Prompt: "Accidentally swapped phones with someone at a party and don't realize until their mom calls in the morning and you spend like three hours talking to this hilarious woman about life and when you go to her house to return her kid's phone, wow, the kid is the really good kisser from the party last night au"
I
Gina Linetti doesn't do hangovers. She holds her liquor very well and never goes over her limit. She's learned that when you're drinking underage you should never go over your limit, you're more of a suspect if you look suspicious. But clearly, Gina did not get the memo last night. Her head is currently pounding and there is an obnoxious buzzing coming from somewhere in her room. What it is? Gina can't exactly tell. It has to be a phone because what else does she have that beeps. The only thing is that noise is not any of the ringtones she has saved on her phone.
Gina takes three encouraging breaths and then forces herself out of bed. She almost falls onto the floor once she's upright due to the sheer force of nausea that hits her. She swallows it back harshly and then stumbles around her room rubbing her eyes and trying to locate the obnoxious beeping. Finally she picks up an iPhone three and is in awe of whose ever phone this is. The 3 came out like two weeks ago and was crazy expensive and here Gina was holding one in a matte black case with a slightly scary looking rose on it.
The mission on hand finally hit Gina and she flipped over the phone to look at the screen. The screen picture was a generic mountain range and there were 109 texts from Ma and 61 missed calls. Gina drags her finger across the screen and luckily there's no password. She clicks on the call icon next to Ma's contact and holds the phone to her ear. The series of drawn out rings are deafening but Gina doesn't think to turn it down.
"Ay Dios mios, about time child. Where are you? Are you alright? You had me worried sick," Ma shouts.
Gina pulls away the phone and puts it on speaker. "Uh, who is this?"
"Who are you? You aren't my daughter," Ma says stating the obvious.
"Umm I'm Regina. I found this phone in my coat this morning, who are you?"
"I don't know a Regina. But I guess you have my daughters phone. Now how did that happen? Were you guys drinking at that party last night?"
"I feel like I shouldn't answer that."
"Oh, child. Take a shower, eat some good food- or scratch that come over, return my daughters phone and I'll cook you up a good hangover cure," Ma says and there's the sound of a pan hitting a stove in the background. She rambles off an address that Gina scrambles to write down and then promises she'll show up.
Gina straggles out of her room and down the hallway into the bathroom she shares with her brother. She showers much longer than she normally would on a school day and then blows her waves until they fall straight.
She tosses the phone and address into her purse and walks into the kitchen were she finds a note from her mother as she does every other morning. Gina writes a response about not feeling well and staying home before walking out the front door and catching the next bus heading west.
The ride is a little longer than she expected so she caves and uses some of her data to scroll through twitter and read some Seventeen articles. Finally she reaches the right stop and starts walking down the sidewalks until she turns into a cute neighborhood with colorful houses and plush grass. She knocks on house 1497 and then steps back, looking around the porch which has a small swing, bikes and dolls scattered everywhere.
The door swings open and a petite woman with a toddler on her hip is standing there. "You must be Regina. I'm Julia and this is Lucianna. Come in."
Gina steps into the cozy house and looks around. "You can call me Gina."
"Ah, bienvenidos, Gina. Luci say hi," Ma or Julia, technically, prompts and the small child waves.
Gina waves and smiles at the girl and continues following Julia to the kitchen. Julia plops Lucianna on the counter and begins poking and flipping something in the pans on the stove.
"So how was the party? Did you enjoy yourself? Were you safe? A pregnancy at your age is serious stuff," Julia says as she scoops various foods onto a pink plate.
Gina swallows thickly as she remembers the girl she almost hooked up with. "It was okay. I was safe."
"That's good eat up. I remember partying when I was your age. Of course I was still in Mexico and dating my husband so I didn't have as much freedom as some other girls but there's a certain thrill of being packed together in a room where music is blaring," Julia smiles reminiscently and then pats Lucianna's head.
Gina loves the food its flavorful and textureful and the best home cooked meal she's had in awhile. But what Julia just said surprises her. "You were born in Mexico?"
"Yes. It's so different from here. I ran away here with Oscar when I found I was with child at nineteen."
"That must have been hard," Gina says sympathetically through a mouth full of eggs with steak bits scrambled into it.
"It was. And then barely three years later I had Rosa, the girl whose phone you had," Julia said, slicing a banana for Luciana.
"Wow, really? Did you got to college?" Gina asks, genuinely curious. Her mother's been harping about college since she was six and this new woman seems not to have gone.
