Papí’s chest rumbled with a laugh of his own, one that Luís echoed.
Anton had moved in with a few girlfriends over the years, but the whole family had known that Marianne was the best match for him. That Christmas had been particularly memorable because Marianne had come running out of the house with her hair in curlers. She groaned at the memory.
“Or the time Luís moved in with that accountant?” Gabriel piped up. “I thought that guy was gonna call the police on us! At least I fed you.”
“What did you expect my platonic white roommate to do when you show up at 4 o'clock in the morning singing Spanish Christmas carols?” Luís protested. “this tradition is supposed to be for romantic partners, not moving in with a roommate from work.”
“Yeah, well, since you’re aromantic, we had to work with what we could get,” Anton retorted. “You don't miss out on family traditions just because romance isn’t something you’re interested in.”
Luís shrugged like he didn’t care, but there was a glint of something that looked like gratitude in his eyes before he looked back down at the plates he was clearing.
“Fair enough. Plus, it helped me figure out whether or not he was a good roommate.”
“Newsflash!” Gabriel chimed in. “He wasn’t. He was the worst about doing any housework.”
The whole table laughed at that. It was true. The guy was known for leaving his laundry in the washer or dryer for days on end. His mother had clearly done his laundry until he moved out on his own, something Mama had never tolerated from any of her children.
“He only lasted on his own for like six months, right?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he moved back in with his mom.” Luís rolled his eyes.
Elena washed down the remainder of her breakfast with her coffee as the table laughed. She was fully awake now and was excited for the day full of sneaking and family ahead of her.
Her brothers were clearing the table still, so she leaned forward and shoved her plate toward them.
“Y’all ready to help me make this the happiest Christmas that Cora’s ever had?”
They grinned back at her, knowing exactly the plan that she had in store. All three answered her at the same time.
“Absolutamente, Elena.”
María and Cora laid out pallets made of blankets and couch cushions for Sofía and David. They were asleep in minutes and she wistfully thought how nice it would be to join them for a nap. She shook the thought away with a sigh. A nap was not in her future today.
Elena had told her about this tradition, but Cora had been so preoccupied with both of their families to visit for Christmas that the thought that this might happen hadn’t even occurred to her.
Cora wouldn’t have traded being a part of the family tradition for anything. She wouldn’t have minded it if they came two or three hours later, though, for the sake of a good night’s sleep.
They still had a lot of cleaning and food prep to do to be ready for Christmas Eve dinner. The Mendéz family had brought more food than she thought they would ever be able to eat. Cora was in charge of the ham and Elena was in charge of the shrimp scampi. Everything else had been farmed out to their various family members.
Luís was making kid-friendly coquito, and Cora’s mother was bringing Cora’s favorite apple pie when she arrived later in the evening. Maríahad decided that she was going to surprise the family with the sides that they were making.
Cora had been testing glaze recipes on Elena for weeks, trying to find the perfect one. They had decided on a mixture of spices, minced garlic and red wine vinegar. It had been marinating on the 10-pound spiral ham for several days. Cora found herself praying that it turned out well at the end of the night.
She desperately didn’t want to disappoint the Mendézes or her own parents. Neither she nor Elena had anything to prove to their families, but it was the first time that they were hosting them both in their new home.
For once, Elena was not as anxious about it as Cora was. Perhaps because it was small compared to her usual family Christmases, but larger than the ones that Cora was used to. Both women also had tasks of their own to take care of on this busy Christmas Eve.
Elena had to finish the grocery shopping with her brothers.
Cora’s two tasks were to pick up the homemade paper Christmas crackers that were part of her family tradition, and the ring that she had chosen to propose to Elena with as soon as their families had left for the night.
They were not particularly hard tasks, but she was anxious nonetheless. She figured she might as well get it out of the way, which meant getting dressed properly. Cora made her way back to the bedroom, grabbing her thickest forest green knitted sweater and sliding it over the black T-shirt she’d worn to breakfast.
It, combined with the thick wool socks she wouldn’t go without, would do well to keep her warm despite the below freezing temperatures outside. It was one of the coldest winters she could remember and she hated to have to go out in it. She might even have to wear a hat, she thought with a shudder.
María poked her head into the bedroom.
“You said that you had some errands to run. Would you like some company?”
Cora smiled happily.
“I would love some company! It shouldn’t take too long to do the errands I had planned. Was there anything you needed to do?”
“Oh, no. Elena is going to pick up the last of the things that we need from the store, and she’s gonna take the boys with her. Manuel and Maríanne are going to stay here with children, so I thought I would offer my assistance to you instead of sitting here waiting for it to be time to cook.”
“That sounds great. Let me grab my coat and wallet and I can give you the penny tour around town while we’re out.”
María beamed back at the younger woman, and Cora nearly blushed from the intensity of her motherly affection. Even two years later, she still wasn’t used to the amount of affection that María was capable of sharing.
