Ayako nodded in understanding. “You’re a good son, and you worry too much.” She gave me a rueful smile. “But I’m glad to hear she’s going on the annual Thanksgiving trip. That’ll be good for her. Speaking of which, I know it’s still a couple of weeks away but are we still on for Chinese and TV show binging?”
I nodded at that, grateful to go in a less stressful direction with the conversation.
“Absolutely.” I held up my hand for a high-five. “On-call buddies.” Ayako and I signed up to be on-call supervisors for the New Beginning hotline almost every Thanksgiving. We got paid extra, and since we didn’t really do big family celebrations, it was nice to let the other supervisors who did, have the weekend off.
“We’re good. You still staying at my place?” Astoria wasn’t super far, but when she was on call, she sometimes crashed at my place. Since I was only a couple of subway stops away from the shelter.
She nodded. “Yeah, I might go home Friday night though. My brother’s coming down from Boston on Saturday.”
“Okay, I think Tom won’t have Libe, so I can always stay at his place.”
“Niiiiice.” She waggled her eyebrows at me and we both laughed.
I sighed, feeling better about the meeting with Libe. “Thanks for talking me off the ledge, again,” I said rolling my eyes. “I’m going to go with your advice and get the kid a My Little Pony toy of some kind and hope for the best.”
“You can’t go wrong with MLP. Not that I’m worried; she’s going to love you.”
I hoped she was right.
Who knew a person could see animals dancing hip-hop in the middle of Central Park?
I’d lived in New York City since I was thirteen years old, unaware this had been going on all along. And yet here I was, less than two months after meeting Tom, at the Central Park Zoo, looking at what seemed to be sea lions busting out moves for fish.
I was making my way through the crowds out on this sunny November day to meet Libertad and Tom. I’d been so nervous about meeting Libe, I’d texted Tom like ten times asking questions the night before. He thought my nervousness was adorable and was no help at all. His big piece of advice had been to be prepared to get a million questions, and to be bossed around the entire time. I could certainly handle a bossy four-year-old, but I was still dying from nerves.
The zoo was sort of tucked away in the park, covered by trees and canopies. Despite that, it was packed with people. I spotted Libe before I saw Tom. They were standing by one of the columns surrounding the sea lion pool. He had her perched on his shoulders so she could see the show. They were close enoughto have a clear view, but not so close they’d block anyone else’s. I hurried towards them clutching the stuffed animal I’d gotten her in a small shopping bag.
When Tom saw me walking in their direction, his face immediately lit up, and he pointed toward me to let Libe know I was there. I walked up, unsure on how to greet him, but he quickly put the question to rest when he pulled me in for a quick but very firm kiss on the lips. The entire situation was unnerving and felt so very grown-up.
Just as I was about to panic, not sure what to do with myself, my social worker training kicked in. I reminded myself that as far as difficult first meetings went, this one was nowhere near the scariest one I’d experienced. I could do this. I looked up to where Libe was perched on Tom’s shoulders, got the pony out of the bag, and showed it to her.
“I found this lost pony on the way here. I was hoping you could take her home with you, Libe.”
She squealed and reached out for it as Tom put her back on the ground.
“Pinkie Pie! I’ll take good care of her. I have lots of other ponies in my homes. She can come and live with me.” She took the pink toy and squeezed it tight.
She was so fucking cute. She had this mass of tight brown curls that sprung out of her head in a big fluffy halo. She was light-skinned but still had a little bit of a summer tan left. Today she was wearing a bright purple puffy coat, a pointy wool hat with lots of hearts on it, and tights with multicolored stripes. Her boots were so stylish I almost asked where she got them.
“What do you say to Camilo, honey?”
She hugged the toy again. “Thank you, Camilo.” It sounded more like “Mamilo.”
“You know Libe, I have a nickname just like you.”
“What is it?” she asked, as if I was withholding vital information from her. I smiled and veered my eyes toward Tom who was completely focused on the conversation Libe and I were having. “It’s Milo. My friends all call me that. My mom, too.”
Libe glanced up at Tom at the mention of my mother. “I don’t have a mom, but I have two dads.” She held up two gloved little fingers at me.
“I know. You’re a lucky girl to have such good daddies who love you so much.” She nodded and went back to doing things to the pony’s mane, then pulled what looked like a lemur out of her little backpack and was introducing them to each other.
I looked at Tom who was giving me an amused look and went back to my chat with Libe. “So, Libe, I was hoping you could help me today.” Her head immediately popped up from playing with the pony when she heard my request for assistance.
“Help with what?”
I sat down on the bench next to where we were standing and waved her over. She immediately climbed up without asking for help and sat next to me. “Well I’ve never been to the Central Park Zoo before. So I don’t know what I should see first. What’s your favorite animal here?” She immediately gave me a look that was all Tom, eyebrows scrunched, her finger under her chin, like she was working on a perfect answer. Before she said anything, she turned to her dad, who was now on the bench next to me.
“Oh we can help you with that. We come to the zooa lot.Right, Daddy?” Tom very solemnly dipped his head.
