Chapter 18 - Making the Salad

Content Warning: Homophobic characters

Vicky

The ride to Nick’s parents house took about twenty minutes. Nick’s dad, Jim, put on a classic rock station and we rode the way mostly in silence. I watched out the car window as the scenery went from the urban college town to a more rural area. 

When we arrived at the Rosch’s modest house, Jim left the car and went inside and announced that we were home. I grabbed my purse and followed him into the house. I expected him to open the trunk and help carry my clothes inside, but instead he sat down on a recliner in front of the TV.

A woman in her 50’s came out from the basement. She kinda looked like me. Like Nicole. Except her face showed clear signs of sun-damage. She had bags under her eyes, and her hair was an unnatural shade of red. Maybe it was dyed. “Welcome home honey” she said, holding her arms out.

I hugged her. “Hi Mom.” I said. She smelled of cigarette smoke. I put effort in not reacting to her odor.

“God Damnit” Jim said shouting at the TV, which had a 24 hour news channel on. “Do you see this shit they’re doing now, Jackie?”

I didn’t look. I didn’t care. Nick told me not to engage in politics with them. “Can I get help getting my stuff out of the car?”

“After dinner” Jim said, not taking his gaze from the TV.

Nick’s mom, Jackie I guess her name is, took a seat on the couch.

I sighed. I hate having to depend on other people. I hate being a weakling too. Watching these two sit and watch TV while I clearly asked for help annoyed me. I saw Jim’s car keys hanging up, grabbed them and walked out to the car.

I popped the trunk and took out my overnight bag. I slung that bag over my shoulder.  I then eyed the clothing bin. I can do this. I spun the bin around in the trunk and managed to tilt it up to the trunk’s lip. “Take it easy.” I said out loud. “Lift with your legs. Don’t hurt yourself”

I pulled it out of the trunk and into my arms. Shit, this is heavy. I took a few steps towards the house before I had to put it down. That was enough at least to drag it the rest of the way.

I dragged the bin into the house. The Rosch’s didn’t seem to notice or seem to care that their daughter was struggling. Jackie looked at me and didn’t say a word. 

I put the bin down and walked down the hall to survey where I was going. A bathroom. A bedroom - maybe the parents’ bedroom judging by the laundry piled high and the fact it looked like an adults room. Another bedroom, with idle workout equipment, an old computer and just… junk. And finally a bedroom painted a bright orange with posters and pictures hung up. This must be Nick’s room. I put my overnight bag down on the bed and I returned to the hall to retrieve the bin. I dragged it to my room without any other occupants of the household moving an inch to assist.

I let go of the bin and examined the room further. Pictures of a much younger looking Nicole with groups of high school friends. High school spirit items adorned the wall. A picture of a high school age Nicole in a cheer uniform was on the dresser. I picked it up. Wow, Nick was a cheerleader? I placed the picture frame back down and realized my fingers had dust on them, and had left fingerprints on the picture frame.

I decided to get to the whole reason I came here. I opened the closet door to find a whole array of brightly colors clothes hanging up. Dresses, T-Shirts, sweaters. Below them, on the floor were more storage bins. “Nicole’s Old College Text Books”, “Nicole’s Winter Clothes”, and “Stuffed Animals.”

I pulled out the winter bin. Oh shit, this is heavier than the summer bin. Makes sense, since these are heavier clothes. I managed to drag it to the side of the bed. 

I opened it up and started to examine the contents. Jeans. Oh Thank God! Sweaters, long skirts, long sleeved T-shirts, blouses, cardigans. A winter coat!

This is exactly what I was looking for. I refolded what I messed up and put the lid back on it. Now I have to drag this monster bin back to Jim’s car. I supposed this could wait til later.  I am here all weekend.  

I returned to checking out the pictures in Nick’s room. As I looked through the pictures of Nicole, I found another recurring girl who was in all of them. Who is she? Best friend? Nick never talks about his high school friends, and none of them appear to still be in her life. I’m not of the prying type. I’ve been really good at not going through Nick’s phone too much. I only use it to respond to Lexi and Mads and never went through Nick’s feed.

I wasn’t about to go out to the living room and watch TV with the Rosch’s so I decided to search Nick’s social media for this mystery girl. After 10 minutes of scrolling through the contacts and the timeline, I came up empty.

* * *

Nick

After I went to the gym and showered, I was ready to head to Vicky’s parents house. I got into my car and input the address on my drivers license into the GPS. I hope this is right. The GPS told me it was a 30 minute drive.