"Puh-lease," Julia says with a laugh. "I worked at Dairy Queen until I had Samuel and then I enrolled him in daycare so I could keep working. Oscar worked part time and went to medical school. He still makes the big bucks for us now."
"That's crazy. Was it hard? Do you just have three kids? What do you do now?" Gina fired off every question that came to her mind.
Julia laughed and then picked up Lucianna who had begun crying because she dropped her sippy cup. "I work part time at a restaurant when my best friend can watch Lucianna. I have six kids, one boy, five girls and it was very hard until Oscar started practicing. It was very hard when we started having more kids."
"You have six kids?!" was all Gina managed to say.
Julia laughed again. "After Samuel and Rosa we agreed to wait a bit until we were more secured. Then I had another daughter and then another one and I was done with kids but Oscar wanted another son so we had another baby who was girl but now I can't have anymore."
Gina shook her head. "That's crazy."
"Isn't it?"
The hours passed easily for Gina and Julia. The conversation easily swayed from Julia's origin story to funny anecdotes of her kids and then to Gina complaining about school and Julia giving motherly advice her mom was never around to give.
Around four the front door opened and a wave of noise entered the house. "Oh my," Julia said as she peered at the clock. "I'm so sorry for keeping you so long."
Gina laughed and took the last sip from her tea cup. "I enjoyed this."
"Ma, we're home," a deep yet feminine voice called and then soon entered the kitchen. A mass of wild black curls bounded towards the fridge and pulled out a Coca-Cola. "Who's blondie?"
"Rosa, did you have your phone on you today?" Julia asks pointedly.
Rosa turns around and pats down all her pockets and then pulls out my old iPhone with my multi colored duct tape case. "This isn't my phone."
"And this isn't mine," Gina points out, holding up the phone with the black case with the rose.
"That's mine," Rosa says slowly before looking back down at the one she's holding. "Is this yours?"
"It happens to be," Gina replies and tosses the phone which Rosa dives to catch.
Rosa glares and Gina smiles and three more kids enter the kitchen each holding Barbie dolls and tiny combs. "Hi Mami, Hi Lucianna," They chorus and sit down next to me.
"Gina darling, thank you for coming and dropping off Rosa's phone off. You should come by for dinner Friday night. Let's say six?" Julia says coming over and pulling Gina up into a bear hug.
"I wouldn't miss it," Ginna assures the older woman and return the hug.
"Rosa, drive Gina home," Julia directs and pulls a knife out of her apron to cut an apple for her three middle daughters.
"What? Why, Ma?" Rosa protests.
"Because she came all the way out here to return your phone which your carelessly misplaced last night," Julia scolds, not looking up from the apple.
"Fine," Rosa grumbles and practically runs out of the kitchen. Gina waves and then follows out Rosa.
"We kissed last night," Gina says after some quiet time in the car.
"And my mom's a narrow-minded homophobe so if you plan on sticking around she can't find out," Rosa almost yells. She punches the steering wheel and then acts as if nothing happened.
"Okay, clearly you weren't into it," Gina mumbles and turn to look out the window.
"I don't appreciate being a hetero girls experiment. I'm sure your boyfriend doesn't appreciate it either," Rosa grumbles.
"I don't do labels and I don't have a boyfriend."
"Just don't tell my mom. Do you want a ride over on Friday?" Rosa finally says when she pulls up to Gina's apartment building.
"Sure. See you then."
rld_gld
Friday dinners were now a routine. Rosa and Gina drove to the elementary school together and picked up Renata, Elena and Bianca and every other week they picked up Lucianna. They then picked up ingredients at Walmart and drove to the Diaz house. Gina liked the Diazes. They all had character and the house was never empty. Julia was also a very nice motherly figure who had a soft spot for Gina.
This week they were all huddled in the kitchen doing various little tasks to prepare a paella. Renata and Elena were going on about some birthday party they were going to this weekend and Lucianna was singing a never ending version of twinkle-twinkle little star. Rosa and Gina were talking about some petty drama that had happened that day.
"Do you wanna get a movie this weekend?" Gina asked Rosa offhandedly.
"As friends?" Rosa asked pointedly.
"No I want to take my enemy to a movie. Duh as friends," Gina drawled sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Fine. Nothing with emotions. The more explosions, the better," Rosa says and walks away to dump her diced potatoes into the pot.
Rld_gld
"I met a girl," Gina told Jake the next day they were at his nana's together.
