I'm sorry, my English isn't the best but I wanted to share this story so badly. Hope you can forgive me. I used a program to correct a few mistakes but it's still not perfect. Took me about two weeks to write this part but I need to slow down a bit. And I don't speak Spanish but Ruby and Fernando do a few times. If I say something wrong that's only because I'm stupid :P
I do not own anything except the OC's.
Ruby sat in a comfy chair with a cocktail in her hand, sweet as the nectar while admiring the familiar view in front of her. The island...where her daughter lived and died. Died. Her Donna is gone. Now, the cocktail is not as sweet as before. It's...bittersweet. Huh, just like her daughter. She was everything she could have hoped for. Lively, full of love and happiness. She was everything a mother could've hoped for. And she lost her. Not the day she died, but the day she told her the unexpected.
Mom...I'm pregnant.
Ruby wiped away the single tear from her cheeks and looked up at Sophie, her granddaughter. She's as beautiful as her mother was at her age. Blonde, curly hair, wide smile and the child in her arms. Her son, Ruby's great-grandson. God...it's been so long, she's getting old quickly. But she doesn't care about it anymore. Her family and her lover, Fernando is all that matters. She smiled a little, then...a cry and a voice brought her back.
"Grandma! Are you listening to me?"
She shook her head, feeling a little bit nostalgic. "Sorry, sweetie. I was just thinking a little bit."
She sighed. "It's okay, grandma. But can you help me? I still don't know how to calm him down!"
She smiled at Donny and reached out for him. "Give the baby boy to his granny."
Sophie hesitated a little bit. Ruby is trying to be very kind to everyone, but still, she left her own daughter when she needed her! "Okay, just...be careful with him." She gave the little boy to Ruby, feeling a little bit nervous.
"Honey, I still know how to take care of a child. I raised your mother almost alone." She smiled and gently started rocking Donny to sleep. "Just like that, little boy." The boy soon stopped crying and fell asleep.
"Yeah, you raised her, but with who?" The question made Ruby a bit uncomfortable, but she answered soon.
"With a few maids and my friends."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Then, how did you mean it, sweetie?"
"Grandma...I'll ask you a question and I want a straight answer from you. Are you going to tell me the truth?"
Her hands started shaking, so she gave Donny back to his mother. "Depends on the question." She stood up from the chair.
"Grandma!" She looked at her angrily.
"What?"
"Don't be like that!"
"Okay, okay. You'll get your answer. Now, go ahead, ask." She waved with her hand, making Sophie angrier than before.
"Sit down, Ruby Sheridan." Ruby looked surprised. Maybe it's better if I obey her. She sat down on the chair, looking strange. "Grandma. Who is my grandfather?"
"Well..." She didn't where to go, where to hide at the moment. She can't run away, Sophie would be much faster than her. No, it's time to make everything clear, for everyone. "You should sit down too, it'll only take a few moments."
"I just want a name and..."
"But it wouldn't be fun enough." She smiled wide. "So...where should I start?" She took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Ahh, yes. You know I'm a singer, maybe a famous one."
"You're one of the most famous people in the world."
"Yes, but your grandfather didn't know it." A familiar song started playing in her head.
Flashback
"I was sick a tired of everything when I called you last night from Glasgow..." The seventeen-year-old Ruby Sheridan smiled happily and moved her hips in the stage. "...all I do is eat and sleep and sing wishing every show was the last show."
The chorus' voice made her heart melt. Her friends started singing with her. Cherilyn, Lilith and Jessica, her best friends and supporters with an angelic voice. "Wishing every show was the last."
"So imagine I was glad to hear you're coming..." She lowered her voice a bit. "...suddenly I fell alright..." Then she raised it again, throwing her left hand up, waving to the crowd listening to their music. "...and it's gonna be so different when I'm on the stage tonight!"
Flashback end
"So...you met my grandfather at a concert?" Sophie asked her grandmother curiously.
"What? No! I met him the next day!" She answered, feeling a bit stupid.
"Then why are you talking about a concert?"
"Because it was a tour in Mexico. Well, for me it was only a tour, but your great-grandfather worked here as a colonel. He was a soldier for a very long time and he needed to move to Mexico for a whole year. For me, it was only a few months because I got pregnant with your mother and I didn't want to live with my father and step-mother."
"Why?"
"They...didn't want me to keep our child. But I'll tell you everything, just listen and ask if you have any questions."
"Okay. Who is my great-grandfather?"
