“Okay,” I reply.
Ben and I slowly pull our right hands out from under our butts. I want nothing more to shake it out to get the blood flowing and eliminate the pins and needles feeling, but I don’t. I rest my elbow on my knee and hold up my pinkie, taking care not to make a fist of any kind. Ben follows suit.
Then we wait. And wait. And wait.
Antonio takes a deep breath and slowly crawls over to us. He wraps his tiny pinkie finger around Ben’s large one and tears fill my eyes. Just that was a huge feat for him, but it was one step closer to trust. He wraps his pinkie around mine and I smile and give him a wink. He smiles back and tries to wink but keeps blinking instead.
“How do you do that?” he asks, blinking like a baby bird.
“One day I’ll teach you.” I gently squeeze his pinkie. “Promise.”
He nods then looks back and Maria. She swallows—hard, so hard you can see it happen. I can see her body shaking and I wish I could wrap her up in my arms and show her what love really feels like. I’m sure her mother gave it to her, but her father’s beatings likely made her forget.
She crawls slowly then stops next to her brother. She lets out a shuddering breath. Maria reaches for me first, her sweet little finger curving around mine. I smile softly at her and she lets out a breath of relief.
Then she looks at Ben who somehow managed to make himself look smaller. He gives Maria a soft look, the one that lured me to him in the beginning. She very slowly approaches him, his large frame dwarfing hers. She holds her breath as she twists her pinkie around his.
Ben smiles at her and whispers, “I promise.”
As if she can’t help it, all the air she’s been holding comes out in one rushed exhale.
“I really, really promise,” he reassures her and it works because she becomes totally unaware of the fact that their pinkies are still hooked.
Joan walks over. “What do you think Antonio and Maria? When all the grown up boring stuff is finished, would you like to go live with Ben and Nicole? Their house isverybig and there are tons of people living there.”
I grin. “Including Summer and Kadi.”
“Kadi!” Maria cheers.
“You will have separate rooms and Jace and Summer will take care of Kadi in theirs, but you’ll be in the same house,” Joan explains.
“Can I bring my dinosaurs and cars?” Antonio asks.
“Darling, you can bring anything you want,” Joan tells him. “We’d like to make this your forever home. What do you think about that?”
“They pinkie promised to not hurt us,” Maria whispers.
“Oh, well,” Joan begins. “Then things are perfect because Ben and Nicole take their pinkie promisesveryseriously.”
“For real?” Antonio asks.
“For real-real,” Joan answers.
Maria and Antonio look at each other, not saying a word but yet saying so much. Then they take each other’s hand and look at us.
Antonio nods. “Okay.”
“Do you have tea party there?” Maria asks me softly.
“I’ll make sure we have the best tea party ever,” I tell her, trying so hard not to cry. She looks less sad than when we got here. Thank the heavens for that.
Maria yawns.
“Looks like nap time,” Joan announces. “Thank you for coming. I know Maria and Antonio had a fun time with you today.”
Both Maria and Antonio nod.
“We had fun with you today, too,” Ben and I say at the same time, then chuckle at each other.
