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Yiayia laughed when she saw Sia for the first time.
Pappou cried.
So much thinner than he’d been the last time I saw him, I knew bringing Sia to meet them was the right decision.
The kitchen table bowed under the weight of the food Yiayia prepared for me.
For me.
My young cousin, our trusty translator, had fallen asleep hours before on the couch. She slept right through dinner.
Pappou sat across from us, barely touching his plate, much to Yiayia’s dismay. I needed no translator to understand she wanted him to eat.
Yiayia piled my plate with food and played with Sia until she willingly went into her arms.
For the first time since I left home over 24 hours before, my hands were free. I pulled out my cell phone to let Hope know we finally made it. It was dead.
And I was dead on my feet.
I didn’t have it in me to look for the adaptor to charge the phone. I fell into bed with Sia tucked into my side and slept.
As soon as I woke up, I charged my phone. Looking around the bedroom Yiayia prepared for us, I noticed a brand-new crib tucked into the corner.
A brand-new crib for a short visit? It hurt my heart that they went through the trouble. It hurt that they lost their daughter.
Their happiness, the flipside of their grieving, hurt as much as it healed.
No one, ever, greeted me like they did.
Like I was royalty.
Like they couldn’t wait to see me.
Like I made them happy just by showing up.
The pressure to keep them happy weighed on me.
Yiayia came upstairs and peeked in the room.
“You go baigno. I sit mai to moro.”
“Banyo?”
“Sower.” She shook her head and tried again. “Ssssower.”
“Shower? Shower!” I nodded emphatically then held up my hand to show five minutes.
She nodded happily, reached up to rest both her palms on the sides of my face. “You good boy.”
I smiled down at her. Something buried deep compelled me to cup my hands around her face in return. “You good yiayia.”
Her eyes filled, then she said, “Ach”, and lightly slapped my face before shooing me out of the room.
Two hours later, I grabbed my phone and uploaded the pictures from my camera. Flipping through them, I found the one I wanted and sent it to Hope.
Sia sat on Yiayia’s lap, Pappou smiling in the background.
Ares: We finally made it. Sorry I didn’t text. The trip was hell. My cell phone died. It was three o’clock in the morning Greek time when we finally got here. I fell into bed and slept for six hours.
