by Angel Cole
"You guys, you've got to see this!" Nicki yelled over her shoulder to a waiting Sherry and Dani. "Oh, my God! Carmen, you're stunning!" Nicki squealed.
Carmen blushed at the compliment as the other women wearing matching dresses to Nicki's entered the room. All prior conversations were over as the women fussed over the bride to be. Luisa went unnoticed pouting in the corner of the room as she'd wanted more of her sister's time and attention.
Later that day, Carmen and Anthony had had a beautiful ceremony. Somehow, all the expenses were met, and the service went off without a hitch. Carmen and Anthony had been gifted a wonderful five-day, and a four-night stay at one of Nevada's premier hotels, complete with a spa package for two and the flights and food were paid for, courtesy of her girls. They knew that Carmen could only spare so much time away from the store, which was why they kept it short.
After the church ceremony, they headed to the reception hall, where Carmen was impressed by the elegance of the decorations. Dani had outdone herself, and the room was beautiful. She had used a simple theme of white and lavender, Carmen's favorite color, to coordinate the decorations in various hues of lavender. The tables that lined the floors were covered with white linen tablecloths, in the center of each table there were beautiful crystal vases encircled with lavender satin ties held together with mother of pearl tipped straight pins, to match those in Carmen's hair. Each vase contained a mix of long-stemmed lavender and white roses, their bottoms layered with richly colored glass marbles adding a pop of color to the tables. The chairs were dressed in the same white linen to match the tablecloths and encircled with large lavender satin bows to match those on the center pieces. There was a long buffet table filled with various assortments of foods, desserts, and drinks with waiters standing aside ready to help anyone who needed it. Carmen was in awe of the detail Dani had taken with the planning, and as soon as she could, she thanked her profusely for everything.
"Dani, how did you manage to afford all this?" Carmen asked later, still in awe.
Dani had hired an MC and a DJ, and the event had been lively and fun from the start. Each of her girls had given lovely toasts, commenting on how lucky Anthony was to have Carmen by his side. Anthony's father gave a salute on behalf of his son, as did Anthony's best man and childhood friend. After the newly married couple had danced together alone on the floor, other couples slowly joined them.
"Told you I got you covered," Dani said to Carmen, giving her a brilliant smile. "The girls and I will always have your back," she said, winking at her, and Carmen realized that her girls had taken care of the bills among themselves. A massive wave of gratitude hit her as she gave Dani a quick hug.
Her girls had come through for her again helping to make one of the most important days of her life unforgettable.
CHAPTER 8
"Honey, can you come in here for a minute?" Carmen called to Anthony. She was in the bathroom, and he looked up from the newspaper he was reading with interest at the excitement in her tone. They had been married for three happy years now.
"What is it, babe?" he asked, stepping into the bathroom. Carmen stood in front of the mirror, smiling widely at his reflection as Anthony slowly entered the room, a confused smile on his face. He reached her side, and she wordlessly held up a small object to his face. A white stick. Two lines.
"You're…" he trailed off, too unsure to even speak the words.
She nodded in affirmation. "We're pregnant," she confirmed.
"Oh," Anthony said dumbly, still looking down at the pregnancy test. It took him thirty seconds to fully process it, and when he did, he turned to his wife, taking her in his arms and spinning her around in glee. "We're pregnant!" he shouted happily, and she laughed in his arms, wrapping her own around his neck.
"Can't believe this," he said, putting her down, still smiling widely. The last time Carmen had seen her husband, this happy was the day they had closed the escrow on their home, and they could finally move out of his parent's house. "Incredible." He pulled her towards him again, this time giving her a sweet and gentle hug.
"You're going to be a great father," she whispered to him, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her.
"And you will be the best mother ever," he returned. "We are finally starting our family."
It had taken three years of steady work to qualify for their home loan, but they eventually did, settling down in the smallest house in a great neighborhood that was close to the liquor store. The store was thriving after having qualified for a business improvement loan, and Carmen was able to upgrade it in the ways she had always dreamt. She added food warmers and cookers alongside new soda and smoothie fountains. Fresh paint and floors gave the store a more modern look and feel. They added fast foods like hot dogs, burgers, and nachos in the store, which increased its sales as more desired foods were now available. Looking back, Carmen could say that the addition of fast food products to their store had a direct link to the rapid weight gain that was noticeable on her and Anthony. She was not happy about that situation, but they needed to generate as much revenue as possible from the store with a home mortgage to pay, repayment of a business loan, both she and one sister currently in college, and the youngest sister soon to begin college. Now that she was pregnant as well, they were going to need even more spending money.
She was already dreading the thought of seeing a scale with added weight that the baby was going to bring. She figured that her doctor would let her know if the numbers were getting ridiculous.
One evening, Carmen and Anthony were doing the dishes after dinner on one of his rare nights off. He rinsed off the plates as she washed them and, after several minutes of working in companionable silence, he spoke up hesitantly.
