Page 138 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“Glad to have you back,” Tio told me. “You are even prettier than Cesar.”
“My good looks are perfected in him,” my father said.
Tia Carla joined in with Portuguese words that came too fast for me to decipher. She shoved her two brothers aside and clasped the sides of my head. “Gabriel. Finalmente.”
“Olá, Tia.” I had even fewer memories of her than I did my uncle, but something about her made my throat thicken. It could have been the way she held me, like I was a present she had been waiting for, or how she looked at me so intently, as though she could read every emotion that churned within me.
Or maybe it was how she reminded me of another Brazilian woman I hadn’t seen in years, who used to treat me like I was the most special boy in the world.
A heavy arm rested across my shoulders, the weight of it both familiar and new. “Are you ready to go home, son?”
I didn’t know if my father’s home would automatically feel like mine as well. Perhaps that didn’t matter. Perhaps the fact that he was here and I was, too, and we were both trying at the same time, could bridge the gap of time and differences between us.
“Lead the way.”
luna
I sat atmy kitchen table, eating dinner while reviewing my notes on global merchandising. It was my last day of finals, andI couldn’t have chosen a better class to end the semester with. After spending the past couple of days trying to absorb as much of my management lessons, studying fashion merchandising trends felt like a treat.
My phone rang, and I smiled at Gabe’s face on the screen.
“Look at you requesting a video call,” I teased him as soon as the line connected.
He smiled back at me, and my heart squeezed tight, but it was the good kind of tight. “I suppose that’s what distance does to a man. I don’t know how Tala and Jason did it.”
“Me neither.” Gabe was only an hour ahead. Ate and Jason had dealt with a full thirteen hours and an ocean between them. “So, how’s the reunion going?”
“As good as can be expected.”
In the past, I might have taken his brief response as a brush-off, but I understood that he needed time to process his thoughts. “I’m glad they picked you up at the airport,” I told him.
“Yes, that was a surprise.” His brows pinched together the way they always did when he considered his words. “It’s been going well, actually.”
I nodded and kept silent, giving him space to share what he felt comfortable talking about.
“I told you my aunt and uncle came too. They all live together in the family ancestral house along with my three cousins, a dog, and a parrot.”
“Wait—a parrot?”
“You can imagine how quiet the place is.”
I laughed, and his face softened.
“I miss your laugh.”
“Just my laugh?” I basked in the giddiness his words sparked and flirted with him outright because now I didn’t have to second-guess myself. It felt effervescent.
His lips pressed together in a suppressed chuckle. “Do I need to list everything about you that I miss?”
“You could, but I have an exam to study for. Next time, for sure,” I told him. “By the way, you should definitely post that selfie.”
“No one needs to see my face on their feed.”
“Hello? What about me and the rest of your fan group?”
“You’re the only one who matters, and you already have the photo in your camera roll.”
We grinned at each other, and it struck me that we had found our way to becoming aweafter being two stubbornly divided people.
