by Holly Rayner
I stood, staring up at the enormous tree Raul had had delivered on Christmas Eve. I’d never seen a tree so large inside a house.
“Are you sure we have enough decorations for this monstrosity, Raul?”
“Yes, I’m positive. Especially with the decorations your mother brought with her from New York.”
“Okay, well I call dibs on being the supervisor. I intend to sit in that chair over there and point and criticize ornament placement.”
“That happens to be exactly the job I had chosen for you.”
Raul stood behind me, his arms wrapped around my enormous belly. The smell of my mother’s famous chocolate chip cookies wafted out of the kitchen and made even the enormous country house feel homey.
“Rey is loving having your mother with us, mi corazón. Thank you for that.”
He nuzzled my neck, and I sighed with pleasure. I still loved the feel of his hands and lips on me, despite the ridiculous belly I was being dwarfed by as our daughter grew larger every day.
“The doctor says she could come any day, you know.”
“I know.”
“Do you think we might stay home on New Year’s just in case? A quiet, family affair at home?”
“Do you not want to go to a party that night?”
“Not if I can spend it here with you and Rey, my mother and Marco.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. We’ll stay here.”
I wandered over to the boxes of ornaments Marco had pulled from some unknown storage room in the house earlier that morning. Gorgeous globes of hand-blown glass sat nestled in yellowed tissue paper.
“That one is from a trip I took to Pompeii one summer when I was at university,” Raul said, pointing to a lovely blue globe with carved designs over the surface of it.
“And this one?” I asked, lifting a red globe from the box.
“Commemorating Rey’s first Christmas.”
He moved to the boxes my mother had brought from New York and touched the NYPD shield rendered in glass.
“Was this your father’s badge number?”
I leaned over and nodded. “It was.”
“Was he the reason why you became a police officer?”
“Yes. He was a good cop. I can’t tell you how many times he’d bring a young man or woman home to have dinner with us because he knew if he didn’t feed them, they’d steal a meal from somewhere.”
“Would he have approved of me?”
Raul turned to face me, and I saw something I hadn’t expected to ever see in his eyes. Doubt. Not of me, but of himself.
I cupped his face in my palms and kissed him slowly, thoroughly.
“My father would have more than approved of you, my love. He would have adored you just as I do.”
“Well maybe not just as you do.”
We chuckled together.
“I suppose you’re right about that,” I agreed.
“If you’re certain he would have approved…”
“I am.”
“Then I suppose he would have approved of this as well.”
Raul knelt on one knee in front of me and took my left hand in his.
“I know I should have done this sooner, but I was waiting for your mother to be here with us.”
He looked toward the kitchen where, when I looked that way, I saw Ma, Rey, and Marco standing together in witness.
I looked back to the man kneeling in front of me and saw the glint of a diamond shining.
“Oh, my,” I breathed.
“Tanya Marie Owens, I am so thankful for the day you came into my life. We’ve learned to communicate with each other, accept one another as we are, and have grown stronger and deeper in love. I can’t imagine my life without you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
My heart ran circles in my chest, thundering so fast that I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. This was what I wanted, wasn’t it? To spend the rest of my life with this man and our family.
“Yes! Absolutely, yes,” I cried out with tears in my eyes.
Raul smiled and slid the diamond ring onto the ring finger of my left hand.
“It was my great-grandmother’s ring,” he said. “She and my great-grandfather were married for seventy years. It will be a good token of our love.”
I kissed him when he stood up, and then I couldn’t help but admire the large, brilliant stone winking from my hand.
“It’s gorgeous, Raul. And perfect. Thank you.”
Rey came up and wrapped her arms as far around me as they would go.
“This is the best day ever!” she exclaimed.
A little later, when the room had stopped spinning, we set to decorating the tree—meaning Rey brought me a plate of Ma’s cookies and led me to the chair I was to direct from.
“I’m glad you’re going to marry my papi, you know,” she said.
“Thank you, honey. I’m so glad to be part of your family. I love you and your father so very much.”
“Good, now sit down and relax while we decorate.”
I did as directed and settled into the comfort of the overstuffed chair to watch as my family strung first lights, and then ornaments and tinsel, on the tree until it was weighted down with history and memories. I knew that next year, we would add even more because our daughter would be there to celebrate with us.
Chapter 51
Tanya
“What do you mean, you won’t be here for New Year’s Eve?” I asked my mother.
“Marco has invited me to join him at a party thrown by one of his friends, and I’ve accepted.”
“But I thought we were going to have a family New Year’s?”
“You are. Your family is right here with you. I’m going to spend the evening with my gentleman and his friends.”
“Your…gentleman?”
“Yes, well, I’m a little old to have a boyfriend, aren’t I?”
“I suppose so.”
“I thought you liked Marco?”
“I do like Marco. I even like him for you, Ma. I just had this vision of a quiet family New Year’s in the country, and here you’re leaving me for the excitement of the city.”