"Baby," he started, eyes focused on the cup he was rinsing out. "You know I love your sisters, and I admire how you care for them, but," he paused, turning the cup over in his hands while Carmen waited expectantly.
"I think that after they graduate, they should be responsible for their finances." He said it all at once, huffing out a breath once he finished, setting the cup down. He turned to face her, looking squarely at her.
"You've given them amazing college educations without the financial burden of having to repay student loans. They should take those degrees and make a living for themselves."
Carmen nodded slowly in understanding, rinsing the soap off her own hands before turning to her husband.
"I know baby," she said. "And you are right. They understand that, too, so don't worry."
"We have a child coming," Anthony stated as if Carmen had not spoken at all. "My priorities are to you and our baby; my immediate family."
He placed a hand flat on his chest to emphasize his point, and Carmen rolled her eyes. They rarely ever argued and, when they did, it was usually about the store and the financial commitments that Carmen had made to her family. She always got nervous when he brought up conversations about sound financial practices and the importance of planning and budgeting, especially after taking out the business improvement loan a few months ago. Anthony was a stickler for minimizing financial debt so that they could put away as much as possible into their savings. He had never been comfortable with the amount of burden that Carmen had taken upon herself for the sake of taking care of her family. He had always understood why she did all that she did but being an only child and coming from foster care, he had learned to take care of himself first. He was fortunate enough to have adoptive parents that were financially stable and already retired, and so the burden of caring for the family was a choice for him, and he'd chosen Carmen to be that family. That was his reasoning for not committing himself in marriage before he had secured stable employment. He knew they could have both made a living at the store, but he had his pride, and he needed to come into his marriage with Carmen with something of his own, to offer her some sense of security if she ever wanted to let the store go.
Carmen was especially grateful for his choices when she decided to go to college
for herself. She was able to cut back on store hours for a while without worrying about their financial situation and was on track to graduate at the same time as her sister, Rosa, who was finishing from a highly rated fashion institute.
Also, the stress of college was another contributing factor to Carmen’s weight gain. She had often caught herself snacking during late-night study sessions and putting it down to food cravings. With the natural weight gain that came with being pregnant, Carmen no longer tried to distinguish between baby weight and weight gain from overeating or lack of exercise. Her degree was from the school of business and accounting at the local state university where she was majoring in accounting and economics. Despite all her efforts, she still felt naïve in the matters of business, and she realized that getting a degree gave her the tools while life gave her the experience.
Even with her already full plate, Carmen found herself attending city council finance and budget meetings, whenever she could, to understand the workings of the distribution of funds to local businesses. She wanted to have a better comprehension of being a business owner and the importance of her role in her community.
Carmen managed to get her degree completed in three years instead of four, having passed all the placement exams for mathematics with perfect scores due to the advanced courses that she had taken in high school. Her and Anthony's first baby was due to arrive one month after her graduation.
She had noticed that she was not the only one in the family gaining weight with the pregnancy. Anthony had steadily begun gaining weight as well. They tried to go on daily walks together either after dinner when Anthony didn't work evenings or in the mornings, but both had become inconsistent. Now they were lucky to get a stroll in on the weekends.
She often wondered if their lack of exercise had contributed to his angst regarding their finances as the mounting responsibilities had led him to pick up an old habit which he had dropped after leaving the military - smoking. He claimed not to smoke often. He didn't smoke in the home, but he was smoking, which was a significant concern for her. She'd promised herself she would work on both issues after the baby was born and she and Rosa had finished school. For now, Carmen had too many other worries to try to rectify all of that now.
"Rosa and I are going to be done with school at the same time," she reminded him, "so we're finally done with two tuition payments. Yay! Right?" she gave him a tired smile and waved her hands halfheartedly. Anthony could see the exhaustion reflected in his wife's eyes and hear the stress in her voice. She looked tired as hell, with shadows beneath her eyes that he had never noticed before.
He took the dishtowel from her hands and set it down in the sink, rinsed his hands off and reached behind her head to rub at her neck.
"Go," he said gently. "Rest, baby. You're dead on your feet. I'll finish here." He gently pulled her towards him, and they stood there for a few moments, their foreheads touching, a comfortable silence between them. Carmen could not even protest; he was right, and she was exhausted. She kissed him on the cheek before heading off sluggishly to their large master bedroom. Not bothering to change out of her clothes, she climbed into bed and turned the lamp on the nightstand off.
Her entire pregnancy went by in a haze of chronic anemia and chronic fatigue. It was still four weeks to her expected due date when she went into early labor. It was a Friday, the last one before she started her finals the following week. She was sitting in her home study, tiredly going through her notes for an exam she had on Monday when she felt a wetness between her legs. She immediately realized that her water had broken.
"Anthony!" she yelled in shock, not knowing how to react. "Anthony, get in here!" He rushed into the room, and she said, without preamble, "My water just broke, we need to get to the hospital."
"You're- what do you mean? We're still a month to the due date!' he asked in confusion just as the first of her contractions began and she hunched over in a groan.
