Life's A Cappella (22 page)

“Here,” Tonya said, giving me her phone.

I looked at the picture she had taken and was met with my wide eyes looking back at me. My lips were turned up in unmistakable smile. And Trent was right next to me, looking at me with his own smile.

“You knew about this,” I accused Trent while I handed Tonya back her phone, asking her to text me the picture which she had already posted on Facebook.

Trent held up his hands, a sign of surrender. “I’m just the delivery boy.”

“And you,” I wiggled my finger at Shayna. “Did you know about this?”

“Yep,” she nodded, not disguising her delight. “And I help decorate.”

“You did?” I asked, looking around the school, which was adorned with paper decorations and balloons, some of which had a familiar drawing of a happy face.

“I made you a present,” Shayna told me, leading me to Sofia’s desk.

She held out a piece of construction paper with drawings of what could have been people or frogs.

“It’s beautiful,” I told her, holding the paper to my chest. “Thank you, Little Miss.”

“Look,” she demanded, pulling the paper down to her level so she could point at the drawing. “It’s you, me and Trent.” She smiled up at me.

How I maintained my composure was beyond me, but after a big hug, I followed Sofia to her back room where I found her crying. Not sure if she’d want my comfort, I went up to her anyway and held her as she cried on my shoulder.

After she finished crying, Sofia wiped the tears from her eyes, telling me it was not the time for tears. “Can you feel her?” she asked me, and I shivered. I did.

“She’s here with us.”

Sofia nodded. “She’s proud of you.”

“And you,” I told her, thinking about how soon Sofia would be a foster parent.

As Sofia had told me, I didn’t allowing any tears to fall out of my eyes. Today was a day of celebration. And my best friend was here celebrating with us.

We went back to the party, where I did not stop myself from eating as many croquettas as I wanted. This party was for me, after all, I thought, as I shoved another in my mouth.

Trent dragged me away from the food table and onto the dance floor. With Shayna dancing circles around us, I put my hands in the air, my declaration of womanhood, and danced. With my eyes closed, I let Natasha Bedingfield’s words touch me. I was Unwritten. And with Shayna and Trent’s help and I had let go of the inhibitions that once defined me.

Chapter 40

Erin – October

I still didn’t know exactly what Shayna’s show was about, only that the audience was supposed to dress up in Halloween costumes. And she refused to me what she was going to be dressed up as. No matter how relentless my questioning had been, she never wavered and wouldn’t even give me a hint as to whether the show would be scary. Trent and I had bought our costumes the night before. And with Tonya’s help, I looked the part of Princess Leia.

I felt bad for Trent being stuffed into an oversized stuffed animal costume, but he had wanted to be Chewbacca. So there he was, looking ridiculous without the head on. He smiled at me and let out a loud Chewbacca type growl. Okay, I admitted. He didn’t look so much ridiculous as he did adorable. But I had a feeling neither description would sit well with him so I kept my mouth shut.

I stepped out of our apartment with Shayna’s hand in my own and was grateful to see Trent had been granted a bit of a refuge. It felt like the temperature had dropped to the sixties just like the weather channel had predicted.

He smiled at me, knowing what I was thinking. “It’s cold out,” he told me, and I wrinkled my nose at him. “Good thing I haven’t shaved in a while.”

He was definitely adorable.

I used my phone to record Trent’s miscalculated attempts at getting into the car and sent it to Leah with the message,
your son has lost his mind
. She responded with a quick refusal that she was related to him.

We arrived to the ballet school early. Shayna was quickly taken to the back where she would change into her costume, while we were ushered towards the rest of the parents who seemed just as eager as we were to see their children perform. With Trent by my side, I made my way to the
croquetta
table and immediately shoved one into my mouth.

I watched the other parents, who must have known each other from previous performances, talk amongst themselves. I spotted a girl about my age standing by herself with a plateful of food she hadn’t yet touched.

“The
croquettas
,” I motioned to my plate, which had more than a fair amount on it, “are amazing,” I told her.

She smiled at me, and more at ease, took a bite from her plate. “Is your kid dancing?” she asked me.

“Yeah, my daughter, Shayna,” I told her. “How about you?”

