Page 29 of Betsy
“Silly me. I forgot you don’t get excited about anything.”
I hiked a shoulder to my ear. I had the ability to feel excitement, I just didn’t get effusive over every little thing like some people.
Bella hid a yawn behind the back of her hand.
“Charlotte still have her nights and days mixed up?” I ran a finger over the baby’s knuckles.
“I think she’s teething. I went to the store today and picked up a teething ring, some Tylenol, and gel to put on her gums. Hopefully those things will help.”
“Want me to take her so you can go get a nap?”
Bella rested her chin on Charlotte’s fine brown fuzz of hair and grinned up at me. “I want you to tell me all the fun things you’re about to do so I can live vicariously through you.”
“I’ll be working, Bell, not going on some grand adventure.”
She pushed out her bottom lip. “Spoil sport.”
I folded a pair of jeans and laid them beside the cotton cactus-print bottoms and vintage tee I’d gotten at Borrego Springs years ago that I planned to wear for pajamas.
Bella tilted her chin toward me. “Are you afraid…” She paused, tripping over her words. “Are you afraid that you’ll end up like me?”
My hands stilled, denim tangled in my fingers.
My sister pulled her daughter closer. Bent her head and snuggled her cheek next to Charlotte’s. “If I could go back in time,” she said softly as she looked up and caught my eyes with her own, “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Pregnant at sixteen. A single mother. Abandoned by the guy who’d said all kinds of sweet words to convince her he loved her, that they’d be together forever.
That had lasted about as long as it had taken for the second line to appear on the pee-on-a-stick drugstore test.
I’d witnessed her tender heart shatter. The wails of her wondering what she’d done wrong for Wyatt to leave. What made her unlovable? Her midnight worries of a child having a child. How would she finish high school? Should she keep her baby or consider giving her up for adoption? What would their parents think?
My baby sister’s heart had lain in a million pieces, and it had all been my fault. Wyatt had come into my studio to record a demo. He’d had a quick wit and seemed more down to earth and mature than other guys his age. He’d had a plan outside of music. College with a degree that would provide him with a steady job, because he knew there were people more talented than he trying to break into the industry, so the statistics were against him.
It had been love at first sight for Bella, and I’d thought the feelings were mutual. The way Wyatt had looked at my sister was the stuff of romance novels. But in the end, he’d shown his true colors. He was like every other guy with dreams of grandeur that outshone anything else in their lives. When it came down to the bottom line, he’d only looked out for number one, and that hadn’t been Bell or their unborn child.
“I’m serious, Bets.” Bella sounded earnest.
I set down the pair of socks I’d been folding to give her my full attention. Why did she want to talk about this now? She couldn’t go back and change things, even if she wouldn’t. Although, I would in a heartbeat. I’d tell that charmingidiototo get lost and never come back. Make sure he and my sister never set eyes on one another.
“If things had been different, then I wouldn’t have Charlotte.” Bella kissed the crown of her daughter’s head. “And I can’t imagine my life without her now.”
I sighed and sat beside them, the mattress compressing under my weight and making her lean toward me. I wrapped my arms around them. “I love you both,hermana.”
She rested the back of her head on my shoulder. “What I’m trying to say is, don’t be scared to live your life. You aren’t going to make the same mistakes I did.” She sat up and twisted to face me, a mischievous gleam in her eye. “You can have fun making your own.”
I frowned at her, even though my lips twitched to smile. “I’m never scared.” I stood and retrieved two more socks, folding them together. “And I don’t plan on making any mistakes, thank you very much.”
“I forget that you’re perfect.” She smirked as she plucked the socks out of my hands and tossed them at my face. “Let’s see how well that works out for you.”
Charlotte started to fuss, so Bella left to try and get her down for a nap. I hauled my suitcase from the closet and transferred my neat stacks into the luggage, sitting on the top to get the zipper all the way around.
Papi popped his head through the doorway. “All set?”
I looked around my room in search of anything I may have forgotten. “I think so.”
He came in and collected my suitcase, carrying it down the stairs for me and setting it by the front door.
“We’re so proud of you, mija,” he said as he pulled me into a side hug and pressed a kiss to my temple. “And I want you to know, I contacted a lawyer. The paperwork to reunite your cousin Camilla with the family has been filed.” His eyes glistened with emotion. “It is a good thing, what you have done for your family.”
