Page 55 of Searching for Nova

“I need help with a project,” she says to my mom.

“What project?”

“It’s for school. It’s one of those family tree things. We have to write about our family history and bring photos.”

“Photos of what?” my dad asks.

“All of us.” Jenna piles roasted potatoes on her plate next to her pile of salad. I give the vegan thing a day, maybe two. By Wednesday, she’ll be back to eating meat. “I need photos of when you and Mom were young, and ones of Easton and me as babies.”

My mom’s eyes shoot over to me. I glance at my dad, who’s looking at my mom. We’re all thinking the same thing. I don’t have baby photos. I’m sure my biological mom did, but they were destroyed in the fire, along with everything else.

“Why are you guys looking at each other like that?” Jenna says. “And why is everyone so quiet?”

My mom clears her throat and smiles. “I was just trying to think what photos I could give you. I might have a few from when I was younger, but your grandparents have most of them. You could call your grandmother and ask her to send you some.”

“What about Easton? Where arehisphotos?”

“They didn’t take any,” I tell her. “I was an ugly baby.”

“Even ugly babies have photos.” Jenna looks over at our mom. “Can I look at them after dinner?”

“Honey, I’m sorry, but I don’t have any.” She glances at me. “They were accidentally thrown out when we moved in this house.”

“You threw out his baby photos?” Jenna laughs. “Guess he reallywasugly.”

“It was an accident,” my mom says. “We thought the box they were in was trash and tossed it. It was just an unfortunate mistake.”

“Then give me ones of him as a toddler. That’s close enough.”

“Who is the teacher making you do this assignment?” my dad says in an angry tone.

“Mrs. Rothbaum. Why?”

“Tell her our family history is none of her business. It’s completely inappropriate for her to ask for such personal information,” he says, raising his voice. “I’ll call her myself and tell her that, if that’s what it takes.”

Jenna’s staring at him, looking surprised and confused by my dad’s sudden outburst. He rarely gets angry, and when he does, it’s about something more serious than a school assignment. I get why he’s reacting like this, but Jenna doesn’t.

“Honey, calm down,” my mom says to my dad. “I’m sure we can work this out. I’ll call Mrs. Rothbaum in the morning and see if Jenna could get a different assignment.”

“But I wanted to do this one,” Jenna says. “It’s easy, and it’s what everyone else is doing. I don’t want to do something else. My friends will ask why, and what am I supposed to say? That I can’t because my parents threw out my brother’s baby pictures?”

“You don’t tell them anything,” my dad says, his voice still raised. “This is a family matter that doesn’t concern them.” He gets up from the table. “I need to do some work. I’ll be in my office.”

“Stephen, we’re not done with dinner,” my mom says, but he’s already left the dining room.

“What’s going on with Dad?” Jenna asks.

“He’s been under a lot of stress at work,” my mom says. She fakes a smile as she picks up the salad bowl. “Would anyone like more?”

“I’m done.” I get up. “I need to go study.”

“You didn’t finish your dinner.”

“I’m not hungry. I stopped and got something on my way home.”

“Okay, honey. Go ahead.”

As I’m leaving, I hear Jenna complaining again. “Why does he get to leave and I don’t?”

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