AN: Double update, Intrepid Readers!!

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"I got a call from Carstairs today," Mouse told Henry after Leo was in bed.

Henry looked at her, blinking tiredly. He drained his wine glass and rose to refill it. On TV, Rachel Maddow was giving them the run down of what had happened that day in the crazy world of politics.

"Really? Is everything okay? What did they want?" He sat down and pulled Mouse close, so they could cuddle. Merry and Chrissy each took a lap, making bread with their paws and claws, purring and arching their backs.

Mouse told him about Kenny's meltdown at morning recess. She assumed the other parents had gotten phone calls as well. She'd run into Dominick's grandma when she was picking Leo up, and they'd talked a little bit.

"I asked Leo about it when I picked him up, but he wouldn't really talk about it. Henry, I'm so worried about him," Mouse concluded. She took a deep breath and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I mean, that sounds so awful, and it seems like they're having some kind of coffee klatsch up there on the jungle gym, every morning." She smiled, a small one. "I watch when I drop him off, you know? And he goes right up there with Noah, Kerry, and that awful Dominick, and they start talking.

"I knew Sheila and Jason were having problems," she went on. Sheila and Jason were Kenny's mother and stepfather. "But I thought it was just general stress about the baby and all that. I had no idea their marriage was in such deep trouble."

"I think Jason lost his job," Henry volunteered. "He asked me if I knew anyone who was hiring, but I don't know anyone in banking, so I couldn't help him."

"Oh god, how terrible. Right before Christmas, too." Mouse shook her head. "No wonder everything was so stressful."

"Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't good, but stress can only make an existing crack bigger, I think," Henry continued. "I mean, I think there was trouble before, and the pregnancy and unemployment just exacerbated things."

Mouse shivered as she stroked Merry, who had settled down in her lap. "Please, Henry, promise me we'll talk if things start to go wrong, okay?" She sat up a little and turned to him. "I couldn't bear it if anything like that were to happen to us. I can't even imagine what things were like for that poor little boy. I would die before I'd want something like that for Leo, you know?"

Henry nodded. "I know. I really hope Dr. Baumgartner can help him. He's just completely shut down toward me." He took another deep breath, and Mouse heard and felt the hitch in his chest. "Jesus, Mouse, he hardly even looks at me anymore, and when he does, he looks like I just shot him, or shot Happy, you know?" He squeezed Mouse's shoulder. "Has he said anything to you?"

Mouse shook her head. "I've asked, and I've tried to bring it up, but he's completely closed off."

"I'm so sorry," Henry went on, turning so he could rub his chin on the top of her head. "I wish you didn't worry so much, especially now. It can't be good for you guys." He put a hand on her growing stomach.

"I'm fine, don't worry about us," Mouse reassured him, putting her hand on top of her husband's. "And you can't tell me not to worry about Leo. I mean, he's mine, as much as this one is, you know? I couldn't love him any more, you know that, right?"

Henry nodded. "And I'm so grateful to you for that. I never thought I'd find someone like you, who'd love Leo as much as I--" he stopped, and Mouse knew what he was thinking.

"Henry, have you thought about seeing someone yourself?" she asked, her voice gentle.

"What do you mean?"

Mouse swallowed. "You know, like Dr. B," she finally said. "To talk about your feelings about Leo and Josie and all that."

Henry tensed up. "I don't need anything like that," he said. "I'm fine."

"Okay, okay," Mouse said, her voice soothing. After a moment, she asked, "Ready for bed?"

Henry nodded, and they rose, turning off the lights as they went.

In his room, Leo, who was not asleep, had crawled into his closet with the Channel Master for his nightly talk with Sabrina and Charlotte. He looked forward to the crackle of the speaker, and the sounds of their quiet laughter.

"So, you guys meant it, right? About me being able to come and stay at your house? If I need to?"

"Yeah. Is stuff still bad at your house?"

Leo nodded before he remembered that they couldn't see him. He pressed the button before speaking.

"Unh hunh. And now they want to send me to a doctor to talk about my problems. That's what my friend at school had to do, too, right before his parents sent him away to live with his Bubbe."

Silence, then,

"What's a Bubbe?"

"It's Jewish for grandma."

Laughter. "Oh. We never heard that word before."

Leo told them about his friend Kenny, who had to get picked up at school that morning because he was so upset and couldn't stop crying.

