Chapter 13 Javier
Thirteen
Javier
The Ravens, unfortunately, did not make it to the NBA Finals.
Los Angeles and Houston did.
It sucked that we didn’t. Our team had worked harder than ever, some of us clocking in early and late hours at the gym just to better our game. We had a good season, despite not making it, and truthfully, I was relieved it was done for now.
It was never the game that I grew weary of. It was all the traveling and missing out on time with my family. Going from state to state, jumping on and off charter planes, waking up in different hotels with different views. Sometimes jet lagged, sometimes not. It was completely exhausting.
Now that the season was officially over and summer had peaked, it meant I could focus more on Aleesa. We were one week away from her birthday party. My mother was flying in from Argentina and would be staying with us for a few weeks, and my sister, Catalina, was flying in from New York.
Octavia, as promised, had taken care of everything for the party.
And I mean everything.
Every decoration, party bag, table setting, and food choice and even the custom cake.
She’d even hired someone to come and set up a large glass tank so an actress could use it and pretend to be a mermaid.
This was per my request. I wanted Aleesa to have something she could remember.
Perhaps it was too much, but there was no such thing in my mind when it came to her.
The morning of the party, Octavia was there bright and early, helping my mother and sister get Aleesa ready. Octavia took care of bathing her and styling her hair, while my mother and sister helped her get dressed before taking about a million photos of her.
I handled the caterers and determined how the backyard would be set up, and about an hour before the party, my mermaid princess waltzed out the back door, calling my name.
“Oh, mi princesa! Look at you!” I lowered to a squat and held my arms open as she ran toward me in a shimmery blue dress and a matching tiara. Her sandy hair was in two curly pigtails, and she had blush on her cheeks.
I frowned.
“Catalina, I told you no makeup.” I stood up with Aleesa in my arms, locking eyes on my younger sister. “She’s four, not fourteen.”
“It was just a teensy bit,” my sister said, waving a hand at me. “It’s her birthday. Let her look pretty.”
Catalina was forever the rebel. A lot of our facial features were similar, especially our eyes, brown and framed with thick, long lashes. When you saw her dark-brown hair that cascaded into a fierce ombre of red orange to her shoulder blades, you knew to expect some sort of trouble from her.
I prayed for the man who would one day take my sister’s hand in marriage and have to deal with her for the rest of his life. She was a free spirit, never one to be shackled by life. If you did not support that, she would happily shove her middle finger in your face.
“Oh, please,” my mother said, approaching us, ready to squeeze Aleesa’s cheeks.
“Mi nina is always pretty. Muy, muy bonita.” She made kissing noises, and Aleesa giggled.
My mother was no taller than five feet, with wavy deep-brown hair that reached the middle of her back.
Her skin was slightly darker—more a rich beige—most likely from a recent tan on one of the beaches of Argentina.
That was one thing about my mother. If she was not in the United States with us or checking in with my grandfather in his retirement home in Argentina, she was soaking up sun at one of the nearby beaches.
My daughter left my arms, and when my mother had her, she carried her toward the empty water tank, where the mermaid actress would be soon.
I carried my line of sight to Octavia, who was wearing a one-piece black bathing suit under jean shorts.
She had piled all her hair into a ponytail on top of her head, so her locs went in all sorts of directions.
Messy and cute. She straightened up one of the snack tables, then flipped her wrist to check her Apple Watch.
Catching where my attention had gone, Catalina brushed against my side and said, “You look at her in a very familiar way.”
I dropped my gaze to hers. “What are you talking about?”
“In that familiar way, you know?”
“No, I do not know, because you are not making sense.”
“Yes, you do.” She grinned, then strolled away, heading in Octavia’s direction. She plucked a cherry from under the plastic wrap covering a fruit tray while saying something to Octavia. Octavia turned her head and locked eyes on me.
Then they both laughed.
What the hell did my sister say to her?
I shook my head, focusing on the DJ instead, who was connecting his speakers.
Within the next twenty-five minutes, I spotted two familiar faces walking through the backyard hand in hand. Deke and Davina. I could not help but smile as I watched them.
Deke carried a present wrapped in pink gift wrap under his free arm but gazed down at Davina as she talked. It seemed he wasn’t listening at all, by the way he stared at her as if she were a meal. But I knew he was. He was always listening to her.
