Page 51 of I Do, or Dye Trying
“Just small cars,” Josh commented, “and only every other day.”
“I like you,” Selena said before she threw her arms around Josh’s neck for a hug.
“It’s a good thing,” I told her, “because we’re a packaged deal.”
“A few months ago we didn’t know we had a brother and now we’re about to have two!” Arianna exclaimed excitedly.
Marisol cocked an eyebrow high at Josh and asked, “On a scale of one to ten, how protective areyougoing to be?”
“That depends on the situation,” Josh said, keeping his answer vague. He spent a lot of time around women and seemed to sense a trap when it was near. He once told me that women never forgot a damned thing and would recite something a person said verbatim ten years after it was spoken. He wasn’t about to back himself into a corner.
“I like you too,” Miguel said. He extended his hand to Josh first and then to me and introduced himself. He didn’t seem to find anything awkward about our situation, and in fact, looked to be a proud father of three amazing young women and a doting husband who wanted to make his wife happy. If I hadn’t already run him through every background search system available to me, I would’ve known at that moment that Miguel Gutierrez was a good man.
Bonita quietly watched everything unfold as if she was just happy to take it all in, but I could see the glimmer of wanting more in her eyes. I knew she hesitated because she wasn’t sure what I was comfortable with, so I took the first step. I opened my arms, and she stepped into my embrace. I heard her crying softly against my chest and felt her tears soak my shirt.
“You look just like your biological father,” Bonita said when she pulled back and looked up into my face. “You have my coloring, but other than that you’re the spitting image of him. If you ever want to know more about him, I’ll gladly tell you what little I know and show you his yearbook pictures.”
“I’ll give it some thought,” I told her.
Bonita hugged me again and cried a little more.
“Gosh, Mom,” Selena said. “You act like you haven’t seen the guy in over three decades.”
“Oh hush,” Bonita replied, waving her hand in Selena’s direction as she battled to keep her expression serious. “Can’t we at least try and trick him into thinking we’re a normal family for the weekend. I’m not expecting the three of you to keep up the charade forever, but at least until after the wedding.”
We all laughed when the three of them said, “Okay,” in unison.
“Are we ready to eat?” Miguel asked.
“Always,” Arianna said. “I looked at their menu online, and I have my heart set on that big breakfast with the bacon, eggs, home fries, and pancakes.”
“Quit bragging about your metabolism, skinny bitch,” Selena said affectionately to our sister.
“It’ll catch up to her when she goes to college,” Marisol said. “She’ll be eating pizza and Chinese takeout and gaining the freshman fifteen like the rest of the world.”
“I gained twenty,” I told them, “maybe even twenty-five pounds because I wasn’t burning off the calories like I had in high school while playing football.”
“I tried to gain fifteen pounds but couldn’t do it,” Josh said, earning glares from everyone else.
“You two skinny bitches,” Marisol said, pointing her finger at Josh and Arianna, “can sit at a table by yourselves while the rest of us eat egg white omelets and wheat toast.”
“I’m ordering the same thing as Arianna,” I announced.
“I’ll eat the egg white omelet and toast,” Josh said. “I don’t want to rip out the seams of my tuxedo pants tomorrow.” Josh ate like a fucking bear coming out of hibernation, so I knew damn well he was just saying that to please my sisters, who were perfect, beautiful, and healthy women.
Brunch was a wonderful experience; there wasn’t an awkward lull in the conversation and we never ran out of things to discuss. I was enjoying myself so much, and I hated to leave their company, but there were things we needed to do to prepare for the rehearsal. Then it occurred to me that our day didn’t have to end at all.
“I’d love for you to come to the rehearsal tonight. We’re having a barbecue afterward with the wedding party and our immediate families. My mom and dad are looking forward to seeing you again, Bonita, and meeting the girls and Miguel. What do you say?”
“Yes!” my sisters exclaimed.
“Are you sure?” Bonita asked, but I saw the hopefulness in her eyes. “We don’t want to intrude.”
“Speak for yourself, Ma,” Arianna said. “I want to spend as much time with my brother as I can, and I don’t mind being pushy about it.”
Marisol nodded. “Yeah, what she said.”
“See, Ma,” Selena added. “You said more than once that you wished we could all agree on things and now we do.”