It was quite possibly one of the rainiest days in the history of rainy days. The view outside the window looked more like an oil painting than actual scenery, and the few who actually dared to venture out into it were either brave or foolish.

"I'm glad it's not my turn to go grocery shopping," Henry thought, taking a sip of his coffee. In fact, even though Sunday was technically grocery day, Pop had been so worried about the storm that he'd told Anne not to bother going at all. They were hardly running out, after all, so why risk it?

Henry sighed, watching the blurry figures of people as they rushed through the mess. Brave or foolish? My money's on foolish, he thought. Who would be crazy enough to go out at a time like this?

As if someone had magically read his mind, he heard the door open.

"Ahaha, little help?"

"Stanley?" Henry set down his coffee mug. It was Stanley, all right, plus Anne and two grocery bags wrapped in plastic. He should have known; Anne wasn't one to back away from a challenge, and Stanley being Stanley, he'd probably offered to go with her. Sometimes Henry wondered if he was the only one in the family who actually thought things through. At least, he certainly felt like it right now.

"What's rainy day without some nice hot chocolate?" Anne laughed. "We didn't have any in the house!"

"Yeah, and once we got to the store they had a whole bunch of things on sale, we couldn't pass that up," Stanley said. His teeth chattered and they were both shivering, yet they were grinning like idiots.

"So you went out into the storm? Without an umbrella?" Henry shook his head. "At least you had the sense to wear your raincoats."

"We did take an umbrella," Stanley said. "We just lost it while we were racing to the bus stop."

"Yeah, and when we missed that bus we had to stand and wait for another one," Anne added. "It was wild!"

"And when the next bus came we expected it to be full, but we were the only ones on it!" Stanley laughed.

"Gee, I wonder why." Henry took the bags from each of them. "I can't believe you two, running around getting all soaked and chilled like that..." Rain still sluiced down the surface of their slickers, and Henry was surprised neither of them were sneezing yet. "You stay put, okay? I'll get you some towels and then I'll start a hot bath for each of you."

Half an hour later, Stanley and Anne sat on the couch in front of a roaring fire, bundled up in jeans and Henry's old flannel shirts plus several blankets. Henry walked into the den, carrying a tray with three steaming cups.

"Here." He pressed a cup into Stanley's hands, then into Anne's. "For what it's worth, you two had a good idea. And you know, you could've just asked me for a ride."

"We didn't wanna be a bother," Anne said.

"Besides, that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun!" Stanley quipped. This time, Henry couldn't help but laugh with them.