The Complete Legacy Series: Books 1 - 6

by Paula Kay

  Gigi was really enjoying seeing some of the countryside and the little villages that they passed through. She noticed that the people seemed very happy and content. She’d not spent very much time with the local population so far, but when she voiced her thoughts, Juan confirmed that he felt Guatemalans lived a simple, but happy life—content to spend time with their families when they weren’t working hard to provide for them.

  Juan also timidly asked Gigi and Douglas a few questions about where they came from. He seemed to have a very clear idea of what Americans were like—especially from California, although he didn’t express it in a way that was offensive to Gigi. He just seemed genuinely interested. When Douglas pressed him a bit, they found out that most of his opinions came from watching popular American television programs, something that made all three of the Americans in the car cringe.

  Tori said, “Although I think that those TV shows are not representative of America as a whole, I can’t help but think about the things that I don’t miss.” She laughed as she looked towards Gigi and Douglas in the seat behind her. “You haven’t been gone so long, so I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. Are you homesick at all?”

  Gigi looked at Douglas, who squeezed her hand. “It’s hard to believe that it’s only been about a week, actually. It feels like longer to me. Does it to you, honey?”

  “It does. I agree. In some ways, though, it feels like our time is just beginning here now—with this side trip, I mean,” Douglas said.

  Gigi grinned. “How is that you always seem to be able to read my mind? That’s exactly what I was just thinking. I’m not feeling homesick at all. Not yet, anyways. But honestly, we’ve been living so comfortably at Place of Hope, that I’d hardly noticed much of a change from back home—at least in terms of our accommodation and meals.”

  Tori laughed. “Well, Gigi, I’m pretty sure all of that is about to change pretty drastically.” She looked back at her. “I hope that you’re ready for that.”

  Gigi looked at Douglas and then back at Tori. “Oh, I’m ready.”

  “I have no doubts actually.” Tori reached back to grab Gigi’s hand for a second. “I have a strong feeling that you’re going to like Casa de los Niños.”

  Gigi felt the tears coming as she flashed back to the images of the children that she’d first seen in the article and on the television. She had a strong feeling that she was going to like this place too.

  Chapter 17

  Gigi could hear the laughter and the shouts of the children before they’d rounded the bend in the river.

  Tori looked back at her with a wide grin. “They can hear the boat coming from quite a distance. Wait until you see what’s around the corner.” She winked and Gigi felt her heart race.

  The road trip had gone smoothly, and when they reached the little village where they’d be taking the boat the remaining thirty minutes or so, Gigi thought she’d finally been transported to another world—one that more closely resembled the images she’d had in her head before they’d left San Francisco to come here. This was the Guatemala that she’d pictured.

  When Tori had pointed out the few restaurant spots that they could choose from, if and when they did need to get away for a night, Gigi and Douglas had laughed about it. They were only too happy to be away from the western-style restaurants and other comforts that they’d had during their time in Antigua—not to say that they’d probably not appreciate it again by the time they returned.

  Gigi was pulled out of her thoughts by the squeals of laughter and the picture that she saw in front of her as the boat rounded the bend in the river.

  In the distance, she could see a small wall of children, their brown skin bare and glistening with what Gigi guessed must have been water from the river. She could hear their shouts as they jumped up and in down with obvious excitement and huge grins across their faces.

  “Hola, Miss Tori! Hola, amigos!”

  Gigi and Douglas laughed as they waved back with shouts of hello.

  “Hola, niños. I’ve missed you all,” Tori said as the boat pulled up to the small dock.

  Two of the bigger boys reached down to give first Tori a hand, and then Gigi.

  “Miss Tori, Miss Tori, Lucía had her baby.” One of the little girls came running up to hug Tori and give her the news.

  Tori turned to Gigi and Douglas as she hugged the little girl to her. “Lucía is the resident cow.” She laughed. “The children have been waiting patiently for the new calf to be born, so it will be pretty big news around here. We’ve got two cows and a bull here, which is quite a lot compared to what many local people have in the area. As you can imagine, the fresh milk goes a long way.”

  Douglas was nodding and Gigi quickly felt little wet hands tugging on her. She bent down so that she was eye-level with the small girl whom she guessed to be around five years old. “Hola. You’re so pretty.”

  Douglas bent down too and said, “Bonita” which caused the little girl’s face to break into an even bigger grin.

  “Si, bonita,” Gigi repeated, happy that at least Douglas knew little bits of Spanish. She’d have to practice more while she was here, although Tori had let them know that the children were learning English at school and the volunteers were encouraged to speak English with them as much as possible.

  The little girl nearly knocked Gigi down with the big hug that she suddenly delivered. Gigi laughed as she sat down on the pier, pulling the little girl into her lap. “Cómo te llamas?”

  She pulled away from hugging Gigi’s neck momentarily as she looked up at her. “My name is Jimena.” She grinned and for a moment, the name and her expression reminded Gigi of a wide-eyed Jemma from so many years earlier, even though physically the two couldn’t have been more different. Jimena was whispering something that Gigi couldn’t quite make out.

  “What’s that, honey?” Gigi asked.

  Jimena put her small hands gently on either side of Gigi’s face. “What is your name?”

