Chapter 13
“A sunburn is like an ex—it leaves a mark and shows up at the worst possible time.”
—It’s science
Hector
“Open up, birthday boy,” my sister Rita shouted again.
“Make sure you put clothes on first!” her husband yelled.
I groaned, turning to shut off the griddle so we didn’t burn the house down.
Not that I hated birthdays, but my family didn’t do simple for anything. So that meant my house was about to be invaded by my entire family, and with Iris here, there were bound to be a lot of uncomfortable looks and questions from all of them.
“Last chance,” Rita yelled.
The door handle jiggled and then flew open.
The family all rushed in one after another, practically tripping over each other.
Sarge was already there, ready to greet everyone as they piled in.
They were all talking loudly—everything from complaining that I took too long to answer the door, to why hadn’t I answered my phone, to why my house smelled funny.
When you came in the front door, there was a narrow wall on the right-hand side, but it was open on the left, flowing into the living room. That small wall effectively blocked most of them from seeing me in the kitchen at first.
I noticed someone had left the door wide open, so my first task was to close and re-lock it while keeping an eye on the hallway, waiting for Iris to come back out.
There was a small part of me that thought she might actually escape out the bedroom window.
She would’ve been smart to do that, but God, I hoped she didn’t.
“There he is,” my dad said, followed by a round of cheers and people yelling happy birthday.
My mother and youngest sister, Dani, walked over to me and each gave me a hug.
“What is this?” Rita yelled from her spot over by the couch. “Did you pick up crochet and needlepoint as a new hobby now that you’re old and in your forties?” she asked, pointing to the bag of supplies that Iris must’ve left on the couch.
“Those would be mine,” Iris’s voice sounded from the hallway. “Sorry. I can move them.”
She walked into the living room to quietly collect her bag while my entire family silently stared at her, wide-eyed, as if she were an alien.
My mom, Dani, and brother-in-law JT all had giant grins on their faces, but it was my dad who spoke first.
“Hi, I’m Bruno, Hector’s dad,” my old man said, sticking his hand out to her as she put her bag of supplies on the side table.
“Umm, hi,” Iris said nervously, shaking his hand. “I’m Iris.”
“And I’m Elena, Hector’s mother,” she said, leaving my side to walk over to Iris and engulf her in a hug without giving her the chance to say no. “We’re sorry. We didn’t know he had company over.”
“What she means is that we never thought you would be cool enough to have friends,” Rita said to me, though loud enough for everyone to hear.
I rolled my eyes as Dani stepped up next to me and slapped me on the upper arm. I looked down at her to see she was signing to me.
Most of the time, we were good about signing while we talked so she was part of the conversation, but clearly the shock of Iris being here caught everyone off guard.
I turned to her and signed to her. “This is Iris. She’s staying with me until some repairs are made at her apartment.”
I hadn’t wanted to tell everyone the whole story, so this was enough to fill them in without giving them everything.
“Is she your girlfriend?” she signed back.
Not yet, I thought.
I knew it was wrong. I had just spent the last few days telling myself she was off-limits, that this would never work between us, and that I was no good for her.
But this morning something had shifted. After seeing her this morning in her glasses and short shorts, with her amazing tits pressing against her T-shirt, messy hair, and batter on her face, something in me had snapped.
Then, she’d kissed me, and she’d tasted so damn good. Her body pressed up against me had felt so right. The control I had been reigning in just…snapped.
I decided that if she was still willing to take the risk after everything I had told her, who was I to stop her? Plus, after finally getting a taste of her this morning, I knew there was no way I could ever go back to not having her in my life.
My pause must have given my thoughts away, because Dani tapped my shoulder, bringing my attention back to her.
“Then you better introduce me if she’s going to be in your life,” she signed, and then her face softened. “I’m happy for you.”
She gave me a big smile before I walked with her over to where everyone else was.
“Iris,” I said, getting her attention as I walked right up next to her side. “This is my sister Dani, my other sister Rita, and her husband JT.”
I pointed everyone out while also signing everyone’s name so Dani could follow along.
I then introduced Iris and told them the same story about her staying with me while repairs were made to her apartment. Iris looked at me with a small smile, which I took to be appreciation for keeping it simple.