A pleasant 30 minutes later I pulled up to a larger house on a hill with a perfectly manicured lawn.

I drove up the driveway and parked next to 3 other cars similar to the one I was driving.

I was in awe of the house up close. While this isn’t a mansion, it looked well maintained and the attention to detail was nice.

I got out of the car and suddenly I see three people running out the house with arms outstretched. A man, a woman, and a teenage girl. I recognized the adults from the picture of Vicky’s family on the wall in my apartment. These most certainly are the Machado’s.

Mrs. Machado got to me first and hugged me hard. “Victor, I’ve missed you.” she said, getting choked up. Was she crying?

“I’ve missed you too.” I said. I recognized her voice from the weekly phone calls. “Mom.” 

She let go of me as Mr. Machado put his hand out, grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug. “Welcome home.” he said. Wait, wasn’t he not going to be home until later?  I recognized his voice as well, though he doesn’t speak to me very long on the phone.

He let go of me and I looked at the teenage girl. She smiled at me. Is this Vicky’s sister? She looks years older than the picture in the apartment that I barely recognized her. I opened my arms for a hug and she came in and hugged me back. I suddenly realized I didn’t know her name.  

Usually when the Machados reference her during our calls, they just refer to her as “your sister.”  There were opportunities to talk to her.  “Do you want to talk to your sister?” they’d ask me over the phone.  I’d decline because Vicky said that’s what she’d do.  She explained that she and her sister got along well.  But they were still brother and sister, aged 4 years apart, so they rarely had things in common.  Or so Vicky said.  I bet the new Vicky and her sister would have a lot to talk about now.

“Do you have any bags?” Dad asked.

“No.” I replied. “I was really only coming for dinner.”

“Oh” he said, looking a little disappointed that I wasn’t spending the weekend.

“Well let’s not stand around out here.” Mom said. “Let's go inside. You can tell us all about your semester.”

As I walked inside, the interior was even nicer. I followed the Machado’s into their kitchen. It was enormous. Beautiful cabinets and countertops. I could also smell food cooking.

“Dinner will be ready in a bit.” Mom said. “Dad is making a pork roast - your favorite.”

A pork roast? My favorite? Oh no. How am I going to tell them that I’m a vegetarian?

“How are classes going?” Dad asked.

“Classes are great. I’m getting good grades so far.” I replied, sitting on a stool at the kitchen island.

“Good job” Mom said. “Do you have a favorite class?”

I thought about that for a moment. “I have this Tuesday Thursday class called Strategic Management and Decision Making. It’s actually been really fun. The instructor has a book on time management that I thought was really useful.  I’ve been applying it to my daily routine.”

Dad looked at me with a smile on his face. Oh no. I forgot to pretend to be Victor again. “You’re taking a business class?”

I was looking for the words. An excuse. I couldn’t find one.

“That’s great, Victor!” Dad added. “It’s about time you started taking college seriously.”

I smiled. My thoughts exactly. I think I’d get along with Mr. Machado, but I need to be a little more careful with what details I share.

“Maybe you’ll work for my company, yet” he said, chuckling. Mrs. Machado glared angrily at him. He then stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up. I’ll stop.”

“Victor,” she added. “We are proud of you regardless of what major you have.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I said.

“Are you dating anyone?” Vicky’s sister chimed in.

How do I answer that? Actually both me and Vicky are indeed seeing people. Granted their son is currently dating my boyfriend. And I’m currently seeing Stephanie. So I guess I could tell the truth here. “I am, actually.”

“Really?” Mom said, looking happy. “When do we get to meet her?”

I sighed internally. I should’ve expected that as a follow-up question. “I don’t think it’s serious enough to bring them home yet.”

Mom and Sister looked a little disappointed. I wish I had more to tell them. I wonder how Vicky is holding up.

* * *

Vicky

I didn’t do much the entire afternoon. I tried to keep an open mind about Nick’s parents. Before I left this morning he did tell me they mean well and he loved them. I’m having a hard time seeing through their rough exterior. I tried interacting with them in the living room. That only resulted in them snapping at me. They’d explain that they were watching TV and I was interrupting them. So I played on my phone in my room the rest of the time. I really only came out of the room to find something to eat for lunch. When it was dinner time, I heard Jim leave the house and come back thirty minutes later.

“Dinner’s here” he announced.

