“Ma, I’m so happy you’re doing this.” I squeezed her hand, feeling hopeful about her taking some time to take care of herself for a change.
“I need it. I hope I can make the best of it.”
“I know you will.” I smiled, knowing she would love the next part of the conversation. “So your favorite Dominican millionaire asked if you would like to join him and his child for Christmas brunch tomorrow.” She perked right up at that. “Since I was already planning to go there, he asked if you’d like to come, too. It’ll be pretty low-key, just the four of us, and maybe a short visit with his best friend and his wife who live next door.”
By the time I finished, my mom was beaming and nodding like crazy, then she clutched her head.
“I have to go wash my hair and you need to help me blow dry it if we’re going to Tom’s for brunch. What should I wear?”
I laughed at her sudden burst of energy. “Calmate mujer, it’s just brunch at my boyfriend’s house.”
She waved me off and put her sandwich down. “Come on, help me pick out something.”
“Why don’t we eat first and then we can work on your makeover?” She smiled then and grabbed her sandwich, taking a big bite.
“Milito, hijo, these are so nice. You make them just like I taught you.”
Her mood was already turning and I felt like I had a ton of bricks lifted off my shoulders.
I was determined to make sure she could have the time she needed to heal, no matter what I had to do to make it happen.
chapter twenty-four
tom
“I’ll get it! I’ll get it!”
I heard little feet running down the stairs and prayed Libe didn’t break her neck rushing to open the door for Camilo and his mom. She’d been pacing in front of the Christmas tree downstairs like a crazed chipmunk for hours, waiting until we were all together and she could open the rest of her presents. She’d gotten to open a couple right after she woke up, but a few others had been sitting under the tree for the past two hours, she was about to blow a gasket.
“Mi Milo is here, Daddy!” she yelled, as she saw me coming down the stairs. She’d started calling him “My Milo” a couple of weeks ago. If I hadn’t already been absolutely sure Camilo was the one, the way my kid looked at him whenever he was around would have sealed the deal.
I came down the stairs and saw Camilo and Dinorah walking in. He was wearing a burgundy sweater with his usual skinny jeans and ankle boots. He had his hair in a French braid and looked relaxed walking in with a shopping bag packed with gifts.
Dinorah took off her parka and I saw she was wearing a green sweater to match Camilo’s red one. He looked at her outfit and rolled his eyes. Like I couldn’t tell he thought she was adorable.
Libe was standing back, trying to figure out how to approach the new adult in her space, but Dinorah immediately knelt down and extended her hand. She held a little Chewbacca toy.
“Hi, Libertad. I’m so happy to meet you, I’m Milo’s mom.” She looked up at me and winked, as Libe took the small plush doll and squeezed it against her chest. “He told me all about you. He said you’re a big fan of Star Wars.” Libertad was nodding so hard I thought she was going to snap her neck.
“Yes! I love Star Wars. I was Yoda for Halloween this year and I have a purple lightsaber. You want to see it?” She ran over to me, started to show me the Chewbacca, then revised the plan and ran back to Dinorah. “Do you want to come to my playroom? I have my toys there and I can show you.” Then she widened her eyes, ran back to me, and signaled for me to bend down, so she could tell me something. “Daddy, we need to hurry up this presents time, because Dinorah said she needs to go and play with meright now.” She whispered the last two words with such urgency that none of us could keep a straight face.
I nodded as seriously as I could. “Well we don’t want to keep Dinorah from her playtime.” I signaled for them to follow us to the study and as we walked, I grabbed Camilo by the waist and bent down to kiss him. He beamed at me.
“Feliz Navidad, baby.”
I smiled right back, my heart so full I had to take a moment just to look at him. “Feliz Navidad, amor.”
As soon as we sat down, Libe started dragging the gifts out from under the tree.
“Okay I got your gift, Camilo,” she said, out of breath as she ran back for another box. “Daddy! Yours is littler because I ran out of the white stuff.” She gave me a thumbs-up at this. “But don’t worry, it’s really nice.”
Camilo and Dinorah could barely hold in their amusement. She got the last two presents from under the tree in one run thenslumped next to where I was sitting and whispered, “Did we get something for Camilo’s mom?”
My answer was as stern as I could manage. “Si, Libertad. Sientate.” She sat down in the center of the circle of gifts she’d made. “Okay you can start opening yours and then we can each open ours.” That was all she needed to hear, and immediately she started ripping into those gifts like she was being timed.
We oohed and ahhed as she showed us her presents and then gave Camilo and I each some homemade thing that was supposed to be a coaster. I gave Dinorah a gift certificate for a spa which she loved, and then Libe grabbed her by the hand and pulled her upstairs to the playroom. They left the room with Libe chattering about what they would build with the magnetic blocks she’d gotten from Camilo.
As soon as they were out of earshot, I reached over to the table to grab my gift for Camilo, and he shyly pulled out his from the bag he’d brought.