“Alright, all of you interrupted our breakfast, so make yourselves comfortable and let us finish making it,” I told them, putting my hand at the small of Iris’s back and guiding her back into the kitchen with me.
“We brought chilaquiles for your birthday, but I have to reheat them,” my mom said, pointing to the bags on the coffee table.
“I’ll put them in the fridge, and we can eat them later,” I told her, knowing, like the last few birthdays, they would stay for several hours.
I grabbed the bags from the table and guided Iris back to the stove.
“You don’t have to help,” Iris said to me. “You can stay with your family, and I’ll finish cooking. I have enough batter to feed everyone because I was going to take the extras over to Nancy later.”
“I’d rather help you in the kitchen than be around them,” I said, and it was the truth, because the moment they got me away from Iris, the new Spanish Inquisition would begin.
She smiled up at me. “They don’t seem that bad, Hector.”
“Just give it time. They’re on their best behavior because you caught them off guard.”
She continued smiling as she shook her head like she didn’t believe me.
I turned the griddle back on as she moved to stir the batter she had made and get ready for more pancakes. No one had ever been in this kitchen with me who wasn’t related to me, but somehow it felt natural, comfortable cooking breakfast with her.
Ten minutes later, we had enough pancakes to start serving. I had a large dining room table that had come with the cabin when I moved in. It seated six, but we had seven people, so we grabbed one of my patio chairs from outside and added it to the table to make room for everyone.
Iris and I were the last to sit—by design, so I could avoid my obnoxious family as long as possible.
Don’t get me wrong…I loved my family. I knew they had my back when I needed them, and I would do the same for them, but boundaries were just not something they understood.
“This is delicious,” my mother said. “Where did you learn to cook, Iris?”
“My fairy godmother…Martha Stewart,” Iris responded, and several people chuckled at her joke, including me.
“What was that weird noise that just came out of your mouth?” Rita asked me, looking puzzled. “Did you just attempt to laugh?”
I rolled my eyes at her as I continued to eat my pancakes.
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard you laugh, mijo,” my mom said to me and then turned to Iris. “You’re good for him.”
Jesus, I did not need these two making this more awkward and scaring Iris away.
“I’m glad you like them,” Iris said to them. “Hector didn’t have much in his cupboards, but he did have an oddly large supply of canned pumpkin, so I decided to wing it and go with pumpkin spice pancakes.”
“Hector stocks up on those cans in the fall and keeps them around, hoping my mom will take the hint and make him pumpkin pie year-round since it’s his favorite,” Rita said.
Iris turned to me, a weird look on her face. “You like pumpkin pie?”
“It’s my favorite,” I told her.
Her face transformed into a small smile. “It’s my favorite too,” she said quietly.
Damn. The more I got to know this woman, the more I liked. And my mother was right—these pancakes were incredible.
A small knock on the table came from Dani, obviously trying to get our attention. She looked straight at Iris and signed, “You’ve never made these pancakes before today?”
I relayed the question to Iris and then signed back to Dani when Iris responded, “No, I will follow a recipe for a lot of things, but not usually for stuff like pancakes, soups, and omelets.”
Clearly Dani—who loved to cook—was thoroughly impressed at Iris’s ability to confidently create amazing tasting meals.
“They aren’t always amazing,” Iris shared. “I’ve had some really bad ones before. I made a sriracha key lime pie that not only tasted awful, but ended up looking like soup.”
There were several more chuckles from the table, along with other horror stories of things people had made or tasted over the years.
“Does anyone want any more?” Iris asked. “Otherwise, I’ll wrap them up and save the rest.”
“Go ahead, dear. We still have chilaquiles and birthday cake to eat,” my mother replied.
I started to get up from the table to help Iris when my mom stopped me.
“Why don’t you go help your father carry in the rest of the stuff from the car while I help Iris in the kitchen?”
I was about to tell her no because I knew she would just use that as an opportunity to corner Iris, but my sister interrupted.
“Oh, Dani and I can help in the kitchen too,” Rita said and signed, prompting Dani to nod in response. “And JT can help you get the stuff out of the trunk.”
“Let’s go before it gets too hot outside,” my dad said, getting up from the table.
Realizing that saying no was not an option, I decided my better alternative was to just get everything out of the car as fast as possible and be back before the women in my family scared Iris away.