“He’s flying back tonight. Why?”
She shifted her book bag to her other arm. “I miss him.”
“Me, too, kiddo. I’m picking him up from the airport around eight. You can go with me if you’d like.”
She knew at sixteen she should probably dis the idea of fawning over her parents. Some of her friends would think it was so uncool. But she didn’t care. She knew she had wonderful parents. They were the best. Even if her mom did call her more than she needed to and reminded her of stuff she didn’t need to be reminded of.
“Great. I should be finished with my homework by then.”
“Good. And Nana has prepared you something special for dinner.”
A smile touched Kia’s face followed by sadness when she recalled why her grandmother was visiting. Her grandfather had passed away two years ago suddenly of a heart attack and none of them had quite gotten over it...especially Nana. The two of them had been married over thirty years.
“I can’t wait, Mom. Tell Nana I love her.”
“I will.”
“I got to go, Mom. I’ve made it to my car and I remember. No texting while driving. Love you, bye.” Then she clicked off the phone.
Throwing her book bag on the back seat, Kia got into the car and automatically buckled up. Before turning the ignition to her car, she inhaled. Her car still smelled new. How many sixteen-year-olds can boast of getting a brand-new car for their birthday? It wasn’t the two-seater Tesla she dreamed of owning one day, but it was hers. Given with love from her parents and Nana.
As she left the parking lot she couldn’t stop thinking how grateful she was for her family. Her parents had met and fallen in love while attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They’d gotten married after college. They weren’t in a hurry to have kids and instead concentrated on their careers. When they did try to have a baby, it turned out they couldn’t.
Kia knew she’d been adopted. She would never forget the day her parents told her. It was after coming home from school in the sixth grade and crying her eyes out because she couldn’t understand how two people with such a high proficiency in math and science could have a daughter who detested both subjects.
That’s when they had told her the truth. She had been adopted at birth. That revelation had been a shocker and then it explained a lot. Things she had wondered about but had dismissed from her mind. Like how her chocolate-skin-tone parents could have such a daughter with caramel-colored skin. But as she got older she figured nothing was strange about it after all since she and Nana were of the same complexion and Gramps had been even darker than both her parents.
And then both her parents were left-handed and so was Nana. But she’d dismissed that as well since Gramps had used his right hand like she did. They had thought she would be upset about it, but she wasn’t. For a minute, though, she had been disappointed to learn she’d been born to a parent who hadn’t wanted her.
Her parents hadn’t been able to tell her much about her birth mother other than she knew she couldn’t take care of a child properly and had given her up for adoption, where she’d felt her baby could have a better life.
Kia didn’t know what type of life her birth mother had lived, but she would admit for her, being adopted by Percelli and Alma Harris had been for the best. She knew her parents had provided a good home for her and there was never a time she doubted their love.
She recalled her mother asking her if she thought when she got older she would want to find her birth mother and her response had been a resounding no. She had no reason to ever want to meet the woman who’d given her away, no matter the circumstances.
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