She left the room and Cora heard her telling her husband and daughter-in-law of her new plans for the morning. Cora grabbed her black hooded coat from the closet and walked to the door where she’d left her boots. María was already there, bundling herself up in a double-breasted red peacoat and black knit cap.
She slid her feet into the black ankle boots and poked her head into the kitchen. Elena’s brothers were still working on the dishes and talking amongst themselves while Elena supervised.
“Hey, hon, I’m headed out with your mother. We should be back in about an hour?”
Elena nodded and blew a kiss across the kitchen.
“I’m taking these hooligans with me, so we won’t be here when you get back. Have fun and be safe, love.”
Cora smiled softly and returned the blown kiss.
“Right back at you, El.”
Once the door shut behind Cora and María, Elena couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. The excitement that she had been working to hide from her girlfriend bubbled out of her in a pleased giggle.
She wasn’t known for being able to keep secrets well for this exact reason. If Cora had not been as anxious about getting their new house ready for Christmas, Elena didn’t know how she would have been able to keep it from her.
She had been planning this particular evening for months. Cora had always dreamed of a Christmas proposal and Elena intended to give it to her with some adjustments of her own. Everything was ready, except that she didn’t have either her Christmas present or the ring in hand yet.
With some strategic teamwork, Elena and her brothers would be picking up the groceries her family had forgotten, the specially designed engagement ring from the jeweler, and picking up the small white West Highland terrier that Cora had fallen in love with from the animal shelter. It would be a busy day.
Elena and her brothers had always had a strong relationship ranging from best friends to worst enemies, but now that they were grown, that relationship was best described as partners in crime.<
br />
There would be no crimes committed by them today, but they were being sneaky. Between the three of them, it would be a light afternoon’s work. Elena was sure that everything would get done in time thanks to her planning.
She had hoped that she would be able to send one of her brothers to the grocery store on his own, but they had all ridden up together in Anton’s minivan, which they needed to leave with Maríanne in case they needed to go somewhere with the kids. That meant that they would need to pile into Elena’s burnt orange SUV and work strategically to get everything done in time to be back and hide the dog before Cora returned with María and the Christmas crackers.
Elena walked into the living to watch her oldest brother press soft kisses onto the foreheads of his sleeping children and his smiling wife’s lips. She left them to bundle up against the cold weather outdoors.
Once they had said their goodbyes, Anton, Gabriel, and Luís piled into Elena’s SUV with minimal fighting about who got to ride shotgun. If there had been anyone else needing to get in, they wouldn’t have fit. Anton and Gabriel were both tall and fat like Elena was. Luís was tall, too, but he was built more like a beanpole then a stockpot like the other three siblings.
She turned the car on to start warming up the air around them. Elena’s hands were slightly shaky from the excitement, so she clasped them together to tell her brothers the plan for the day.
“Okay, boys, here’s the plan,” she started, as if she was telling them the play on a football field. “We pick up the dog from the foster parent’s house. We take her to the groomers. Luís, we’re going to leave you there to be there while she’s groomed and make sure she’s done well, okay?”
He nodded and she continued.
“From there, I’m dropping Gabriel at the grocery store to pick up some last minute things. I’ve got the list of everything Máma needs to make the side dishes she wants.”
“Wait, what’s my job?” Anton interrupted.
“You, my good sir, are coming with me to go get the ring. You’ve done this before, so I wanted to keep you with me. Once we have the ring, I’ll swing back to get Gabriel and then Luís. Everybody good with that?”
She looked each of them in the eye and they nodded their assent.
“All right, let’s roll!”
Chapter 2
The interior of Cora’s beat up green Subaru was frigid. She started the engine and flipped the heat on, blasting it towards the windshield to defrost it without blowing the inevitably cold air at her future mother-in-law in the passenger seat.
We waited in companionable silence for several minutes while the windshield heated from the interior. She rubbed her hands over her undercut trying to warm it. In the back of her head, Elena’s lightly accented voice was scolding her for not wearing a hat.
As usual, that voice was absolutely correct, and Cora knew she should have been wearing something on her head, but she couldn’t stand the thought of having to worry about having a bad hair day today of all days.
As the car warmed around them, Cora turned on the radio. All of the stations were playing Christmas carols at this time of year and María began to hum along quietly to Carol of the Bells
When the windshield was clear, Cora turned the knob so that the now-warm air was blowing on them both. It made it comfortable enough for her to drive within a few minutes.
“Thank you for including us in your family tradition, María. It means so much to me, and I know it means even more to Elena.”
Her smile became a confused one, her eyebrows wrinkling like something Cora had said wasn’t making sense.
“Of course you are part of our traditions. You know full well that no one even tangentially related to our family gets left out of things like this.”
The wipers cleared the last of the frost’s beautiful crystals from the windshield. It felt as if it cleared the confusion from María’s thoughts as well.
“You thought it would be because you are gay? Mi hija, you know that is not how our family works.”
