Say Yes (Something More) (16 page)

Doc busts up laughing while bouncing Gio in his arms, and Jenny shakes her head, also laughing. Manny and Gio giggle, and I can’t help but join in as the last of the ice around my heart thaws.

* * *

“Boys! Boys! Settle down. She’s not your personal jungle-gym!” Jenny scolds my brothers for at least the tenth time. I’m sitting in an oversized leather chair in Jenny’s spacious living room, trying to take sips of lemonade, while two rambunctious boys crawl all over me.

Jenny and Doc sit on the sofa opposite me. Doc doesn’t seem to be bothered by their antics. Maybe it’s his easy nature, which is already rubbing off on me. His soothing aura permeates the room.

Looking at the way Jenny clutches his hand, I can tell Doc makes her happy, and I’m glad she found someone like him. So many times when I’ve been upset over an issue at school or work, Andrés was my calming presence, too. It pains me to think how much I miss him. I could have brought him here with me today. I bet Doc and Jenny would have loved him.

I nearly double over when Gio accidentally kicks me in the ribs as he claws up my side to whisper “a very important secret” in my ear.

The secret being that Manny still wears diapers to bed.

Manny isn’t too happy that Gio rats him out and proceeds to whack his brother on the head. The only problem is my head is between them.

So this is what it’s like to grow up with siblings. Andrés told me he and his cousins used to fight like this. My heart clenches at the memory of Andrés. I shake my head and try to clear dark thoughts. Today is supposed to be a happy day. I’m not going to let my broken heart ruin it.    

Gio and Manny are at it again, whispering into my ears like little buzzing bees. This time, Manny tells me Gio was put in time-out for stealing cookies.

Ahhh. This explains it.

I was wondering what they fed these kids. Sugar topped with caffeine, no doubt. I get the feeling Manny and Gio probably snuck a few double-mocha lattes as well.  

Doc gets up and comes over to me. “I’ll take them outside,” he says as he lifts Gio onto his shoulders.

“I don’t mind,” I say, looking up into Doc’s smiling eyes. “I love kids.” It’s true. Even though my brothers are literally being a pain in my side, I miss Gio almost instantly when Doc takes him away. Funny how it’s only taken a few moments of torture, and they’ve already grown on me.

“It’s okay.” Doc shrugs as he adjusts the glasses that have slipped down his nose again. “They need their vitamin D.”

“Hey, Doc, I wanna stay with Sissy!” Manny squeals as Doc lifts him off me.

“Not right now,
mijo
,” Doc says as Manny squirms in his arms.

My heart clenches again. Mijo is the masculine version of the Spanish endearment for “honey” or “child.” The term reminds me of the way Andrés called me his “mija.”

As Doc takes my brothers outside, I look away and struggle to get myself together. The wound from our breakup is too fresh, too raw, and I know it will take time for me to get over it, but here’s not the place for sulking.    

I slowly release a pent-up breath as Jenny sits on the suede ottoman in front of my chair. She flashes a shaky grin before taking a sip of her lemonade.

I love Jenny’s furniture. The brown distressed suede and beautiful mahogany trim has a rustic, western look. It’s so comfy, so homey. It’s nothing at all like the stark white furniture in my adoptive mother’s home. The floors are a beautiful slate adorned with several western-style rugs, and the vaulted ceiling has huge oak beams running across it with three chandeliers made of distressed wood hanging from the center beam.

The huge bay windows at the back of the house offer a scenic view of the Texas Hill Country, reminding me of the landscape at Andrés’s uncle’s ranch. Andrés’s family would like my new family very much. A melancholy settles over me when I realize they’ll never meet.

The rest of the room is adorned with warm tapestries, many kinds of candles, and my digital artwork on her walls.

Oh, so that’s why she wanted them. 

I wonder if she put them up before my visit, or if she really wanted them for her décor. I recognize one of the paintings I did for her, a landscape of the bluebonnets in full bloom in the Texas Hill Country. It hangs above the fireplace mantle, along with pictures of Jenny’s wedding, my brothers, and… omigod. My jaw drops as I rise on shaky legs and walk over to the mantle. The baby and kindergarten pictures Jenny had me paint of myself are framed on the mantle as well. I wonder if she put those there for my benefit, but I notice the pictures have a thin layer of dust on them, just like all the others.