It was nice seeing them together. Seeing him happy.
And her . . . especially after all she’d been through.
Because of it, it seemed Davina and I understood one another on a different level.
We were sort of like the people in a grief support group who like to be present but not say much.
Just nod in agreement and accept life for what it is.
Davina spotted me and waved, causing the glittery gold bangles on her wrist to sparkle under the sun. She released her fiancé’s hand to meet up with me.
“Hi, Javier. How are you?” she asked, grabbing both of my hands and squeezing them.
“I am doing good. And you?”
“I’m great. I know we’re a little early—sorry. Deke said he wanted to be the first one to give Aleesa a gift.” She rolled her eyes in that he’s so extra but I love him for it way.
I turned my eyes to Deke as Davina released my hands. Deke simply smiled and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m her favorite person.” Our hands connected in a clap followed by a brief brotherly hug. “What’s up, Valdez?”
“Not much. I thought you had to meet Arnold today?”
“I do, but I pushed the time back. He can wait. I wasn’t missing out on my little homey’s day. Where’s the birthday girl anyway?”
“She was with my mom near the snack table.” I peered around until I spotted them near the mermaid tank, where toy fish were now scuttling inside. “Well . . . now they’re by the tank again.”
When I pointed, Deke nodded and took off. He jogged across the backyard, toting the present, but as soon as he’d gotten closer to Aleesa, he set the present down to scoop her up from behind.
Caught off guard, Aleesa squealed loudly as he twirled her around in his arms.
My mother laughed, placing a hand on her hip.
When Deke set my daughter back down, he reached for the present while saying something to her. A laugh came from my right, and I glanced at Davina. She watched Deke’s interaction with Aleesa thoroughly, with soft eyes and a warm smile.
“Do you think you two will ever have kids?” I asked.
“Oh, um . . .” She bobbed her head, eyes lingering on Deke a moment longer before they swiveled up to mine. “I think so. I mean, we’ve talked about wanting kids in the future. We have to get through this wedding first, though.”
“That is true. Is all of the planning stressing you out?”
“You know, it’s not so much the planning that’s stressing me.
It’s trying to balance work while planning a wedding.
It’s hard to be fully present sometimes with the wedding planner when I’m being called to the warehouse for an emergency or someone has sent an urgent email.
” She shrugged, as if it were no big deal. “But I can handle it.”
“I am sure you can. You are a strong person.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Javier.”
“Javi!” I turned to the sound of my mother’s voice. She was standing in the middle of the yard, her phone raised in the air. “It is your abuelo! He wants to speak to you and wish Aleesa a happy birthday!”
“Be right there, Mamá.” I looked at Davina again. “Duty calls. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“I’m okay. You go take care of business.”
Davina gave me a pat on the arm before walking away to meet Octavia, who was chatting with the mermaid actress. Fortunately, Deke was making his way toward us with Aleesa on his shoulders. In her hands were two brand new baby dolls . . . and a pack of Starbursts.
“Candy? Really?” I pressed my lips as he removed Aleesa from his shoulders.
“I couldn’t help myself, man. She loves them.”
“You are lucky it is her birthday.” I lowered my eyes to my daughter, who was trying her hardest to open the sleeve of candy. “Come, Leesa. Abuelo Pedro wants to speak to you.”
An hour later, the backyard was swarming with bodies.
Children from Aleesa’s ballet class or former playgroups, as well as some of my teammates’ kids, ran across the grass, full of laughter and squeals. Most slid belly down on the waterslide, while others blew bubbles or jumped around the sprinklers.
Aleesa, now standing in a pink bathing suit with holographic mermaid scales, was decorating a mermaid craft at the activity table.
I stood several feet behind her, keeping a close eye on how she handled the glue stick (she loved trying to smear it on her palms), but it was hard concentrating with some of the parents chatting me up.
This was the one thing I could not stand about parties. The socializing.
Because I played for a professional sports organization, everyone always asked me questions or looked at me to carry conversations. My teammates that were around did not seem to care for it, either, so they either stuck with their kids or made themselves look busy.
