Watching her parents help the moving men pick up boxes from the U-Haul and take them into her new house, five year-old Sophia Amoretti sat herself on the curb, away from the bustle. The sun shone brightly in the small town of Bowie, Maryland. It was July of 1981, and Sophia had just moved from Washington State. She had a pink tee shirt and blue jeans on, and her sneakers were multi-colored canvas. Her long, dark hair was in pigtails tied with pink ribbons. She was playing with a small doll that rarely left her side; she sighed, wishing she didn’t feel so alone in this new place.
Looking to her right, she saw a house that looked similar to her new home, but saw an old woman walking out to her mailbox. Sophia hung her head, knowing there wouldn’t be any children her own age to play with in that house. Looking to her left, she saw another house that looked similar to hers. It was painted a light shade of yellow, and a green car sat in the driveway. A pink tricycle with tassels on the handlebars was in the yard. She grinned slightly, knowing that her hopes to find other kids to play with weren’t for nothing now. But where were they? She hoped with all her might that the kid who lived there would come out and play so she could maybe make a friend. Clutching her doll under her arm, she watched the front door of the house next door carefully, not wanting to miss the second the child would come out.
What happened next, however, surprised her. A second car pulled in the driveway of the house she was watching, and a Mommy, a Daddy, and a little boy got out of the car. The little boy looked just as lonely as she did, and just as shy. He held his Mommy’s hand, his other hand up to his mouth in curiosity. Sophia thought he looked about her age, but she wasn’t sure. They walked up to their house, the Mommy talking softly to the boy. The Daddy jogged up to their front door before the boy and the Mommy got there, holding open the door for them. Sophia watched as the boy looked at his surroundings as if he’d never seen them before. He looked apprehensive, but obviously trusted the Mommy and Daddy, because after another second, he was in the house, blocked from view.
Sophia was disappointed about not getting to meet the boy, but got called into her house a minute later, and she ran across her green front yard to her front door and into her house.
“Sophie, come here, honey.” Her mother called her from the kitchen.
“Mommy, there was a boy going into the other house, and he looked the same age as me.” Sophia rapidly spoke, and hopped into a chair at the table.
“Oh, really? We might have to go take some cookies to the new neighbors. We’ll go tomorrow, okay?” Sheila winked at her daughter. Sophia nodded excitedly.
~*~The Next Day~*~
Sophia and her mother had gone to the grocery store that morning, and came home with cookie dough that was ready-to-bake. Sophia picked out cookies that they could decorate, and helped her mother make them as pretty as possible. When they were ready and on a nice plate, Sheila walked with Sophia over to the yellow house next door.
Sheila let her daughter ring the doorbell, and Sophia bounced happily on the balls of her feet. She heard footsteps approach the door, and watched the glass-paned door open. A small woman with reddish hair looked at the two of them, and smiled.
“Hello, how may I help you?” Karen Chasez asked politely, smiling at Sheila and Sophia.
“Hi, I’m Sheila Amoretti, and this is my daughter Sophia. We moved in next door yesterday, and we wanted to say hello. We brought cookies,” Sheila said smiling, holding out the plate of warm cookies to Karen so she could take them.
“Well, hello! I thought I saw a moving van out there yesterday, but I was so caught up… I’m Karen Chasez. My husband Roy is at work; would you like to come in? I’ve got some milk that will go perfectly with those.” Karen smiled and stepped aside, allowing Sheila and Sophia to walk in.
“Joshua, Heather, come in here. I want you to meet the new neighbors.” Karen walked into the living room, striding over to her son and daughter, who were playing with stuffed animals on the floor. Heather got up and ran to her mother’s side, her thumb instantly in her mouth. Joshua got up, and walked up timidly to his mother’s side as well. “They brought cookies! Come on, let’s go out back.”
Sheila and Sophia followed Karen and her children into the kitchen, and out to the patio in the back yard. There was a picnic table, a sand box, and a swing set.
