“Yay!”
Eva reached for a piece of bread. “I’m with her. Soup with bread is the perfect start to any meal.”
For a little while, the table fell silent as we all dipped our bread into the soup and ate our fill. Asia abandoned her spoon in order to tip the bowl up to her lips. I shook my head as she started gulping it down.
“Asia, you know your table manners,” I said.
Then, Eva’s beautiful voice sounded. “Actually, in some cultures, they tip their bowls up just like that to drink their soup.”
Ava put her bowl down long enough to stick out her tongue, and I tickled her side.
“Better watch where you point that thing because my fingers are quicker than your legs,” I said.
Eva giggled. “Here, I’ll join you, Asia. If that’s all right?”
My daughter peeked over at her, and I watched as Eva scooped her bowl into her hands. She held it up, refusing to drink even one drop until she got the okay from my daughter. I watched the two of them like a hawk as my little girl studied her. And the truth of the matter was that if Eva couldn’t bond with my daughter, no amount of schedule finagling would benefit us.
But then, my daughter nodded and went back to slurping her soup, followed by Eva with her own slurping sounds.
“Hell, why not?” I asked.
Asia giggled. “You said a yucky word.”
I took my bowl in my hands. “And don’t you forget that it’s yucky, either.”
Eva nodded. “Yep. Some words make people happy, and some words make people sad. And we shouldn’t make people sad with our words.”
Asia shook her head. “Nope. Only happy faces.”
Eva smiled. “Exactly. Only happy faces for us.”
The exchange warmed my heart as the three of us resumed the slurping of our soups. I felt relieved, more than anything, that this was going so well. So, I decided to sit back for a little while and watch the two girls interact. At first, there was silence after we ordered entrees. I settled on the surf and turf while my daughter ordered a big bowl of noodles, and Eva, ironically enough, ordered the same thing I did.
I wasn’t sure if she could put away that kind of food, but it was nice to be in the presence of a woman who ate something other than a bare salad.
“Whatcha drawing there?” Eva asked.
Asia hid the notebook from her. “It’s a secret. Can’t see until it’s done.”
Eva gasped playfully. “Am I gonna love it?”
Asia nodded. “I hope so.”
“Will we get to color it together afterward?”
Asia’s eyes lit up. “You like to color?”
Eva giggled. “I love to color. I use markers because they’re my favorite. What’s your favorite?”
Asia loosened her grip on the notepad. “Well, I kind of like paint. But, if we have to use pencil-like things, I really like colored pencils. Or gel pens!”
Eva started digging around in her purse. “A girl after my own heart. Here, I have a stack of gel pens at the bottom of my purse.”
Asia squealed. “You do? Do you have pink?Pleasesay you have pink.”
Eva barked with laughter. “I’ve got various shades of pink in here. It’s my favorite color. I’ll pull them out and—”
Crash!
