EPILOGUE
TOMáS
ONE YEAR LATER
“Damn Tommy, you didn’t think to wash your hands before you came to dinner?” Gabriella jokes passing me the platter of chuletas. She glances at Sarina’s hands equally marred in paint like mine. “Oh, never mind. I see you two were busy.”
Great, now everyone around the table at my mom’s is staring at us.
Sarina grabs my hand, rubbing it. “You want to tell them, or should I?”
At this point Gabriella has abandoned her fork with both her elbows on the table and her mouth agape, waiting to be fed whatever scandalous story she thinks she’s about to be.
Lorena is no better sitting next to her.
Hell, Tino and Dante are just as bad. The four of them are all waiting with bated breath from across the table.
My mom takes advantage of sitting on my other side and nudges me with her elbow, whispering, “Am I about to be a grandma?”
I suck in my teeth, inhaling. “I’m sorry to disappoint you all but no, Gabriella, this,” I pause, lifting my paint stained hand “isn’t from some kinky shit like you think it is.”
Gabriella snaps her fingers. “Damn, I was wrong.” She turns to Dante who has a grin smeared on his face. “Yes, I know, I owe you ten dollars. Shut the fuck up.”
Want shrugs. “I didn’t say anything. And you don’t owe me anything.”
“A bet is a bet. I’ll pay up.”
“Seriously, you don’t have to.”
Gabriella rolls her eyes, irritated, as she stabs at her pork chop, not bothering to use the knife off to the side of her plate. “I don’t want to be indebted to you anymore than I already am,” she mumbles, mouth full of food.
Dante leans forward, looking past Tino and Lorena who are awkwardly sitting in-between them.
“I never said you were.”
“Whatever.” Gabriella doesn’t look up at him.
My mom interjects, giving me a loaded look. “Anyway, let’s leave whatever that is alone.”
Lorena mouths, “For real,” staring at me and Sarina.
Mom claps. “So, what’s the announcement.”
“Ma, I told you, me and Sarina have made the decision to keep our family, just the two of us.”
“I know hijo, that’s right. I didn’t mean to be pushy. I can’t help myself. I just saw the blue paint and I don’t know, my mind got the best of me.”
I look to Sarina, wanting her to say the rest. In the time we’ve been together so much has changed, and all of it for the better.
We have multiple business ventures we are running together.
All of which are doing so well that I made the decision to step back from the demanding position I had at Turner & Vize to do freelance legal work instead.
It’s been a welcomed change of pace especially with the market opening in just under a month at the green space me and Sarina’s brothers have been working on.
“The reason our hands have paint on them still is because we decided to participate in the market, as one of the vendors.”
“Meaning?” Lorena asks, picking up on everyone in the room’s confusion.
Sarina reaches for her phone, showing everyone a picture of the recent project we worked on together.
“It’s beautiful,” my mom says, eyes glassy.
“You recognize it?”
She nods. “Claro. You think I could ever forget how beautiful the water looks in Mayagüez? You two made this?” Sarina hands my mom the phone and she stays quiet looking at the ocean focused piece we made together.
A variety of emotion capture her face the longer she stares, until finally a tear rolls down her cheek when she places the phone on the table.
“Daddy would have been proud of you.” She looks up.
“At all of you. You all have come so far, chasing your dreams, going after your passions. It’s beautiful to see. ”
Silence falls over the dining room, taking in what Mom said.
I know she’s right. Still, I wish he was here to see it.
Tino lifts his glass, and we all say a cheers, since my dad is the reason we’re all gathered here for dinner, to celebrate him and what time he had with all of us meant and will always mean.
Dinner goes on with our usual lively banter that happens when all of us are together. It’s so good to have everyone together, and to see how well Sarina fits into the loving chaos we call family.
I hope she knows that what she lost with her own, she has gained with all of us.
There will never be a day that she won’t feel loved and supported and seen.
We are her family now.
I’m her family.
And I’ll make sure I spend all the days and after letting her know how loved she is.
That’s what marriage is, unconditional love.
Sarina approaches me with her purse already on her shoulder. “Ready?”
“Yep.”
“You seem distracted just then, what’s going through that mind of yours.”
I reach for her hand, pressing a kiss onto it. “Nothing, just that this is everything I’ve ever wanted.”
And everything we both deserve.