Chapter 9

                                    

                                          
*Gemma POV*
"Who put these things in the fridge?" Mom asks, standing with her head stuck in the refrigerator. 
Micah purses his lips and says nothing. See, cleaning out the fridge happens every other week, and it's a family event. 
"Don't forget, kids, Gram is coming over for the next week," Mom says. 
"Aw man," Dad jokes. "Is that in the next twenty-four hours?" 
"Yes," Mom gives him a pointed look. "And you have to be there. You are not leaving me alone with your mother again. It's going to take me twenty-four hours to get to the back of this fridge anyways."
"If Gram's coming, why are you doing this now?" Crystal asks. "Gram's so paranoid, she'll do it for you, won't she?" 
Mom sighs. "I'm doing this because I'm being a good host." She casts a side glance at Dad. "Because we'll be able to manufacture penicillin in one more week if this fridge is left unattended to. And your mother loves to rearrange my kitchen and I don't want to hear her complaints about this fridge." 
Dad sighs and looks at the ceiling. "I... My mother is a character." 
I snort. "Yeah. A character. Right." 
"What is this?" Mom holds up a tupperware container of something grey and mushy. 
Crystal peers into it. "I think it was lemon slices in 1645. Not sure what it's mutated into now. Might be a ladybug."  
"Mutation," Mom says dryly. "What a wonderful proposition."
"A ladybug?" I raise an eyebrow. "Really? Looks more like a fat millipede to me." 
"Wait, there's a bug?" Micah appears next to Crystal peering into the container. "Aww, that's just mold." 
"Yeah," I mutter. "Just mold." 
"Let me know if you find anything with bugs in it!" Micah calls over his shoulder. 
"Micah Oliver Caddel, you get back here right now," Mom says. "No one abandons family bonding time!" 
"Honey, you come up with the best ideas for family bonding time," Dad says, nudging her. 
Mom turns and kisses him. "I know I do." 
"Bonding over dead food," I say flatly. "Amazing idea, Mother. Absolutely brilliant." 
"Dead food?" Micah asks. 
"Sure smells like it," Crystal comments. "It reeks in here." 
Dad shoots a pointed look at Micah. "Is your room clean?" 
"Yes, geez," Micah rolls his eyes. "Since when are you so invested in the well-being of my living space?" 
"Since Gram decided she was coming," Dad says. "This house needs to be spotless. You can't be living in a pig sti." 
"By the way," Micah says. "Do I still have to call her Gram?" 
Everything goes silent. 
"What?" Micah asks.
"That was Jade's doing," I mutter a reply. "She couldn't pronounce Grandmother. So we just sort of started calling her Gram." 
A wave of sadness hits me. I fight against dissociation, desperately trying to find something in the real world to grab onto.
Micah wraps his arms around me. "I'm sorry, Gemma." He looks up at me. "Does that help? I wasn't sure what I should do." 
I smile a little bit. "Yeah. Yeah, that helps a lot. I love you Micah."