Epilogue - Tania
I look after her as she bounds upstairs to her suitcase, listening to the sound of her unzipping it and the rustle of fabric as she pulls out her swimwear.
She’s growing so fast, almost like a puppy.
Her feet and hands are huge, she outgrows her shoes long before they’re worn out, and I think she is going to be one statuesque, gorgeous black woman when she’s fully grown into herself.
We’ll be getting her braces this year, and she also started asking to stop working with her natural curls and get box braids instead.
She was pissed when we researched and found out that it’s hard to maintain them when she’s constantly in chlorine.
It was one of the times her wonderful Uncle Ray stepped in to talk to her all about her hair care, and recommended the woman who does his cornrows.
She adores him and Diego, lovingly calling them her Guncles.
There are many times when Jada will bring up how grateful she is for the family she got when she came to us.
Between her indulgent grandparents, all of her aunties and uncles with their partners, there are a whole lot of people who adore her and make sure she knows it.
As the oldest of the grandchildren, she’s become the leader of the pack with her cousins.
“She’s already asking to get to the beach, isn’t she?” He asks with a laugh.
“Asked if I packed her favorite bathing suit right away, as if I would forget,” I say pointedly, loud enough for Jada to hear upstairs to mess with her. She scoffs, sounding like a teenager already.
“I just wanted to make sure,” she calls down.
“We can’t go to the beach for the entire day, ok?
Yolanda is expecting us for dinner,” I call back up.
Yolanda is still doing fantastic at 89, vibrant as ever.
I hope I age like her. She, her husband, and her family have become a second family for all of us, and we spend a lot of time with them every year when we come.
She doesn’t look after the property anymore though, she needs to rest and enjoy her life.
We put a stop to that the same year we first came, hiring a management company to come clean the interior and keep the exterior nice each quarter so that when we visit, we don’t have to spend an entire day doing maintenance.
There are always more stories to hear about my parents and grandparents, more pictures they find.
Our life is in the states, but connecting with my roots here, and continually learning about my family has been one of the most rewarding journeys I could have ever imagined.
All of the emptiness I felt, that gnawing hole in my heart that my parents and grandma left when I lost them, has been filled to almost overflowing ever since that first unforgettable trip here with Carlo.
Just like my parents hoped, we have filled this home with so many new memories, the past and future mingling to make the place incredibly special.
Carlo proposed to me here on our second trip, a year after the first. He got down on one knee in the sand and pulled out a gorgeous vintage ring that was completely me.
I’ll never forget his face that day as long as I live.
He looked up at me with so much love in those gorgeous eyes that I burst out crying as he asked me to be his wife.
Our first trip here with Jada saw her playing in the sand and loving the beach for the first time.
There were so many long lasting dinners that went way past her bedtime where she got to know her family here.
The hilarity that ensued when we brought the cats here for the first time is now legend, Tish and Gomez went nuts looking around the house and discovering all of the new things.
They’ve taken to a harness and leash to even come to the beach with us and walk around.
We do the same now. While Jada gets changed upstairs, I get the cats into their harnesses and they make a beeline for the door, meowing their impatience to go outside.
They’ve become such little adventurers, and I attribute it to working with them a lot when they were still pretty young. Jada comes stomping down the steps.
“Ok, let’s go!” she cries. She grabs my hand, and I wrap my arm around my husband’s waist. Carlo nuzzles my hair and puts his arm around my shoulders.
His free hand holds the leashes as the cats amble in front of us.
We walk in the beautiful Spanish weather as a whole family to go enjoy the beach, Tish and Gomez already chattering to the sky at the gulls.
I never knew my life could be like this, was too afraid to reach for what I truly wanted, because I learned how easily it could be snatched away in an instant.
I’ve leaned into it now. We’ve built this life brick by brick, and it’s as solid as it could ever be.
Carlo is happy running the FedEx hub now after Jacob retired last year, and his art always sells so well at shows.
As he’s evolved, it’s his watercolors that have become the biggest sellers.
They’re absolutely spectacular displays of color, light, and shade that reflect his immense talent.
His sketches, especially his portraits, still seem to stir people the most emotionally.
The way he captures micro expressions and personalities is something that will always have me in awe.
He will always have me in awe with his humor, intelligence, generosity, and the way he loves so freely. I could not possibly adore him more.
I’ve become more and more in demand at Living Arts Tattoo through the years, making a name for myself with my floral and animal tattoos especially.
I’ve done a few more for myself and Carlo, too.
We both got matching tattoos of our wedding date and the date we adopted Jada, adding to our story through body art.
Way before all of that though, he made sure I added my initials to the hibiscus I tattooed on him.
We had just gotten engaged at the time, and I said I’d take his name since I wanted to feel even more a part of the Hernandez clan.
So he insisted that I tattoo TH instead of TC, even though we weren’t married yet.
I have his initials near the tattoo for my parents, by my heart, where he will always be.
It took me some time to learn how to fully and fearlessly love, especially considering I grew up believing it was something I would always lose.
Now I look in awe at this little family Carlo and I have built, and I could not be more grateful that he and I both took that leap all those years ago.
I’m going to hold onto this life with every fiber of my being and cherish each second.