. It was not comfortable to be standing there watching my best friend be sad and mad. I wanted to leave. "Uh, Mimi, I'm going to go, but I'll come back later," I said. "We can hang out then, okay? Okay, I'm going now. Bye." I was doing all the talking, but I couldn't just leave without saying anything. The whole thing was a mystery.

WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE COMPLETELY STUNNED, WHICH IS A GOOD WORD THAT MEANS SO SURPRISED YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR BRAIN CAN'T WORK

Usually when I leave Mimi's room I race down the stairs and Mimi's mom shouts, "Grace, be careful on the stairs!" This time it was different. My feet could hardly move. It was like my brain was using all its power to try to understand what Mimi had said, and there wasn't any left over for the regular stuff, like telling my legs how to walk.

Maybe that's why Mimi's mom heard me. Or maybe it was because I was slower than usual. Or maybe she was waiting for me. I couldn't tell, but before I even got to the top of the stairs she came over tapped my shoulder and did the finger thing that means "Follow me."

WHAT I SAW NEXT

Mimi's mom pointed to the new-sister room and made a shushing noise with her finger. Of course I was super curious. I tiptoed closer to have a look. There on the bed was a super-cute sleeping little boy. He was bigger than a baby, but not as big as Lily. Lily is a friend of ours who is four years old, so maybe he was not that old yet.

Mimi's mom touched my shoulder again and I followed her downstairs.

WHAT WAS A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT WORTH IT BECAUSE IT GAVE ME LOTS OF INFORMATION

Mimi's mom poured me a glass of apple juice and we sat down at the kitchen table together. It was weird. I had never done this with Mimi's mom before. We do not sit around just the two of us and talk. Ever!

WHAT MIMI'S MOM SAID

1. That Mimi was very upset. I already could tell this part.
   
2. That at almost the last minute the sister had not been able to be adopted.
   
3. That the brother needed a family, and that Mimi's mom had fallen in love with him after only ten minutes of meeting him.
   
4. That they were very lucky that the brother was able to come home with them so fast.
   
5. That he was three years old.
   
6. That his name was Robert.