Chris is on the floor now, Zoey in his lap, showing her something on her tablet. She’s explaining it with the intensity of a TED talk presenter—something about dragons and explosions—and Chris is nodding along like he understands every word.
Wyatt crouches beside them. Zoey immediately pivots to include him. “Tío Wyatt, look, the dragon goes—” She makes an explosion sound with her mouth. “Like that.”
“Wow,” Wyatt says, with appropriate gravity. “That’s a very serious dragon.”
Mason catches my eye. He doesn’t say anything, just gives me a small nod. He knows. Callie must have told him.
“Okay, sweetheart.” Callie crouches down to Zoey’s level. “Mama and Papa are going now. You’re going to have so much fun with Tía Nina and your uncles, right?”
“Right!” Zoey doesn’t even look up from her dragon demonstration.
Callie leans in, whispers something I can’t quite catch. Zoey’s expression shifts into something almost comically serious, and she turns to scan the room until her eyes land on me.
“Tía Nina.” She toddles over with purpose, her little shoes squeaking on the hardwood.
I lower myself to her level. My heart is hammering. My palms are slick. Up close, she’s so small. So perfectly, terrifyingly small.
Breathe, I tell myself. She’s just Zoey. She’s just a kid who loves you.
“Hi, Zoey.”
She studies my face with an intensity that reminds me of her father. Then she raises her arms.
“Up?”
My throat closes. I glance at Callie, who gives me an encouraging nod. At Chris and Wyatt, who are watching with careful, supportive attention.
I take a breath. Wipe my palms on my jeans.
And I reach for her.
She’s heavier than I expected, solid and warm. She wraps her arms around my neck and tucks her face against my shoulder, and for a moment I can’t breathe.
Then she pulls back, looks me right in the eye, and says with the careful enunciation of someone who’s been practicing: “I wuv you, Tía Nina. I’m pwoud of you.”
The tears come before I can stop them.
“That’s—” My voice breaks. “Thank you, Zoey. I love you too.”
Callie is crying now, silently, leaning into Mason’s side. Chris has gone very still. Wyatt’s hand finds my back, steady and warm.
Zoey pats my cheek with a chubby hand. “Don’t cry, Tía. Dragons are fun.”
I laugh, wet and shaky. “You’re right. Dragons are fun.”
“I show you?”
“Yeah.” I settle her more securely on my hip, and she doesn’t feel so terrifying anymore. She just feels like Zoey. “Show me the dragons.”
