Page 20 of The Guardian

Gabriela came into the room and walked over to me. She then reached over and took my hands into hers. “I…You saved my kids. Hope talks about you and the things you did for them.”

I slowly shook my head. “I was a paid nanny.”

“I call BS,” Henry spoke up.

We looked over at him.

He stepped over and paused to look toward the closet to see that the kids were preoccupied. Then he looked at us. “I think you are not telling the whole truth here.”

I sucked a breath in, wondering why he said this. Did he know who I was? I didn’t think he did.

He went on, “In the last few days, the kids had a few stories to tell us. Like how you bought them meals and hid them. Then you would feed them when those bitches were out. That they never had cake or any kind of treat before you came along. You had to teach them what a cupcake was and what cookies really were. How you bought them clothes and shoes because they went barefoot and they wore rags. They didn’t even know how to read or write at ten years old. You bought books and school supplies for them. You taught them all that they know currently and you actually caught them up to high school level. No Maya, you were more than just a nanny. And knowing those two ole hags they paid you very little to be a nanny.”

I shook my head and looked away as hearing this all in one description made me sad about the years the twins missed out on life. “Any decent person would have done those things. They saved me too. I lost…” I paused and let out a sigh. “…my family and they became that for me. I mean have you watched them Sir Henry? They are joy itself. They are a blessing.” I looked over at Gabriela. “You will get upset, maybe a lot as the days go by. Just from their stories. But I think the hard things they dealt with made them better human beings.” I chuckled. “And maybe I just love them too much and I am biased as they say, but they are special. Just be patient with them and one day it will be like they were never gone.”

Gabriela had tears running down her cheeks as she tugged me into a hug.

I hugged her back.

She held me tightly and spoke into my ear, “If you ever need anything. And I mean anything…Please tell me. I can never repay your kindness and the things you did for my children. But I want you to know that you are always welcome here. You can live here for as long as you wish.”

When we heard the twins coming closer, we pulled apart.

The pair of them halted and stared at us.

“You’re crying?” Hope asked us in a muted voice.

I nodded and swiped at my tears. “Your mother was um…”

“I was thanking her,” Gabriela simply told them the truth. “She has done so much for you two. I am grateful to her.”

“The Maya angel,” both kids said at the same time.

We all turned to look at them.

Henry nodded his head at them. “Yes, I can agree on the angel part.”

“No, you don’t get it, Sir Henry,” Alex replied.

“We never had a Christmas until she came,” Hope explained. “We always wondered about the colored lights on the houses every year when it got cold. Then Maya bought us a small tree and decorations. She told us about Santa. About the baby Christ. We had to hide all the Christmas stuff and we only got to look at it on the back porch when the tías were gone. But then the tías got the flu and stayed home, so Maya couldn’t go out to get the angel.”

Nodding at us, Alex took up the story, “So we had some colored paper and crayons. We drew Maya with wings then cut it out and put it on the tree. Our Maya angel, we said when we surprised her with it. And do you know what Maya did?”

Gabriela clasped her hands together to seemingly control the visual trembling that this story caused. She nodded and said, “She cried.”

“Yes!” they both exclaimed.

“We thought we made her upset,” Alex said.

“You just made me cry happy tears,” I told the twins. “That was your first Christmas.”

“Si, it was and the next was even better. We got really good at hiding stuff.” Alex looked proud.

“Well, Christmas here is probably going to shock you a lot,” Gabriela said. “The tree always sits in the foyer and it will nearly touch the ceiling.”

The kids stared at her with rounded eyes.

“You mean that room by the front doors?” Alex asked as he looked stunned.