She hadn't brought out wine for quite some time, but ever since Henry came to live with her, the house seemed a bit brighter than before. Even Julia had called to see how everything was going.
'I have Henry staying with me for a bit until his boss wants him back at the head office'.
'Oh wow! A blast from the past! The family and I are coming home tomorrow, maybe you and Henry came come over for dinner sometime?'
Henry had joined Shenzie's side, 'sounds like a good idea Julia, how've you been?'
'I'll put it in the calendar, and I've been great! Jim and the kids have been good as well, we went camping, kinda not my thing, I wouldn't do it alone, but it was better than nothing!'
'We can talk more about it when we come over, how about that?'
'Will do! Alrighty, talk soon!'
The line went dead.
Henry chuckled, 'she's never changed, I can't wait to see her kids', Shenzie hadn't seen them in a while, and it was time that they saw their Auntie again.
'You okay?'
Henry's voice broke through Shenzie's thoughts and she looked up to see Henry leaning on the table, his full attention was on her, 'yeah', she looked down at the takeaway, 'yeah I'm fine'.
'You could be better though'.
'You're right'.
'I miss him'.
She missed him dearly, she missed how Max right eye would twitch whenever he got annoyed, she also missed the dimples that showed whenever he laughed... His light blue eyes.
'I miss him too Henry'.
+
Henry had gone to bed earlier than Shenzie, she was usually up this late anyway, work was off tomorrow which she was glad about. She needed time to herself especially since Henry was here.
Speaking of Henry, he was sitting outside on his computer, working from the whole style.
He was quiet and she had chosen to respect his space, she was quite used to it.
Julia had gotten back to her and verified that dinner was still on.
'Did you have any allergies... I kind of forgot-'.
'None, I can eat a whole horse'.
Henry chuckled, his eyes were still glued to the screen, 'alrighty, I'll let her know', she sent a text through to Julia quickly. Shenzie didn't go back inside, instead, she stepped out into the sun, her eyes scanning the greenery up ahead. Billy loved to play out here, he'd love to play hide and seek. The game would be quick because he'd hide in the same spot over and over. Now he was hiding permanently.
'I can hear you thinking'.
Henry suddenly spoke up, he knew her too well just like Max did, 'remember when Billy ran around here?'
'How could I forget? I fell in that little pond when I was chasing after him'.
For the first time in a while, Henry's eyes looked away from the screen and out towards the little garden towards the still pond.
'I can't forget that, and Max giving you shit for that'.
'I mean... It's not like you guys had fish in there'.
'We had one... You killed it'.
'Oh... Well shit, no wonder he was mad'.
'He didn't tell you?'
'No, he tends to bottle things up, so I'm glad that you told me now'.
Shenzie tried to hold back the laugh, 'never felt bothered to get another fish', Henry pulled the screen down a little and pulled his glasses off, blinking a couple of times.
Henry was so like Max, he was different but still the same in a way. He had Max's eyes, they both have their mother's eyes. Although Max's eyes were light blue, Henry's eyes were a dark green. She could turn Henry away, because of the resemblance but something deep down told her not to. She respected him just like he respected her, Henry blamed himself all those years, not even Shenzie herself could get him to calm down, he didn't hurt Billy. Shenzie couldn't deny that she screamed and shouted at Henry and called him every name under the sun after than night, but now? She put herself in his shoes, the case had gone cold. Max had spoken to her a few times, and she finally accepted that Henry never meant to hurt Billy, in fact, he never did.
When she looked back at Henry, he wasn't looking at her anymore, he had turned his attention back at the scenery before them.
So much like Max, but no... He's just Henry Docker.