I came out of the room to find bags of fast food on the table. Jim handed me a grocery bag. “Hey sweet pea, this is for you.”

I took it and examined it. A head of lettuce, a cucumber, and a tomato. Does he want me to make salad for the family? Cool. I used to do that for my family too.

I didn’t say anything as I searched the kitchen for a knife, cutting board and a large bowl. When I found them I got to work slicing and dicing. I dice up the lettuce and put it into the bowl. Then I cut up the tomato into cubes and scattered them over the lettuce. I carved fancy designs into the cucumber, then made slices and placed them in a spiral over the salad.

I brought the bowl to the table and placed it in the center of the table.

I looked at the Rosch’s who were staring back at me. I noticed they each had a small bag of fast food in front of themselves. There was none for me.

“Why did you cut all of that up?” Jim said. “That was supposed to last you all weekend.”

“I thought I was making that for everyone.” I replied. I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

Jim smiled and scoffed. He mumbled “my daughter’s trying to make me eat healthy” and took his bag and walked back to the living room to continue watching TV.

Jackie said nothing and shrugged, and did the same.

I stood there and looked at the massive bowl of salad I just made. OK. I get that Nick is a vegetarian. But I wasn’t even asked what I wanted. They just assumed I’d want a salad?

I was angry. I stood there for a moment to collect myself. I’m hungry. The scent of french fries was permeating this house. I wanted some of that. I searched the cabinets and I got both a bowl for myself and one with a lid. I took some salad for myself and put the rest in the fridge.  I found salad dressing stuff in the back of the fridge.

I brought my salad into the living room, hoping for some family interaction. Both Nick’s parents had their fast food splayed on top of TV trays and barely took their eyes off of the TV.

The news was replaying the same coverage it has for the past 2 hours. 

I found a TV tray for myself and sat down beside Jackie.

She turned to me. “How is school, Nicole?”

Oh Thank God. She’s interacting with me. “It’s good. I’m struggling with a couple classes, but it’s been a good semester”

Jim turned to me. “If you fail, it’s coming out of your pocket.”

The anger that was simmering has returned. I have to hold it together.

Jim must be the type of guy that when he senses insecurity, he goes in for the kill. He looked me in the eyes, and instantly knew I was fuming. “Have you dumped that boy yet?”

He brought up Tyler. Dammit. Tyler’s not here to hear this, but I felt the need to defend him. “No, dad. We’re still going strong. He loves me.”

He chuckled. “You should dump him and find a real man. That boy you used to date in high school. That’s a real man.”

“Tyler is a real man, dad.”

“He’s effeminate. You brought him last year and we had to watch him prance around with that long hair and his dainty colored nails. I don’t know what they’re putting in the water in your college.”

I wanted to tell him that Tyler is more of a man then he’ll ever be. But I resisted. This man was my ride back to college.

“You need to find a good man” Jackie chimed in. “or else you’ll end up like Aunt Shirley.”

Who’s Aunt Shirley, and what’s wrong with her?

“That’s what’s wrong with this country today.” Jim said. “In America, men used to be men, and women used to be women. They’re ruining this country.”

“Who?” As I said that, I knew I was walking into a trap again. Nick told me not to engage them.

“The gays.” he said.

OK. I was done. I have enough of this. I decided I needed to leave the room. I stood up and took my salad to my room. They didn’t seem to notice or care.

* * *

Nick

I hadn’t moved much from my perch at the kitchen island. I watched Dad continue to work on the pork roast. I watched Mom making side dishes. We casually conversed about each other's days. I talked about the gym and some of my homework assignments. Dad told me he left work early because Mom told him I was coming home. Sister talked about her up and coming homecoming dance.

“Hanna” Mom said to Sister, “Can you set the table for us?”

Nice. I now have a name to put with a face.  Actually I think Mom has mentioned Hanna’s name in our phone conversations without any context.

“Victor, would you like to make the salad?”

“Sure.” I said.

Mom pulled out a ton of ingredients, a large bowl, a cutting board and a knife from the cabinet and placed them in front of me.

“Oh wait” Dad said, reaching into the fridge. He gave me a jar of olives and a block of cheese. He opened the jar of olives and stole one, popped it into his mouth, then continued what he was doing.

I started cutting everything up and tossed everything into the bowl.

“Dressing?” I asked.

Dad turned to Mom and Hanna. “Are we doing individual dressings or a group bowl tonight?”

“I’m ok with a group bowl.” Mom said.

“Same” Hanna added.

