Mommy Mouse (sequel to City Mouse)

Chapter 12: Making a Home

They had foregone their annual trip to the Hamptons this year because of the wedding and honeymoon, so Labor Day was merely a day to shop, run errands, iron, and just try to get things finished before Henry started back to work, and Leo went back to school.

"Well,  you know, it is called Labor Day, right?" Leo said brightly. "Doesn't Labor mean 'work'?"

Mouse laughed as she sprayed the clothes she was ironing with homemade ironing water. "I guess it does, clever boy," she agreed.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"Ironing?" Mouse looked around. "What do you mean?"

"I've never seen anyone do that before," he answered, sitting on the back of the couch so he could see better.

"Oh, well, I used to do it in my room, but I'm going to iron everyone's stuff now that I'm in charge of the whole house, so I thought I'd do it out here," Mouse replied.

"Wow, that stuff smells nice," Leo said, sniffing appreciatively. "What is it?" He pointed at the bottle.

"It's a few drops of oil, mixed with alcohol and some other stuff," Mouse told him. "I change it every so often, so I don't get tired of the smell. Today I think it's lemongrass." She began ironing the pile of clothes next to her ironing board, which was set up on the kitchen counter.

Leo kept her company with a steady stream of chatter as she worked, and the house filled up with the scent of lemon from the steamy iron, along with the fragrance of granola she was making in the oven. Happy stood under Leo's feet so he could scratch her back, while Merry and Chrissy sunned themselves next to the patio doors.

"Wow, the apartment smells amazing," Henry said, emerging, freshly showered, from their bedroom. He looked really good, smiling and clean shaven.

"Yay!" Leo crowed. "You're wearing your 'relax-at-home' clothes!" He hopped down from the couch and ran to his father, reaching to be picked up. "You're staying home today!"

"I am?" Henry looked down at himself.

Leo nodded. "When you have to go to work, you don't wear jeans clothes," he informed his dad, pointing at the denim shorts. "You usually wear 'car key' shorts, you know, the brown kind?"

Henry looked at Mouse, mystified.

"Khakis," she translated with a grin. She lifted the pair she was ironing to clarify.

Henry nodded with understanding, putting Leo down and pouring himself a cup of coffee. He turned Mouse around so he could kiss her good morning. "You know, you so don't have to do this," he remonstrated gently, gesturing to the ironing board with his coffee cup. "Nearly everything we own is permanent press, and we just sent everything out, usually, anyway."

He stroked her rosy cheek. "You're going to look like Cinderella in a little bit here," he said.

"I saw the cleaning bill for last month," Mouse retorted, setting the iron down. "There's no reason to spend that much money on laundry, Henry Gardener, not when we have that beautiful, monster, washer and dryer, and I have all this time to iron, you know?" She blinked and looked up at her husband.

He shook his head at her. "You are a wonder," he said softly.

Leo watched his parents, a tiny figure in his Lord of the Rings pajamas. His bright eyes moved back and forth between them. "You guys love each other," he said, grinning.

"We do," Henry replied without looking away from Mouse. "Thank you, Leo, for bringing Mouse into our lives, I owe you a big one."

"You're welcome, daddy," Leo said, jumping back up on the back of the couch.