She nodded. “My girl, Madelyn. This is her first show, but she’s not nervous. I swear she came out of me ready to take on the world,” she laughed, and I joined her.

“I know what you mean.”

I introduced Trent and myself and we followed her to her seats where we met her boyfriend. We talked, making plans to get the girls together for a play date, until Trent’s parents arrived just as the show started.

I held my breath when I saw Shayna dressed in a blue tutu with a tiara on her head and wings behind her back. My little fairy princess, I thought, and felt Trent grab my hand. I looked up at him quickly and saw him smiling back at her, bursting with the same pride I felt.

Hand in hand, we watched Shayna skip across the room, only to pause when she was supposed to do a plié or pirouette. The audience loved her and gushed over her routine.

Her eyes met mine throughout her dance and I smiled back at her, sometimes giving her a thumbs up. I could tell she had spent hours practicing her dance, meticulously pouring over every move until she was satisfied.

Already I could picture her grown up as the prima ballerina of her company. The best ballerina our nation would ever see. And I was watching it all unfold at the tender age of four.

Okay, so I had become
that
mom, I thought and laughed. I put my head on Trent’s shoulder and watched Shayna’s dance all too quickly come to an end. I stood up and clapped, making sure she saw me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Trent wave his furry hand at her and her wave back.

After the show, Shayna ran towards us, but stopped when she saw the bouquet of flowers Trent held out for her. She took them from him slowly, examining the petals, and finally breathing them in. Her first flowers had come from Trent, I thought, hoping she’d remember it just as it had happened.

Sofia put the flowers in a vase and led us to the dance floor where Monster Mash played. With Chewbacca holding one hand and my fairy princess holding the other, we danced. I twirled Shayna around in circles until I was sure she’d get sick. But still she wanted more.

I saw Jose, the boy Sofia was fostering, by the food table and approached him.

“Where’ve you been?” I asked him.

He handed me a
croquetta
, which I eagerly took from him and ate whole.

“I was in Sofia’s office,” he answered, and I arched my eyebrows questioningly. “All this dancing is girl stuff.” He rolled his eyes and Trent laughed.

“So you were killing zombies?” Trent wanted to know and Jose nodded.

“I reached a new level,” Jose told him.

Boys and their video games, I thought, and looked over at Sofia who was watching us. Jose had started to live with her a few months ago. The transition hadn’t been easy for either of them, but Sofia’s determination and patience was winning. Jose had already started to talk to her, trust her, open up to her. They were becoming a unit. It was visible in the way they watched each other when the other thought they weren’t looking.

It hadn’t taken long for her to put a television with a game console in her office for him. Or for her to open up her school three days a week to an instructor who taught Jose and other children karate. And when no one was around, she taught him how to dance. Because every boy should know how to dance when he becomes a man.

“Attention, everybody!” I heard Sofia shout over the noise and turned around so I could face her. “I asked the children to vote on their favorite adult costume, and we have our winner,” Sofia told us, waving a piece of paper in the air. “And the winner is…”

I knew what she would say, and I laughed when I heard Trent’s name called out. Of course Trent was the winner. He didn’t know how to do anything half ass. I pushed Trent towards Sofia, who made him take off his head piece.

“What are you supposed to be, Trent?” she asked, dumbfounded by his costume.

He cleared his throat and glared at me while I waved at him, fully appreciating his discomfort. “I’m Chewbacca,” he told her, running his furry hand through his hair. “From Star Wars?”

“Bueno,” she told him, still not understanding who he was. “Why’d you pick him as your costume?”

I practically fell to my knees laughing when I saw his expression. Why indeed, Trent? He stared daggers into my eyes and shuffled his feet back and forth. I couldn’t wait to hear his response.

“I make a pretty good Chewbacca impression,” he explained, not looking directly at her.

“Do it, Trent,” Shayna demanded, standing next to me.

“Yeah, Trent!” I shouted. “Do it!”

So he did, making everyone in the school laugh. But they laughed for all the wrong reasons. There were only three of us who knew the truth. Trent winked at me before putting his Chewbacca head back on and I felt myself blush.