"Benjamin Sheridan. My mother died after I was born so he got married to Lucia. She was a kind woman and she wanted to replace my real mother but I never let her. I always felt some anger when she tried anything to make me forget who gave birth to me. Anyway, let's continue." Sophie nodded and listened to her grandmother.
Flashback
"Ruby! Are you here?" Ruby heard a knock on her door and a too familiar female voice. She put her book down and stood up, rolling her eyes as she let out a disgusted sigh.
"Yes, Lucia. I'm here, just give me a moment." She walked to the entrance, unlocking the white door. Everything is white in her room. The door, the bed, the table, the window, the chair, the closet, the curtains, everything in her favourite colour.
"I missed you from dinner, sweetie. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I just..." Can't stand your face. "...needed to write a new song and I totally forgot our dinner." She looked behind her step-mother, searching for her father. "Dad is angry at me?"
"I don't think so. He didn't seem angry at all." Thank god. She thought. "I'm going to buy a few dresses tomorrow. Do you want to come with me? Just you and me, two beautiful girls in the time, having fun like mother and daughter."
"My father kick me out if I say no." She paused for a moment. "But you're not my mother and you can't replace her." She turned around and lock the door behind herself.
Flashback end
"Grandma, you were pretty rude with her."
Ruby laughed. "Honey, would you call a woman mother if she's only a few years older than you?"
"I... don't know."
"She was like an older sister to me, but to be honest, I didn't like her. She wasn't a mother type, rather a gold digger."
Flashback
The next day
"This one is very nice, why don't you try it on?" Ruby looked at the ugly black dress.
"Because I'm not a 70-year-old grandma. Please, let me go to the other shop, it's so much better and less expensive." Not like money was a problem for them. Her father is rich and she is rich thanks to her songs.
"Okay, you can go. And if your father asks, tell him that we spent the whole morning together."
"Thank you, Lucia." She rushed out of the shop, finally alone and free, but she stopped to think for a moment. Summer is close and the weather is already hot. I need a few new dresses. Something low, elegant and pretty.
Flashback end
"So I bought a nice grey dress. And a few more, but I wore the grey one when I met him."
"I'm not interested in your clothes."
"Of course you're not, but you'll understand it later. After I bought the dress I went home with my friends." She said the last word a little bit sarcastic.
Flashback
"Think about it, Ruby! A lot of handsome boys, soldiers, all of them!" Ah, yes. Soldiers. She knows those type of men. They are searching for ladies almost every night to have some fun with them, but Ruby is not that kind of girl. She wants to be loved. She wants the cuddles, light kisses and sweet nothings, not some rough adventure with a stranger.
"But I don't want adventures! I want to love somebody and not just for one night! Do you know what it is?"
"Come on, Ruby! We just want some fun, don't play the innocent every time we want to go out!"
"There is the problem! You want to go out not me!" Ruby stood up, walking around her bed again and again.
"Ruby, you're never coming with us, you need to have some fun. You're busy with touring, shopping and writing all the time. Everybody deserves some fun. Just think about it." Said Lilith in a calm voice.
Ruby sighed. "Alright, I'll come with you. But I'm coming come if I don't like something!"
"Yes!" Said the three girls together.
"Grab your dress, girl and be quick, because we need to get a man for you!"
Girls:
"Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away?
Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day."
Ruby:
"Is there a man out there?
Someone to hear my prayer"
"Ruby, you'll never change." Said Cherlyn with a chuckle.
"Who knows?" Ruby smiled at her friends and stepped closer to her closet, choosing a dress for the night.
Later that night
"Hey, Ruby! Don't stand here alone!"
"Excuse me, I need a walk." Ruby walked out of the crowd, straight to the harbour at the edge of the city. She hated all this, she just couldn't stand here for more than one minute. The place was full of man and woman together, only Ruby stood here alone, watching them kissing and hugging, maybe drinking and smoking. Being alone is something she loves and hates. She needed love, something sensual but passionate.
Ruby:
"Take it easy with me, please
Touch me gently
Like a summer evening breeze
Take your time, make it slow
Andante, Andante
Just let the feeling grow."
She walked slowly. It was like a dance with her sad movements. Her body moved like the air in a windy night, slowly, sensually.
"Make your fingers
Soft and light
Let your body
Be the velvet of the night
Touch my soul
You know how
Andante, Andante
Go slowly with me now."
She got closer and closer to the edge, looking up at the stars, so she didn't notice the water in front of her.
"I'm your music
I'm your song
Play me time and time again
And make me strong
Make me sing, make me sound
Andante, Andante
Tread lightly on my ground
Andante, Andante
Oh, please don't let me d-down!"
