Sevario fits in with my family beautifully. It's like watching a stranger enter your life. He is a stranger entering my life.

He tells wrestles with the boys and tells them stories his trips to the Galapagos islands. He cooks for us, becomes a fixture in the kitchen and fills the house with spicy warm aromas. As much as I enjoy having him here, I can tell that my mom enjoys it, too--and Becky is nervous. I always thought I was the nervous one.

"How did you meet him?" She's asked me.

"Have you?" No.

"And he's coming all the way up here to see you?"

Good question. And I want to be a trusting person--and yes, I've wondered. But I like him, I feel good about him, good with him--and it's not like he can cheat me out of anything because I don't have anything.

"It's just my bad luck to meet men who live far away."

She sighs and twirls a dishrag. I sigh and think she asks for too much.

On Monday, we climb into Sevario's car before dawn cracks. He has a 10:00 AM interview at Microsoft, and this is really the first time we've been alone since he arrived.

The highway winds through the darkness, the acres of trees on either side like invisible sentinels. I can feel them there, but I can't see them.

"Your mother does not look well."

"What do you mean? She looks fantastic."

"She looks so frail."

"But if you'd seen her a month ago…"

I'm comparing apples to apples. Mom a year ago would be an orange. She is getting stronger.

"So are you going to stay here?"

"Everyone asks me, and I don't know."

"Because of your father?"

I look out the side window.

"Yes."