I looked around for the dressing. I bet I’m supposed to know where that is. “Where’s it at?” I asked. I cringed and expected them to get angry at something I was supposed to know.

“We got a new caddy for it over here” Mom chimed in. Sure enough, on the counter sat a caddy of various oils and vinegars. Mom picked it up and handed it to me.

The caddy had various shades of oils and vinegars with no labels on it. I picked up the first yellow oil and Dad chimed in “Nah - use the better one” and pointed at another greener oil.

Dad’s phone rang and he answered it.

“Hey” he said. “Sure. You can have that ready for me in the morning. Listen, my son is home for dinner. Let everyone know I won’t be talking calls the rest of the evening. Great. See you tomorrow.”

He hung up, then turned his phone on silent.

After pouring oil in the bowl I decided to not make the same mistake. “Which vinegar?” I asked.

“Balsamic!” Hanna chimed in.

Thankfully I knew which one that was, and put that in the salad. I tossed the salad and brought it over to the table as Mom was bringing over the side dishes.

The oven’s timer went off and Dad turned it off and opened the oven door. “Oh look at that!” he said, taking pride in his roast. He pulled it out and placed it on the island.

It certainly smelled good.

“Victor” he said. “How hungry are you?” He started slicing the roast.

“Umm” I said. I didn’t want to be rude. “A little hungry. But not starving.”

We all sat down, and Dad brought over the sliced roast on a platter. “Bon appetit,” he said.

I took some salad, potatoes, carrots, corn, and one slice of pork roast to not be rude.

“What was the phone call about?” Mom asked Dad while grabbing food for herself.

“Oh, we're working on a contract proposal,” he said. “The call was to confirm the agenda for the requirements meeting.”

“What are you proposing?” I asked.

Dad looked at me with a smile. “We’re building accounting software for a local distributor.”

“That’s cool.” I said.

“We’ll be meeting with their accounting department to see what they need. We’ll put together another presentation of what we can do for them.”

“That sounds fun.” I said. I wanted to say that we did something like that in one of my classes last semester, but I didn’t put my foot in my mouth this time.

“If you’d ever like to see what we do, I’d love to show you.” he said. “No pressure of course”

I nodded with a smile.

* * *

After dinner, I wandered the house looking for Vicky’s room. I found Hanna’s room. I found the master bedroom then I found two rooms with minimal decorations. One was semi feminine, with a few boxes in the corner. If I had to guess, this was a guest bedroom. The other was painted with more masculine colors. But the same minimal decorations and boxes in the corner. This must be Vicky’s old room, but currently used as another guest bedroom. 

“Miss your old room?” Hanna said from behind me.

“I was just taking a trip down memory lane” I replied.

I opened a drawer and it was filled with picture frames. I picked up the first one and it was a picture of Victor and a girl.

“It’s a shame.” Hanna said. “I liked her.”

Is this girl Lindsey? “I do too.” I said.

“Victor, why don’t you come home often?” she asked. “Is it because of her? Because of him?”

I never had a sibling. Are they always this blunt? “I think so.”

I didn’t want to get sucked into a conversation I couldn’t follow, so I turned the questions back on her. “So Hanna, Tell me about homecoming. Do you have a boyfriend? Do you have a dress for homecoming?”

“Let me show you.” she said walking out of the room and into hers. I followed her.

She scrolled through her phone and pulled up a picture of a boy. “This is Jacob.”

“Oh, he’s cute.” I said.

“I know.” she said. “He’s on the student council with me. We’ve gone on a few dates already. But don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

“My lips are sealed.” I said.

She reached into her closet and pulled out a dress in a clear bag. She lifted the bag to reveal a shimmery black dress.

“Oh wow.” I said. “That’s your homecoming dress?”

“Yeah.” She said, smiling. “It took a lot of convincing to let Mom get this for me.”

“That’s gorgeous.” I said. “I wish I was able to..” I stopped myself mid-sentence. “I mean, what I wore to my senior year homecoming was much more conservative.”

She looked at me for a moment. “What ever happened with you and Ashley?”

Ashley? I don’t know that name. “I guess it just didn’t work out. I’m not really looking for something long term right now.”

“Hmm” she said as she returned the dress back to her closet.

Just then, my phone rang. It was Vicky. “Excuse me” I told Hanna and retreated back into the room that used to be Victor’s.

I answered in a quiet voice so no one could hear. “Hi.”

