Now she was on the orange couch in my room, and I was back in my bed against the opposite wall. The lights were off, and we were listening to my grandpa read Frog and Toad. It felt like a relief, because I was getting tired of asking Sonia questions. I’d asked her every question I could think of, which was how I knew that she loves barbecue potato chips and yogurt with honey, that her brothers’ middle names are Manuel and Raphael, that she has her own room at home, that she likes to swim, and that she’s a good speller. Sonia didn’t ask me any questions back.

I’d heard my grandpa read the Frog and Toad stories fifty times and never cried before, but for some reason as soon as he began that night, tears started. It was really quiet crying, and I kind of pressed it down with my hands under the covers, which helped me be even quieter, because I didn’t want Sonia to know.

I was sad that Sonia didn’t want to be there, but I was also happy that she was there. I was thinking about the next four nights with Sonia at Dad’s, a staircase of happiness in front of me.

My bedroom door opened just a little, and some light fell on the floor. Dad leaned in, and I watched his hand on the doorknob, hoping he wouldn’t open the door any more, because the light broke the spell of Grandpa’s voice in the dark. Dad listened for a second, and then he closed the door, very quietly.

We got to the end of Frog and Toad, and then I swallowed a couple of times and said, “I’m really happy you’re going to be my sister.” I was afraid of what Sonia might say back. She might say nothing. She might say We won’t really be sisters. She might have fallen asleep during Frog and Toad. That happened to me a lot, actually.

But she answered right away. She said, “Yeah. Can we put in another tape? How many are there?”

A tiny balloon of happiness blew up inside me. I said, “There are a lot.”

Sisters

At Miriam’s that week, I told her about everything that Sonia and I had in common.

I told her how we’d gone to the museum to look at the armor, which is my favorite thing there, and how Sonia said it was her favorite thing, too, even though she had never been to the museum before. Jesse asked us which was our favorite armor, and we both picked the German armor “for man and horse.” Jesse thought it probably weighed a hundred pounds, but Sonia said it was worth it because if you were wearing that, nothing could get you. Or your horse.

Miriam listened.