Page 33 of My December Darling

I wipe down the counter while she places a label on the finalcoquitobottle. The silence isn’t awkward, but I find it stifling, and I’m desperate to escape back to my bedroom as quickly as possible.

“Cata?” my mom asks.

“¿Si?”

“Thank you for helping us today. Your dad’s mom…” Mom struggles with the word. “She would have been so proud to see you helping us out. You know how much she loved makingcoquitofor the town.”

My mom’s rare praise makes my throat feel thick with emotion. “You’re welcome.”

She stares down at the tile floor before looking up. “I know things were a bit tense last week, but I’m happy you came home for the holidays.”

“You are?”

She looks surprised by my own shock. “Of course.”

“Oh.”

She leans back against the countertop. “I know we don’t always see eye-to-eye on things, but you’re still my daughter.”

“Doesn’t always feel that way,” I say honestly.

Her brows pinch together. “Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

“No. Explain what you meant by that.”

I motion to the space between us. “I know you prefer Gabriela over me.”

Her eyes widen. “Why would you say that?”

“It’s obvious that you wish I were different?—”

“Ineversaid that.”

“You didn’t need to. I can just tell.”

A flush crawls up her neck. “How?”

“You act like everything I do annoys you.”

“Me? I feel likeI’mthe one who always annoysyou.”

I blink twice. “What?”

“You’ve been pulling away from me for a while, and I don’t know how to deal with it. It makes me feel like I failed you somehow. My mom”—she looks around the kitchen before her eyes land on the recipe card on the counter—“wasn’t like your dad’s mom. She wasn’t good at talking about her feelings or giving me space to express myself.” My mom’s throat tightens with her swallow. “With your father, I’ve learned how to communicate over the years, but with you…I just don’t know how.” Her head drops forward.

My heart sinks into my chest. “Mami.”

She looks up with glistening eyes. “I swore I wouldn’t be like my mother. She wasn’t very present in my life, so I promised to be the opposite, and I know that can come off as…”

“Suffocating,” I answer honestly.

She glances away. “Yes.”

“Overbearing.”

“I guess so.”

---