Two

Sofia – Age 8

I'm sitting near the pool at some stranger's house with Mamma, while Papa has a meeting. Mamma says they and the strangers are friends, but I've never seen them together. I look at Mamma, and she's laughing at something Mrs. Volkov says. Mrs. Volkov is very pretty, and has long, black hair that goes down to the middle of her back, and her eyes are the brightest blue I have ever seen. She's so tall, and smiles at me every time she looks at me; she's so nice!

As I sit here smiling at the water, a big dog comes running toward me, making me scream, and I nearly fall into the pool. Mamma approaches me and catches me before I do, while Mrs. Volkov shouts, "Bruno, no, sit!"

The dog sits, then lays down, tilting his head and looking at me while I try to scoot back into Mamma's arms. He whines and starts doing some sort of crawl toward me, making me giggle. This makes the dog bark a little, and he crawls quicker, until he's right near me, then licks my face, sending me into more giggles. When I look up at Mamma, she’s smiling. She runs her hand down my back, then gets up to stand next to Mrs. Volkov, who has walked over to us.

Mrs. Volkov kneels next to me, and says, "He's a big softy for children; he won't harm you, sweet girl. Bruno is our Alaskan husky." He is amazing. He is all black, except for his big paws, which are white. He lays his head down on my legs, and I giggle as I pet him.

"What's going on here?" I hear someone boom from near the door, and I shrink into the dog, thinking I'm in trouble. Bruno licks my hand, causing me to giggle again.

Mrs. Volkov stands before patting my head, and turning toward the voice.

"Don't worry, darling. Bruno ran toward Sofia, scaring her, but they're best friends now." She says it with the sweetest smile, looking down at me, then winks, making me smile, too.

Mr. Volkov smiles when he sees Bruno laying on me.

"Sofia, it looks like you made a new friend." He says it very sweetly, making me beam and nod enthusiastically, making everyone laugh.

My Papa comes from behind Mr. Volkov, giving me a smile and chuckling when he sees the dog nearly laying on top of me. He shakes his head a little, then walks toward me, and bends down to pick me up, making Bruno whine, lifting his paw to stop Papa from taking me. I giggle at him, which made the adults laugh, too. I wrap my arms around Papa’s neck and lay my head on his shoulder, sighing. I'm such a daddy's girl. I look at Mamma to give her the big smile that she loves, but she's no longer smiling, instead she seems mad at Papa. She gives me the stink eye, like I did something wrong. I shrink into Papa's arms, confused. He looks at me with a furrowed brow, then looks at Mamma. His expression turns hard, and he holds me tighter.

Huh, weird.

Mamma's been doing that a lot lately, when Papa picks me up or spends time with me.

"Sofia, sweetheart, I want you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Volkov's children. Alexandr, who is thirteen, and Damian, who is twelve." My Papa puts me down, then points at each boy.

Alexandr smiles at me, taking my hand and giving it a little shake, making me giggle. Then I look at Damian, and he is scowling at me. I tilt my head to the side, wanting to step behind my Papa's legs, because Damian seems mad and scary. Still, I don't hide, because Papa says I'm strong and brave, just like him.

I step forward with a bright smile, and say, "Are you in a bad mood? My Mamma bought some chocolate cookies, they will make you happier. Would you like me to get you one?"

Damian looks at me for a minute, both his eyebrows raised to his hairline, and I hear a couple of people chuckling, not sure why, because I was being serious. He takes a step toward me and holds out his hand.

"Show me where they are, then, printsessa." I beam at the nickname and smile wide. "We're going to be the best of friends." I take his hand, making everyone smile, while Damian shakes his head a little, tilting his lips up, taking me into the kitchen.