Mirror

Bringer of Light

Finally it was time. Shui and Adren were going to be a part of our family in only an hour. Kya and I had been sent off to the grocery store to buy special ingredients for Mom's favorite dinner. Mom and Dad had gone to pick them up and it was expected that all of us would arrive home at the same time.

"Eggs, milk," Kya listed.

"Butter," I continued.

"Cheese, broccoli, I'm nervous."

"Corn, me too."

"Bacon? Why? They're just people?"

"No bacon. Chicken instead. I know, right? They're just like us."

"Dessert? Adren is a baby so I'm not nervous about her. It's Shui. What do I say?"

"Cheesecake. So cream cheese and graham crackers. Why're you asking me? We don't even know if he speaks English."

"Ooh, with fruit sauce on top. Yeah, what if he doesn't like us?"

"Yeah, strawberry or cherry? I guess then we have to make him like us. He's a brother, he's family."

"Strawberry. True, I'm sure we'll grow to love them both."

"Here it is. We have everything else. Let's check out. Maybe, hopefully, they'll learn to love us even if it takes time. The truth is people are people and family is family even if we aren't blood relatives. We will learn to love each other."

"Sounds good. You're paying."

"I know."

Mom's car was in the driveway by the time we glided around the corner. I didn't slow down until my bike hit the garage wall. At a frantic pace I shifted the groceries from the basket in the front of my bike to my shoulder and handed some to Kya. We went in through the back door and placed the groceries on the table before making our way to the living room.

Adren was fast asleep in Mom's arms. Her skin was pure white except for the pink tinge to her cheeks and hands. Her hair was blond and the kind that seemed softer than silk and lighter than wind. Mom had wrapped her in Kya's green baby blanket and had dressed her in my blue baby shoes and Kya's blue baby nightgown. Everything about her was baby. I could feel my heart melting.

As I moved toward her my attention shifted to Shui who was sitting rigidly on the farthest edge of the couch, looking quite sullen. I exchanged glances with Kya. She nodded, gulped in some air and slapped a sweet smile on her face. "Hi," she said to Shui with just enough cheerfulness to be pleasant, but not so much as to seem obnoxious. "I'm Kya. It's great to finally meet you." Kya extended her hand in a formal greeting, but Shui didn't bother to meet her halfway. Kya let her hand drop and moved to sit on the floor next to the couch, her excitement unfazed.

I followed suit and introduced myself, but I didn't offer a handshake. Instead, I sat back on my heels and looked Shui directly in the face. My breath caught in my throat and I tried to make my reaction subtle, but it came out in a loud gasp. My hand flew to my lips and I spoke from behind my fingers. "You have the most beautiful eyes." Those eyes widened a moment in surprise, but the boy made no reply. I didn't really think he would. I hadn't even thought to say that out loud.

I couldn't have said why I was so captivated by them. They were only a half-shade lighter than black and if I wasn't looking closely it would have been nearly impossible to distinguish his irises from his pupils. So it wasn't that his eyes were particularly unique, it was something deeper than that, something that sparked a peaceful warmth in me.