Page 5 of Sweet Little Lies
Chapter 2
Mica
One of the dreams is to have a big family someday. Once I’ve graduated and have established my career and my life and have settled down with my soulmate.
Children of my own. Maybe three. Maybe five. It doesn’t much matter how many, as long as I’m filled with the complete satisfaction of being claimed by someone who is hopelessly devoted to me and loves the babies he gives me as much as I do.
Maybe it’s because I come from a large family myself. I’m one of five in my immediate family – one sister and three brothers. And I’m the only one of my immigrant family to attend college. Which means I have had to work hard to get there, to earn scholarships and to make them proud of me, even if they don’t understand my goals. School is my entire focus these days, because the dream of having my own babies is still years away.
First things first.
And being a mom is the furthest thing from my mind as I try to wrangle the three little munchkins running around the backyard right now. The kids belong to my sister, Therese, who’s working today and needs my help to watch my niece and nephews. It’s my responsibility and expectation as the female sibling.
It’s what I do to help myfamilia.
“Tia,” comes the sweet voice of my youngest niece, Amelia, calling me auntie in our native Spanish language. “Come push me, por favor!”
She’s three and loves to swing on the backyard swing set her papi, my brother-in-law, Ramone, built for her last spring.
I stand up and dust off the back of my shorts before picking up the baby, Alejandro, who is contentedly sucking on his thumb and cooing happily. I can’t help snuggle my nose into his dark tufts of hair and inhaling his delicious baby scent. God, I love babies.
My womb practically shimmies knowing someday I will be a mother to my own adorable baby like AJ. And if my parents have their way, the father of my children will be our long-time family friend, Alberto Silva. At the thought of him, though, my womb practically shrivels up and dies.
It’s why I’m working so hard to pursue my nursing degree, so I can become a delivery room nurse. Even if I’m not ready to have my own, I can care for newborns as they come screaming into our world.
A degree will give me my independence so I don’t have to rely on a marriage to a man I don’t love to support me.
“Coming, angel.”
The baby and I walk toward the swing just as my phone pings with an incoming text message. Pulling out the old beat-up smartphone from my back pocket, I glance down to see who it’s from. Speak ofel diablo.
I want to ignore the text from Alberto and avoid him altogether, but it’s not as easy as that. Not only is he a family friend – as in, he comes to every family event, birthday party, celebration, holiday, etc. – but he’s also my father and brother’s boss. He owns Silva’s Autobody Shop and it’s important to stay on friendly terms with him.
Alberto isn’t some horrible monster – he’s a decent guy. The problem with Alberto is that he’s nearly twelve years older than me. He’s out of shape and has a belly like he swallowed a Michelin tire, and his breath always stinks like rotten sewage from the cigars he smokes. He’s not attractive to me in the least.
Yet he’s revered by my parents, who want nothing more than to see their youngest daughter married to a Mexican business owner to continue our family lineage and Hispanic traditions.
If they knew I had such strong feelings about a certain gringo college basketball player, they’d disown me. I wish my heart wasn’t so foolish, but it knows what it wants – even if Lance isn’t good for me.
“Tia, why are you frowning?”
Amelia’s innocent question brings me back to the present, my eyes finding her sweet, angelic gaze.
I make up a lie. “Well, I was worried we might miss dinner if we don’t go in soon and get cleaned up You don’t want to miss abuelita’s delicious tamales, do you?”
She shakes her braided head emphatically and jumps off the still-moving swing. I watch in horror, unable to move fast enough to catch her, as she falls smack on her knees. Holding my breath, I wait for to the count of three, assuming she’s going to burst into a fit of tears.
But she surprises me with her moxie and throws back her head instead in excited laughter.
“That was fun!” she exclaims, patting the pebbled sand underneath her tiny little legs. AJ grunts and points, his own laughter mixing with Amelia’s and it’s then that I begin laughing, too.
“I want to do that again!”
Looks like we’ll be a little late for dinner, after all.
****
I look at the clock on my microwave and stifle a yawn. It’s just after seven a.m. on Saturday and I’ve been up and studying for the past hour. My schedule is tight and if I don’t squeeze in study time when I can, I’ll never make it through these classes.
