Author's Note: A review request for a twist. Little girl's first boyfriend.

A Boy

"Do you want to tell Papi about your boyfriend?" Letty asked one day after bringing their daughter to the garage after school.

She was six years old and in her second week of first grade. She loved her school, and had talked excitedly about her new teacher nearly every day. She brought home pictures and projects to show off and was pleased when they found a place of honor on the corkboard in the garage. She made new friends with ease and seemed to have someone to tell them about every day. Still… that hadn't been a word he'd been expecting to hear in regards to his daughter for years.

"Your what?" Dom asked, no longer interested in whatever it was he'd been working on under the hood of a car.

"My boyfriend!" the little girl chirped, beaming up at him. Today she was wearing her red converse and a red cap-sleeved top with white polka dots and little black jeans. Her hair was pulled on top of her head in a ponytail. She swung her backpack off her shoulders and set it on the garage floor, leaning down to unzip it and pull out a paper.

"We made drawings for… our partner and wrote things on the back!" she announced, holding it up. "Marco was my partner!"

"And… that makes him your boyfriend?" he asked warily, glancing at his wife. He scowled at the obvious amusement on her face. She was loving this.

"No," the child replied, reaching to be picked up by her father. "Marco and I talked about stuff we like… and he likes cars and I like cars. And his favorite color is red and my favorite color is red. And we both have a Mami and a Papi. He said I was cooler than any other girl he knowed ever… so he said could I be his girlfriend and I said okay."

Dom looked down at her, and down at her drawing of what he supposed was her friend Marco, with black scribbles for hair and a red shirt and lots of cars drawn in the background. On the opposite side of the paper were lists of things Marco liked in her childish handwriting.

He took the paper from her. "It was that easy huh?"

She looked confused and Letty was laughing at him from across the room.

"Dom," she said. "They're only kids. It doesn't mean anything."

"She's only six she doesn't need boyfriends already."

"Only Marco is my boyfriend Papi!" the girl insisted, looking even more confused. "Is that bad?"

"No mija, it's not bad," her mother soothed, shooting her husband a look. "Papi is just being silly. Why don't you tell him about what else you and Marco did today?"

"He gave me his cookie at snack time," she said, squirming to be put down. "And we played together at recess! We also played with Carlos and Amber and Liana… and we all drew chalk pictures. The teacher took pictures to hang in the classroom." She pulled one out of her backpack, passing it up to her father. It was a photo printed out on cardstock, showing the five children, hands and arms and clothes streaked with chalk. There were drawings on the smooth blacktop; a multicolored rainbow, massive flowers with too many awkward petals, stick figure people and cars. He chuckled softly.

"Sounds like you had a fun day at school."

"Yeah," she said. "I like school." She looked thoughtful. "But I like here better."

"Oh yeah?" her father asked, setting the picture aside to bring home later. That would go on the fridge there.

"Yeah," she replied. "There's more cars."

Letty laughed. "And that's why you like here better?"

"Well… cause Mami and Papi's here too," the girl added.

Dom smiled, scooping the girl up and tickling her until she giggled and squirmed, face red. "Papi no! No tickles!"

"We're second to cars huh?" he asked, laughing.

"Yes!" she squealed, wiggling around in his arms and clutching at his shirt.

"At least you're honest, kid." Dom chuckled, patting her on the seat of her pants and setting her on her feet.

The little girl hugged at his leg, then trotted over to retrieve her backpack. She retreated into the office, announcing loudly to her aunt about her day at school. Dom watched her go, and then looked over to his wife, who was leaning against a car, still terribly amused.

"I still don't like the boyfriend thing," he said.

Letty walked towards him, slipping her arms around his waist and tilting her chin up to look at him. "At this age it's harmless." She smiled. "And you know you'll always be the most important man in her life, don't you, Papa?"

"Oh yeah?" he asked, smile on his lips.

"Mmm hmm," she said, leaning up to kiss him softly. "And mine."