by Ariel Tachna
“Should we call the doctor?” Srikkanth asked worriedly. He wanted to believe everything was fine. Juana hadn’t said anything about Sophie being fussy or feverish before she left, and even though he’d just met her, she hadn’t struck him as someone who would forget to mention that sort of detail. She would have mentioned it if Sophie had been sick earlier.
“Not yet,” Jaime reassured him. “It’s not a very high fever, and it just started. We’ll keep an eye on her and see how she does tonight. If it spikes or if she gets worse, we’ll call. Otherwise we’ll see how she is in the morning. Just keep rocking her while I get her medicine.”
Srikkanth nodded and turned his attention back to Sophie. He had a passing thought for their interrupted plans for the night, but there would be other nights. Sophie needed him—them—now, and that was far more important.
Jaime hurried downstairs to the cabinet where they kept all the medicines and got the infant Tylenol and Motrin. He’d take them both back upstairs in case Sophie needed another dose during the night. She was still taking her bottle when he returned to the nursery, so he sat down on the daybed and waited for her to finish. When she was done, he gave her the thick syrup. “Babies get fevers sometimes,” Jaime reminded Srikkanth, seeing the panicked look on his boyfriend’s face. “It might be an ear infection or a mild virus, or it might just be a tummy ache. Most of the time, they’re really minor and better within twenty-four hours. Do you want to see if she’ll go back to bed?”
Srikkanth shook his head, not at all to Jaime’s surprise, though the expression on his face did relax somewhat at Jaime’s encouragement.
“Then let’s take her with us back in the other room. You’d be uncomfortable sitting up in here all night, and there isn’t really room in the daybed for all three of us.”
“You don’t have to stay,” Srikkanth said.
“I know I don’t,” Jaime replied, stroking Srikkanth’s shoulder encouragingly, “but we’re in this together now. If we’re going to be together, then she’s going to be my daughter too. Come on. We’ll be more comfortable in bed. We can put her between us so she won’t roll out and then snuggle together, all three of us.”
Srikkanth rose and followed Jaime back into the bedroom. At Jaime’s direction, he stripped Sophie down to her diaper. “So she won’t get overheated between us,” Jaime explained when Srikkanth shot him a questioning look. “She’s already feverish. We don’t want to make it worse.”
“Maybe she shouldn’t sleep in here,” Srikkanth hesitated. “Maybe I should sleep in the other room with her.”
“You can,” Jaime said slowly, reminding himself that Srikkanth was still relatively new to being a father and that his concern for Sophie was a tribute to his sense of responsibility rather than a rejection, “but I’d really like to hold you tonight. I suppose we could try to squeeze into the daybed.”
Srikkanth considered the logistics for a moment, but there was no way two grown men could sleep comfortably in the daybed. “No, we’ll stay here,” he decided. “I’m worrying for nothing probably. We’ll be more comfortable here and we can keep an eye on Sophie at the same time. It won’t hurt her to sleep with us for one night.”
“It wouldn’t hurt even if it was more than one night,” Jaime assured him. “Although I have to admit, I won’t complain about being able to hold you close to me again when she’s better. We have some unfinished business still.”
“Sophie—”
“Sophie is sick and that’s more important,” Jaime interrupted. “As it should be. But when she’s better and back in her own bed, I intend to make good on that promise of loving you all night long.”
Srikkanth smiled as he settled Sophie on the bed between them, making sure she wouldn’t fall between the pillows and have trouble breathing during the night. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Jaime climbed in bed on the other side, kissed Sophie’s forehead gently and then leaned across her so he could kiss Srikkanth. Their lips clung with the promise of nights to come.
Chapter 17
“Hello?”
“What do you mean telling your sister you have a baby and not telling me?”
Jaime held the phone out away from his ear as his mother’s spate of scolding came pouring across the line. “Mamá,” he said, trying to get a word in edgewise.
The stream of Spanish continued, his mother berating him for not calling her, not coming to see her, not telling her what was going on in his life. “And a granddaughter! Why didn’t you tell me I had a granddaughter?”
“Mamá!” Jaime said more forcefully. “Mamá, por favor, listen to me!”
His mother finally ran out of steam, letting him have his say. “Mamá, it’s complicated,” he began.
“No, it’s not,” she insisted. “You have a baby. Your sister saw her. You didn’t tell me about her. It’s not complicated.”
“It is complicated,” Jaime repeated. “Sophie isn’t my daughter, legally or biologically. She’s Srikkanth’s daughter. You remember my housemate, the one I’m renting a room from?”
“Sí, but Juana said she watched her for you. Why would she watch your housemate’s baby?”
Jaime took a deep breath, steeling himself for his mother’s disapproval. “Because I wanted to take Srikkanth out to dinner without Sophie.”
“That’s nice of you, mi hijo. You always were a considerate boy. Why did Juana tell me she was your baby?”
