Page 109 of Not For Keeps
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, laughing as I lift one to prove it. “See? Maximum fluff.”
She nods approvingly. “Okay, that’s good. We want everything perfect for Mami.”
Analyse is coming home. My girl is coming home.
It’s been a full week since the hospital called with the update. After her surgery went well and they were sure there weren’t any complications, they kept her for monitoring and physical therapy just long enough to make sure she could manage stairs and short walks with assistance.
I swear I’ve been counting down the minutes since they cleared her for discharge.
Maya skips ahead of me into the kitchen. “Can we put her cookies on a plate?”
“We’ll do that last,” I say, checking the time. “That way they’re still warm when she gets here.”
Her eyes light up. “She loves warm cookies.”
“I know,” I say, tossing her a wink. “We’re not half bad at this, huh?”
She beams. It hits me again, like it always does now, how much she looks like Analyse when she smiles. Same warmth. Same light. Same quiet resilience.
I kneel down in front of her. “Hey, princesa. How you holding up?”
She shrugs, tugging at the hem of her shirt. “I’m excited. But also kind of scared. What if Mami’s still really hurt?”
“She’s healing,” I say, brushing her hair behind her ear. “She’s gonna need some help, and we’re gonna give it to her. That’s what we do. We show up. We take care of each other.”
She nods, eyes wide and solemn. “Okay. I can do that.” Then she suddenly blurts, “Mateo…why wouldn’t my dad want me?”
The question knocks the air out of me. I pull in a steady breath and cup her cheek. “Oh, Maya. It was never about you. You are the easiest person in the world to love. Sometimes people don’t know how to be what we need—and that’s on them, not you. But you? You’ve got so many people who choose you, every single day.”
She blinks up at me. “Like you?”
I smile, throat tight. “Especially me.”
She chews on her lip for a second then leans against me with a tiny sigh. “You feel like my dad,” she whispers. “I’d be okay if you were.”
I press a kiss to the top of her head, my chest aching. “Me too, princesa. Me too.”
She smiles faintly against my chest, and I hold on for just a second longer before pulling back.
I stand and ruffle her hair. “Now come on. We’ve got candles to light and a couch to fluff for the hundredth time.”
We move through the rest of the house like we’re prepping for royalty. And if I’m being honest, we are.
I open the windows to let in some of the crisp winter air, fresh but not too cold. The living room smells like vanilla and fabuloso. Maya lines up the throw blankets and double-checks the remote is where Analyse likes it—right next to the couch cushion with the best view of the window.
Just as Maya finishes folding the last blanket into a perfect square, there’s a knock at the door.
She races to it before I can stop her, yanking it open. “Titi Mari! Tio Seb!”
Sure enough, Seb and Mari step inside with the bags of food and soft voices full of excitement. Right behind them are Anna, Andres, and Nathan, all crowding into the living room.
“Hey, pequeña,” Seb says, scooping Maya into a hug. “We heard someone special’s coming home today.”
“She is!” Maya grins, arms flung around his neck. “We made cookies.”
Mari walks over to me and lowers her voice. “Everything okay? You good?”
I nod, wiping my hands on a towel. “Yeah. We’re ready. The place is spotless, blankets are folded, candles are lit, and Maya’s already taken command.”
