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she says I need to settle down, give her little ones like Maria and Baby Sorin,” he said.
    I laughed. “Maybe you should listen to her,” I said.
    He blanched and shrugged, and I smiled, amused by this entire thing. It seemed that even men like Ioan weren’t protected from meddling grandmothers.
    It wasn’t surprising altogether, though. Ioan was quiet and rarely spoke to me unless I spoke to him, but he had always been kind, almost gentle, and he struck me as the type of man who cared what his grandmother thought. Still, I couldn’t imagine this was what he’d dreamed of for his career.
    I’d once asked Vasile if Ioan resented this job or herding Maria and me to play dates and the park. Vasile had assured me the task was a great honor, one Ioan was proud to have, and one he was more than able to handle.
    That last part had simultaneously scared and comforted me. Ioan was nice, but I would never make the mistake of thinking he was soft, capable of anything less than Vasile. I prayed every day it would never come to that, but if it did, I knew Ioan would kill and die if necessary to protect both of us.
    Maria babbled quietly and soon we reached the park. When we arrived, Esther and Baby Sorin were waiting for us. I got out of the car and then got Maria.
    “We’ll be over here,” I said to Ioan, who stood next to the car, looking almost relaxed. His casualness was entirely a facade. I knew he watched avidly and took note of everyone who was in the park and everything that was happening in it. Esther’s version of Ioan walked over and the men began to converse in Romanian, though I knew they still watched.
    I let Maria down and she raced to the sandbox, where Baby Sorin was busily playing. There were three or four other kids, and I walked to the benches where Esther and the other mothers gathered.
    “Hello,” I said, nodding at the other women.
    They murmured greetings, but the conversation didn’t go beyond that. I recognized them from the park, but we’d never exchanged names. In fact, few of the other mothers spoke with us, and within minutes, Maria and Baby Sorin were alone in the sandbox.
    “God, we need some new blood around here!” Esther said.
    I glanced at her and smiled. “What do you mean?”
    “I’m just sayin’, some new faces would be nice,” she replied.
    “What? I’m not enough for you?” I asked, pretending to be hurt.
    Esther scoffed. “Yeah, right. You know what I mean,” she said.
    I laughed again. “I do. Not the friendliest crowd, huh?”
    “Understatement of the century. These park moms are terrified of us, though I can’t imagine why,” she said sarcastically.
    I glanced over at the two dark town cars and the bulky, tattooed men who stood next to them. “Well, our entourage is rather…intimidating. Probably not something they encounter every day,” I said.
    “Oh, them?” Esther said, waving toward the cars. “I thought everyone had a tattooed Romanian with her twenty-four-seven.”
    “No, I think we’re on the cutting edge,” I said.
    We both laughed and then Esther turned to me, a mischievous grin on her face. “Picture it, Fawn. Me and you at a playgroup, all the other moms gathered around. We’ve gotten past the chitchatty bullshit and are heading to the meat. ‘My husband’s in finance. Yours?’” Her expression dropped, the perfect imitation of what we would confront in that very unlikely scenario. “‘Oh…I see…’” She trailed off and then shivered in mock disgust.
    I nodded, knowing she spoke the truth.
    “But on the other hand,” she continued, “I’m not sure if I would fit in with the others. I mean, what could we possibly have to talk about?”
    “You know, mom stuff, the latest in juice-box innovation and that kind of thing,” I said.
    Esther laughed. “Yeah, as the other moms would be about to piss themselves.”
    “Probably,” I said.
    She was right. Even though we didn’t discuss our men, who they were was always a part of our