“Oh my God, Nick.” Vicky said. “I want to kill your parents.”

“They’re not that bad.” I said.

“They’re treating me like a stranger.”

“You are a stranger, Vic.” 

“I dunno.” she said. “I expected to be treated like a daughter.”

I overlooked the use of “daughter” here since Vicky’s only ever been treated as a son. Maybe she is eager to see what it feels like to be treated like a daughter. I decided not to dwell on Vicky’s use of gender identifiers. “Well, I took a visit to your house. Your parents have been very hospitable.” I said.

“Wait” she said. “You went to my parents house?”

“Yeah. I was lonely and jealous.”

“What did they say? Were there arguments? Did they put pressure on you to change majors?”

“No.”

She was silent for a moment. “What did you have for dinner?”

“Your dad made a roast.” I said.

“OK I’m so jealous. Your parents gave me a head of iceberg lettuce.”

“Yeah” I chuckled. “They still think my vegetarian diet is a fad.”

“I don’t know how you put up with them. Did you eat the roast?”

“I had a few bites to be polite.”

“And?”

I chuckled. “It was seasoned well. Your dad’s a good cook. But it doesn’t change that I hated the texture of it.”

“Fair enough.” she said. “So I called because I wanted to know about your friends in these pictures in your room.”

“They’re all high school friends.” I said. “I hadn’t gotten a chance to redecorate with me living at college and all.”

“And this girl who is in all of them?”

“That’s Brianna, my… former best friend.”

“What happened? Did she steal your boyfriend like what happened to my best friend?”

“No.” I replied. “Nothing like that.”

“Oh” she said. “Why do your parents hate Aunt Shirley?”

“Geez Vic, you’re really grilling me with these questions.”

“I have to spend another day with these people and I’m at a severe disadvantage.”

“Aunt Shirley is my mom’s sister. She’s a lesbian. The outcast of the family.”

“She’s an outcast because she’s a lesbian?”

“Yes. She was actually my favorite aunt growing up. I’d spend time with her and she’d come to visit me. She’d spoil me with gifts. Then she divorced my uncle.. I mean her husband. Then started dating women. My parents flipped out and I’ve rarely seen her again.”

“All because who she dates? That’s rough.”

“Yeah” I said. “It was hard on me. I adored her. But to see her in that light, changed things.”

“Whoa, wait up.” she said. “It changed how you saw her too?”

“Yeah.” I said. “I was an impressionable kid. Kids believe what their parents tell them.”

“And now? Have you spoken to Aunt Shirley?”

“No.”

“Why not? It seems like you could reconnect now that you’re away from your parents.”

I’m getting annoyed that Vicky is judging my situation. “Vic, my parents would disown me.”

“I’m sorry I thought that-”

“Stop. I’m already on thin ice with them because of Brianna and Tyler. Dad has threatened to stop paying for college.”

“Wait, What happened with Brianna?”

I sighed. I didn't want to get into this. Not over the phone. Do I tell him? He’d be the first person I’ve told. “Vicky. If I’m going to share that, you’re gonna have to share more with me.”

“I promise to open up to you as much as I can.” she said.

“Dad caught me and Brianna together.” I said.

“Together?”

Geez, Vicky’s dense sometimes. “Making out.”

“Oh.” She was quiet. “Oh! Wait - Nick are you...”

“Bi” I interrupted. “Please Vicky. I’ve told no one else. Dad forced me to stop contact with Brianna. You see how they’re treating Aunt Shirly. Vic, I’m only pretending to be oblivious. I know about Madison. I know about Tyler. But I’m trying to deny it. If my parents knew that my closest friends were not... normal...”

“That’s, um.” she said. “A lot to digest.” Another pause. “So when you told me you were attracted to girls after the body swap…”

“I... always have been.”

“So, dating Stephanie must be a dream come true.” she said.

“No. Steph is not my type.”

“Wait. If Steph is not your type and is not my type, why are you dating her?”

“I don’t know.” I responded. “I haven’t been single since freshman year. I thought I needed her to keep me company since I’m lonely without Tyler. WIthout Lexi. Without Mads. I’m no longer living my life.”

“I’m sorry.” she said. “Then we should stop this charade and include you back into your friend group.”

“Yeah” I said, sighing. “It might be too late for that. Now, tell me about you.” I said. “Why are you avoiding your family?”

She was silent.

“Vicky you promised.”

“I know. I know. I’m trying to find the right words. Give me a few seconds.” 