“Because I wasn’t being considerate, Mamá. I was taking my boyfriend out on a date,” Jaime said with a sigh, sure that would be the end of their conversation.
“So is this serious or is he someone you just mess around with?” his mother asked after a long pause.
“It’s serious, Mamá,” Jaime assured her.
“Good. You don’t mess around with someone who has a baby. That person needs someone to help, not to distract.”
Eyebrows lifting in surprise, Jaime nodded before realizing his mother couldn’t see him. “I know that, Mamá. Your lectures rubbed off on me, even if I never expected to be in a situation where I’d be with someone who had a child. I’m helping him take care of Sophie, but I’m only around so much, and I wanted him to have a night off. That’s why I called Juana.”
His mother harrumphed again. “You call your sister, but you didn’t call me. Bring them to dinner on Sunday. I want to meet this special someone. And the baby.”
“Mamá.”
She hung up before he could finish his sentence.
With a sigh, Jaime put the phone back on the cradle and went in search of Srikkanth. It sounded like he had some explaining to do. And an invitation to extend.
He found Srikkanth and Sophie sitting on the floor of her playroom building with blocks. Srikkanth would make a tower and Sophie would knock them over and giggle gleefully. Jaime smiled. It was hard to believe she was already seven months old and sitting on her own.
“Did the phone ring?” Srikkanth asked when he looked up and saw Jaime in the doorway.
“Yes, it was my mother,” Jaime began. “My sister apparently has a big mouth.”
Srikkanth’s face tightened at the odd tone in Jaime’s voice. “Are you all right?”
Jaime shrugged. “I think so. The question is whether you’ll be all right.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Srikkanth asked.
“My mother has ‘invited’ us to dinner on Sunday,” Jaime explained. “All three of us.”
“But that’s wonderful,” Srikkanth said, rising to his feet. “It means she’s not as bothered by your orientation as you feared.”
“Maybe,” Jaime allowed, “but it’s a command performance, and those never make me happy.”
Srikkanth shook his head and crossed to Jaime’s side, his arms going around his lover’s waist. “It’s an olive branch. Take it. We’ll all get dressed up and go over and meet your mother. If it goes well, you’ll get to see your family more often, and if it doesn’t, it’s one afternoon in the rest of our lives. W
e can make that sacrifice on the chance that it will work out. It would be nice to have their support as Sophie gets older. She won’t have grandparents around on my side of the family. Jill didn’t have any family left. Your family is all Sophie has.”
“That’s a low blow,” Jaime said, but he smiled as he spoke, taking the heat out of the words. “We’ll give them a chance. Maybe it won’t be that bad.”
Jaime let himself be persuaded, joining Sophie on the floor to see how high he and Srikkanth could build the tower before she knocked it over.
“Tell me everyone’s name again,” Srikkanth requested as they drove to Jaime’s mother’s house for lunch.
“I don’t know for sure who will be there,” Jaime replied, “but my mother, obviously, and you’ve already met Juana. My oldest brother, Alvaro, will be there too. He and his wife Paula live with Mamá since my father died. They never had any kids. I don’t know if my oldest sister, Beatriz, will be there. She lives farther away than the rest of us. She isn’t married yet, much to Mamá’s dismay. There’s also Lourdes and her husband, Vicente, and their two boys, Martin and Damian. And then there are the babies, well, my baby brother and sister, Luis and Diana. They’re still teenagers. Alvaro would never admit it, of course, being the good Latino that he is, but I think he’s ready for them to go off to college so they’re not under foot all the time.”
Srikkanth laughed. “I probably won’t remember a word of that when we get there, but I’ll get it eventually.”
“If they let us come back.”
“Jaime,” Srikkanth scolded, “stop being negative. If you go in there with that kind of attitude, it’s going to rub off on them and this won’t work. Your mother invited you. The afternoon will probably be tense, but she wouldn’t have called if she didn’t want to see you.”
“She wants to see Sophie,” Jaime corrected.
Srikkanth shrugged. “Good. She’ll see you at the same time, and since she only gets Sophie if she takes you and me in the bargain, maybe that’ll be enough for things to start getting better.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m using you and Sophie—”
“Stop right there,” Srikkanth interrupted. “You’re not using anyone. If anything, I’m using you for the knowledge and support you can give me. And don’t tell me I’m not. I know I’m not. We’re past that stage now. We’re a couple, a unit. A family. If that helps make things better between you and your family, how could I not be happy about that? Anything that makes you happier makes us stronger.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Jaime said. “Truly. I miss my family, but it was easier to just leave things alone. Maybe things won’t get any better, but at least this has broken the stalemate.”
“Then let’s go see what we can do to make things better,” Srikkanth said as they arrived at Jaime’s family’s house. He leaned over and kissed Jaime lightly. “I won’t be able to do that inside, but I’ll be thinking about it the whole time, wishing I could show my support physically as well as emotionally.”