“Honey, we’re both grown women, able to make our own decisions and live our own lives. Spend this time with Raul and Rey. It’ll be the only New Year’s you’ll get with just the three of you. Enjoy it.”
I hugged her hard. “How did I get so lucky to have such a smart mother?”
“The same way I got you, honey. Sheer, dumb luck.” She kissed my cheek and left me to get herself ready for her date with Marco.
I sat on the couch and stared at the Christmas tree. Christmas had been amazing. The gifts my mother had brought from New York for Rey had been perfect. Books and more books. A few family pieces left from my own childhood.
In addition to the proposal and accompanying ring, Raul had given me a vacation on the coast that we would take after the baby was born.
“Señorita Tanya, may I speak with you?” Marco asked from the doorway.
“Of course, Marco. Come sit with me.”
“Certainly.”
Marco crossed the room to take a seat on the sofa beside my favorite over-stuffed chair. He sat down, stiff, formal, and uncomfortable.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing at all. I wanted to ask you something, though.”
“Ask away.”
I hoped my smile was reassuring. He seemed nervous about something, and that was unusual for Marco. He was always the cool head in the room.
“Señorita, you know I’ve been spending time with your mother, yes?”
“Of course. I think that the two of you are wonderful for one another.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
I waited in silence for Marco to ask his question. I had an idea what it was, but I didn’t want to rush him. After some time, he took a deep breath and forced himself to ask.
“I want to ask your permission to court your mother. I want to know that, should
it come to it, you would not be averse to me asking for her hand in marriage.”
“You want to marry my mother?”
He nodded, but his face was so sad, I almost didn’t catch the movement.
“If you don’t want me to marry her, I will understand. Your father was a great man with an honorable vocation. I am just a chauffeur.”
I held up a hand to halt his speech.
“Marco, you aren’t ‘just’ anything. You are a good and honorable man. I would be a fool to think my mother could find a better man to spend her life with.”
Marco lifted his eyes to meet mine, and I saw hope in those eyes. Hope and love.
“Please, court my mother and should the opportunity present itself, I think you should marry her as quickly as you can.”
Marco was on his feet in a blur of movement. He bent over me and embraced me, his lips brushing my cheek.
“Muchas gracias, bonita. For your trust in me and your love for your mama.”
“Be happy, Marco. Always choose happiness when you can.”
“You, too, bonita. You, too. Feliz año nuevo.”
Chapter 52
Tanya
January
“But the baby was due a week ago,” I said into the phone when the doctor answered.
“Babies have a habit of coming when they’re ready, not when calendars say they should. If she hasn’t come by next Monday, we’ll look at inducing labor for you.”
“Thank you for your time. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Very good, señorita.”
I hung up the phone and looked at Raul.
“Well, what did he say?” he asked.
“That babies come when they want to, not when the calendar says they should.”
“I think I said something like that recently.”
“Yeah, don’t rub it in, mister. You’re not walking around with a bowling ball strapped to your belt.”
Raul chuckled as he leaned over the kitchen table where Rey was working on the homework she had put off for most of the Christmas holiday. School was due to start on Monday, so she had a bit of catching up.
He tapped his finger on one of the problems she was working.
“Check your math, here, sweetheart. Take your time and you’ll be more successful.”
Rey groaned and erased what her father had pointed to.
“I hate math. When am I ever going to use this?”
I held up my hands in surrender. “Don’t ask me. I’ve always wondered the same thing.”
“Don’t encourage her, Tanya,” Raul said with a grin. “She needs math if she wants to be an engineer.”
“What if I don’t want to be an engineer?”
“Then you’ll need math because your papi says you’ll need math.”
Rey turned her paper toward her father. “Is this right?”
He leaned down and nodded.
“You see, it was a simple addition mistake. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that can cause the biggest problems.”
Rey closed her book and put it into her backpack.
“There, I’m finally finished. Now, can abuelita teach me how to play gin rummy?”
I cocked an eyebrow at Rey. “Are you sure you’re finished? All of your subjects? Literature, math, and science?”
“Sí, Tanya. I’m certain.”
“Then, yes, you may go pull my mother away from her contemplation of Spanish television to learn the age-old skill of playing gin rummy.”
“What is this gin rummy?” Raul asked.
“It’s a card game I learned to play when I was five or six years old. I remember playing it with my great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother on days when the weather was too ugly to go out. I’d collect pennies for weeks to play with. My family takes gin rummy very seriously, and we play penny a point.”
“I have pennies,” Rey said with a grin.
“I know. I made sure to save some for you for exactly this reason.”
She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. I gave her a one-armed squeeze.
“I love you,” she whispered into my ear.
I grinned. “I love you, too, hija.”
Rey pulled back and gave me the strangest look. I panicked.
“Was that all right?” I asked. “I’m sorry, I won’t call you that if you don’t like it.”
