Chapter 9 Nick
NINE
NICK
“Stop fidgeting.” I slide out of the truck, pulling Mel out my door and forfeiting my good manners when Anna is forced to help herself on the other side. As much as I’d like to be a gentleman to all, Anna is confident and brave all on her own, and Mel looks like she’s about to puke.
So I choose my focus, and drape my arm over her shoulders, tucking her under my arm so she has no choice but to touch me.
“My home.” I stop at the end of the walkway and gesture toward the house I grew up in. Me, my mom, my sisters, and abuela. My dad was gone too soon, and my abeulo passed years before that. “A lot of estrogen in this house. I was the man for as long as I can remember.”
“That probably means they’re very protective of you, huh?” Anna comes up on Mel’s left, flashing a taunting smile in spite of her sickly friend. “This is gonna be a bloodbath.”
“Oh, God,” Mel groans. But at least she cuddles into my side. “I can’t handle this.”
“You’re causing stress where it’s not needed.
” I reach across and press my palm to Anna’s smiling face.
Then, holding Mel close, I start across the footpath and make a beeline for the front door.
“You don’t have to worry so much, Princess.
They’re excited to meet you. They think you’re the best female God put on this planet since that’s how I described you, and I told them how utterly and hopelessly in love with you I am.
” I bring us to a stop at the door and search her eyes.
“They think this is the real deal, so make sure you’re holding up your side of the act. ”
“If I were your real girlfriend, I’d still react exactly how I am right now.” She lays her free hand on her belly. “I’m terrified.”
“Relax.” I set my lips on her temple and chuckle at the sound of thundering footsteps in the hall inside. Steeling myself, I pin Mel close and force her to be attached to me when Elena opens the front door.
“Bello Lolo!” My sister screams, bursting through the door and wrapping herself around me—and Mel—and squeezing us in a noisy hug. “You’re home!”
“Pollita.” I smack a noisy kiss on her cheek, then again on the other side when she makes a show of turning and expecting it.
Then I pull back before Mel dies of discomfort.
“Elena Ramos.” I gesture to my girlfriend.
“Melanie Hamilton.” Then I laugh and point to our third.
“And her emotional support best friend, Anna.”
“Emotional support?” Elena tut-tuts and snatches Mel’s hand, holding it between hers and studying her newest victim.
“We’re not that scary. It’s so lovely to meet you, Melanie.
My brother has told me so much.” Then she looks at Anna.
“He hasn’t mentioned you. But I’m certain it’s because he was so busy waxing lyrics about the one he loves. ”
“I’m always the forgotten one,” Anna dramatically sighs. “Nobody cares about me.”
Pursing her lips, Elena fights the twitch working so hard to turn them into a smirk. Then she spins on her heels, her hand still securely wrapped around Mel’s, and yanks her through the door. “Mami! He’s here.”
“You’re a monster, you know that?” Anna sidles up on my left. “This was cruel and unusual punishment.”
“I allowed her to bring her emotional support pet, didn’t I?
” I leave her in my dust and follow the delicious scent of home cooking through my childhood home and into a kitchen bursting with people.
With smells and sounds and music and a collective greeting when I move through the doorway.
“Mamá Abuela.” I focus on our matriarch first. The birthday girl and the guest of honor, bypassing all others until I step up in front of the woman gracefully heading toward her centenary, yet still as beautiful today as she was in her youth. “Hi, Mamá.”
“Bello.” She reaches out with shaking hands, tissue-paper thin skin and long, red nails glistening under the overhead lights. Cupping my face, she draws me in and presses a kiss on each cheek. But of course, her all-seeing eyes flicker to a terrified Mel. “Interesante.”
I can’t help the broad smirk stretching across my face. “Important. How are you feeling, Mamá? Good?”
“Si.” She releases me, which gives everyone else permission to go about their business. “I’m good, Bello. Healthy.”
“Nico.” My mom steps in next and slides under my arm, crushing me in a hug only she knows how to give. “You said she was beautiful. But you didn’t say she was breathtaking.”
“I didn’t mention that?” I extend my hand, forcing Mel to be brave and cross the six feet that separate us.
“So odd that I would forget such a detail, considering she takes my breath away daily. Melanie Hamilton—” I pull her in so I’m surrounded by three powerful, amazing, world-changing women.