I wanted a few seconds in silence.

“I love them.” she said. “But they’ve spoiled me. I made the mistake of flaunting my money… their money. I think that’s why Brandon turned on me. I was… overly generous and tried to buy friendship after Lindsey and Alan.”

“How is that your parents fault?”

“That’s not all. It's their insistence that I go to school for something other than art. I love my art. It’s what I want to do. I don’t have an analytical mind like you. I love to pour my emotions out into creating something. They can’t see that. We got into an argument last Christmas when I was home for the holidays. I got into a bad fight with my dad. I told them I wanted to focus on my art. I yelled at him. Tensions escalated. He called me ungrateful. I told them I didn’t want their money. All their money has done for me is cause trouble. I forgot what was said after that, but I got up and left during Christmas dinner and haven’t returned…. until you went there today.”

“Oh, Vic.” I said. “I wish you would’ve told me. I wouldn’t have come here.”

“What’s done is done” she said. “But. I do miss them. In a way, I’m jealous of you. You get to hug them. Have they treated you right?”

“Your parents have treated me amazing,” I responded.

“Did they mention the fight?” she asked.

“No.” I sighed. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. The Machado’s have been so welcoming, and I think I’ve given them the impression that Vicky has forgiven them, and it sounds like she still hasn’t.

“How is my sister?”

“She’s wonderful. She has a date for homecoming and showed me her dress.”

I heard a sniffle on the other end of the phone. “I think I’ll let you go now.” she said. “I’ve got enough info to survive the rest of the evening.”

“OK.” I replied. “Good night Vic”

“Good night Nick”.

I hung up the phone, and stood up off the bed and looked at the doorway to the room. Hanna was standing there leaning up against the door jamb.

“So” she said, looking at me. “How did you and my brother meet?”

I looked at her. And she looked at me. “How long were you… How did you-”

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t that long.” she said “I had already suspected before your phone call. There is no Ashley” she said. “I made it up. The way you looked at my dress. The fact that you didn’t know where your room was. You have not been acting like yourself at all the moment you stepped out of your car. You didn’t acknowledge last Christmas. I can go on. Oh and you called me Hanna.”

“Wait, Then what is your name?”

“That’s my name, but you’ve been calling me Nana since we were little kids.”

I shook my head. How was I supposed to know that?

“Who are you?” Hanna said. “And how did you- you look just like him.”

I sat back down on the bed. “Shut the door”. 

Hanna shut the bedroom door and she sat down next to me. 

“I’m Nicole. Your brother and I swapped bodies two months ago.”

“Nicole?” she asked. “So my brother is in your body? He’s a girl?”

“Yes.”

She laughed. “I’d so love to see that. So how? Why? When are you switching back?”

“We don’t know any of that.”

“Are you going to tell my parents?” she asked.

“I wasn’t planning on it.” I said. “Aside from you, only one other person that knows is my roommate...  I mean, now Vicky’s roommate Lexi.”

“Vicky?” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah. we changed our names and pronouns when we’re together or with Lexi.” I said. “That was all her idea by the way. I’ve been going by Nick.”

She continued to have a surprised look on her face. “Wow. Her? Vicky? My mind is completely blown right now.”

“Does he... I mean she... wear dresses? Makeup?”

“Yes. She’s gotten really good at it.”

“I have to meet her.”

“I don’t know, Hanna.” I said. “She’s been refusing to come here because of what happened at Christmas.”

“I can go to you. I’m a Senior. I have a car. I want to see my brother… I mean sister.”

“We’ll see.” I said.

“How long are you staying?” she asked.

“I was only planning on staying for dinner. I was going to head out soon.”

“Well, stay long enough for them to go out for ice cream.” she said. “They were talking about it downstairs.”

“OK” I said. “I can stay for ice cream.”

“It’d be nice having my brother around for another few hours.”

“OK.” I reiterated. “Your family has been very welcoming.” 

“Nicole?”

“Yeah?”

“Welcome to the family.” she smiled. “At least for tonight” she opened her arms.

I smiled and hugged her. “Well, it may be a little longer. We don’t know how long we’re going to be with each other.” I continued to hug her. “I… I don’t have any siblings.”

“You have a sister for the foreseeable future then.” she said.

A tear rolled down my cheek as I continued to embrace this 17 year old - my new sister - a person that I hadn’t even met until a few hours ago.

“Victor! Hanna!” Mom called from downstairs. “Let’s go out for ice cream!”