“You okay?”Warren tries to catch my eye, but I’m too tense to stop moving.
We haven’t talked about my adoptive parents a whole lot, other than my dad being deaf and them living overseas, but he has witnessed my nerves firsthand today. He put Luke to work alongside us tidying the apartment and only teased me when I wiped the top of the kitchen cupboards. “Are they giants?” he had asked. Still, he’d passed me a clean cloth while I was up there.
“I’m fine. Come on, I will introduce you.”I nod briskly, gathering momentum.
Warren pushes up the sleeves of his cable-knit sweater and pulls down on the bottom hem as I turn to walk down the hall.Wait, his cable-knit sweater?Did he dress up? He isn’t in his usual plain long sleeve T-shirt and ripped jeans. These jeans are black and hardly worn…are they new?
“Warren, Luke, this is my mother, Martina, and my father, Tom.”I struggle to sign and gesture towards my parents while still holding Willow. My mom smiles subtly, her eyes glancing up and down both of them before extending a hand.
“Nice to meet you both.” My mother shakes their hands. Luke smiles blankly—unlike my father, he doesn’t force himself to lip-read.
“You too.” Warren steps back and nods, then turns to my father.“Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Please, call me Tom. Nice to meet you both.”My dad’s large smile is infectious. I think, similar to Luke in the group home, he’s been without signing partners for quite some time.
My dad shakes Warren’s hand and turns to sign with Luke. They begin a side conversation as Warren picks the bags of food back up off the floor and carries them over to the table.
I turn to my mother, who is looking cautiously at the infant pressed into my chest.
“And this… this is Willow.” I take a step towards my mom. She swallows, and her eyes twitch slightly.
“Hola,pequeñuelo.” My mother’s native tongue has always slipped out when her thoughts are preoccupied elsewhere.
“Do you want to hold her?” I forget to breathe.
“Perhaps after we eat. I’m starved,” she says. I bite my tongue and nod, forcing a smile across my face.
“Sure, okay.” There’s a strain in my voice, and I know Warren hears it since he looks over at me with concern.
Warren waves Luke over, and my dad follows closely behind, paying no attention to me or Willow as he passes us, still wrapped up in whatever Luke is saying.At least they’re getting along.
I take the seat closest to the hallway, facing away from the living room. My mother chooses the chair on the opposite side of the table, and my father joins her, sitting directly across from me. Luke sits on my right at the head of the table in the computer chair that he brought over from his room and continues his conversation with my dad. Warren sits next to me on my left. He winks at me, out of view from the others, as he sits.
He flirts as a form of reassurance, and it works. He seems to know that what I need most is some of that confidence he has a surplus of. I hold Willow in the crook of my arm as I scoop food onto my plate with my other. Warrendidorder the entire menu.
“I haven’t had vegan food before, so I just ordered one of everything. I hope that’s okay.”
“Yes, thank you. It looks lovely.” My mother smiles at him as she puts a few items on her plate. “Tell me, Warren, what do you do for work?”
“I’m a mechanic at a shop not far from here.” Every time Warren speaks, he glances to see if Luke and my dad are looking at him, checking if he should be signing.
“A mechanic… Does that pay well?” My mother asks, her tone deceptively casual. I stop chewing momentarily before looking sideways to Warren. He is unbothered.
“It does, yeah. It’s an experience-based salary. I’m working my way up.”
“And the goal, eventually?”
“Keep spinning on the wheel of capitalism, I suppose…” Warren lets out a low chuckle, but when my mother doesn’t budge, he straightens and continues. “I’d like to own a shop someday.” I choke a little; Warren places a hand on my knee.I’ve got thishe says with a squeeze of his fingers.
My mother smiles. “Good for you.” She forks food into her mouth, then swallows it down. “Chloe, how’s your work going?”Here we go.
“Really great. I recently finished this bus advertisement campaign for the city. The payout was great, and it will be cool to see my design out in the real world.”There isn’t much to dissect there.
“So you’re still taking the bus, then?”Never mind.
“Well, mom… cars are expensive, and I’m avoiding getting into more debt. I have a kid to provide for now. The bus is a more affordable option.”
“We aren’t going to buy you a car, Chloe.” My mother chews as she speaks but still manages to pronounce every syllable of her rebuttal with clarity.