“I’m getting you back later for that,” he warned.

“Promises, promises.” I brushed past him, trying not to show how his words affected me. Already, my heart accelerated at the thought of Trent’s hands on me. My mouth watered, wanting his mouth on mine. Practically panting, I grabbed his arm. “Why don’t we leave now?” I asked, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

“I can’t,” he replied, his smile laughing at me. “I have some zombies I have to kill,” he said loud enough for Jose to hear, who let out a war whoop, complete with his hands raised in the air in triumph.

Even though Sofia tried to get rid of me, I insisted on staying so I could help her clean up. Shayna stared at herself in the mirror, slowly twirling around as we picked up the chairs and garbage that had been tossed to the floor. It was only ten, but already I was exhausted. I wanted to ask Trent and Shayna if we could leave going to the beach for the following day, but I didn’t want to disappoint either of them.

After a few minutes, the school almost looked like itself so Sofia and I decided to leave the rest for another day. I found Trent and Jose in Sofia’s office arguing over who had shot more zombies.

“Dude, I got the mosquito zombie,” Jose told him, full of pride at his artificial kill. “That equals like a hundred zombies.”

“No way, man,” Trent shook his head at him.

“Okay boys,” I told them, taking the controllers away from them and shutting off the console. “Time to go.”

“She’s no fun,” Trent told Jose, nudging the side of my stomach.

“Yeah, well.” I shrugged my shoulders at them, knowing they’d follow me out of the office. Sometimes, children needed tough love, I thought, and looked back at their dirty looks with a smile on my face.

Shayna walked up to Trent, rubbing her eyes and trying not to shuffle her feet.

“Somebody’s tired,” I said, speaking the obvious.

“No,” she said, pulling on Trent’s leg so he’d pick her up. “Beach?” she asked him when he picked her.

“Can I change first?” he asked, and she shrugged her shoulders.

Sofia waited for Trent to finish changing before she locked the doors.

“Today was amazing.” I hugged Sofia and Jose and followed Trent and Shayna into the car.

The beach seemed restless that night. The waves crashed into one another, and endless parade of sand and water on the shore. With Shayna by our feet, Trent and I lay on the sand and stared up at the black sky. It wasn’t dark enough to see a lot of stars, but enough to let us know they were there. Looking down on us.

The breeze from the ocean washed over my face, making my eyes heavier. But I was glad we had come. Shayna loved playing with the sand and Trent looked happy.

“What are you thinking about?” I wanted to know.

“Us.”

“Yeah? What about us?” I closed my eyes, listening to the waves crashing, Shayna singing, and Trent’s breathing.

“How I almost lost you,” he answered, sitting up and forcing me to sit up with him. “How I can never lose you again.”

I took his hand in mine and pressed it to my cheek, wondering why he was thinking about that. Didn’t he know he couldn’t lose what was already his?

“I’m here, Trent. Always.”

“That’s not good enough.” He shook his head at me, and I felt my stomach churn in an all too familiar nauseating way.

He got up, putting his hands in his pocket, and I felt myself, the life we were creating, crash.

“I suck at this,” he sighed and I forced myself to look at him. I wouldn’t make it easy on him. No, I had fought too hard for us and I damn well wouldn’t make breaking my heart easy on him.

I saw him pull out a small box from the pocket his hand had been in. He bent down on both knees in front of me so that we were at eye level. I felt my heart leap out my mouth, but couldn’t say anything. Shame from my earlier thoughts engulfed me. But so did joy.

He was going to propose. I thought about just hugging him, saying yes before he even asked, but I went back to my original plan. I wasn’t going to make this easy on him.

He shoved his hands into hair and looked at me. “I love you, Erin,” he said simply. “Marry me.”

I jumped on him, knocking us both into the sand laughing.

“Is that a yes?” he asked from underneath me.

“That’s a hell yes!” I told him and sealed my words with a kiss.

Shayna watched us, probably trying to figure out why we were rolling on the floor this time. And I knew that if Trent’s and my relationship taught her anything, it was to have fun.

“There’s just one more thing,” he paused, looking into Shayna’s face. “I want to adopt Shayna.”