Jenny appears beside me and points at my kindergarten picture. “That one’s my favorite,” she says. 

I’ve got this big, goofy grin with two missing front teeth. I have to admit, I looked pretty cute, if it hadn’t been for that hideous pink bow The Spitting Cobra insisted I wear, or the starched, lacy collar that went all the way up my neck. I still remember how that thing itched the hell out of me.

Doc’s picture is beside mine. He’s wearing a white hospital coat and holding up a plaque. He’s got that same infectious grin that seems to be an extension of his character.

“So he’s a doctor?” I ask, and then I want to slap myself upside the head. Duh. But making conversation with the woman who gave me up twenty-one years ago isn’t exactly easy.

She smiles and nods. “A pediatrician.”

“I like him,” I say.  

Jenny squeezes my shoulder as her eyes light up. “You don’t know how happy that makes me.”

I look down at her hand resting on my shoulder, feeling kind of awkward. I still don’t know how to handle all this motherly affection stuff. Sure, I’ve been on the receiving end with Mrs. Peterson, but never with anyone else, certainly not with the parents who raised me.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next. Do I put my hand on her shoulder, too? Are we supposed to hug again? I clear my throat and think of something to say. Anything to break the nervous tension that shrouds me like a cloak. “So what do you do?”

Thankfully, she releases me, and I follow her lead back toward the chair.

“A little bit of everything,” she says as she takes a seat on the ottoman. “I’m mostly a designer.” She motions toward the room.  

“An artist?” I ask, and I wonder why it’s my painting hanging above the mantle and not hers.

She shrugs. “Of sorts. I design home furnishings.”

I gasp. “Like the furniture in this house?”

She straightens and nods. “All the furniture in this house.”

“Wow,” I breathe as I look around the room again. “It’s beautiful.”

“Coming from you, that’s a huge compliment.” She leans over and clasps my hands in hers while flashing a radiant, warm smile. That’s when I get a really good look at my birth mother, and I compare her to the woman who raised me. Where she is soft-spoken and self-assured, The Cobra is pushy and self-absorbed. Jenny is a natural beauty, wearing very little makeup on her eyes and cheeks, and only a soft pink gloss on her lips. The Cobra had so many facelifts and injections, she looked more like a deformed mannequin than a human being. And that’s just it: I don’t think my adoptive mother
was
human. At least, she didn’t act like one, because humans are supposed to have souls, and I’m pretty sure The Cobra’s soul shriveled up years ago, if she’d ever had one.

So far, Jenny seems to be far more compassionate and loving than the woman who raised me. There’s just one problem. If she truly is this wonderful person who has thought about me every day for twenty-one years, why did she take so long to tell me?

Chapter Sixteen

Christina

Jenny and Doc serve up amazing pulled-pork tacos for dinner, and despite the nervous stomach which has plagued me all day long, I help myself to seconds. Her dining room is as masterfully decorated as the rest of the house. The dining table is huge. It could seat twenty people, but we only take up one little corner. I’m flanked on either side by my brothers, who have been squirming in their seats and picking at their food since we sat down.

Gio says his rice tastes like feet. Manny doesn’t want his guacamole touching his cheese.  Then they have this bright idea to dump their rice and guacamole on my plate, but it doesn’t go over so well when Gio accidentally spills his rice on the floor, nearly losing the plate, too. I grab it before the whole thing goes crashing down.

Doc gives Gio a look as I set my brother’s plate in front of him. That look seems to be enough incentive for him to eat the rest of his dinner quietly. Manny quickly follows suit, but I notice Manny tries to copy about everything his big brother does, which means if you catch Gio doing something naughty, you can bet Manny is somewhere nearby doing the exact same thing.  

“So where’s that handsome young man who’s in just about all of your Facebook pictures? Your boyfriend is welcome to come here for Thanksgiving.”

 I nearly choke on a spoonful of rice as I look at Jenny. I grab my water and take several gulps. “Boyfriend?” I ask on an exhale, feigning stupidity. Although, I don’t know why. She already saw the proof on Facebook. Proof that I let the perfect guy walk out of my life because I’m too chicken to commit.

I wish she hadn’t mentioned him. I was having so much fun watching my brothers get into trouble and wishing my life was as simple as stinky rice.

“Yes.” Jenny asks me, wide-eyed and curious, not realizing that every moment we talk about him, a knife twists itself in my heart. “Wasn’t his name Andrés?”

