klaudia flipped through more photos of her friends , mostly blond girls ; her family , a gaunt , makeup-free mother , a tall , rumpled father who she said was an engineer , and a younger brother who had messy hair ; her house , a modern box that reminded aria of the house they rented in reykjavik ; and her cat , mika , which she cradled like a baby in the same way aria cradled her own cat , polo .