Page 77 of My Secret Bandit

My heart squeezed at the sight of the two of them together. Watching him with her, it was easy to see that he’d make a great father one day. A much better one than I had. For the first time ever, I saw myself having children of my own. Children with Mateo.

I walked inside as the two of them shared a high five.

“I think you’ve gotten faster. Has she gotten faster?” Mateo asked, making a show of breathing hard and resting his hands on his knees while looking over at his dad, who gave a proud nod.

“Best base runner in all the seven to nine-year-olds. Even the boys. Tell them the nickname they gave you.” He smiled.

“It started out as Steals, then one boy started calling me Smoke. You know, ’cause when I take off the dirt looks like smoke.”

“Attagirl.” Mateo smiled big, giving Amelia another high five.

Thomas ushered us into the dining room where Benny already had the table set. We took our seats, Mateo on one side of me and sweet little Amelia on the other.

“What happened at that game?” Thomas said as he made a plate, loading it up with the chicken, rice, and vegetables his wife prepared.

Mateo shrugged. “I read the pass and took my shot. When I jumped, I didn’t think the receiver was that close.”

I soaked in his words. Hearing his version of what happened for the first time affected me more than I thought it would. That guy blindsided him. That sparked a wave of instant fury within me.

Mateo, noticing my sudden stiffness, rubbed my hand while his parents watched us. He gave me a look that saidrelax, I’m fine.It was the same look he’d been giving me since the doctor cleared him.

“How is your body though? Xander said you had x-rays done,” his mom said.

He stood and lifted his shirt, showing off the bruise on his side. Normally my eyes were glued to a shirtless Mateo, but this time my eyes squinted, and my nose scrunched up at the sight of the bruise.

“¡Ay! Mateo. Baja tu camisa,”Benny chided, matching my grimace.

“Whoa,” Amelia chimed in, taking in the huge purple, black and yellow stain on Mateo’s skin.

He sat, lowering his shirt. “No es nada, mamá. Honesto. Ya no duele más. Realmente no. Incluso hice ejercicio hoy. Todo se siente bien,“ he said in his most gentle, reassuring voice.

I stared at him, blinking hard, taken aback by the new language effortlessly rolling off his tongue like it was at home there.

My brain never thought to correlate his mother’s Cuban heritage to this newly discovered skill of Mateo’s.

“So, Jamie. You’re a journalist?” Thomas spoke, changing the subject to something not so tense.

“That’s right.” I nodded. “Well, I guess technically I’m still an intern.”

As dinner went on, they asked me all the typical questions parents asked when vetting their child’s significant other without getting into anything too sensitive. Mateo smiled proudly as I answered their questions with ease until we finished dinner.

“You don’t have to do that,” Benny said, coming into the kitchen to package the leftovers.

“It’s okay. You cooked, I’m more than happy to clean up.” I smiled at her, returning to the sink to finish washing the dishes.

“Yeah, Mom. We got this.Siéntate, por favor,“ Mateo kissed her cheek then led her back to the living room with a refill of her wine glass.

“What do you think?”

With a soft laugh, his lips found their usual spot against my temple. “I think you should stop worrying. They love you, I love you. It’s all good.” He smiled, taking the soapy plate from my hands, and rinsing it.

We continued this little wash and rinse routine until all the dishes were clean and put away.

We talked with his parents an hour longer before Mateo said it was time to head home. Amelia pouted as she hugged him, and he promised her we’d be back soon.

They followed us to the car where we all took turns exchanging hugs and goodbyes.

“Jamie,” his mom called out after Mateo was already in his seat and buckled in. “I heard you’d be needing this.” She handed me a small piece of paper with her and Thomas’s numbers written on it. “Mission Mateo, I think is what Xander called it.”

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