Cora tensed her hands on the steering wheel, trying to warm it enough so that she could leave her hands on it comfortably and drive.
“I know, but, well… I try not to get my hopes up when it comes to family traditions.”
María nodded sagely but laid a loving hand on the sleeve of Cora’s coat.
“You are our family, darling, and we will never leave you out unless you want to be left out.”
Cora felt a lump form in her throat that had nothing to do with the cold. She tried to swallow it and blinked back tears at the same time. Failing that, she started to back out of their steep driveway.
For several minutes, the only sound in the car was the quiet tinkling of Christmas-themed commercials.
“So, you want to propose to Elena, eh?” María said after a few moments.
Cora spluttered, nearly veering off the road.
“What? How did you know that?”
“Well, I peeked in your office. You’d left a note next to your laptop to pick up the ring. But also, there’s nothing else you need for this holiday, and you and Elena are brilliantly happy together. What else could you need to pick up today other than a ring?”
Cora threw her head back and laughed. Of course, in the hour she’d been in the house, she’d made her way into the office.
“You are a force of nature, Señora Mendéz. I should know better than to underestimate you.”
“You should know better than to call me Señora Mendéz by now, Cora dear. It’s María, as I’ve told you time and time again. Especially now that you’re going to be family for real.”
“You think she’ll say yes?” Cora asked nervously. She was almost positive that she would. They’d had several conversations about marriage as a nebulous future thing, but they’d never put a date on it.
María scoffed at the question. Even though Cora kept her eyes on the road, she knew that she would be rolling her eyes in the exact picture of her daughter. She couldn’t help but grin shyly.
“Of course she will say yes. When you know someone is right for you, you know. And Elena knew a long time ago.”
Cora knew that she was at risk of bursting into full on sobs while driving. The last few days had been emotional ones, and today had been guaranteed to be the same. A few tears leaked down her face, to her dismay.
“Look what you did,” Cora said with a wet laugh, using one hand to wipe them away. She kept the other hand firmly on the wheel. It would turn into the worst Christmas possible if she wrecked her car with her future mother-in-law in the car.
“Pssh. You cry at the drop of a hat. Es adorable, mi hija. But you must focus on the road. I do not know how to get to the store we are going to, or I would offer to drive.”
That made Cora laugh harder, and shook the rest of the moisture from her face. Elena had clearly learned her conversational skills from her mother.
“What articles are you working on right now? She asked pointedly. “Anything fun?”
Cora shrugged her shoulders.
“Holidays tend to slow everything down, so I'm not working on a lot right now. I did just finish a book for review that I thought you might like.”
She perked up. María loved to read, particularly romance and mystery novels, and so far Cora had a perfect batting average when it came to recommendations.
“Well, this one is part of a serial detective story, like a TV show. It's super slow on the romance aspect, and it's great.”
Cora gave her a general summary of Criminal Intentions, leading to a discussion of other stories they’d read recently. By the time they arrived at the jeweler's, Cora was calm and cheerful. Even the butterflies in her stomach had settled for the first time since she’d woken up.
María bustled around the car and opened the door for Cora before she could even unbuckle her seatbelt.
“Here's to the next step of your life, and becoming family.”
Without another word, the two women swept into the store.
Gravel crunched under the SUV’s tires as Elena pulled up to the home where her dog had been living for the last three weeks. Elena was both excited and nervous as she put the car in park in front of the sprawling yellow ranch style house.
Elena knew that the foster parent had several cats, which was why she was sending Luis in to fetch their new family member. She wished she could go in herself, but couldn’t risk an allergy attack that she knew would happen if she went into the house. There was no way that a proposal could be romantic when the proposer’s eyes were swollen shut because of smelling a cat. Plus, it would upset the dog, not to mention her brothers, to have to spend several hours in the ER with her after she used her EpiPen.
“Okay, Luis, you’re with me. I can’t go into the house so I’ll need y’all’s help carrying her crate and things out to the car. I’m just going to the door with you so that Ms. Libby doesn’t think you’re here to steal her dog or something. I’m not sure she’s ever seen a Puerto Rican in person before.”
Anton snorted. All three of her brothers slid out of the car. Once they were onto the gravel of the driveway, each of them began to stretch like they’d been in the car for hours instead of the 20 minutes it took to get across town. Elena rolled her eyes at them and started walking towards the house, knowing they would follow her.
The closer she got, the louder the cacophony of yelling animals became. She could hear dogs barking, alerting to her approach, and cats meowing through the walls of the woman’s house. She was almost willing to risk the allergy attack to see just how many animals she actually had in her home. Almost.
Elena’s brothers caught up to her when she reached the extremely Christmassy porch. Multi-colored twinkle lights hung from every possible post, and a few slightly weathered snowflake decorations hung between them. Elena thought it was pretty, in an excessive way.
She rang the doorbell and the barking began anew.
“Want to take bets that Elena’s dog is the yappiest?” Gabriel asked. Even without turning, she knew that he was smirking at her.
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