Stranger

Lin

The next day, I was beyond nervous. I kept dropping things, trying to clean up the apartment before we picked Nora up later. We'd be adding a fifth person to our family, and I had no idea how it was going to go. It would take us all a while to feel each other out. From what I'd seen so far, Nora seemed a bit stand off-ish. When Sebastian had hugged her yesterday, she looked like she was getting strangled by an alien. She literally didn't know what to do.

I knew this wasn't going to be a piece of cake, but I was getting pretty apprehensive. I wanted this to go right. Needed this to go right. This was my family.

Vanessa had taken the afternoon off work and I'd rearranged all my appointments so we could all spend time together. At around 2:00, we left the boys at home with my parents and headed to the Juvenile Detention Center. We waited patiently in the lobby, and soon Nora emerged, carrying a grungy looking backpack, which must contain everything she owned. I smiled at her and she smiled back weakly.

"Ready?" I asked her and she nodded wordlessly. We walked out to the car silently and she got in the back seat. I could tell she was nervous. How could she not be? She was about to go home with two strangers and the only other family she had was locked up in prison.

"Have you been to Washington Heights before?" I asked her, glancing in the rearview mirror at her.

"A few times," she told me, watching the buildings pass.

"I think you'll like it," I went on. "There's a lot of parks nearby and the neighbors are really friendly."

"Great," she said.

The rest of the trip was silent as I pulled the car into the garage and parked. We took the elevator up to our floor and walked to our apartment door. I put the key in the lock and opened it to the sound of Sebastian laughing and playing with my father.

"Daddy!" He called, and rushed over to greet me. I picked him up and kissed him on the cheek. "Did you have fun with Abuela and Abuelo?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded, and then moved to get down. He immediately went over to Nora and wrapped his arms around her. This time, she awkwardly patted his head and said a soft hello. "Let me show you my room!"

He took her hand and was dragged to his bedroom, where she was given a full tour of his furniture and toys. After a couple minutes I wandered back and leaned against the door frame, watching for a moment.

"Sebastian, should we show Nora where her room is?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly. We let him lead the way next door to Nora's room. It had a single twin bed with a plain light blue comforter, a desk, and a set of bureau drawers. There wasn't a walk-in closet, but there was decent enough space. I walked over to the window and pulled back the drapes, letting the sunshine in.

"Here we are," I told her. "It's not much right now, but Vanessa will take you shopping tomorrow."

She walked around, taking it in. She sat down on the bed, testing out its softness, and ran her fingers over the bedspread. Nora set her backpack on the floor.

"Do you want a few minutes to yourself?"

She nodded and I took Sebastian by the hand.

"When you're ready you can come out and say hi to my parents," I told her. "They're excited to meet you."

She didn't respond, so I took Sebastian and left, closing the door behind us. I walked back to the living room, where my mother was holding Francisco, and everyone was standing around.

"How's she doing?" My dad asked me.

"So far, so good," I reported. "She wanted a few minutes to herself in her room."