  Gigi smiled, her heart tugging already for the little girl. “My name is Gigi. And this is Douglas.”

  Douglas smiled and sat down beside Gigi as the small circle of children all huddled closer now, each anxious to tell them their names and practice their English.

  Gigi could hear Tori laughing just down the dock a bit, a child on each side of her and an older boy carrying her backpack. “Children, let’s let Gigi and Douglas get settled soon, okay?”

  “Okay, Miss Tori.” A small chorus of voices rang out.

  “Rafael will come back to help you with your bags and show you where you will be sleeping,” Tori called out to them, and the boy carrying her bag turned to give Gigi and Douglas a big grin and a thumbs up.

  Gigi and Douglas sat on the dock for a few more minutes, learning the children’s names and watching them play. Before long, one child dove into the water, which seemed to demand that they all follow suit, all calling out for the couple’s attention as they showed them their swimming skills and various tricks in the water.

  Gigi disentangled Jimena’s hands from around her neck, where she’d had them for the last several minutes. “Do you want to go back in the water too?”

  The little girl shook her head and whispered so quietly that Gigi could barely hear her. “Can I come with you?”

  Gigi nodded and quickly brushed away the tears before the child could see them. “Yes, you come with us then.”

  She was amazed that within a matter of minutes, her heart had fully connected with these kids. It was that silent whisper of something that she’d felt from the moment she’d read the magazine article all those months before. She reached to take the hand that Douglas offered as he pulled her to her feet.

  Rafael had returned, and between him and Douglas they carried the two bags that the couple had brought with them for the week. “I will show you to your room now,” Rafael said with a big grin, reaching over to tousle Jimena’s hair in a way that made the little girl giggle.

  Douglas reached out to
take Gigi’s hand with his free one as they followed Rafael along a path that seemed to disappear straight into the jungle. Gigi squeezed his hand tighter and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Honey, I can’t believe this.” She knew that the huge smile on her face said everything that she was feeling.

  “You look so happy, love.”

  “I am happy.” Gigi looked down at the little girl by her side. “So happy. I really think this is going be great.”

  They walked along for only a couple of minutes before finding themselves in a clearing with several worn buildings—well, really Gigi would describe them as several smaller huts with a few bigger buildings that looked in dire need of repair. They continued following Rafael, who led them to one of the smaller huts just a bit away from the others.

  “You will sleep here. It is the one with the toilet inside and big bed.” Rafael was grinning, and Gigi guessed that he was quite pleased with his English efforts.

  “Thank you, Rafael,” Douglas said and to Gigi he carefully mouthed the words “toilet inside,” looking just a bit confused.

  Gigi laughed. She’d already known from Tori that most of the orphanage didn’t have modern plumbing—it was something they’d only just been able to implement in a few of the buildings, the others sharing a few different outhouses nearby. Tori had also made sure that Gigi knew about the differences when it came to plumbing in Guatemala—in terms of making sure that any toilet paper was to go into the garbage bin and not directly into the toilet.

  It was a big difference to get used to, but Gigi was pretty sure it wouldn’t be that big a deal, just as she was confident that they could handle any of the other differences that they might encounter. She made a mental note to let Douglas in on the toilet paper instructions, grinning to herself as she thought about it while she looked around at her new environment. Yes, it certainly was a far cry from Marin County or even where they’d just come from in Antigua. And as she stepped into the doorway of their little hut after Rafael, she couldn’t have felt more pleased.

  The room was sparse, with only a big mattress on the floor and one small table next to it with a lamp on top and a single wooden chair beside it. She could see where the toilet and small sink were, in the corner of the room just behind a curtain. She caught Douglas’s eye as he took the bag from Rafael, thanking him for his help. She imagined that they were probably both having similar thoughts about the comparison with where they’d been staying—and she also guessed that Douglas was as up for it as she was.

  Rafael bent down to where Jimena had flopped on the mattress. “Jimena, come with me now, okay? We must let them rest.”

  The little girl looked over at Gigi. “I will see you at dinner?”

  “Si.” Gigi scooped her up to give her a hug, and when she set her back on the floor, Rafael took the little girl’s hand to lead her out the door.

  “Adiós, amigos.”

  “Adiós. Gracias, Rafael.” Douglas shook the boy’s hand and the two kids left the hut hand-in-hand, laughing as they ran back down the path towards the river.

  Gigi took two steps over to where Douglas was standing, wrapping her arms around his waist. “The kids seem so sweet with one another, don’t they?”

  “Yes, I was thinking the same thing when Rafael took Jimena’s hand just now. They’re lovely, aren’t they?” Douglas took a small step back to look Gigi in the eyes. “You’re lovely—seeing you with them. I think it’s possibly the happiest I’ve ever seen you.” He kissed her on the lips and Gigi giggled.

  “Well, possibly it’s a close second to our wedding day, honey—or the day you asked me to marry you—or the day you first asked me on a date.” She grinned at him, feeling everything she loved about their easy relationship.

  “Or the day that you finally let me kiss you,” Douglas said.

