Page 130

A knock on the door caught my attention.

I turned around, finding Aunt Isabel leaning against the doorway.

“Hey, I'm going to prepare the chocolate. Do you want it with whiskey?” Aunt Isabel's magic recipe for chocolate was that her and Uncle Hendrix's mug always contained a shot of whiskey, but until that moment it had never been offered to me.

I narrowed my eyes, thoughtfully. A side of me wanted to, but deep down I just wanted to enjoy the time with them, so it was nice to have nothing in the system.

“No, thank you.”

“You sure?” The provocative tone was funny.

“Sí, tía.”

A suspicious look was thrown at me.

“Okay…” She took a step into the room. “What are you looking over there?”

“My photo with Derek.”

We both sat on the edge of the bed, side by side.

“Ah, that photo…” She seemed to dive into her own memory. “I remember I went to the trailer that day, talked to your mother and then we took this photo of you. I think your father was missing at that time.”

Oh yeah, we lived through that!

I didn't remember much, but Derek did. That was when my father disappeared for almost a year before returning. It was the time when Mom started drinking, if I wasn't mistaken.

“You know, good things and bad things shape who we are... Gabriela suffered a lot with my brother, but she was your mother and I liked her very much. And when the police called me that horrible morning, I...” Tears began to fill her green eyes. “I... I suffered, but not just because I had lost my only brother and Gabriela, but because I hadn't tried hard enough. Sometimes I still wonder if they would have had a different fate if I had brought them here. Maybe I should have helped them more, done more...”

“Tía... don't...” I held her hand, and she gave me a painful smile.

“You and Derek were reliefs in my life. I know it wasn't always easy, but I'm glad you ended up here with me and Hendrix.”

I agreed with her and let my head rest on her shoulder.

“Thank you for everything,tía. Always.”

“Ay, cariño…”

A kiss was placed on my forehead and we both took a deep breath, trying to recover from the strong emotions that flooded us.

Suddenly we heard another car pulling into the garage.

“Let's go down, your uncle is very eager to see you. He barely slept last night.” She whispered the last part like a secret, which made me laugh.

This time, only the driver was waiting for us at the airport. First we left my cousin at her home and then I went to my house. I wasn't very excited about arriving, despite everything. Still, it was a lighter feeling than last time.

My parents' new driver took my bags inside while I was greeted by my mother in gym clothes and an IPad in hand.

“Hi, dear…” A smile appeared on her face.

“Hi, mom.” I gave her a quick hug.

“Baby, this weekend is going to be crazy, but the good part is that we'll be able to have big announcements at the hospital's Thanksgiving dinner.” I looked at her with a bored face. “Kenny, it's important, but at least on the last day we're going to stay at home, the three of us, okay? Just us and we will be able to talk properly about some things and enjoy our company. Alright?”

They were trying hard and I wasn't stupid, I knew that.

“Okay…”