Then I tilt my head toward my mischievously grinning mother.
“This is my mami. Though you could call her Solana.”
“Mrs. Ramos.” Mel practically fucking vibrates from fear, peeling her hand from mine and taking my mom’s when she offers. “It’s a genuine honor to meet you. You’ve raised an exceptional son.”
“Solana,” she counters, kissing the back of Mel’s hand and hugging it between her palms. “Please call me Solana. My mother, too,” she gestures to my grandmother, “is Solana. But you can call her Mamá. Welcome to our home, Bella. When Nico told me he was bringing his special lady tonight, I can assure you, we were all aflutter. He’s never done that before. ”
“Mami!”
“He’s never brought a woman home before?” Mel’s glittering eyes wing to mine. “Never?”
“We do not bring them around until they matter,” Elena offers, perched on the kitchen counter, though she knows she’s not allowed.
“Until now, no one has mattered. Oh, Anna,” she drops to her feet and grabs her best friend, César, while she moves.
“Let me introduce to you my very special friend. He’s like a brother to me and recently had his heart broken.
He always wanted to test out a gringa, so—”
“Elena!” My mother chastises. “What is wrong with you?”
“I’m the fairy godmother of perfect pairings.” Elena grabs Anna’s hand in her left, and traps César’s in her right. Then she drags them together with surprising speed. “If you marry, I have dibs on being maid of honor.”
Isit on the back porch of my family home, hours after introductions are made, food is served, music is pumped louder, and Anna and Elena’s energies match. Seems we have two of the same, but instead of clashing, the women merely combine their powers and become worse.
So much worse.
Though no one seems to mind.
“You doing okay?” I settle in beside a quiet Mel and lean closer until my shoulder brushes against hers. “You’re pretty quiet. And though I didn’t expect you to be the center of attention, I’m starting to worry about how other you’re trying to be.”
She chews on her bottom lip and warily brings her eyes up to mine. “Other?”
“Yeah, like…” I gesture to the temporary dance floor, taking up half the backyard.
Anna, of course, dancing in the middle, César’s leg nestled between her thighs and long, peeling laughter rolling from her throat when he whispers filthy things in her ear.
“There’s this party, and you’re here. But you’re not actually here, ya know?
” I bring my gaze back around. “You’re trying to be separate. ”
Do you not like them?
Do you think you’re too good to be here?
Jesus, do you judge them for being… nice?
“Not separate.” She goes back to watching my family.
Abuela is tired, so she settles in on the edges, but my sisters play and joke.
My nieces and their friends. My brother-in-law dances with his wife—my older sister—and stares at her like they’re still brand-new.
“I’ve never been to a family thing like this before.
” She swallows and slides her tongue out to wet her lips.
“The parties I know are about sitting down and brain-aching small talk. It’s about one-upping each other, but being subtle about it because insecurity ostracizes arrogance.
It’s about eating slow and tiny portions because continuing those monotonous discussions is paramount, but you must be able to do it without showing a single morsel of half-chewed food.
There’s no dancing and definitely no enjoyment.
” She shakes her head. “Not genuine enjoyment. Not the kind that feels good in your soul.”
“You imply that you’re having a good time here, but you won’t participate… You isolate.”
“I observe,” she happily sighs. “I’m not sure I even know how to be a part of that party. But I’m enjoying the fact I get to witness it.”
My nieces, two of them, dash across the dance floor with pretty dresses flying in their wake and long, cascading curls following behind. They giggle and squeal, and when they grow brave enough, they smack Anna on the butt and dash away again.
“You’re an uncle,” Mel exhales. “A really, really beloved uncle. They climb on you while you’re having dinner. They pull your ears and tell fart jokes. And no one is grumbling at them for being… well…” She shrugs, looking away again. “Kids.”
“Happiness is encouraged here.” Goosebumps break out on her bare arms, so I scoot closer until our thighs touch, and draping my arm over her shoulders, I pull her in and find pleasure in the way she leans into me.
She’s getting more comfortable, resting her cheek on my chest and her hand on my hip on the opposite side.
“My family wants happiness for those they love. Noise is temporary. Mess is temporary. Life is temporary,” I add when the heavy realization settles in my head.
“We’re here for such a short amount of time, so why waste it being unhappy? ”