I shivered, remembering how many things I’d done to him this morning, right before he returned the favor.

Sometimes it still felt like a dream that we were here. That five months ago we’d left Ethiopia together and now were living in New York City.

As soon as we’d landed, it was as though our lives had never been separate. We’d gotten into the sublet Lucía found us, which we eventually took over because Norma’s brother had decided to stay in Madrid for another year. We loved our little studio, and our neighborhood. Elias had gotten on great with Lucía and Moe, and loved working with his advisor. As for me, I had my first MSW class in the afternoon downtown at NYU, but before that I was going to my job as a counselor for an agency working with homeless LGBTQ youth. I loved everything about my job and could not wait to start my classes.

Elias squeezed me tight as he nosed my hair. “What are you thinking, konjo?”

“That I’m really fucking happy right now. Like ‘pinch me, play the lotto’ levels of happy.”

He gave me that amused expression he sometimes had when I said something very farenji-sounding, and kissed me as he moved to get some coffee.

He passed me a mug and we stood there sipping our coffee and grinning at each other before we heard the ring from a Whatsapp call coming from Elias’s phone. He grabbed it and smiled as he tapped on the screen.

“Is it your mom?”

He nodded and waved me over to where he was standing. I pressed in close to him and looked at her smiling face on the screen. “I wanted to wish you good luck in your first day. Both of you. We’re so proud of you, Eli.”

“Amaseganallo, Mama.” His voice was full of emotion as he thanked her.

I nodded at her and did the same. “Thank you. We’re excited to start.”

She nodded at us with watery eyes as Elias’s dad waved from his spot on the couch. Elias had returned home on his own over the summer, and that visit seemed to have made things easier with his parents. Over the past few months, communication with them had gotten more and more comfortable, and these days, most of the calls involved easy smiles and lots of teasing about Elias’s new American life.

“Call me tomorrow to tell me how it went, Eli. You, too, Desta.”