Page 151 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

“Do you take good care of her?” Luz asks.

“Yes, we all take good care of Mom.”

My niece is surprised.

“My tita is your mom?”

He looks at me, and I wink at him.

“Yes, Aunt Jude is my mom,” he replies.

“How wild is that!” Luz exclaims.

Children and their sincerity.

On December 24, we celebrate Christmas Eve together. My family’s happy. They write their wishes and hang them on the tree. Eric smiles, and I love having them all here together.

But this pregnancy is taking its toll on me.

Because I can’t keep anything down, I can’t digest the rich ham my father brought. I eat it with delight, but it soon leaves me, like everything lately. Of course, when I recover, I shove more ham in my mouth.

I’m stubborn that way!

In her eagerness to reassure me, my sister confirms that the nausea will disappear after the first three months.

“I hope so, because Medusa—”

“Cuchufleta, don’t call it that! It’s a baby, and it’ll be offended if you call it by that name.”

I just shut up. It’s for the best.

Then I watch my father and Eric play Wii tennis with Flyn and Luz. What a good time they’re having!

“Oh, Cuchu, I still can’t believe you’re going to be a mom.”

“Me neither,” I reply.

Raquel yaks on about pregnancies, stretch marks, swollen feet, and skin spots, and I’m dying. Is all this going to happen to me? I listen to her. I process the information, and, when I can’t do it anymore, I do what she does so well and change the subject.

“Well, aren’t you going to tell me about your wild little fling?”

Raquel grins.

“When I got home the night I was with Juanín, the guy from the appliance store, Juan Alberto was waiting for me in the alley next to the house.”

“And?”

“He was jealous, Cuchu.”

“No surprise there!”

We talk, but in very low voices so no one can hear us.

“If you went out with another man, it’s normal he’d be jealous. In his place I would have raised holy hell, especially after asking for your hand and having you deny it to me.”

My crazy sister lets out a laugh. I can see the happiness in her face. I laugh too and watch my niece screaming when she wins on the Wii.

“I slept with him,” says Raquel. “By the way, it’s really uncomfortable in a car. Luckily we were able to go back to Sweetheart Villa.”

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