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She really is a mind reader.
* * *
Talia screams in delight for what feels like five minutes straight when we pick her up from school. She buckles in right between me and Yaya and chats my ear off.
I don’t know what it is, but there’s something different about my niece today. Something lighter. Something that makes her eyes shine. Maybe it’s because she’s connecting with the farmhouse kids and finally fitting in with a group at school.
Maybe it’s the fact that she’s staying with a tight-knit, cozy family like the Williams and not with her socialite mom, her workaholic uncle, and a rotating door of nannies.
Maybe it’s all the above.
And yet, it only takes three minutes to remind me that Talia is Lucy’s daughter. While Yaya was much more polite about my hygiene choices, Talia plucks her nose and bullies me right in my face, telling me how much I reek.
We decide to stop in at the condo so I can take a proper shower and change before we head to the park for some fun and ice cream.
Once I’m done making myself presentable, I head outside and find Talia and Yaya in deep conversation.
I lean against the wall, arms crossed over my chest. Fascinating. They clearly don’t communicate in the same language, but that’s not stopping either one. Sometimes, they pass notes. Sometimes, Yaya lip reads. Other times, Talia will use a sign.
The last one is not a sign I recognize.
“Talia, what was that?” I ask, walking closer to them.
Talia looks up first and Yaya notices the direction of her gaze, following suit.
I try to imitate what my niece was signing. “This. I don’t recognize it.”
“This means that you want something really badly,” Talia says. She makes the sign again.
“That’s not right,” I sign to Yaya, roping her into the conversation. “Who taught her that?”
Yaya gives me a pretty but sheepish smile. “Me. Sort of. At home, we make up our own signs. It’s like a lazy form of sign language that’s just for us.” She gestures to my niece. “Talia picked up on it.”
Talia’s eyes dart between us. Her voice is eager when she asks, “What did she say?”
“That you’re very smart.” Pleased, I lift my niece into my arms. “And that you’re kind and easy to talk to.”
Talia scrunches her nose. “Yaya doesn’t talk like that.”
“How does she talk?” I sign first and then I speak it.
I’m not good at doing both simultaneously the way I’ve seen Dejonae and Sazuki do. Something else I need to work on.
“Like that,” Talia says and she captures my hand.
I set her back on her feet and turn to Yaya who makes a ‘walking’ gesture.
Talia nods.
Huh. Looks like they have their own little language.
I escort my girls to the park where we romp over every inch of the playground. Talia even ropes in Yaya’s bodyguard to compete with the girls in a game of hopscotch.
My niece’s laughter rings out more than I’ve ever heard it. She looks at Yaya with adoring eyes. It’s the first time she’s taken to anyone this fast. Then again, whowouldn’tfall for Yaya? She’s charismatic, sweet, and a dangerous level of lovable.
I smile sleepily to myself. My eyes slide shut and I catch myself dozing off when my head lurches.
Stay up, Sullivan.