Sven didn't join us for dinner that night. Nor did he join us for breakfast the next day.
When I came down to the landing, I had expected to see him already up and cleaning like he usually did. But no, he was nowhere in sight.
"What's wrong with the boy?" Mama asked as she grinded sugar with two stones. "Is it puberty?"
I choked. "I don't think so, Mama. Let's leave him be."
Mama shrugged and went back to crushing sugar, but I noticed that she was putting a bit too much force into it now.
"Go put the pot on," Mama grunted.
I nodded and hurried to put the pot on and poured in some milk. Today, we were making custard.
"Sven likes custard," Mama explained earlier.
I had just nodded and gone along with it… even though I had never had custard before. Mama called out instructions to me while she finally crushed the very last chunks of sugar and then slid them all into the milk pot.
