Jesus. I didn’t expect to have this conversation for another decade. “Why do you want to marry Roby? Is he a nice person?”
“No, he always fights with other boys.”
“Then why do you want to marry him, zayka?”
“He has two dogs and a parakeet, Daddy!”
“Would you like to have a pet, Lenochka? A goldfish maybe?” Please, just don’t say a parakeet.
“I want a parakeet, Daddy! Please, please can I have a parakeet? Sisi, Bianca, Daddy said I can have a parakeet! Can we go buy a parakeet now? Daddy, when are we going to buy my parakeet?”
Wonderful. I sigh. “Okay. We’ll go buy a parakeet next week, Lena.”
“Yes!” she squeals in delight and starts running around the dining room table.
There is a light touch on my right forearm. I turn my head and find Bianca standing there, watching me with an amused expression on her face.
“Do you think she’ll stop talking about marrying Roby when she gets the parakeet?” I ask.
“No,” Bianca mouths and smiles.
“Yeah, I don’t think so, either.”
“You are a remarkable father,” she signs. “She is lucky to have you.”
I place my palm on her cheek. She has no idea how much her words mean to me.
“Mikhail,” Sisi says from the kitchen, “there is a parents’ meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at the day care. Do you want me to go?”
“Daddy will go to the meeting!” Lena shouts from under the table. “Daddy, Daddy, will you go?”
“Daddy will go to the meeting, zayka.”
“Can Bianca come? Bianca, Bianca, will you come with Daddy?”
I look down at Bianca to find her watching me. “You don’t have to go.”
“I would love to come,” she signs, cocks her head to the side, then continues. “You don’t like going to the day care?”
I touch her chin. I didn’t think I was that easy to read. “No.”
“Why?”
“Because some of Lena’s friends are scared of me.”
She rolls her eyes. “Children can be stupid sometimes.”
My little lamb. Most days, she seems much more mature than her twenty-one years, but the truth is, she is too innocent. If she wasn’t, she would probably see what those kids unconsciously feel—that they should turn around and run as fast as they can the moment they see me coming.
Chapter 13
Bianca wanted to shop for a present for her grandmother, and I expected us to go to a mall or a jewelry store. Instead, I find myself in a small, cramped shop that specializes in custom-made hats. When we enter, I became convinced she gave me the wrong address. None of the stuff displayed here remotely resembles a hat. Everything is multicolored feathers and ikebana. One, in particular, that attracts my attention looks like a dead bird.
Bianca points to something that resembles a blue plate with an assortment of white and green artificial flowers springing from it. It’s atrocious.
“Are you serious?”
She just nods, takes the blue-green monstrosity, and puts it on her head. I find it hard not to laugh when she walks to the mirror and starts turning her head left and right, regarding the hat from every angle. Even with that crazy thing on, she is heart-stoppingly beautiful. She picked a flowery skirt that reaches to her knees, and paired it with a beige top and heels in the same color. I’ve grown used to seeing her with her hair loose or in a braid, but today, she twisted it into a bun at the top of her head. I think she wants to make a good impression with the day care teacher. She turns to me and signs, “We are taking it.” Then, carries the awful hat to the cash register.
When we leave the shop, I take Bianca’s hand and lead her toward the small restaurant with outdoor tables that I noticed down the street. I have to go back to work after we pick up Lena, and I won’t be back till late, so I want to spend a bit more time with her.
We take one of the side tables, and while we’re waiting for the food, I check out our surroundings. This situation with Albanians is starting to worry me.
“So, you are sure your grandmother will like that . . . thing?” I sip my wine and look at the box laying on the corner of the table.
“She’ll love it,” Bianca signs and digs into her food.
I highly doubt that. “She has a strange taste then.”
“Everybody thinks that Nonna Giulia is a little bit crazy.”
“You don’t?”
“No. She just pretends she is, so she can get away with anything. She hired male strippers for her last birthday.”