Saturday morning, Smurf takes inventory of the kitchen, making a grocery list. They're out of spray cheese, which isn't a surprise. Pope recently got Craig into the habit of squirting it in his mouth from the can. Walking by Baz's room, she sees a partial sleeve of saltine crackers on the nightstand. Her boys never touch those unless they're too sick to keep anything else down.

"Baz," she says.

The teenager is sitting cross-legged on the bed, watching a surf competition on one of the local channels. "Yeah, Smurf?"

"Is your stomach feeling okay?" Smurf asks, brushing his bangs off his forehead to check for a fever. "That chili wasn't too spicy, was it?" Off his puzzled look, she explains, "I saw the crackers."

"I'm fine," he answers honestly.

"Good." She smiles. "Waffles are on the table. Come on before they get cold."

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Sunday is cleaning day. Smurf makes her rounds to the boys' rooms, dusting, picking up laundry, and changing the sheets. She doesn't think anything of the bag of corn chips she finds between Baz's bed and the nightstand. For Pope and Craig, midnight snacks during TV or video game marathons are par for the course.

As time passes, Smurf and the rest of the Cody clan begin to discover things that are a little harder to explain. A box of snack cakes behind Baz's usual spot on the couch. Neatly bagged peanut butter sandwiches on top of the kitchen cabinets. A package of Dunkaroos wrapped in a washcloth in the bathroom the boys share. Leftover pizza slices under the grill lid...

The hidden food disappears after a day or two, but no one ever actually sees Baz eat it.

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One day, Smurf puts her hand in the dryer and touches something sticky. She half-dreads what it could be and is relieved that it's just a banana. There's something else that doesn't belong: a squashed mango. Smurf heads back inside, her sandals slapping loudly against the pool deck.

"Andrew Cody!"

"What?" Pope's tone is annoyed.

"You're supposed to be watching him!" Smurf snarls.

"What are you talking about?" asks Pope. "Deran's right here."

The toddler is driving a toy truck across the couch, enthralled by an action movie Smurf is sure he and Craig are both too young to be watching. Well, she can deal with that later.

"Then can one of you tell me how a banana and a mango got in the dryer?" asks Smurf, holding up the offending produce.

"It wasn't me," shrugs Craig.

"I sure as fuck didn't." Pope replies.

"Language!" Smurf warns.

Baz had forgotten sneaking to the laundry area while everyone else was asleep. He can feel the tips of his ears turning red. Smurf starts to put two and two together. She asks Baz to bring a hamper outside, which will give them a chance to talk privately. She moves the fruit-stained clothes from the dryer back to the washer, lips pursed in annoyance at having to repeat the load.

"I'm really sorry, Smurf," Baz mumbles, his eyes downcast. "I dunno why I even did it."

"I think I do." Smurf's voice has turned gentle. "My mom didn't take very good care of me either, so I stole from other kids' lunchboxes and then I started shoplifting. It was the only way I could survive."

Baz didn't know that; Smurf kept a tight lid on her past.

"But I promise you something, Barry." Her use of his birth name gets his attention. "I will always take care of you the same way I take care of my other boys. This is your house now too. You don't have to sneak around. If your belly starts to growl, you can take anything you want from the kitchen. Day or night, no questions asked. Okay, baby?"

"Okay, Smurf." She hates that he doesn't sound convinced she's telling the truth.

She pecks him on the cheek. "I love you, son. Are you hungry right now?"

"Just a little."

Smurf throws away the banana and the mango. "Then let's get you a fresh snack. How's a warm chocolate chip cookie sound?"

There are Oreos in the snack cabinet, but Smurf knows it's important that Baz get some motherly affection. She hums to herself as she cracks eggs into a bowl and measures out sugar.

"Mom! I can't hear the TV!" Pope shouts when she fires up the electric mixer.

"That's what the rewind button is for!" she calls over the noisy appliance.

Smurf uses a wooden spoon to stir in the chocolate chips. Before filling the cookie sheets, she doles out a spoonful each to Pope, Baz, and Craig. As far as she's concerned, a little raw dough never hurt anybody. Explosions from the TV rock the air as Smurf continues her baking. When the cookies are ready, she makes it a point to offer the plate to Baz first, smiling to herself as he takes a second cookie without asking for her permission.