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“Mami, can I get a milkshake?” Leo looks up at Isabella, batting his long dark lashes.
Isabella has not stopped smiling since the end of the interview. “Of course. This is a celebration,” she says, scratching the hair at the back of his head.
“That is a lot of sugar…” Marisol clucks from beside me.
Isabella shoots her mother a glare. “Mama, it’s fine. Tonight is special.”
Marisol leans back in her chair and glances at me. “I think it’s too much sugar, don’t you?”
I open my mouth. I don’t have a horse in this race, not really. I was invited to a dinner to celebrate Leo’s acceptance into that bougie private school. Just because I’m here and technically his father doesn’t mean I’m allowed to have an opinion. And if I am, I’m too terrified to give it when Isabella could snatch time with Leo away from me at any moment.
“I don’t know, Marisol. A milkshake sounds really good,” I say. I glance down at the diner’s menu. “I might have to get one too.”
Marisol laughs to herself and mutters something in Spanish. I catch the word “padre” but none of the context.
Leo smiles at me from across the table. His smile is both shy and hopeful. It feels like he’s reaching out to me despite his natural trepidation.
“What kind of milkshake will you get?” Leo asks, leaning his arms on the edge of the table.
I screw my lips together and furrow my brow like I’m thinking really hard. “Grasshopper, probably.”
“Grasshopper?!” Leo lets out a loud laugh. “Bugs? In a milkshake.”
I chuckle. “It’s just an expression. It’s actually mint and chocolate.”
Leo’s eyes grow wide. “Oooo…”
“And it’s green,” I add.
“Green?!” Leo gasps and returns his gaze to Isabella.
She matches his surprise. “That’s crazy, right?”
I feel a hand on my arm. Marisol. I glance at her and she’s smiling at me. The pinch at the corner of her eyes says so much without her having to say anything at all.
We are a family. To any outside eye. Mama and Papa and Abuela and the little boy at the center of it all.
Inside it, though, is much more complicated.
Our server drops by with her notepad. “Any dessert for you folks?”
“I’m gonna have a grasshopper milkshake,” I say then point at Leo. “You want a grasshopper too?”
Leo nods hard, smiling big.
“Grasshopper for the little man too. Marisol?”
The older woman waves one of her crepey hands. “Azucar… bah.”
That would be a no. I save Isabella for last. And when our eyes meet, I am nearly bowled over by her beauty, as if I’m seeing her for the first time. All the smiles she’s given me since our strange meeting in the hospital have felt forced or complicated by memories.
This smile is so pure. Just for me.
I will cherish it.
“What about you, Isabella?”
Leo grabs her arm. “Get a milkshake! Get a milkshake!”
