Just Grace and the Double Surprise (8 page)

WHAT CAN HAPPEN

Can a girl suddenly fall in love in two seconds? Can a girl suddenly love her parents more in the afternoon than she thought she did in the morning? Can a girl be happy with a new friend even if she did not pick out that new friend herself?

The answer to all these questions is yes.

MY NEW DOG

I love my new dog! The only not-good thing about her is her name. It's Mr. Scruffers! When Dad first told me I said, "What? She's not a boy! She's not a mister. That's a stupid name." Dad said, "Grace, don't say stupid. I'm sure you can change her name—she's only a year old." We were driving home and my new dog was lying almost perfectly in my lap. She was a little bigger so her legs were kind of falling off, but she seemed happy.

I was glad that Dad had picked her out. It would have been too hard and sad for me to do the picking.

Dad said he'd spent a long time talking to the people at the shelter, and when Mr. Scruffers arrived they called him right away. I'm glad it was a short surprise and that I didn't know anything about it until almost the end. It would have been hard to know I was getting a dog and then have to wait and wait and wait for the perfect one to get there.

WHAT DAD TALKED ABOUT ALL THE WAY HOME

Being a responsible dog owner.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT ALL THE WAY HOME

I can't wait to show Mimi my dog.

What should her new name be?

I hope she wants to sleep on my bed with me.

WHAT I SAW WHEN I GOT HOME

Mom was sitting on the front steps. That was unusual, so I knew she was waiting for us. I jumped out of the car and we ran up to meet her. My new dog was really good on the leash. "Let's see this Mr. Scruffers," said Mom. "Oh! She is just the cutest thing!" Mom was petting and hugging her.

"I'm not going to keep calling her Mr. Scruffers," I said. "I'm going to think of something better." "Hmm," said Mom. "How about Cleo, or Millie, or ... oh, I don't know. I'm sure you'll come up with something." Mom wanted to keep talking, but I was dying to go over to Mimi's house. "Can I go and show Mimi? Please! Please! Pleeeaaase!!" Mom turned around and pointed to Mimi's front door. "She's not there. They left about an hour ago." Mimi's house looked dark—no lights were on. That meant..."They all left? To get the sister?" I asked. Mom nodded yes. I couldn't believe it! Mimi's big day was the same day as my big day? And we didn't even plan it that way. It was crazy unbelievable!

WHAT MR. SCRUFFERS IS VERY GOOD AT

Sniffing. I think she sniffed every single thing in our whole entire house. Mom said she was probably making a smell map of her new world. Dog brains have a whole different way of knowing about stuff than people's brains do. She can tell information about something by its smell. I use my eyes. I like my way better. I'm glad I don't have to sniff all the socks to tell which are mine.

Mr. Scruffers is also very good at sitting—if she thinks you have a treat in your hand—and at coming when you call her by her Mr. Scruffers name. It's good that she's so smart, but bad that she likes that name.

WHAT ELSE MR. SCRUFFERS IS VERY GOOD AT

Mr. Scruffers is good at barking, especially when she sees a cat. When Mom said I could show Augustine Dupre my new dog, I didn't even think about anything except excitement. Since Augustine Dupre lives in the apartment in our basement it only took me about two seconds to get down there. I did my special knock on the door so that she would know it was me. I do this so that if Crinkles is visiting she doesn't have to shoo him away. Crinkles is really my neighbor Mrs. Luther's cat, but he's in love with Augustine Dupre so he spends a lot of time visiting with her. Before we got the dog Dad would not have been happy to know that Augustine Dupre had a cat in her apartment—even if it was just a sometimes cat. Before Mr. Scruffers, Dad had a No Animals in the House rule.

As soon as Augustine Dupre opened the door Mr. Scruffers went crazy! I couldn't see Crinkles but Mr. Scruffers must have smelled him.

WHAT IS HARD TO DO

It's really hard to talk in a normal voice if a dog is barking, a cat is hissing, and the person you are visiting is completely confused and upset. It is also really hard to know what to do when all these things are happening at the exact same time. The only good part was that I knew the exact right word to describe what was going on. It was chaos! We had just learned that word in school. It means crazy disorganized mess. It's one of those words that when you learn it you think, "I bet I'll never use this word in real life." But I had just learned it yesterday and here I was using it already. Miss Lois would have been impressed!

WHAT HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE

"Sorry!" shouted Augustine Dupre, and she slammed her door right in my face. I had never had that happen before in my whole entire life. It was a surprise. It looks cool on TV, but when it happens to you in real life it feels kind of weird.

I could hear Augustine Dupre talking on the other side of the door. I guess she was upset because I couldn't understand a word she was saying. She talks in French when she is worked up about something. She was probably talking to Crinkles, trying to get him to stop hissing. I wonder if he could understand French? I had never thought about that before.

All the noise got Mom worried too, because she stuck her head through the upstairs door and shouted, "Is everything okay down there?" I was glad that Mr. Scruffers had stopped barking. "Yes, just excited, we're okay," I answered. "Well, don't bother Augustine Dupre for too long," said Mom, and she closed the door. I wasn't sure if we were ever going to be bothering Augustine Dupre again. Her door was still closed and we were just standing there waiting. Well, I was waiting. Mr. Scruffers was making pig snort noises and trying to push her nose under the door.

After what seemed like forever, Augustine Dupre finally opened the door again. She squeezed through a little crack and then closed it behind her. She was keeping Crinkles in and Mr. Scruffers out.

WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT SAY AFTER YOU HAVE MADE SOMEONE'S LIFE SUDDENLY BE FILLED WITH CHAOS

'LOOK! I got a new dog! Isn't she cute!'

WHAT YOU SHOULD SAY INSTEAD

"I'm sorry. I forgot that Crinkles would be there. Is everything okay?"

I said both things to Augustine Dupre, only I said them in the wrong order. I couldn't help it. I was so excited about Mr. Scruffers.

WHAT AUGUSTINE DUPRE SAID

"
Alors, c'est mignon, oui.
" I was worried it was something bad, but she smiled and bent down to give Mr. Scruffers some pets. If she had looked mad I wouldn't have asked her, but since she seemed okay I said, "What's that French thing you just said?" Augustine Dupre looked up. "Oh, I said, 'Yes, it is cute.' Your new dog is very cute!" She gave Mr. Scruffers a few more pets. "Is it a boy or a girl? What is its name?" The answer was not easy. It's the same sort of complicated I have with my Just Grace name—it's the kind of thing that always needs lots of explaining. I took a deep breath and said, "It's a girl, but her name is a boy name. It's Mr. Scruffers, but I'm going to change it as soon as I think of something really good."

Augustine Dupre didn't say anything for minute and then she said, "How about Mi-chou, or Fanette, or Amitee ... There are so many lovely names, I'm sure you'll find one." She gave Mr. Scruffers one last pet and then stood up.

WHAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN ANYMORE

I am not going to be sitting in Augustine Dupre's fancy apartment eating cookies with her and Mr. Scruffers. Augustine Dupre said that she thought it would be unfair to Crinkles if we let Mr. Scruffers into her apartment. I think she was worried that Crinkles would stop visiting her if he thought there was going to be a dog waiting there to chase him. This was probably the right thing to think. Augustine Dupre loves Crinkles as much as if he were her own cat. Of course she did not want to mess that up.