Page 125 of Stronger Than Fate

“Because I proposed to her and she accepted,” he responded with astonishing casualness.

My pleas went unheard.

“Whaaaaaaat?” our three siblings said in unison.

“I know this isn’t the most opportune moment, but when you’re happy, you can’t wait to share the good news with your loved ones,” he said, looking at them with a big smile. “Dalina has agreed to be my wife, we’re getting married, and I hope it will be soon.”

I looked at my brothers who had been left paralyzed and speechless, and I prayed to all the saints that we wouldn’t cause another scene at this wedding. Surely we’d never be invitedto another family gathering again, much less a wedding. After tonight, we’d become the black sheep of the family.

“Dali, is that true?” asked Bastián, with a calmness I was sure he didn’t feel.

“This man isn’t right in the head,” said Lolo, looking at Henry as if he were insane.

“Congratulations!” exclaimed Niky, hugging us and not giving a damn about my brothers’ frowns and bewilderment.

“Dali?” Bastián called.

“This isn’t the time, let’s talk about it when we leave here,” I pleaded.

“Is what he said true or not?” asked Lolo.

“It’s true,” I confirmed. “But I’m asking you to discuss this later.”

Bastián, always the most sensible one, looked at Lolo who was getting up from his chair and grabbed his arm.

“Dali is right, we’ll talk about it when we’re alone.”

Henry squeezed my hand as if to give me courage and continued looking at my brothers as if nothing had happened, and at that moment I would have given him a good kick for not keeping quiet.

Obviously, what little remained of the gathering was spent in a rather tense atmosphere.

The reception ended and, after saying goodbye to the newlyweds and our relatives, we headed to the parking lot knowing that, for us, the night wasn’t over yet. If Henry hadn’t opened his big mouth, we could have been heading to the hotel and enjoying the rest of the night, together and alone, but now a long talk with my brothers awaited us.

“Woollardy, let’s all go to the hotel so we can talk calmly,” Bastián stated with determination.

“Bastián, can we talk tomorrow? We’re all tired,” I pleaded.

“I’m not tired. Are you tired, Lolo?”

“Not at all, I’m super wide awake,” the aforementioned replied.

“I’m not tired either. We’ll see you at the hotel,” Henry affirmed, and pulled me along toward his car.

“And what about me?” asked Niky.

“You come too, apparently it’s a family meeting and you’re part of the family,” said Henry. “We’ll see you at the hotel.”

And so, in a line, one car after another, we all headed to the hotel. God help me!

On the way, Henry was quite quiet, so I assumed he was thinking about what awaited us, though I doubted there was anything that could intimidate him.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

“I’m thinking about getting married as soon as possible. I want you all to myself, day and night, without having to explain myself to anyone.”

“You’re saying that because of my brothers.”

“I can understand them because I’m quite protective of Niky, but I won’t deny it breaks my balls a bit having to give so many explanations. We love each other and want to get married, why do they have to make such a big deal out of it?”