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“What? No…” Tears fill my eyes so rapidly, it’s like someone has turned on a faucet.
“We had the best time shopping for him,” Marlene says. “Don’t spoil our fun.”
“It was fun,” Livia adds. “Been a while since we had any babies to spoil, so we went a little nuts over him and Everly.”
“You guys… You’ve already been so good to us. It’s too much.”
Marlene puts Mateo down on the carpeted floor. “Do you want to open your presents, love?”
He looks up at me, his big brown eyes huge with the wonder of it all.
“Go ahead, sweetheart.” My eyes are so flooded with tears, I can barely see through them as Mateo rips into the brightly wrapped packages that are full of trucks and trains and even a Clifford the Big Red Dog, who is his absolute favorite.
Their generosity never fails to astound me. I’ve never in my life known people like them, who wrap their arms around a perfect stranger and make her—and her son—part of their family like that’s no big deal.
“What do you say to Abuela and Nona?” I ask him.
“Muchas gracias,” he says softly as he struggles to his feet and walks to each of them with his crooked gait to hug them. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome, mi amor,” Abuela says. “I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.”
“Feliz Navidad,” he says. “That means Merry Christmas en Español.”
“Yes, it does,” Nona replies. “Aren’t you just the smartest boy?” She kisses him on the cheek and then sends him back to me while the two of them pack up his presents in a bag one of them produces out of nowhere.
That’s how they are—anticipating every need before you even have it. I want to be them when I grow up. I hug them both and blink back more tears as I thank them again. “I don’t know where we’d be without you and your family,” I tell them.
“We love you both,” Nona says. “You’ll always have a family with us.”
“We love you, too.”
Nico hugs them. “You guys never fail to amaze me. Love you so much.”
“Love you, too, sweetheart,” Nona tells her grandson. “Are you going to see them home?”
“I am,” Nico says.
“Good,” Abuela says as she crooks her finger to bring him down close enough for her to kiss his cheek. “Take good care of them. They’re very precious to us.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He carries Mateo’s gifts in a bag big enough to be Santa’s.
“Mama, play toys?”
“In the morning, love. First you must go to sleep so Santa can come to our house, too.”
“Don’t wanna sleep. Wanna play.”
“I know.”
As I buckle him into his car seat, Nico stashes the bag of toys in my trunk. “I’ll be right behind you.”
I straighten and turn to face him. “You really don’t have to.”
“We’ve already had that argument. I won. Don’t lose me.”
Smiling, I say, “I’ll try not to.”