Rey looked to Raul, who nodded.
“You did nothing wrong, Tanya. I…well, I hoped that one day you’d see me as your own daughter.”
“I always have, my love, I just didn’t want to take anything away from your own mother. I want to always honor Eloisa with you and your father.”
Tears slid down Rey’s cheeks and she flung herself into my arms, forcing a grunt out of me.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, immediately contrite. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No, hija. I’m fine.”
“I love you, mamita. I really love you.”
I held her, cupping the back of her head and rubbing soothing circles on her back, and let her cry herself out. We rocked together for several minutes until she’d finally calmed down. Raul joined the family hug and rocked with us, holding us both.
“I love you both so very much,” he said, kissing the top of first Rey’s head and then mine.
I smiled up at him and then set Rey just a little away from me, so I could see her face.
“Okay, miss weepy face, go get your abuelita and tell her to bring the cards. I want in on the action.”
The sunny smile Rey blessed us with was worth any torrent of tears she might ever have for me. I’d live with a permanently tear-soaked blouse every single day if it meant I got that smile when the storm had passed.
Rey left to find my mother and Raul came to me, lifting my hand from my lap to kiss it.
“I love you, mi corazón. I love you because you love me, my daughter, her mother, and a meddling old chauffeur. Thank you for loving us all so much.”
“I’m always afraid I’m doing something that will hurt Rey’s feelings. I don’t want her to forget Eloisa or think I’m trying to replace her mother, but I love that little girl with all my heart, and I want her to feel comfortable being my daughter.”
“She knows that, all of it. She’s asked me a few times about what I’d think of her calling you ‘mamita.’ I told her she should if she felt it was appropriate, but I wasn’t going to tell her what to call you. I think she’s afraid I’ll be upset if it seems like she’s forgetting her mother, or putting you in her place, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“And what is the truth?”
“That you are her mother, and that your presence does nothing to dishonor her mother’s memory. Tanya, it will be you she goes to when ‘women’s things’ arise in Rey’s life. You will be the one she goes to the first time a boy breaks her heart. It will be you who gets to hold her first child.” Raul crossed himself. “May that be many years hence.”
My heart swelled, and I felt yet more tears threatening behind my eyes.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what, mi corazón?”
“For trusting me with your daughter.”
“I can’t think of anyone better to trust her with.”
I blinked fast, to try to wipe the tears from my eyes as Rey returned to the kitchen with my mother in tow. Marco, never far from Ma now, trailed behind them, carrying two plastic cups Ma had brought from New York. They were cups from an Atlantic City casino she’d visited once, and they contained the pennies they’d use to play rummy.
“For heaven’s sake, Tanya, what are you crying about now?”
I grinned at her. She always knew what to say to get me to smile. I was blessed that Raul believed more than one generation should live in the same house. Bringing my mother to Madrid was the one sure-fire thing he could have done to ensure my happiness in a foreign country.
“Just thinking about your face when you lose at cards tonight.”
“Me? Los
e at cards? What kind of delusional dream are you having? I never lose at cards.”
“That’s because you cheat.”
“I have never cheated!”
Rey interrupted. “Are we going to play or are you going to continue to tease each other?”
I put my hand on Rey’s shoulder. “The teasing is fun, but you’re right. Time for you to learn to play gin rummy.”
Ma came over to sit down next to me, and I kissed her cheek as she started shuffling the cards.
Rey had never seen a bridge shuffle, and nothing would do but that my mother teach her how to do it. After several times of needing to pick up all the cards from the floor when she spewed them out of her hands, she got the hang of it, shuffling like one of the cardsharps I’d known growing up.
It took some time for Ma to explain the rules, but by the second hand, Rey seemed to have gotten the hang of the game. We were laughing and joking, teasing one another as my mother and I had always done when we played cards. The men watched us play, far more interested in the teasing than the cards.
I was just finishing a meld when a sharp pain seized my belly and I gasped, grabbing for my stomach.
“Tanya?” Raul’s worried face filled my vision as a second pain came.
I grabbed his hand to squeeze as Ma looked at me, worry creasing her brow. I could feel the sweat beading on my upper lip. I tried to speak, but a third pain had me clenching my jaw as I did my darnedest to squeeze the pain out using Raul’s hand.
“I think this is it,” Ma said. “Time to get to the hospital.”
Raul looked at Marco, who was out the door to the garage at a run.
“Nina, will you stay with Rey?”
“You don’t even have to ask. We’ll wait by the phone and play cards until you call, right Rey?”
Rey looked between my mother and me and nodded slowly.
“Right.”
I nodded and then groaned as another pain rippled across my belly. Marco tooted the horn in the garage, and Raul scooped me up into his arms and took me out to the limo. Ma and Rey followed us to the garage but hung back by the door.
Marco called out through the open car window. “I’ll get her there safe, bonita Nina. You can count on me.”