“Hi, Joshua. I’m Sheila,” Sophia’s mother held her hand out to Joshua.
“Hi,” he said bashfully, but shook her outstretched hand.
“This is Sophia, my daughter. Say hi, honey.”
“Hi, Joshua. I’m Sophia. But you can call me Sophie if you want to.” She held out her hand just like her mother taught her, and waited for Joshua to shake it. She watched as Joshua took her hand and shook it. He let go quickly, but smiled at her.
“Hi Sophie. Wanna go play on my swing set?” he asked. Sophia nodded, and they ran, hand in hand, to the swing set, where they both sat on a swing, pumped their legs, and started laughing hysterically.
“Wow. I haven’t seen Joshua laugh like that yet. That’s so precious,” Karen said as she brought out four glasses of milk, and one sippy-cup of milk. She set them on the picnic table, watching the kids swing.
“Um, I don’t mean to be nosy, but you haven’t seen your son laugh like that before? Is he usually a quiet boy?” Sheila asked carefully.
“Oh, I’m sorry. No, I literally haven’t seen him laugh like that before. It’s because today is his first full day living here. We adopted Joshua, and he came home with us yesterday.” She got a wistful look on her face, staring out at her new boy, who was now pushing Sophia on the swing.
“Congratulations, Karen! That’s just wonderful news. I’m very happy for you.” Sheila smiled at Karen. “He’s a gorgeous boy. And little Heather’s just a peach, aren’t you?” she said as she gently tickled the toddler’s belly. Giggling, Heather reached her fingers out to “tickle” Sheila back from her place at the picnic table.
Sophia stopped herself with her feet, and got up from the swing. “Now it’s my turn to push you,” she said, and Joshua shook his head.
“No, that’s okay.”
“Oh. Do you want one of the cookies I brought? They’re really good. I got to eat one ‘cause it broke.”
Joshua nodded, “Okay. And you can call me Josh. Come on.” He grabbed her hand, and pulled her towards the picnic table.
“Mommy, can Sophie stay and play?”
“Oh, Joshua, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Sophia’s mom politely.” She smiled at her son, and then winked at Sheila. Joshua turned to Sheila and looked up at her.
“Sophie’s Mom, can Sophie stay at my house and play with me today, please?” Joshua asked, his hands behind his back.
“Yeah, Mommy, please?” Sophia asked, bouncing on her toes.
“Well, how can I say no when I was asked so politely?” Sheila smiled warmly at the children before her.
“Yay!” Sophia shouted, and hopped onto the bench of the picnic table. “Josh, you can sit next to me, okay?” she said.
“Okay,” he said, and climbed onto the bench, sitting on his knees. He reached for a cookie and nibbled it thoughtfully. “These are good. I like the sprinkles.”
“I put those on there,” said Sophia after a sip of milk. She finished her cookie, and looked at Josh as he ate. “What do you want to do now?”
“Um…” he said, and finished chewing his cookie. “How about we play with Legos?” he asked her.
Sophia made a face. “What’s Legos?”
“They’re blocks that stick together. Come on, I’ll show ya.” Josh got up, and pulled Sophia from her place at the picnic table, running into the house with her.
Once they were in the living room, Josh pulled a bucket from beside the toy box. He turned it upside down, and a large pile of Legos fell out. The brightly colored blocks intrigued Sophia, and she picked two up, not sure what to do with them.
“Like this, see?” Josh said as he landed on his knees on the floor, and stuck a red one under a yellow one, pressing them together. He held up the now bigger block, and showed Sophia how they went together.
“Oh, okay. I get it.” Sophia said, and she proceeded to pick up random blocks and stuck them together.
They proceeded to build a ‘town’ out of Lego blocks until Josh looked up at Sophia, and said, “Sophie?”
“Huh?” she replied.
“Will you be my best friend?” he asked. His blue eyes sparkled at her as he smiled.
“Only if you’ll be my best friend.” Sophia said as she scooted over to where Josh sat, and hugged him around his neck. He hugged her back just as tight.
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