21. The Newlyweds
THE NEWLYWEDS
Dahlia
Barcelona, Spain
August
“Iwasn’t expecting a lot, you know.” I say.
Alejandro casts a glance in my direction. “Don’t start.”
“But a hello at the door would’ve been nice. Maybe some flowers,” I say, walking past a row of bouquets in black buckets covering the marble floor. “A cake. A cute welcome back banner hanging from upstairs.”
“Dahlia.”
“Or even a little music!” I drop my purse on the diadem table and remove my sunglasses. “I’m not asking for much.”
“We’re still being inundated with wedding gifts and you want a welcome home committee?” He looks around for an empty spot in the great hall, of which there are few—an accomplishment considering its size—and dumps a stack of boxes near the basement door. “That seems excessive.”
I open my mouth to respond but don’t get the chance.
Upstairs, a door opens and the clickity-clack of a pair of heels bounces off the stone walls.
Only the top of a very tiny head can be seen bobbing up and down across the mezzanine before whizzing down the stairs, at which point a mountain of black curls comes into view.
I break out into a smile. “Is that my little Rita Hayworth?”
“Titi!” Allegra’s high-pitched squeal echoes across the room. “You’re home!”
I remove my sun hat and leave it on the table with my purse and sunglasses.
There’s a maze of gifts on the floor and I narrowly avoid tripping over a glass swan on my way to the foot of the grand stairs.
Allegra doesn’t bother taking the rest of the steps on her way down and instead leaps into my embrace the moment she’s close enough.
“?Los vi!” she exclaims. “Los vi de la tana.”
“Ventana, Lela.” I squeeze her tight and smother her with kisses. “Why are you so cute? Who told you to be so cute?”
She dissolves into a fit of laughter and squirms in my grasp. “Titi, Titi, stop!”
Alejandro comes up behind me and smooths a hand over her hair. Allegra reaches for him and he takes her into his arms. We’ve only been gone two months but I feel like we missed so much. Was she always this tall? Was her speech this clear before?
“Tio, prometiste traerme algo de Talaland.” She wriggles around in his grasp until she’s hanging upside down.
“Se llama Tailandia, mi amor. Thailand en ingles.” He corrects gently. “?Dónde están tus padres?”
She points. “Upstairs.”
“Upstairs, upstairs, upstairs.” He rocks her back and forth and ascends the main staircase to the upstairs apartments. I wrap an arm around his waist to keep him steady since he can’t hold onto the railing. “And your Tia?”
Allegra taps her cheeks. “Haciendo su maquilla.”
“Se está maquillando, Lela.” I glance at Alejandro. “I still think we should get that tutor.”
“She just mixes things up sometimes, that’s all. Right, Lela?” When we reach our apartment door, he pulls up her shirt to blow raspberries on her belly. Allegra lets out a glass shattering howl before descending into a fit of giggles.
Diego rounds the corner of the hallway into the apartment foyer. “Is someone murdering my child?”
I throw my arms up. “Finally! I was beginning to think no one cared.”
Diego smiles and kisses my cheek. “Welcome back.”
“Where’s Kay?” I ask.
“She’s—”
A frazzled Karina rushes into the room, having entered from the same hall as Diego. She grabs her keys and purse off the center table while simultaneously pulling on one of her shoes.
“Kay is running late.” She rakes an aggressive hand through her short hair and makes a halfhearted attempt at greeting us. “Welcome home.”
“I can really feel the warmth of your welcome.” I beam with feigned excitement.
Alejandro sends a look in my direction—a silent warning to play nice.
“Lela, did you put your shoes on?” Karina asks.
Allegra, still twisting and turning in Alejandro’s grasp, kicks up her feet to reveal her plastic princess heels. Karina heaves a sigh of defeat.
“Close enough. Pídele a Titi y a Tio la bendición and let’s go. We’re late for your doctor’s appointment.”
Allegra wiggles into an upright position and tilts her head up. “Bendición, Tio.”
“Dios te bendiga, mi amor.” He makes the sign of the cross on her forehead and kisses her cheek before bringing her over to me.
I bless her as well and then smother her in kisses one last time. “I love you, Lela. Be good for Mami and Papi.”
Alejandro sets her down and she zooms out the door. It’s incredible the speed at which that child moves. I swear it’s inhuman.
Diego follows his daughter downstairs while Karina stays behind to pull on her last shoe.
“Is anyone else home?” Alejandro asks.
She shakes her head. “Aside from Beni and the others on the day shift, no. Dona Ana left about an hour ago to see Abuelo and Lettie’s up on the terrace with her demon plants.”
