“Andiamo,” Mira wiggled her finger.
Kei frowned to hear Mira speak Italian, and she purposefully ignored his reaction. She’d made a friend not far from the market. The lady visited twice a week to teach her lessons. This had gone on for nearly six months and she was becoming quite good. The first year of isolation Mira had struggled with German, which most of the population spoke. Eventually she lost interest in the language. With Eve she whispered in Italian and learned a nursery rhyme that her daughter nursed her breast to. Kei spoke Mandarin to her, and it seemed Eve had picked up on understanding him as well. The poor kid had so many different languages said to her at once it was a wonder she understood any of it.
“Come to Poppy, Little Rabbit,” Kei said. “Poppy will protect you.”
“Stay out of it, Kei. She has to learn better.”
Eve ducked from the corner and bolted to Kei full speed. Mira threw her hands up in defeat and turned to the mess covering the floor of the pantry. Rice and grains were spilled after a failed attempt to reach the cookie bag on the second shelf. Kei laughed, tickling a grinning Eve who had spit out her pacifier and melted into dimples and smiles. When she glanced back she saw how her daughter clung to him. They definitely made some pair.
It had been a wonderful Thanksgiving. Though it wasn’t celebrated in Switzerland, Mira went all out to make sure she had the traditional flavoring of home. She baked a turkey with all the trimmings. Eve had so much energy she danced for Kei until she collapsed in his arms and slept the rest of the day clinging to him.
Kei visited during the holidays mostly. His business in the states made those trips less frequent. In the past year and a half, he’d been to see her after the baby was born a total of six times.
Her daughter grunted and pushed at Kei’s chest to be let down. Mira lowered the dustpan to sweep up the mess and her little angel came to her side. Eve put her hands on both knees and squatted. She popped her pacifier back into her mouth from the string it dangled on and sucked hard and fast. Eve appeared to be fascinated with the cleanup.
“You see what Mommy is doing? No. No. You don’t go in the pantry without Mommy. Okay?”
Eve blinked. She stuck her chubby fingers in the trash pile then swiped her hand to spread the mess out of the neat stack Mira had brushed the grains into.
“Smart girl,” Kei clapped. Eve looked up at her surrogate father and grinned again.
Mira laughed. “Go missy, never mind it.”
When the midwife laid her baby in her arms, it took several long moments before Eve opened her eyes to gaze up at her mother. She’d never seen a child of mixed heritage with blue eyes. The midwife told her that many babies were born with blue eyes and after birth they changed to a natural brown or hazel color. Eve’s eyes never did. In fact they had the same unique trait of deepening and lightening in shade like her father.
“Why don’t I take my girls to breakfast tomorrow? Maybe we can drive out to the hamlets where we can make a snowman?”
Mira looked back over her shoulder at him. “What on earth do you know about making snowmen?” she grinned.
Kei’s eyes stretched wide. “I’ll have you know that I won the Frosty the Snowman contest in the sixth grade.”
“Really?”