The Cub in the Water

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Mom and I arrived at Oakland International Airport on an early December afternoon. Rook was already waiting for us. He was a tall blonde guy, with a bit of a mustache on his face. He had a belly that hinted he enjoyed a beer or two occasionally. His eyes were dark blue, and his cheeks had a pink color to them. His body demonstrated his work area, he had big arms and tough shaped hands. I knew who the guy was because the moment the doors open my mom ran up to him and kissed him.

After they finished greeting each other, he looked at me and smile, "You must be the famous Mia." He walked towards me and gave me a hug. "I'm a very pleased to meet you. I have heard a lot about you. Your mom is always telling me stories about your adventures together."

'Adventures together?' I thought. "Nice to meet you too," I ended up saying.

We headed to the airport's parking lot and found a big white pickup truck. It was not just any pickup truck, it was the fancy kind. Big leather black seats, four-door kind of vehicle, with a super advanced sound system and proximity sensor included. A nice and fine ride.

He drove for almost an hour. As we entered the city he said, "Hey, look out the window to your left."

The view was beautiful. I could see the whole valley. Even though winter was coming, there was green everywhere and a little farther away you could see this beautiful blue lake. In the distance, I could also appreciate small villages with their very classic American style. The place was stunning.

We drove further into the city before we got to our destination. On our way in we passed through a huge public school with red buildings, green soccer and football fields, basketball courts, games for kids and a lot of space for them to run. I remember turning right not so far from it, reaching a pair of white buildings guarded by a guy from a security company. The guard looked at Rook and let us in. We walked up to his apartment located in the right-side building on the first floor. The place was awesome. It had an amazing big rectangular fish tank, a huge plasma tv, a wide refrigerator, and beautiful and modern furniture. With just a glimpse of the place, you could figure the guy was doing well in business.

"Welcome," he said as we walked through the door. "Mi casa es su casa," he laughed at his own Spanish attempt.

We didn't do much that day except have dinner. I felt tired from the trip. I went to sleep early, not even imagining the news I would receive the next day.

I got up the next morning to a great breakfast. Mom and Rook had prepared fruit, pancakes with maple syrup, and chocolate flavored milk. While we were having breakfast, they were both acting jumpy and nervous. They looked at me and at the same time said, "There is something we need to tell you."

'Oh God, here we go again,' I thought. It was all too oddly familiar.

"Your mom and I have been together for a while now and I know that up until this point I love her very much," Rook said.

'Together for a while? More like three hours,' I thought.

"I know you guys have a complicated life and I don't expect to fill Philip's shoes in any way. I know that," he made a pause. "Your mom and I have been talking and we both want the same thing, for you two to move out here. To become a family."

My eyes were wide open in shock and not because of the proposal per se, but because I could not really believe she was going to go through with it after everything that had happened, 'Am I getting punk'd?!' I thought.

I guess my silence made my thoughts pretty obvious because immediately, without letting space for anything else, my mom said, "Did you see the school we drove by yesterday on our way here? That will be your middle school. Rook is already looking at houses for us to move into a more suburban area, and we are getting married soon." She said these words like they were the most casual thing to say ever. As if saying, "Hey I bought gelato for us to watch some movies later."