The Cub in the Water

A BLONDIE WITH LEATHER SANDALS

My mom couldn't care less about Jules being born. She even congratulated me and dad when we told her the news. I'll dare to say she even seemed sincerely happy for us. He and I were convinced It all was to be part of a trick. But it wasn't. She really couldn't care less about it.

Was there a reason? Yes, with my mom there is always a reason. She had a new boyfriend. According to her, they met at university she worked in when a convention was taking place on campus. If I'm being honest, I'm pretty sure he came from the internet too.

She was very excited about this guy, she spent a lot of time talking about him, "He is so handsome. He's tall, super thin, blonde, with big blue eyes and long eyelashes that make him dreamy. He is funny, cute, and kind. Oh! And he is Canadian!" That was the first description of him she ever gave to me.

It was fun seeing my mom happy. It kind of took the stress away from other things. All the sudden, a lot of the conflicts she had with me and my dad seemed to disappear. It was a win-win situation for everybody.

I'm guessing suddenly things got very serious because after them seeing each other only a few times, they got engaged. She dropped the news on a Monday after school at dinner, "Listen, I'm going to Canada to meet Philip's family. Then, he's coming back with me. He is going to move in with us for good."

She didn't let me say a word.

"Don't you worry, I am very sure you two are going to get along. You'll love him," she said with a huge smile and a shining in her eyes. "I'm only going to be gone a few days. I have already talked to your dad. He's picking you up at school Wednesday afternoon, and I'll see you Sunday."

Unsure of what on earth had just happened I answered the first thing that came to my mind, "Sure... Good trip. I guess." It was a lot of information and a lot of it meant too much.

Things happened as instructed. My dad picked me up Wednesday after school and I spent the following days with him and my siblings at Mildred's place. What should have been awesome days, turned out to be not so much. I mean, don't get me wrong, spending time with them was great, but my body decided that the weekend was destined to bond with the bathroom.

Since that event, I discovered that my body has a way to express the emotions I am not ready to say out loud or to process, stomach flu. I spent most of the weekend vomiting and with terrible diarrhea. I was nervous to meet this new guy. To me, he was a total stranger that was coming to live with us.

What if I didn't like him? What if he didn't like me? With Mildred, I had a lot of experience in that area. I knew the possibility was out there, and can you imagine living in a place where no one likes each other? No, no. I had already too much on my plate with my mom, the scheduled visits, Mildred, and the random stuffed made an appearance at convenience, to walk into a situation like this. Nonetheless, if that's what it was meant to happen, it was going to happen anyway, there was nothing I could do, except vomit.

The deadline came in the blink of an eye. It was Sunday afternoon. As we were pulling over and parking outside the garage door, we saw my mom and someone else taking things out of the car. At first, the only thing I could see was the top of his blonde hair. With just that glimpse of him, I couldn't help but feel a sudden sensation in my stomach as if I was about to puke; pure nervousness.

We got out of the car and approached the entrance where my mom was already waiting for us with the door opened, "Come in, I'll introduce you both," she said.

We did as ask and proceeded into the garage. Philip came close to us until he made a full stop in front of me. I looked at him with my mouth opened and my head hanging towards my back as a sign of 'Woooow! You are super tall'. He put the things he was carrying on the floor, and with a big and beautiful smile, he said, "You must be Mia, it is very nice to meet you. I'm Philip," he smiled.