THE HEIR'S REVENGE

chapter 64

Today he pulled out a chair and sat down.

Lily saw this from the counter and her eyes went wide.

"Henry is sitting with us," she announced like it was breaking news.

"I am aware," Henry said.

"You never sit with us," Lily said.

"I am sitting now," Henry said.

Lily looked at him for a long moment. Then she looked at me. Then she looked at Yemi. Then she got off the counter and came to the table and sat in her own chair with the manner of someone who had decided that today was officially a special occasion.

Mrs Park brought the pancakes.

They were perfect. Thick and golden and stacked on a large plate in the middle of the table. She had put fruit on the side and syrup in a small jug and butter already melting on the top of the stack.

Lily stared at the plate like it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"Mrs Park," she said solemnly. "You are very talented."

"Thank you Miss Lily," Mrs Park said.

"I am going to eat at least five," Lily said.

"You are going to eat what fits in your stomach," I said.

"Five fits," she said.

"We will see," I said.

The breakfast was the best one we had ever had in that house.

I knew that while it was happening. Sometimes you know a moment is good while you are inside it and you hold it a little more carefully because of that.

Lily talked continuously. About the grave and the butterflies she had drawn and the frost on the grass and how the wind moved in the trees. She told Yemi every detail of our morning with the thoroughness of a journalist filing a report.

Yemi listened to everything with her full attention.

Henry ate his pancakes quietly and said very little but he was present in a way that felt different from his usual presence. More relaxed. Like he had decided to put down some of the professional formality for this one breakfast and just be at the table.

Mrs Park sat at the end of the table with her own plate and watched everyone eat with the quiet satisfaction of someone who made food because they genuinely loved seeing people enjoy it.

"Henry," Lily said at some point with syrup on her chin.

"Miss Lily," he said.

"Are you happy today?"

Henry considered this question with the seriousness he gave all questions.

"Yes," he said. "I believe I am."

Lily nodded like this was the correct answer. "Me too," she said. "I am very happy today."

She looked at me.

"Are you happy brother?"

I looked around the table. At Henry eating pancakes. At Mrs Park smiling at the end. Yemi beside me with her cup of orange juice. Lily with syrup on her chin asking me directly if I was happy because she genuinely needed to know.

"Yes," I said. "Very happy."

She smiled a full smile and went back to her pancakes.

After breakfast nobody moved from the table immediately.

That almost never happened. Usually after a meal people went their separate ways. I went to study. Henry went to his office. Lily went to her room or the garden. Mrs Park cleaned up.

Today everyone just stayed.

Lily started telling Yemi about the butterfly project from school. In detail. Yemi asked questions and Lily answered them with great authority. At some point Lily went to get her notebook to show Yemi the drawings and came back and spread them on the table between the empty plates.

Henry looked at the drawings.

"The morpho wings are quite accurate," he said.

Lily looked at him. "Of course they are," she said. "I researched them."

"She spent three evenings on those wings," I said.

"Precision is important," Lily said in Henry's own voice with Henry's own tone.

Henry looked at her for a moment.

"Where did you hear that?" he said.

"You say it all the time," she said simply and went back to explaining the drawings to Yemi.

I looked at Henry.

He picked up his cup and said nothing.

Mrs Park made another small batch of pancakes without being asked because she said the plate was looking lonely and everyone accepted without argument.

Outside the window the morning was fully arrived now. The garden was bright with the winter sun coming through the trees. The frost had melted off the grass. The butterfly garlands from Lily's party were still hanging between the trees because Lily had decided they should stay permanently.

They moved slightly in the light wind.

I watched them from my seat at the table.

Yemi followed my eyes to the window.

"They look good still," she said quietly.

"They do," I said.

She looked at me. "How are you really?" she asked. Low enough that only I could hear.

I thought about my mother's grave in the morning cold. About the words I had said out loud for the first time. About Lily's drawing against the headstone. About the wind in the oak trees.

"I feel lighter," I said honestly. "Like I put something down today that I had been carrying for a very long time."

Yemi looked at me steadily.

"Good," she said. "You have been carrying it long enough."

From across the table Lily looked up from her notebook.

"Are you two talking about something important?" she asked.

"No," I said.

"You have a quiet voice," she said. "You only use the quiet voice for important things."

"Eat your pancake," I said.

She looked at her plate. She had eaten four. She picked up the fourth and took a bite and looked at me with great dignity while chewing.

"This is my fourth one," she said.

"I know," I said.

"I told you four would fit," she said.

"You said five," I said.

She looked at the remaining pancake on the plate.

Then she looked at her stomach.

Then she looked at the pancake again.

"Five was ambitious," she said finally.

Yemi burst out laughing.

Henry made the sound that was almost a laugh but stopped itself just before arriving.

Mrs Park at the end of the table shook her head and smiled.

I looked at Lily who was now looking at the fifth pancake with genuine internal conflict written all over her face.

I picked up the last pancake and put it on my own plate.

Lily looked at me.

"That was mine," she said.

"You just said five was ambitious," I said.

"I was reconsidering," she said.

"Too late," I said.