When Sunday came, Surya woke up excited. Aenzel had promised to take him flying again, and he couldn’t wait!

He trotted downstairs only to find Jamie and Layla on the kitchen; they had this weird look on their faces, like he just walked on them talking about something that he wasn’t meant to hear. Jamie looked very interested at the coffee stain on her mug, while Layla busied herself with the oven.

“Are you going to the graveyard?” Layla asked with forced cheerfulness. Surya wondered what caused this sudden awkwardness but decided to ignore it.

“I… Uhh, I was thinking to go on a hike at the rock formation beyond the town, since it’s sunny today”, Surya answered, twiddling his thumbs. “My, uh. My dad used to take me there all the time, and uh. Since it’s… it’s sunny…”

“Oh, Surya. I dunno, the rocks are kinda far from town”, Layla said. “Are you planning to go alone? What if you get tired and nobody’s around to get you home?”

Surya tried not to get too disappointed.

“Or maybe”, Jamie stood up suddenly. “Maybe we can go together! We can borrow Lew’s grill, and stuff our cooler box with meat and hotdogs, and you kids can sit on the backseat.”

“We can do a family picnic! That’s a great idea, Boo!” Layla brightened up. “What do you think, Surya?”

“Uhh”, Surya didn’t know what to answer—this wasn’t what he planned! What if Layla and Jamie accidentally stumbled on Aenzel’s ship? “S-sure…?”

“Great! I’ll get Mattie and Nina from the library”, Layla said, already halfway to the front door just as she was putting her hijab on.

“Awesome! I’ll get the grill and everything else”, Jamie followed behind her.

Oh no, Surya thought. What had he done?

—

Thirty minutes later, the jeep was packed with Jamie, Layla, Surya, Mattie, Nina, Mattie’s wheelchair, Officer Lewis’ grill, the cooler box, bags upon bags of snacks and soft drinks, and other stuff. Jamie rolled down all windows and turned on the radio. They all sang along to the country music—and while Surya was still worried about Aenzel, he couldn’t help but sing along too.

They stopped on a clearing, a few feet away from the ravine where Surya knew Aenzel’s ship was hidden. Nina didn’t like the bright sunlight, so Layla and Jamie put on a tarp over the picnic blanket. Meanwhile, Mattie was ordering Surya around to find him shiny quartzes. Surya obliged, if only so he could sneak a glance or two to the ravine below. Surya squinted his eyes, just as the air shimmered; Aenzel’s ship was still there.

Surya wondered if he should warn Aenzel not to go out, but decided against it. Layla was still watching him like a mother hawk, even as she started the grill. Besides, Aenzel wasn’t stupid—they would’ve stayed away when there were people around, anyway.

His pocket full of rocks, Surya turned his attention to find more interesting stuff. He remembered his dad warned him about all sorts of dangerous animal like gila monsters and rattlesnakes. He wondered if Aenzel knew about the rattlesnakes crawling around the desert. They probably did, and he giggled at the thought of Aenzel shaking a snake out of their boots.

He didn’t find snakes, now, but he found some lizards. Surya grabbed one of them and placed it on his forearm. The lizard didn’t seem to like him and hopped off, before quickly hiding in the bushes.

He heard Jamie coming before he could see her. She was wearing a really wide witch hat to cover her pale skin from the sun; Surya thought she looked like a very buff witch.

“Hey, lil’ man”, Jamie greeted her. “What’cha doin?”

“Snake-hunting”, Surya answered bluntly. He picked up a long stick and start poking at the bushes.

“Yeah, none of that. Mattie’s terrified of ‘em”, Jamie laughed and helped Surya stand up. She was still holding his hand as they trudged through the rough terrain. “Geez, you’re really like me when I was your age.”

“Yeah?” Surya looked up. Seven months he had been staying with the Browns, and he never heard Jamie sharing about her past. He knew that Layla moved back into the town several years ago after graduating from college and decided to build the Muslim community center there because there wasn’t any back then. It was a small town, after all.

“I was… orphaned at young age too”, Jamie said, shifting her foot. “Lost my dad, then lost my mom. I grew up wild and troubled. And this whole fostering thing? It’s what I’ve always wanted to have, growing up—someone who’s always be there for you kids.”

Jamie looked up to the sky and Surya followed her gaze. The sky was cloudless as far as he could see and it made him think about flying.

“Layla doesn’t want me to tell you, but… I really want to”, she sighed. Immediately, Surya knew what she was talking about.

“It’s about my adoption, isn’t it?” he asked her. Her eyes widened. “It’s alright. I… I kind of knew?”

“Oh. Well…” Jamie huffed, idly combing her windswept hair back. “See, this is why keeping secrets from you kids doesn’t work. You’re too smart and too sneaky for your own good.”

Surya tried to hide a smile, but he didn’t say anything. He could tell that there were still things that Jamie wanted to say; instead, he rubbed his thumb to the back of her palm. He noticed that her black nails were chipped.

“Actually, it doesn’t—Well, I can’t say that it doesn’t matter, but like, I’ve been thinking that maybe… we can make you a permanent part of our family?” she said, though Surya could hear the question mark at the end of her sentence. “Legally adopt you and everything—and I know that it’s not really common with foster parents, just… Y’know. Just throwing that option in. If you want to, of course.”

Surya thought about his conversation with Aenzel. His mom wanted Aenzel to take him away from Earth. Yet, while having several opportunities to steal Surya away, Aenzel still seemed reluctant to do it. Surya wondered why—maybe Aenzel thought he would be happier here, safer. There was a war up there, after all.

“What do you think, Surya?” Jamie asked. Gosh, she sounded hopeful.

“I… I dunno… S’ kind of too sudden.” Surya hesitated. He looked up and saw slight disappointment on Jamie’s face, before she could cover it away. “You understand that… right?”

“Of course I understand”, Jamie smiled at him. When she looked up to the sky, there was something in her expression that reminded Surya of his dad whenever he looked up to the stars—longing, though maybe for different reasons. “Man, it’s really nice up here, isn’t it? Bet you can see the stars and everything at night.”

“Yeah”, Surya nodded. “Dad, uh… Dad used to take me camping up here. We brought a telescope and he told me everything about the stars.”

Now that Surya knew about his mom, he realized that his dad’s love for the stars probably because he was trying to fill the hole that she left behind. He wondered if his dad still loved her after she left, if she still loved him even now. He couldn’t help but imagine of a world where the three of them could be together.

“That does sound nice”, Jamie hummed. “Maybe we should do that sometimes.”

“Yeah”, Surya said again. The two of them walked in silence, hand in hand, to where the rest of their family stayed.