"What's she like?" Jake asked, not phased by Gina's admission. He's know about her no-label state since sixth grade when she made out with Molly Beth.
"She's wild, really tough and badass, we almost hooked up, she gave me a hickey on my shoulder, her mom loves me," Gina said, taking a sip of her root beer.
"You met her mom?"
"I accidentally took her home phone after we almost hooked up."
"Damn."
"I know."
Rld_gld
Gina walked onto the stoop of the Diaz house and knocked on the door. She wasn't dressed up but she was wearing a short skirt which wasn't something she did a lot.
"Movie's off, Renata is sick," Rosa said as greeting, trying to swing the door closed.
Gine put her hand back and pried the door open. "Well that's unfortunate. What's for dinner or are we making soup for Renata?" Gina said, unfazed by the clear deterrence.
"Fine. We can go in forty-five minutes my mom had to close tonight and Renata has a fever so I can't leave her here."
Gina smiled and called a hello into the house. Elena, Bianca and Lucianna came thundering into the living room and threw themselves at Gina who expertly caught the girls in her arms. She had grown used to their exuberant greetings which were only fueled by their liking for Gina. "Hey little Diazes," Gina said and kissed each of their foreheads.
She walked with them into the kitchen and listened to their day's synopsis while she put some leftover rice and beans on the stove. Rosa was standing at the archway into the kitchen with a weird look on her face.
"What's up with you, Diaz?" Gina called, stirring a little water into the leftovers so they didn't burn while reheating.
"Nothing, I'm gonna go check on Renata," Rosa said.
Gina wiped her hands on a dish towel and then dropped it on the counter. "Nah, I'll go, don't let the food burn."
Gine knocked on the door to Renata and Rosa's shared room before entering. "Hey slightly small Diaz," Gina said, sitting down on the bed.
"Hey Gina," Renata said, patting Gina's back and then dropping her hand.
"How are you feeling?" Gina cooed as she pressed her fingers against the child's forehead.
"Not good."
"Poor slightly small Diaz. Do you want me to make you some soup or anything?"
"No thank you."
"Alright, night little Diaz."
/\/\/\
"You don't have to be here. You can go home," Rosa tells Gina at almost eleven p.m.
"No it's a sleepover," Gina drawls, her voice heavy with sleep.
At that moment Julia enters the house and looks at Gina and Rosa half asleep with a Grey's Anatomy episode on while Elena, Bianca, and Lucianna sleeps on their laps.
"Gina, I didn't know you were coming over," she exclaims, blowing a kiss while she bends down to undo her shoes.
"We were supposed to see a movie," Rosa growls.
"Ah, mija, I am so sorry. Go, go, and drive Gina home I don't want ehr taking the bus."
Gina and Rosa share a mischievous look and then slide off the couch and practically run off the couch. Rosa jumps into her truck and starts driving.
"The movie theater is the other way," Gina says.
"It's too nice of a night for that. We're going stargazing. "
"Who knew the emotionless Rosa Diaz likes stars."
"Well now you know. If any one else finds out you'll die."
"Love you too Rosa."
Rld_gld
Gina was sitting on the Diazes counter reading an old novel for her English class when Julia started talking out of nowhere.
"Do you have a boyfriend Gina?" she asked.
"Uhh no. No one can handle this fabulousness."
Julia flicks on the food processor, her face creased in thought as she watches it. "I'm okay with it you know. Rosa says a lot of stuff she isn't sure about."
"What do you mean, Ma?" Gina closes her book and angles herself so she's facing Julia. She's taken to calling Julia Ma again and it doesn't faze either of them anymore.
"She thinks I'm all narrow-minded and homophobic. She also thinks she's done a good job at hiding her...affinity for girls," Julia says.
"Affinity for girls?"
"She sees a pretty girl and her eyes triple in size. She only watches movies with gay couples or lots of female leads. You walk into the room and she becomes this person I haven't seen her be in a while.
"And you. I couldn't figure you out for a while. But I finally got it. You like my baby. You're a good girl, Gina. whether it's her or not, you'll get your happily ever after," Julia says. She walks up to Gina ands kisses her cheek.
Gina reaches out and pulls Julia into a tight hug. She sniffling back tears from emotions she couldn't place. Gina had never thought this stranger's opinion would matter more than her own mother's but now Gina couldn't even care what her mom had to say.
"What's going on here?" Rosa asked, walking into the kitchen.
"I love your mom," Gina said, never lifting her head from Julia's shoulder.