“Thank you,” I say, and he turns to look at me.
“Not just for the crib… for everything.” He smiles for amoment, then nods and turns away again. I have to pick up Mireya from the hospital, so I walk to my grandfather’s house to pick up the engagement gift he had given me a few days ago. I want to surprise her with it.
When I get to the front of the hospital, I see Mireya walking out. She has been coming here for her practicum with Dr. Aguilar. She doesn’t see me at first, but I knew she wouldn’t recognize me in my grandfather’s Impala. He had it painted green for me, and I requested he put on gold rims.
I whistle, and Mireya turns to give me a dirty look.Good girl.That’s exactly what she should do if a man whistles at her. Her skin is glowing, and I smile at the small bump that hides behind her scrubs. When she notices it’s me, her eyes soften, and she walks towards me. “Adrian. How did you convince Don Vicente to let you drive Lola?”
“Lola is ours now.” Her eyes light up as she slides in, and I pull her in for a kiss.
“Thanks to you, diosa.” I reach to touch her belly where my son is growing. “You are carrying his very first great-grandson, so I guess you’re kind of special.”
“Ugh, more like bloated, with Godzilla ankles, but special sounds better.”
I laugh and take the long way home, so we can cruise for a bit. She moves her hand out the window, smilingas the wind beats against her open palm.
“I think I want to be a midwife.” She can read the confusion on my face. I have no fucking idea what a midwife is.
“It’s like a gynecologist. I would help other women through pregnancy and giving birth.”
“You want to stare at vaginas for a living?” I would one-hundred percent support that. I wouldn’t have to worry about some guy hitting on her if she was staring at vaginas all day. She hits me on the shoulder.
“No, I want to help women have a more comfortable experience giving birth in the comfort of their home.”
“I would much rather you be a gina-cologist than touch any other man again.”
“It’s gynecologist.” She laughs, and I still don’t hear the difference.
“Whatever makes you happy, diosa.”
And I mean that. A younger version of myself would sacrifice for her just so she could follow her dreams. Now, I will just work harder to make sure nothing is out of her reach. She belongs to me, and I belong to her. We would build a home out of the house Patricio had built for us. We would fill it with children and give them the love we never received as children.
The life I live doesn’t always guarantee a tomorrow, butI’ll take every opportunity to celebrate her and her dreams. She is my whole world.
5 years later
Adrian is chasing PJ down the hill to the cemetery.
“Welo! Welo!” PJ says and runs straight to Patricio.
Patricio picks him up and hugs him. We came here to clean up Vicente’s grave before Dia de Los Muertos. Adrian kisses his mom and shakes Patricio’s hand when we reach them.
“Adrian, you made her walk all this way. Look at her feet!” Soledad says and reaches in for a tight hug.
I look down at my swollen feet. Our baby girl is due any day now. Adrian smirks at me.
“That’s her punishment. This is what happens when she can’t keep her hands off me.” I roll my eyes. Patricio hasalready taken off down the hill with PJ, chasing him as he laughs. It warms my heart. Patricio and Adrian had a rough start–shit, we all did–but Patricio has proven himself time and time again. Adrian and I had made a bet that if the baby was a girl, I would pick the first name and him the middle, but if it was a boy, he could pick the first name. When we found out we were having a boy, I already knew I was going to put Joaquin as the middle name for my father.
Adrian had gone back and forth between names… most of them were horrible. Al Pachino or Vito Corleone I immediately shot down. When I went into labor, I couldn’t get ahold of Adrian, and Patricio was there to take me to the hospital. He was always there. Looking back from the beginning, his love for Soledad outshone anything else he ever cared about. He gave us a home, he found Soledad, and he brought me to Adrian. I know that’s why Adrian chose Patricio as our son’s first name. Even if he does get jealous that PJ wants to stay at Welo’s house every weekend and tells everyone at preschool that Patricio is in the Avengers.
Adrian runs and scoops PJ up and moves him around like an airplane. He slows down to wait for me, and PJ takes right back off to catch Patricio and Soledad. Watching Adrian as a husband and father makes me wish I hadmore time with my dad.
The role of a father or grandfather is an important role. Whether it be bound by blood or not. I often think of the brief time I got to spend with mine and wonder if he would be proud of me. If he saw me where I was, would he agree with my life choices? I’m not always sure I am, to be honest, but life holds so many surprises. Different paths and obstacles of sacrifice and gain. Through it all, I look back and realize as long as I ended up here with Adrian and my children, I am happy.
I catch up to him and he reaches for my hand.
“Diosa, you sure you don’t want to go home? We can clean this up.”
“No. I want to be here. I loved Don Vicente as much as you did.” He nods and grabs my hand. Losing Don Vicente was one of the hardest days of our married lives. I held him that night as he held back the tears. I held his hand through the difficult funeral. While nothing was eternal, I knew the name and legacy Don Vicente left behind for his grandchildren would live on.
We both watch as PJ holds tight to Patricio, who holds him in his left arm while holding Soledad’s hand in his right.
I look at Adrian, remembering a time I was afraid of him coming home, and now, he is my home. As if he can readmy thoughts, his thumb rubs over my bracelets, and then he brings them to his lips. Many of them are rare and of value, but none are as special as the first one he gave me.
A gentle kiss and a soft whisper, “I love you.”