"I'm so scared, you guys," Leo told the girls. "I don't want to get sent away. But I don't think they want me. And I don't have a Bubbe to go to." He hadn't even told them bout breaking his arm, because then he'd have to tell them how it happened.

"Do you really think that would happen, though? Like we said, our house has lots of kids, and one of them is a new baby, and we've never gotten sent away."

Leo was dying to tell them about not belonging to his daddy, but he couldn't say the words. It made his chest get all tight just to think about it.

He told the girls good night and got back into bed, where he fell asleep and dreamt again about being left at the scary place, though thankfully he didn't wet the bed this time.

He could tell the next morning that his mommy was so worried about him by the way she kept looking over at him while he was eating. He kept resolutely quiet, and was a little reassured to see Amya following behind them as they walked to school.

He climbed up to the top of the jungle gym, which was a bit tricky with his cast, but he managed. Noah and Dominick were already up there. Kerry joined them a few minutes later.

"Have you guys heard about Kenny?" Noah asked, looking around.

Everyone shook their heads.

"I think he's already going to go to the other school, the public one," Noah informed them. "I don't think he's even coming back here at all."

There was silence as this information sank in.

"I'm sure glad I'm not him," Leo finally said.

"What are you talking about?" Dominick asked. "Who even knows what's going to happen to you, Leo? At least Kenny's mom still wants him. You don't have a mom or a dad," he taunted.

"Nicky, be quiet," Kerry scolded, putting a hand on Leo's cast. "Leo does too have a mom and a dad."

"Yeah," Leo retorted. "At least I don't have to go live with my grandma!" He couldn't believe he was saying such mean things. But Dominick was mean too, all the time.

"You don't even have one," Dominick said, his voice loud. "No one even knows where you'll have to go, because you don't have anyone, Leo Gardener."

Leo blinked rapidly, hoping he wasn't going to cry in front of his friends.

"My Bubbe told me how you broke your arm," Dominick informed him. "She said you fell trying to get clean sheets because you wet your bed! You're nothing but a bed-wetting baby!" he jeered.

"That's not nice," Noah said. "We shouldn't be mean to each other." He turned to Leo. "Come on, Leo, let's go play somewhere else."

Leo glared at Dominick. "You take that back!" he said hotly. "I'm a big boy! I'm not a baby!" He could feel his face turning red from anger and embarrassment. For some reason, the fact that Kerry was there made all of this so much worse. He didn't want her, in particular, to know about the bed part.

"No you're not!" Dominick shot back. "You're just a baby!" He turned to Kerry, who was sitting on the crossbars of the jungle gym looking horrified. "Did you see that? He wanted to suck his thumb just now!"

Now the other kids in the playground were turning to look at them because of all the shouting. Miss Abby turned to look at them, holding her coffee cup in her two gloved hands.

"I'm not a baby!" Leo shouted. "I'm a big boy! You're the baby! You are!"

"Leo, come on, please," Noah implored.

Leo nodded and climbed down with Noah and Kerry, leaving Dominick sitting alone at the top of the jungle gym. Kerry took his mittened hand in her own as the three of them walked away, and Miss Abby looked away, crisis averted.

But as they were leaving the blacktop, Leo once again heard the strident voice, right behind them.

"Baby! Bed-wetter!" Dominick's voice was loud and clear as he followed the trio. "You don't even have a daddy or a mommy, either!"

Leo had had enough.

He turned to face his tormentor, who was the bigger child by far. Dominick stood grinning at Leo, as if daring him to do something.

"I'm not a baby!" he shouted, unable to stop the tears.

He swallowed, then reached out and shoved Dominick as hard as he could. He'd never done anything like that in his life, and he felt surprised at himself.

Dominick, too, had a look of almost comical shock on his face as Leo's palms connected with his chest. He took one staggering step back before he fell to the blacktop, hard.

As if in slow motion, Leo watched Dominick's head bounce off the playground. Then he saw the bigger boy's features crumple into tears.

Kerry and Noah just stood, staring, mouths open.

Leo just stood and watched Dominick sit on the playground in front of him, crying.

Who's the baby now? he thought to himself with savage satisfaction.

Then Miss Abby was there, asking what on earth had happened?

And Leo knew that he was in trouble.