Jaime smiled, the first one that felt real to him since his mother had called. “I’m really lucky, you know that. A gorgeous, supportive boyfriend and a precious baby girl. I don’t think life could get much better.”
The door to the house opened, and Juana came out onto the porch. “You two gonna sit there all day or come inside and see everyone? Mamá’s been cooking since lunch yesterday. She even made tamales for you, Jaime.”
Jaime’s eyes widened. “Those are my favorite,” he told Srikkanth. “Maybe this won’t be as bad as I feared.”
Srikkanth unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, taking Sophie’s carseat from the back so they could use it as a crib when she was ready for her nap. She gurgled up at him. “Hi, beautiful,” he said to Juana when she came out to the car.
Juana grinned at him. “Buttering me up?”
“I’m not about to alienate the one person who’s on my side,” Srikkanth confided. “Jaime’s worried this is going to be a miserable afternoon.”
Juana shook her head. “I don’t think so. Alvaro hasn’t come around yet, but his wife is excited about the baby and so’s Mamá. Give them time.”
“What about everyone else?”
“It varies, but Mamá and Alvaro are the two you need to worry about,” Juana explained. “If they approve of you, everyone else will follow suit sooner or later.”
Srikkanth nodded as Jaime joined them. “Telling secrets about me?” he asked as he bent to kiss Juana’s cheek.
“Not at all,” Juana replied smoothly. “I’m just hitting on your boyfriend.”
Jaime spluttered as Juana took Srikkanth’s arm and led him toward the house. He trailed along behind, wondering when his sister had gotten so bossy.
“Mamá,” Juana called as she stepped inside, “Jaime’s here.”
Within seconds, it seemed, the living room went from being deserted to overflowing with people, all milling around as they tried to decide where to sit or stand. Srikkanth set Sophie’s carseat down and busied himself with taking her out while he waited to see how everyone would react to Jaime.
“Jaime,” the clear patriarch said with a stiff nod. “It’s been a long time.”
Jaime nodded back, offering his hand, which his brother took slowly. “Too long,” Jaime agreed.
“Mamá misses you. Don’t let it happen again.” Before Jaime could reply to that, his brother had turned and walked away without acknowledging Srikkanth.
Jaime started to protest, but it was forestalled by his mother’s embrace. Jaime didn’t say anything, simply holding her and being held. She smelled exactly the way he remembered: of flour and jasmine. Sophie’s giggle at being lifted from her seat broke the spell, and Señora Frias came bustling over to Srikkanth.
“Let me see the little niña,” she cooed, reaching for Sophie. Srikkanth handed her over without protest, suspecting Sophie would do his job for him if he let her. Señora Frias held her with the experience of a woman with seven children, and Sophie smiled up at her, clearly content.
“I think she likes you,” Srikkanth commented with a quiet smile.
“All babies like my mamá,” Jaime explained, coming to stand next to Srikkanth as his mother rocked Sophie, crooning to her in rapid-fire Spanish.
“Of course they do,” Señora Frias said. “They know I like them. Come with me, angelita. I teach you how to make tortillas.”
She disappeared through the door to the kitchen before either man could say another word. Srikkanth glanced at Jaime, who smiled reassuringly. “Let me introduce you to everyone,” he said.
Srikkanth took a deep breath and summoned his best smile as Jaime led him deeper into the living room. “Srikkanth, this is my sister-in-law, Paula.”
“Nice to meet you, Paula,” Srikkanth said, extending his hand.
“Nice to meet you as well, Srikkanth. Juana hasn’t stopped talking about Sophie in days,” Paula said, shaking his hand. “She says Sophie is a much easier baby than my nephews were.”
“She has her moments,” Srikkanth allowed, “but yes, most of the time, she’s a little darling.”
“So you’re Jaime’s landlord?” one of the others asked.
“No, Vicente,” Jaime broke in before Srikkanth could decide how to reply, “Srikkanth is my boyfriend.”
“Oh, but I thought….” He trailed off awkwardly.
“Don’t think,” the woman standing next to him said. “I’m Lourdes, Jaime’s sister. I’m glad you’re here, even if my husband doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”
“It’s fine,” Srikkanth assured her. “Jaime did rent a room from me for three years, so it’s not like he was entirely wrong.”
Lourdes shot another glare at her husband. “He knows that. He’s being obtuse. How old is your daughter?”
“Seven months,” Srikkanth replied, eager for a safer topic.
“That’s when they start being fun,” Lourdes said. “My boys are four and six. They’re running ar
ound here somewhere, probably downstairs because that’s where their abuela keeps the video games she tells me she doesn’t let them play. Hopefully Luis is making sure they’re only playing the ones for younger kids.”
“Luis is my youngest brother,” Jaime reminded Srikkanth. “He’s sixteen. The boys adore him.”
“Because he lets them get away with anything they want,” Vicente said sourly.