Chapter 36
GAbrIEL
“Come on, girls, let’s go! Steven’s waiting downstairs with the car!”
“We’re coming, Papi. Just a minute!” Ana calls back.
“I don’t know what takes so long to choose a pair of shoes. Just throw on some damn sneakers, and let’s boogie.”
Ana cranks her head around the doorway of her bedroom. “Seriously, Papi? Boogie? Is that the gay word of the day?” She glances down at my bare feet and smirks. “Newsflash—gay guys take way longer to pick out shoes. Case in point.”
“I’m ready!” Emilee chimes in, a little breathless, sliding up behind my snarky daughter. “Thank goodness my dad isn’t that gay.” She laughs, brushing past her.
Ana bursts out laughing as the two of them haul their duffel bags toward the elevator.
“Give it time, Em. My dad’s gayness is totally contagious.”
I shake my head, grinning, knowing I’ve lost this round. “Enjoy your week at school, girls.”
They giggle their way onto the elevator, and I can’t help but smile.
Ana is just like me, always ready for the opportunity to slide in a joke. And, also like me, she’s really good at it.
Heaven help us all.
Smiling proudly, I shove my hands into my pockets and stroll over to the windows, just in time to catch a glimpse of the girls piling into the town car.
I blink hard—my eyes burn from the lack of sleep, barely two hours if I’m being generous.
Granted, I arrived at my boyfriend’s apartment in the middle of the night.
But sleep? It was nowhere in sight. Not once I stripped off my clothes and crawled under the sheets beside him, wrapped in his ridiculously cute pajamas.
We didn’t even have sex. Not that it mattered.
Just being naked and next to him was all the stimulation I needed to keep from getting some shut-eye.
He, on the other hand, slept like an angel.
Still watching my daughter through the windows, I snort as she animatedly chatters away with Steven before sliding into the back seat of the car.
Her arms wave wildly in the air; her smile as bright as the sun.
I chuckle when I catch Steven bent over in a fit of laughter.
It never fails to warm my heart, to see the effect she has on people.
Ana has made Elijah and me so damn proud. The ease with which she embraces everyone—gay, straight, trans—whoever, never ceases to amaze me. No judgment. No hesitation. Just open arms and that signature smile of hers, always ready to meet the world head-on.
I lean my forehead against the cool glass, my thoughts drifting off fifteen years. I remember that day as if it were just yesterday—Elijah and I were about to become parents.
Having enlisted with an adoption agency, we were devastated to learn of the extremely long waitlist for a baby. Our hopes all but crushed. The likelihood of adopting a newborn anytime soon looked bleak. Elijah had all but given up hope, but I tried to stay optimistic.
Then, less than a year later, an unexpected opportunity appeared in the form of an eighteen-year-old girl. As it turned out, we shared more than just a passion for art; we shared something much deeper.
It’s the only secret I’ve ever kept from my husband. And it’s haunted me every day since.
“Is there something you’re interested in, princesa?” I asked, stretching my arm over her slender shoulders. She’d been eyeing me the entire time we’d been sketching a nude model.
She was incredibly attractive; smooth bronze skin, silky black hair cropped to her chin, and those megawatt green eyes that looked like pools of mint jelly. She appeared decent and wholesome. I was indecent and dirty.
My interest was immediately piqued.
Her stunning green eyes outshone my overplayed smile. “I’m interested in you,” she’d said, without a lick of hesitation. That in itself was a turn-on. I was a sucker for confidence.
I remember laughing and telling her, “I’m gay,” but in a flirtatious way.
She flirted back. “I know,” she replied, clearly not giving a fuck.
I run my fingers through my hair, tugging on thick strands as memories keep flooding in.
The Family Suite at Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut had the cozy feel of someone’s living room. Elijah and I had spent hours there, anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby daughter. Stephania is the name we had chosen for her.
Elijah had been a bundle of nerves that day. It made me laugh; I’d never seen him so unsettled. He was always in control, taking on the likes of some of the most influential businessmen without breaking a sweat. But here, in this cozy, lived-in hospital room, he was vibrating with nerves.
Princesa… I remember him calling our baby girl the moment the nurse placed her in his arms.
Princesa—it’s what I’d called her mother, too, the very first time she was in my arms.
A vintage Polaroid camera hung from my neck, a wedding gift from Elijah. I’d been obsessed with snapping pictures of the doting father and our newborn daughter.
As we were leaving that afternoon, we passed by a window to a private room.
The curtains were open, and a familiar face sat at the edge of an unmade bed.
A flimsy hospital gown clung to her body, and dark hair flopped over her exotic face.
She was in her own world, carving something into an orange plastic lunch tray.
I remember smiling, intrigued by her creativity—making art out of something so simple. It was something I would have done too.
Without a second thought, I raised the camera to my face, framing her image into my gifted view. She looked up just as I pressed the shutter.
Her smile came a moment later.
Strange—not one I recognized. Still beautiful… just different. Then again, she’d just given birth. Who was I to judge? I lowered the camera and returned her smile with one of my own.
A secret smile.
“Mr. Garcia!” a nurse called out as Elijah and I were walking away. “I have something for you.”
I stopped. She dropped an orange puzzle piece into my hand. Elijah looked, shrugged, and kept walking. I did the same, slipping the piece of plastic into my coat pocket, alongside the photo of Mimi.
BEEP… BEEEEP…
The blare of a horn snaps me out of my trip down memory lane. Steven is pulling away from the curb, Ana waving enthusiastically through the open window. She can’t actually see me—but she knows I’m watching.
I always am.
I watch all of my treasures.
And she is my treasure.