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Chapter 2. Revelation
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     Fred and I asked around for a while, but no one recognized the little boy. The boy himself seemed to be very fond of Fred. I always thought children were shy around people they don’t know, but that description didn’t fit this child.

     “Where are you from?” I pursued. I figured that he would at least be able to answer a few of my questions. “Where are your parents? Are you flying?”

     “No,” was the only reply I got, no matter what I asked. Fred appeared to be very amused by my efforts.

     “Maybe we should teach him a few new words?” he suggested. “If this were our child…”

     I snorted. “You’d honestly think he’d be more talkative if he was our kid? Let’s just find his moronic parents. Who would leave a two year-old without supervision at an airport?”

     I’m not sure Fred paid any attention to me at all; he was too busy tickling the toddler. He’s good with children, and I know it has something to do with the fact that he took care of his own brothers while he grew up. My younger siblings like him a lot too.

     We haven’t really planned on having a family of our own, because we both agreed we should finish our studies before we even think about children. I like living for the day. We’re not really the type of people who plan our future long before it even happens. That would be too terrifying.

     For the sake of my own sanity, I highly believe that things will work out in the end. Neither Fred nor I have any specific plans in mind. We’re happy with what we have for now. The rest will come by itself.

     Once we felt defeated enough, we went over to the information counter. Fred sulked, while I had to do all the talking. “We found this little boy, and we can’t find his parents.”

     The woman barely turned to look at me. It took at least two minutes before she stopped investigating her nails long enough to help us out. “Well…” she started, but throwing one glimpse at Fred – who was still holding the baby – made her stop mid-sentence. “Oh. Is that you, Jack?”

     “Uh-huh,” the boy murmured, still with the thumb settled in his mouth.

     “Your name is Jack?” I had to ask, Fred mumbling ‘duh’ under his breath. “Well, I just want it confirmed!”

     “His mother works at Starbucks down by the corner of the food court,” the woman enlightened us with.

     “Does that mean that we can leave him here?” Fred wondered, sounding confused. “We have a flight to catch.”

     The phone at the desk started to ring, and the woman decided to answer the call instead of helping us with the kid. She just nodded at us quickly, a fake smile stuck to her face.

     My headache increased in intensity, and Fred muttered something under his breath. “So, where is Starbucks?”

     “Practically everywhere,” I grimaced. “That creature was so rude! Let’s just go find the mother and leave. We’re already late as it is.”

     We passed by some of the other stores along the way, and when we went by a store selling leather items, we both heard someone calling Jack’s name. For the first time since we met the boy, he started to make a noise. Fred let him down on the floor, just so he wouldn’t cry, and within a few seconds he took off. “Oh, no! We’ve lost him!” I exclaimed.

     “No, let’s just follow him,” Fred said. “He’ll be alright, if his mother works here, he probably knows his way around. We’re about to miss our flight, Lex. Let’s just… follow him.”

     Although, we didn’t have to move more than a few feet until Jack was captured and embraced by someone appearing from out of the crowd of people. “There you are!”

     I just shrugged, thinking this meant we could continue on our search for the right gate. Fred, however, didn’t move when I grabbed his hand to drag him along. “What is it?” I smiled, thinking he was just suffering from a bit of separation anxiety. “Come on, Fred. We can pick up a new kid at La Guardia instead.”

     “No, look at her.”

     “What?” I laughed. “At who?”

     “His mother.”

     I turned my head towards the reunited mother and son. I noticed that she seemed a bit familiar, but I didn’t give it any more consideration until Fred opened his mouth, moving closer. The young mother didn’t acknowledge us until Fred was right in front of her. The instant I saw her face, I knew exactly who she was.

     “Catalina?”