“I, um… What do you suppose Joaquín was doing here? He knows better than to come here or be near me unless we’re exchanging Mateo.”
“He was looking for trouble, and he found it.” Nico’s voice has a hard edge to it, but Joaquín does that to people. “I don’t want you to worry about anything. You and your little boy are going to have a wonderful Christmas.”
“You don’t have to come home with us.”
“I won’t sleep for a second if I’m worried about you guys. Besides, you probably need help putting together Mateo’s toys.”
“I was going to do that when I get home.”
“Now you have help. If you want it, that is. I can stay in my car outside if you’d prefer that.”
“Why would you do that for me?”
He runs a fingertip over my face, a touch so fleeting, it might as well have never happened, but I feel it everywhere. “Because I care, Sofia. I care about both of you, and I don’t want anything to happen, especially not at Christmas.”
I’m breathless and speechless and every other “less” I can think of.
“If you don’t want me there, I can keep an eye on things from outside. It’s no big deal.”
“Sure. No big deal to sleep in your car on Christmas Eve.”
“I’d do it for you.”
“Why?”
His gaze shifts from my eyes to my lips, lingering for a second before he looks up again. “Because.”
“Okay,” I say with a nervous laugh.
“Are you ready to get Mateo home?”
“The party is just getting started. You don’t want to leave yet.”
“Yes, I do.”
“If you’re sure, I’ll get him out of the pool.” I hope Mateo doesn’t throw a fit. He doesn’t do transitions well. We’re working on that. I return to the edge of the pool where Maria is playing with him and Everly. When she sees me coming, she deftly lifts Mateo out of the pool and into my arms.
I speak to him in Spanish when I tell him it’s time to go home so Santa can come and bring presents. Only because he’s excited for Christmas does he go along with me when I change him into dry clothes and remind him to thank Marlene when we say goodbye. I want him to be bilingual, so I’m teaching him the English I’m learning and switch back and forth between the two languages with him.
In one of the few times we’ve seen her in recent years, my mother told me I’m going to confuse him. So far, he seems to be getting it. If you ask me, he has much more of a natural affinity for English than I ever will. When Mateo is dressed in Christmas pajamas, I grab my backpack and shove my feet into flip-flops. I zip sweatshirts onto both of us, as the night has grown cooler, like it does this time of year. Then I pick him up to find Marlene among the sea of family members and friends enjoying the music. She’s turned her backyard into a wonderland of white lights woven through palms and strung along the fence. Chairs and tables brought in from a rental company are scattered throughout the pool area along with high-tops and barstools.
I’ve never seen more food in my life than what was prepared for this party, and that’s saying something since the weekly Sunday brunch at the restaurant is no joke.
Marlene, who is seated with her gentleman friend, Mr. Muñoz, her daughter, Vivian, and Vivian’s husband, Vincent, jumps up when she sees us coming. “Are you heading home?”
“We are. This little guy needs to get to bed so Santa can come.”
“Yes, you do,” Marlene says, tickling his feet.
Mateo’s laugh makes everyone smile, as always.
“But guess what? Santa already came to my house, and he left something for you. Do you want to see, my love?”
Mateo nods and goes willingly into her outstretched arms, which is rare for him. If I’m anywhere near him, he wants me and only me. But Marlene has a way with him, as does Vincent’s mother, Livia, who joins us as we head inside to see what Santa brought for Mateo. They’ve told him to call them Abuela and Nona, which is such a lovely honor since his maternal grandmother couldn’t care less about him—or me—and he sees Joaquín’s mother only occasionally.
Nico gives his cousin Domenic a bro hug, punches his brother, Milo, on the arm and follows us inside to the family room, where a stack of gifts is piled next to the tree.
“These are for Mateo.” Marlene gestures to a huge pile. “From me and Livia.”