The cold water hugged her body like a mother her child, never letting go, just sinking deeper and deeper, slowly drowning.
"H-helpp!"
Meanwhile
A young soldier named Fernando Cienfuegos walked next to the water, softly humming and singing.
Fernando:
"Don't go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on..."
He heard something that made him stop singing. He looked around and saw nothing. Maybe it was only my imagination.
"H-helpp!" He heard a young female voice screaming and when he stepped closer to the water, he saw a girl in it.
"I'm coming, señora!" He dropped his coat to the ground, took off his shirt and jumped into the water, swimming after the girl. "I got you!" He grabbed her and quickly helped her reaching the surface. The girl coughed a few times, still shaking. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"I was distracted and fell down. But thank you, I think I'm okay." She looked deeply into his dark brown eyes and a song started playing in her head.
Look into his angel eyes
One look and you're hypnotized
He'll take your heart and you must pay the price
Look into his angel eyes
You'll think you're in paradise
"Are you listening to me?"
"What?" She shook her head. "Of course, I just...saw something."
He took a deep breath, looking up and down at her. "You're wet everywhere." A slight blush appeared on Ruby's face. "You must be cold. Here, take my coat." He put the dark fabric around her slim shoulders.
"Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you in return?"
"Hmm...Your name. Tell me your name."
"Ruby."
"Ruby." He smiled and took her head in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Her body like a gazelle, her smile is ecstatic as a fresh summer cocktail, wise but also a bit selfish, a real rebel." He gave pressed a kiss on her hand. "And her head is red as a tomato in my tacos." He chuckled at her. God, her face was red everywhere.
"God, you are flattering me and you expect me not to blush?" She said turning her head away.
"Sorry, I just needed you to know how pretty you are." She couldn't help but smile. "You're not Mexican."
"I'm from the United States. My father's working here, he's a soldier." She didn't want to tell him too much about herself, just some minimal information to keep him satisfied.
"Well, I'm a soldier too. And I forgot to put my shirt on." They both laughed and he stood up to get fully dressed. He offered a hand and she took it, standing up.
"Thanks for your help again, Soldado."
"I'm always ready to help pretty drowning ladies." He smiled at her, admiring her beauty. She just rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go. My friends are probably worried about me." Or not.
"Can I go with you? Just in case. I can't let a pretty lady go alone in the dark."
"You don't have to. But why not? Here, this way."
"After you, señora."
Flashback end
"He's your grandfather, Soph." Ruby said with a charming smile.
"You don't know his name?" Sophie already had a guess about who is her grandfather and the charming words were so familiar to her. It must be him.
"Of course I know. But enough for today, Soph."
"Please, just tell me his name!"
Ruby sighed. "Okay, okay. So we walked back to my friends and they were all busy with some kind of boys. We both laughed and I went home alone. The next day I was curious, so I decided to back to the harbour."
Flashback
And now where is he? Ruby thought.
"Hello." She heard a voice and almost jumped at the surprise.
Ruby turned around. "It's you!" She said happily.
"Well, señora, it's a pleasure to meet again."
"Ohh, I almost forgot. It's yours." She gave him back the coat. "It's washed and dry."
He put the coat close to his nose, smelling Ruby's scent. "And it smells exactly like you."
She smiled, feeling flattered again. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, anything you want."
"What's your name? I mean...You know mine but I don't know yours. It's not fair."
"Well, not what I was expecting, but I'm Fernando."
Flashback end
"Fernando?! Grandma, Fernando Cienfuegos is my grandfather?!" Asked Sophie, almost yelling in surprise.
"Shh... Quiet! You don't want to wake up Donny."
"Or you don't want señor Cienfuegos to know about his family." Her granddaughter words ached in her heart, but she needed to keep herself strong for her family.
"That's not true, sweetie. I just don't want to jump at him, telling that he has a whole family. I wanted to take things slow this time, not like back in Mexico. I want to tell him when he's ready."
Sophie took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Grandma, he needs to know. He's ready."
"I know, Soph. I just...I can't. After all those years. What if he gets angry?"
"He won't, he's not that kind." Ruby turned away. "Grandma." She put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "He loves you, I'm sure he can forgive you anything."
"You're right. But first, I want you to know everything."
"Grandma...I heard enough. I just wanted a name."
"Ohh, sweetie. But you'll miss the fun part!"
"Please, don't tell me how you made my mother!"
"No promises." They both laughed and Ruby started telling her granddaughter the whole story about starry nights, canons, fears, guitars and so much more.
TO BE CONTINUED