I frown. “Lela said she was doing her makeup.”
“That was earlier. Now she’s crossbreeding some speciosa...artum…I don’t know.” She waves an exhausted hand. “Weird plant shit.”
He chuckles. “In other words, out of commission for the next few hours.”
Her brows lift in response but she doesn’t comment. “See you guys.”
The moment the apartment door closes behind her, the foyer becomes unbearably quiet.
I haven’t seen Karina look this exhausted in a while.
Is she overwhelmed at the dance school again?
Was Allegra giving her a hard time while we were gone?
Karina and Diego are very hands-on and their co-parenting relationship is admirable but it’d be a lie to say they do everything on their own.
It’s taken a village to raise my niece and Alejandro and I have been there every step of the way; both as aunt and uncle and as her Godparents.
I’m half tempted to catch Karina on the way out but what’s the point?
What would I say and how could I possibly help?
“Thank God.” Alejandro’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “I thought they’d never leave.”
“Wh—wait! Alex!”
I squeal as he lifts me off my feet and throws me over his right shoulder. Both my heels fall off in the process and he abandons them in the hall on the way to our bedroom.
“Bridal style would’ve been more romantic.” I protest.
A resounding smack bounces off the walls as he slaps my back side.
“Ow!”
“Can’t do that bridal style.”
Once we’re at our bedroom door he stops and lowers me into his arms. He steps over the threshold, sets me down, and descends into an elaborate bow that pulls a laugh from my lips.
“You’re ridiculous.”
He locks the door. “And we have the house to ourselves for at least an hour.”
“Mm,” I back away a few steps. “You have a one-track mind, Mr. Narvaez.”
“I’m afraid I do, Mrs. Narvaez.” He removes his watch and drops it on the dresser. “But that’s why you married me.”
“Is it? And here I was thinking I married you for your money.”
“The sex too.”
I trip over my feet and momentarily lose my footing. Alejandro doesn’t stop his advancement. He begins to unbutton his shirt and my heart rate picks up when I realize the space between us is quickly vanishing.
“I think I had enough of that on the plane ride here. And last night in our hotel.” I count on each finger. “On the yacht off the coast of the Maldives.”
He undoes the cuffs of his shirt sleeves. “Don’t forget the jungle trek in the Philippines.”
I blush at the memory. “We promised never to talk about that.”
He slides a hand behind the nape of my neck and brings my mouth to his.
I’m struck by the sheer intensity of a simple kiss and how no amount of time can diminish the excitement of being touched by him.
All he does is press our lips together and my stomach is already in knots.
I can feel the hunger radiating from him and am overwhelmed by the pressure he applies to my bottom lip until it yields.
The soft glide of his tongue against mine sends a flurry of pleasure through me.
By the time he brings a hand to my lower back and aligns his body with mine, I can hardly keep myself upright.
Every kiss is a treasure he’s desperate to have all to himself.
He takes what he can, as much as he can, as if the source of this pleasure is finite and he fears the moment he’ll have to live without it.
He kisses me so thoroughly that by the time I come up for air, he’s undone every last button on the back of my dress and the garment melts away from my figure with ease, gathering at my waist. Shivers dance down my spine as he lowers his lips to the pulse in my neck and licks.
“You know,” My breath catches. “I had planned on being productive today.”
He turns me around and pushes the dress past my hips. The light fabric is soundless as it lands in a heap of yellow and red cotton on the floor.
“Really?” His breath dances over the skin of my bare shoulder.
One hand comes around me from behind and presses against my lower stomach, fingers spreading and digging into my flesh, while the other unhooks my bra. He drags his hand up the length of my torso and between the valley of my breasts. Intimate and familiar. Beautiful and safe.
For once, I’m glad he takes his time. I want anticipation to build and simmer until I’m dizzy.
“Yes. I was going to unpack. Wash clothes…”
His hand travels further and my skin heats from the contact.
Eventually, his fingers glide up the column of my throat before they cup my jaw and he guides my head to the side.
I follow his lead and shiver when his lips touch the soft patch of skin beneath my ear.
He leaves a trail of featherlight kisses down the length of my neck before working his way up again.
Across my jaw and then the corner of my mouth.
Right when I think he’ll kiss me, the hand on my stomach moves lower, dipping beneath the waistband of my panties.
He hooks his finger and gently guides the lace down the lengths of my thighs, to my knees, and then my ankles.
Kneeling, he kisses behind my thigh and says, “Lift.”
I lift one foot after the other and kick the panties aside.
“Are you going to get undressed or am I just decoration?”