“Oh.” I shrug, pretending not to care, pretending the Earth is still spinning and my poor heart isn’t crumbling. “We broke up.”

Jenny sets her fork on her plate with a clank. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“That’s okay.” I focus on a glob of sour cream on the tablecloth. Was that my sour cream? I make a mental note to be more careful. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Of course.”

She smiles at me, and I recognize that smile. It’s the same pitying smile I give to the bum at the gas station by my apartment who’s holding up a sign that says, “Let’s be honest. I need beer money.”

“It’s no biggie,” I lie as I turn my gaze back to the sour cream blob. Her pity makes me uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Maybe it’s because I’m not used to any kind of sympathy from my adoptive mother. If I ever showed The Spitting Cobra any sign of weakness, she always found a way to use it against me later. 

“I read in one of your posts you’re graduating this semester,” Jenny says.  

I nod.  

“Do you have any jobs lined up?” Doc asks.

“I already have a good job.”

Even though painting cars isn’t always easy, I’ve got a nice set of biceps and calf muscles because of all the lifting and squatting. Plus, the pay is good. Really good. After The Cobra cut me off, I managed to pay for my fall semester all by myself, plus buy groceries and make my half of the rent.

My shoulders fall as I am struck with the realization Andrés won’t be helping me with rent anymore. And I guess working for him might get awkward after a while. I don’t know if my heart can take seeing him at work, knowing he’s no longer mine. “But I’m working for Andrés,” I add, “so maybe I should look for another one.”

“Your work is so beautiful.” Jenny’s tone is a little too upbeat before she and Doc share subtle glances.  “I’m sure you’ll find something else right away.”

“I love my dragons!” Gio squeals beside me.  

I turn to him and smile. “Do you?”

He vigorously nods and then puffs up his chest. “Mommy hung them in my room, and I’m not even scared.”

I do my best to keep a straight face, though it’s hard to hide my amusement. “You’re not?”

“No, silly.” He gives me this look like I’ve grown a second head. “They scare away bad dreams and monsters.”

“Oh.” I slap my forehead and make a big show of rolling my eyes. “Of course they do.”

Gio tugs on my shirtsleeve and looks up at me with pleading eyes. “Can you make me another dragon?”

I don’t know how Gio does it, but he manages to worm his way into my heart with just one look. As I stare down at my little brother, I note how vivid his green eyes are framed by thick lashes and tanned skin. I think if Andrés and I ever had kids, they might look like my brothers. That notion swells my heart and deflates it all at once.

“Of course,” I rasp. “I’ll paint you more dragons.”  

Manny tugs on my other shirtsleeve, looking up at me with a big, pouty lip. “I want one, too!”

Gio reaches around me and pokes Manny’s shoulder. “You said Sissy’s dragons scare you.”

“No!” Manny pounds his fists on the table. “I did not.”

Ugh. Not again. An unpleasant sense of déjà vu settles over me as I’m stuck between my brothers while they taunt each other.

“Yes, you did,” Gio taunts. “I remember. You cried like a baby, too.”

Manny crosses his arms and his bottom lip hangs even lower. “I’m not a baby anymore!” he cries as he kicks the table leg.  

Gio points at his brother and laughs. “You still wear diapers to bed.”

Manny scrunches his eyes as his tanned face turns a bright crimson. I’m pretty sure he’s holding his breath, too. I feel bad for the little guy.

“Gio,” Jenny admonishes her oldest son. “It’s not nice to call your brother a baby. And don’t forget, it was just last year when you stopped wearing diapers to bed.”

“Yeah! Diapers!” Manny says as he leans forward and sticks out his tongue.

Gio’s cheeks turn a bright crimson as he hangs his head. “Yes, Mommy.”

“Uh, oh, guess what time it is?” Doc makes a big show of pointing to a silver watch on his wrist. “It’s bedtime.”

“Awwww,” both boys cry.

Gio gives his dad this look, like he’s just flushed his pet hamster down the toilet. “We didn’t even get dessert.”  

Doc snickers and wags a finger. “You had dessert. Remember those cookies you stole today?”

“Gio stole cookies!” Manny giggles and points across me toward his brother.

Doc glares at Manny from beneath his glasses while rubbing his bearded chin. “I saw crumbs on your shirt, too, mijo.”