“Who is she, Papa?”I ask, wrinkling my nose at the little girl he’s holding in his arms. Her face is buried in his neck, she’s shaking so hard that I can see it from where I’m standing, and I think I see blood on her leg.
“Tu nueva hermana,” he tells me in a soft voice as he attempts to set her down, but she begins to cry, so he decides not to.
My sister? I have a sister? I wonder curiously.
“Hi,” I tell the girl as I step a little closer. Papa rubs her back gently, leans down and whispers something into her ear. She pulls back from him slightly and uses both hands to wipe the tears from her face before she looks at me quickly then buries her face into his neck again.
“I’m Tatiana,” I say in a louder voice. I don’t understand why she doesn’t want to look at me, or why she’s afraid, but I want to be her friend if she’s supposed to be my sister.
My lower lip begins to tremble at the thought that this girl won’t like me. I begin to wring my hands as I look up at Papa who’s shushing her as he begins to gently move side to side. It’s what he always does when I fall down and scrape a knee or get hurt in some way.
He’s trying to make her feel better.
And that’s when I remember what always makes me feel happy when I’m sad.
I turn around and start running toward my bedroom. The last time Papa went to America, he brought me the biggest and softest stuffed fox that I had ever seen before.
I push the door open to my room and jump onto my bed to grab it, then turn around and run back toward the front door. I can see Mama now talking to Papa quietly and she doesn’t look too happy, but he keeps shaking his head. No matter how mad she gets with him, I’ve never heard him yell at her, and with a scared child in his arms, I don’t think he’ll start now.
As soon as I reach them, Mama scoops me up in her arms and Papa lets out a sigh.
I begin to wriggle out of her grip immediately and she sets me back down onto the ground with a loud huff then walks away.
I’ll ask her what’s wrong later, but right now, I want the little girl to feel better.
“Toma,” I say as I reach up and tap her on the leg.
She flinches slightly and it makes me want to cry. If she’s already hurt and I only made it worse then she’ll never like me.
“Hija,” Papa says to her softly. “Your sister wants to share something with you.”
The little girl takes a deep breath as she pulls away from Papa again then looks down at me. Her eyes are big and brown and so small right now. Until she sees what I’m trying to give her. Almost instantly, she smiles as she reaches her hands down for my fox and I look up at Papa with a smile.
He looks so proud of me that I know I did the right thing.
“We can share him, okay?” I tell the girl who nods as she hugs the fox. Papa carefully tries to set her down again, and this time, she lets him.
Reaching forward, I take her hand in mine and begin to lead her down the hall. I can see her leg is bleeding so I’ll clean her up and put a Band-Aid on it and she’ll feel better because of it.
And if she doesn’t, then she can keep the fox.
“I’m Ana Sofia,” she says to me in a shaky voice as we walk slowly toward the bathroom.
I smile at her and when I do, she hugs the stuffed animal close to her.
“You can call me Tati. I’m your big sister and I’ll help Papa keep you safe.”
* * *
When I openmy eyes again, I’m startled to find that I’m not alone on the bench anymore.
I sit up immediately and let out a sigh of relief when I see it’s my sister. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she’s staring off into the distance.
“Stay out of trouble doesn’t mean fall asleep, Tati,” she scolds me tiredly.
“Sorry,” I reply in a froggy tone.
I lean my head toward her slightly to rub my neck, then get to my feet.