"I don't know, Anthony," she gritted out. "All I know is that this baby wants to come out right now."
"Okay, okay," Anthony mumbled, sounding more like he was speaking to himself than to her. He helped her out of her chair and down to the car and rushed them to the hospital. Despite the prematurity of the labor, the delivery went smoothly. Carmen went through twelve hours of painful labor but came out with a new addition to the Mendez family- a beautiful baby girl. She was the most beautiful baby that Carmen and Anthony had ever seen, and they decided to name her Lydia Lucia Mendez.
By that Sunday, baby Lydia was declared healthy and okay to go home, but Carmen had developed a slight fever and not wanting to separate mother and child, they had to stay for another day. On Monday morning, Carmen, still feeling under the weather and running a full fever, discharged herself against medical advice and headed to the college to take on the two finals she had scheduled for that day. Her mom ran the store while Anthony and Dani took turns watching over Lydia while she took her first final. In between exams, Carmen would lie down in the back seat of their car to rest, pop a Tylenol and breastfeed and bond with her baby. She was heading in the classroom for her next final when Anthony had to return to work, Dani was there to take baby Lydia.
Dani waited outside Carmen's class for her while she took her exam, worried that her friend would be unable to make it back to the car alone, due to her exhaustion. Lydia must have sensed the anxiety coming from Dani because she refused to stop crying. Her wails echoed through the hallowed halls of the mathematics department, incredibly loud for such a small baby. Carmen could hear her child's cries from where she sat inside the exam hall, and it took everything she had not to rush out and go to her baby.
Carmen watched in horror as the instructor's face contorted in annoyance when Lydia let out a particularly loud wail. The instructor stormed out of the classroom to address Dani who was cooing softly to baby Lydia, trying to calm her.
"Can you please take that baby outside?" the instructor asked tensely. "We are trying to conduct an examination here."
"She's just hungry and wants her mom," Dani replied, flustered. "Her mom is in there taking the exam. I'll try to calm her down."
"That is not the problem of this academic establishment," the instructor hissed at Dani, and she recoiled, shocked at the older woman's insensitivity. "Now take that child out of here, or I will be forced to call security."
Dani wanted to say something in response but decided to keep her mouth shut in order not to cause any more of a disruption to Carmen and the others taking the exam.
"Of course," she replied, knowing that she should not have brought such a young child to a building with halls that echoed. "I apologize for the disruption."
The instructor looked shocked at Dani's humility and watched as Dani packed up her few belongings. Her eyes softened as she watched Dani address baby Lydia in soft tones, to settle her.
"Miss?" she called out, right before Dani turned her back to leave. "There is somewhere you can take the baby and wait," she said, pointing down the hall. "Go down the hall that way. There's a study room for the students where you can wait. We should finish in about forty minutes. I'll let your friend know where you are."
Dani was so grateful that she went up to the instructor and placed a firm hand on her bony shoulder. "Thank you so much," she said. She picked up Lydia's bag and headed down the hall, where she found the room that the instructor had described. It was large, comfortable, and thankfully empty. She settled on a couch where she changed Lydia's diaper and gave her a drink from her emergency bottle, which sent the child into a peaceful sleep.
Carmen was wracked with worry as the instructor left the room and almost overwhelmed with nerves when she came back in with a blank face. Carmen watched in concern and confusion as the instructor headed straight to where she was seated at the back and gave her a small piece of paper.
'Your friend and baby are in the math study room,' the note read, and Carmen breathed out a huge sigh of relief. She was able to finish that exam, and even sent
flowers and a gift card to the instructor, after.
She passed all her finals that week, and the following week she walked across the podium to receive her dual degree in economics and accounting. All her girls were present except for Sherry who was not able to get away from her work but still sent a beautiful gift basket filled with items for Lydia and something extra to open an account for Carmen to start saving for Lydia's college. As amazing as the gifts were though, Carmen would still have preferred her friend's presence there.
.
CHAPTER 9
2 years later
Dani’s third pregnancy came with a lot of struggles, from the conception to labor and delivery. The entire pregnancy had been nightmarish by most women’s standards and, as a result, Dani had been on bed rest for its duration. All the girls had come together to assist her during the difficult time as Trey, her husband was on the road with his pro basketball team, and she had no one to take care of her and her other two children. Her in-laws were aging, and Dani would have never excepted their help. Carmen had just had her second child, Anthony Jr.; six months prior with none of the complexities of her previous pregnancy and she knew that it was now time for her to be there for Dani the way Dani had been there for her during and after her first pregnancy.
Both Nicki and Carmen were present for the duration of the pregnancy and after she had undergone her stressful delivery. It was evident that Dani was not boding well on her own and needed all the help she could get and so every day, the two women would drive over to Dani’s house to make sure that she was up and dressed, the baby was changed and fed and her other two children, Trey Jr. who was now eight years old and Aria who was soon to be six, were fed and safely sent off to school.
