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“You get so twitchy when you’re excited.” She chuckled, watching as I tapped each of my fingertips on my thumb in quick succession.
“I can’t help it.” I frowned, watching as the roads grew more and more familiar the deeper we drove into the residential areas. “I haven’t seen them in such a long time.”
“I’m sure they’re just as excited to see you again.” She smiled.
“My mom started crying when I told her we were coming to Brazil for business.” I giggled, recalling the wave of tears and sobs that my sister had tried to quell on our last video call.
“She sounds wonderful.”
“She is.” I grinned, my heart racing as we pulled up to the driveway. I got out of the car and dashed over to the gate to press the buzzer.
“Mãe!” I shouted, pressing the buzzer excitedly. "Vitória, abra o portão! Open the gate!"
“Relax before you break the intercom.” Reid laughed beside me, reaching out to pull my fingers away from the buzzer. “Someone’s at the door.”
I looked up and immediately recognized my sister’s silhouette. The gate creaked open and I sprinted inside, my heart beating faster than my sneakers on the grass below me, and I almost tackled my little sister to the ground.
“Na-Nana!” she gasped, trying to wriggle out of my hold. “I can’t breathe!”
“I don’t care,” I sang, squeezing her close. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Me too, but I’m not trying to kill you right now,” she panted when I finally let go.
“Mia!”
Tears sprang to my eyes at the sound of Mom’s voice coming from the kitchen, and I followed the familiar path to where she stood in front of the stove. She wore the same old blue apron she’d owned for as long as I could remember, one hand stirring the pot on the stove and the other propped on her hip.
“Mãe,” I said, my lower lip wobbling uncontrollably. “I missed you so much.”
She turned away from the stove and wiped her hands on her apron, her smile wide. She held her arms out and I fell into her embrace, not caring that she was over a foot shorter than me. She cooed at me in Portuguese, her voice pulling me into an old sense of security that I hadn’t felt in years.
“My big girl, look at you,” she said, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
I didn’t want to move just then, I didn’t want to let go, but Reid’s voice filtered in through the doorway.
“You must be Vitoria,” she said, and I pulled away from Mom just in time to see Vitoria shoot me a loaded glance.
“And you must be Ms. Voss,” she replied, shaking Reid’s hand enthusiastically. “Thank you for helping my sister.”
Reid’s eyes widened and she looked back at me in confusion.
“My mom doesn’t speak English,” I explained, squeezing Mom’s shoulders. “And I forced Toria to learn.”
“Sometimes it comes in handy,” Vitoria said with an exaggerated eye roll. “Like now, for instance.”
“So, you found out Toria was learning English?” I asked Mom, who nodded.
“She’s as good at keeping secrets as your father was,” she scoffed. “He tried to surprise me with flowers for our anniversary once and put them in a vase in the shed like I didn’t go inside every day to fix the garden.”
Vitoria and I chuckled and I quickly translated for Reid, who was already smiling.
“Mom, this is Reid Voss,” I told Mom, pointing at Reid who inclined her head. “She’s my boss.”
My mom shuffled forward and hauled Reid into an airtight hug. I chuckled at the shock in Reid’s eyes that quickly turned warm.
My mother spoke as if Reid could understand, and I translated for her.
“She says thank you for taking care of me in America,” I told Reid, whose cheeks had turned pink by the time Mom had stopped talking. “And thank you for making sure she was able to see her baby again.”
