Title: Nanu Nanu
Fandom: The Americans
Rating: PG
Length: 400
Summary: Henry asks difficult questions


"Henry! Dinner!" Elizabeth called out.

Paige and Philip were already sitting round the table.  Henry, however, was at his usual spot - by the computer.  "Just a minute!"

Philip turned to his son. "Now, Henry."

With an exaggerated, drawn-out sigh, Henry put the joystick down and joined the rest of the family.  Elizabeth brought over a pan of meat casserole and started dishing it out.

Henry waited till he got his portion, then started digging in.  Mouth full, he turned to Philip. "Dad, where's our family from?"

Paige froze, fork halfway to her mouth.  She snuck a quick, worried glance at her mother, who looked undecided on how best to approach this.  

Philip was the first to regain composure. "What... what do you mean?"

"Where's our family from?" Henry repeated, and before anybody responded, he continued on to explain. "Mrs. Andrews said we should all ask our parents were we're from."

The rest of the family breathed a sigh of relief.  It was a homework assignment.

Henry seemed oblivious to the concern this question caused his parents and sister.  "She said we should also ask our grandparents, but I told her they're dead."

Elizabeth placed the pan at the center of the table and took her seat.  "We're Americans, Henry.  From America."

"Mrs. Andrews said that everybody comes from somewhere else.  Except the Indians, but we don't have any in our class.  She said that we're like a salad-"

Elizabeth and Philip exchanged a quick glance.

"-and that we should do a show and tell about our national traditions."

"National traditions?" Elizabeth asked, keeping a neutral tone.

"Yeah, like a national dance. Or what kind of food we eat."

"We eat American food," Elizabeth pointed out.

"Mrs. Andrews said we should talk about the kind of food our family ate before they came to America."

Elizabeth shrugged it off.  "But that was such a long time ago."

Philip cleared his throat. "Henry's right.  Maybe it's time he knew where we're from."

Henry's eyes shot up to meet his father's.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, but Philip raised a hand to stop her.  "The truth is, Henry, we come from Ork.  Your mother and I came to earth in a little egg-spaceship."

Henry groaned. "That's not funny, Dad."

"You don't want to hear about our special Ork traditions?"

Henry gave his father a long-suffering look.  "Never mind, Dad.  I'll just tell Mrs. Andrews we're Irish."