“We’re friends, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Friends can talk, right?”
Zara’s brow creased. “Of course they can. Do you need to talk?”
“Yeah, I kinda do,” he admitted. “You lived with the monsters too, didn’t you?” he continued.
She nodded. “I did.”
“Did the angel ever come see you?” Titus looked up at her with wide eyes that saw too much for a child his age.
“No, little man, the angel never came to see me. I bet she comes to see you because of how special you are.”
“You’re special too,” Titus said and squeezed her hand. “I’m not glad we were with the monsters, but I wonder if we would have ever met if we hadn’t been with them?”
“If we were meant to be friends, Titus, then nothing would get in the way of that. And apparently,” I held his hand up and shook it a little. “We were definitely meant to be friends.”
“The angel said we’re survivors,” he said almost too soft for her to hear.
“She’s right. We are survivors and we will never be alone again,” she told him.
“I’m glad we survived,” he said. “My mommy and daddy are survivors. They’ll survive, right?”
Zara felt trapped between the proverbial rock and hard place. She didn’t want to give him false hope, but she also didn’t want to cause him any grief or pain. “You said the angel told you that you had a new mommy and daddy coming, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, I don’t think she would have said that if they weren’t going to be your mommy and daddy for a very long time. So that means they are going to survive.”
Titus scrunched up his little face as he considered her words. After several minutes, he finally nodded. “I think you’re right.”
Zara nearly let out an audible sigh. Titus seemed like the kind of child that followed every answer with another question. Zara imagined it could get exhausting. If he quit following that particular line of thought, then she’d take the small victory.
“How long am I going to be with you?”
Zara shrugged. “For as long as you need to be.”
“Are we staying here or going to your new house?” he asked.
“We’re going to stay here for a few more hours and then we’re going to ride with Decebel and Jen over to Mr. Vasile’s house.”
“That’s where the new baby is, right?” His face lit up. Judging by the hundred-watt smile, this kid liked babies.
“Yes, the new baby is there,” she confirmed. She looked at him curiously. “Titus?”
“Yeah, Zara.”
“Why do you like babies so much?”
“Because they like me.” He answered with such confidence that Zara felt she must have been dense not to have already known the answer.
Zara grinned down at him. He liked babies because they liked him—seemed like a good enough reason to like someone.
“Have you ever met a baby that didn’t like you?” she asked him, a grin creeping across her face.It felt good to smile, she thought.
“Nope. And I’ve met a lot of babies in my lifetime.” He nodded as if agreeing with himself.