Anyone who really knew me could have told you I was not good at carrying conversations. I did not mind silence. In fact, silence was a delicacy I thoroughly enjoyed. But since I was technically the host, they looked to me.
Do not get me wrong, I was thankful for Deke and Davina being there. They, along with my family and Octavia, were the only people I could tolerate, because they treated me like a normal person.
But Deke and Davina were sitting beneath the shade of the patio deck, eating slices of pizza, while my mother and sister were going between the snack tables and the house for replacements and refills.
Octavia was on the other side of the table, directly across from Aleesa, coloring a unicorn mermaid.
“It was a close one, though,” one of the fathers said, nudging me with an elbow. I was pretty sure he was a dad of one of the friends from Aleesa’s first playgroup.
How had he even gotten an invite? She had not attended that playgroup in almost a year. My mother had sent out all the invitations. I guess I really needed to clean up my contact list.
“I tell you, that Bishop has great aim,” the man went on, gesturing with a hand to Deke. “He hardly ever misses, does he?”
“He does not,” I said.
“You think he’ll want to talk about the games?” the man asked, eyeing Deke again. A starstruck fan.
I looked Deke’s way. He had his chin tipped up and a smirk on his lips as he waved his hands, insisting Davina do something. She laughed as she raised a napkin and wiped his chin with it.
“Yeah, I do not think he wants to be bothered right now.”
“Right, yeah.” The man sipped his drink.
“Your defense was great,” one of the mothers said.
“Thank you, uh . . .” What was her name again? I swear all these moms looked and acted alike.
“Gianna,” she said, doing her best not to frown.
I heard Octavia snort a laugh. I glanced at her. She shrugged.
“Right. Thank you, Gianna. I am so sorry,” I apologized. “It has been such a long day already.”
“Of course. I can only imagine how exhausted you are, taking care of Aleesa on your own,” Gianna said with sympathetic eyes. “That’s why I believe kids need both parents. Much easier to share the load.” Gianna sipped her drink while I held back a grimace.
What the hell was she saying? She acted like I chose to have a motherless daughter.
I folded my arms, clinging to restraint. I was not about to curse this woman out at my daughter’s party. She probably did not even mean it in a bad way. Still, she could have chosen better words.
“That’s why he has help,” Octavia said, lumping herself into the group.
Gianna looked Octavia up and down, her fingers curling around her sparkly plastic cup full of lemonade. “Right. The new nanny.”
“That’s me.”
“Oh, boy.” Her laugh was snarky as she looked at the man beside me.
Okay. I was wrong. Gianna was a rude, inconsiderate woman.
“Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that your daughter is eating grass.” Octavia’s mouth twisted into a faux smile as she focused on Gianna, who stared at her for a brief moment before twisting her neck and searching for her daughter.
And sure enough, there was her child next to the mermaid tank, on all fours, face down as she munched on grass like a calf.
“My God! Penelope!” Gianna crowed, rushing away from us.
I suppressed a laugh, but the man next to me did not. He busted out laughing before guzzling down the rest of his lemonade. “Gonna get a refill. Maybe I’ll get a chance to chat with Deke Bishop.”
When he walked away, I looked for Octavia again, but she was back with Aleesa, helping her apply glue to one of her pom-poms.
“You did not have to do that,” I said, smirking. “But thank you.”
“Yes, I did. She’s a b-word.”
“B-word?” Aleesa questioned.
“Don’t worry about it, angel.” Octavia smoothed some of Aleesa’s frizzy hair down with the palm of her hand.
She then stood as Aleesa reached for a container of purple beads.
“Anyway, I can’t stand that woman. She’s always shooting me ugly looks at ballet.
Her daughter’s adorable, though. Hope she doesn’t get sick from all that grass. ”
“Yes, well, typically I ignore women like Gianna.”
“Must suck being rich.”
“Only when dealing with the uppity rich types like her.”
She bit back a smile.
I do not know why my eyes lingered on her mouth or the way she caged her plump bottom lip between her teeth.
I cleared my throat and took a step back, pulling my eyes away. “I should see about the cake.”
“Oh, I can do it,” she offered.
“No, no. That is okay. You stay with Aleesa. I will be right back.”
I marched away before I could look at her again.
Because I was doing a lot of that lately. Looking at her. Studying all her details. Admiring her.