  He was teasing her now and all of their talk was bringing with it flashes of Arianna, but Gigi noticed that for the first time in a very long time, she didn’t feel only sadness remembering her. In this moment, she was filled with deep gratitude—for everything that Arianna had done for her, but especially for her persistence that she and Douglas were meant for one another. They stood together, embracing, as they both took in their new surroundings for a few moments.

  “Do you hear crying?” Gigi asked, tilting her head towards the door.

  Before Douglas could respond, there was a quick knock on the door followed by a pleasant-sounding voice calling hello.

  Douglas opened the door, and a woman entered carrying a crying baby in one arm and holding the hand of a little girl with the other.

  “Hola. Gigi and Douglas, it’s so nice to meet you.” She disentangled the baby’s hand from where she’d been pulling on her hair and handed the crying child to Gigi, all in one motion of stepping inside the room. “Can you try, please? I think she has a bit of a tummy ache. Maria and I have been trying to help her feel better for the last hour, haven’t we, darling?” She scooped the toddler up into her arms as she reached her hand out towards Douglas. “I’m Silvia. It’s very nice to meet you both. Tori has told me great things about you and I’ve been looking forward to a nice chat. Do you mind if we sit?”

  Without waiting for an answer, Silvia scooted across the bed, settling in with her back against the wall and the little girl nestled in her lap. She patted the bed beside her.

  “Come sit. I want to know all about you,” she said with the widest grin that Gigi had ever seen.

  Gigi and Douglas smiled at one another as they found a spot on the big mattress, the baby now quiet in Gigi’s arms.

  And it was in that moment that a short, but strong, friendship would begin.

  Chapter 18

  Silvia Morales was unlike anyone Gigi had ever met. The petite forty-five-year-old Guatemalan woman was a bundle of energy and raw passion—the kind of passion that was unapologetic and unwavering.

  As they talked during their first encounter that day, Gigi learned that Silvia had been adopted by an American couple when she was seven years old. She grew up in a happy home that offered her the privilege of an education unlike any she could have gotten in her own country. She was a focused student in the private high school that she’d attended: that had gotten her accepted by some of the best colleges in the U.S. She’d graduated from Harvard and gone on to get her MBA before returning to her home country with the drive to create a better life for the children who didn’t have the same opportunities that had been given to her.

  “Wow.” Gigi looked at the woman sitting next to her, the young child now napping peacefully in Silvia’s lap. “That’s really an amazing story, and your education is impressive.”

  Silvia reached out to take Gigi’s hand, and the tears in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Gigi, who felt herself becoming emotional for reasons that she didn’t quite understand. “Gigi, I know what you mean—about my story being impressive—but I need to tell you the real reason that I do what I do.”

  Gigi nodded to encourage her to continue, and she could feel in Douglas’s body language that he was being affected by Silvia’s words in much the same way that she was. The woman had a certain pure honesty about her that could not go unnoticed. Gigi found herself wanting to know everything about her.

  “The children—our home here—is the mission of my life. I believe it’s what God created for me to do. From the moment I first got this idea—when I heard that still small voice in my head so many years ago after returning to Guatemala for a visit—I knew that I would spend my life loving these kids—creating a home for them, where they would feel safe and loved.”

  Gigi felt tears stinging her own eyes as she reached over to give Silvia a hug, nodding to Douglas, who was excusing himself to go for a walk. She smiled as she thought about how sensitive her husband was and guessed that he must have had an idea of the real friendship that was forming between the two women.

  It was interesting to hear Silvia talking about God. It wasn’t something that Gigi had paid much at
tention to in her own life—ever since she’d been made to go to Mass as a child growing up in Italy. But looking into Silvia’s eyes now, she didn’t doubt what this woman believed to be true. Maybe the fact that Douglas and I are here now is a sign from God? She didn’t know where the thought had come from but there was no mistaking that feeling inside her—a feeling she’d been having more and more often ever since the day that Douglas had showed her the magazine article about the orphanage.

  “Do you know what I mean?”

  Silvia’s words brought Gigi out of her own head and into the moment again. “I think I do. I’m not sure that most people have such a deep sense of purpose.” Gigi wasn’t sure why exactly she was crying, but she reached up to brush the tears away. “If I’m being honest, I’m jealous of that.”

  Silvia looked at her intently. “I think you’ll find that soon Gigi. Ask God. Never stop asking to be shown the answers that you seek. Sometimes—and in my case, most often, it seems—He only shows me the very next step, just when I need it and often not more than that. It’s like walking on a tightrope, but I trust Him completely. He’s never let us down yet even when things have been at their worst.” She smiled at Gigi. “And believe me when I say that we’ve had some hard times around here.” She stroked the hair of the little girl in her lap. “But the kids know how much I love them. They know that they are safe and that, no matter what, they’ll always have someone looking out for them.”

  “Do you have a lot of adoptions going through?” So far, what Gigi had seen here seemed so unlike the orphanage that she’d just come from that the questions about the kids being adopted and leaving seemed oddly out of place.

  “No. Actually most of the children here cannot be adopted. There’s a lot of red tape in this country when it comes to adopting—well, I’m sure you’re probably somewhat aware of that, as it’s no different for Place of Hope. But they have the kids who are eligible to be adopted.”