Chapter Six
Emilia wandered into the furniture department, looking around for her mysterious visitor.
"Hello?" She called out, "Someone wanted to see me?"
Thank goodness the section of the store was entirely deserted, because she felt absolutely ridiculous calling out to the stillness of the atmosphere.
She felt a pair of burly arms wrap around her middle and hoist her up bridal style.
"Put me down!" She protested, squirming and kicking her legs when she felt herself suspended in the air.
"Come on primita, why would I do that?"
She turned to look at her offender, and realized it was her cousin, Carlos. He had grown since the last time he had visited from Cuba and she smiled widely when she saw that he had finally tied his unruly dreads back into a neat ponytail.
"Valla, que te peinasteis." She teased, hugging him with great force.
"Callate nena." He retorted good-naturedly, turning red when she laughed and squirmed out of his arms.
"Let me see how tall you got."
He laughed and they sat down on display couch and caught up. The usual "how've you been" and "what have you been up to's" abandoned and replaced with banter and reminiscing. Carlos had found work in Florida and flew to California to visit on his vacation time to surprise her.
"I got you something though." He had broached after the idle chatter ceased to carry on.
He handed her a small bag from a children's boutique that was down the street from where she worked. It was pink and had a bow attached to a side, with the words, "Gifts from Heaven" written in white cursive on it. Emilia's breathing grew shallow, and she felt as if she couldn't even pull the tissue paper out of the bag. But when she looked at the expectant look on Carlos' face, she managed to muster the strength to open his gift. It was a baby onesie, so small, she figured he had made a mistake and bought her doll's clothing. But he gently grabbed it from her and showed her the embroidered cartoon elephant it had on the bottom and the soft roomy fabric. It really was meant for her baby.
"Alfred told Matthew and me you were expecting," He confessed, "And I couldn't just go back to Havana without giving you something to start you off."
"Is that all he told you?" She asked slowly, "Did he mention anything else."
"Just that your boyfriend is away on business and you want this to be a surprise for him when he gets back."
A wave of relief rushed over her and despite the blatant lying Alfred did to cover for her, she knew it would backfire somehow. She was grateful that Carlos didn't know the truth, his pugnacious attitude and short fuse were something never meant to cross, and she didn't know what he'd do if he found out Antonio was seeing someone else. She looked at her petite wristwatch and saw that she was past due clocking out.
"Come on, let's get out of here." She mumbled, getting up, "I have to clock out, and they're not paying me overtime."
/
Emilia spent the rest of the afternoon with Carlos, going out to dinner and discussing plans on what to do after the baby was born.
"I can always go back with my mom." She mused, poking at her chicken salad.
"What about the dad?"
"He travels... A lot." She said dryly, taking a sip of her water nonchalantly, before adding, "I don't think he'd mind."
Carlos cleared his throat and changed the topic.
"I'm only going to be here until Friday. I'm going to be staying at the Marriott if you need anything. But let's do something after you're off work?"
She nodded and when he rounded up the waiter for the check, she felt the anger that she repressed boil in her belly.
/
"Alfred you son of a bitch!"
"Wha-"
"How could you tell Matthew AND Carlos about my pregnancy? Now, you've really done it. Do you have any idea what Carlos would do to Antonio if he knew he was fucking some broad he found on the block?"
Emilia gripped the receiver with so much force she could see her knuckles turn white. She awaited his reply but just as he was about to speak, she cut him off.
"I told you I wanted to do this myself, but you went ahead and played the hero and I'm accepting your help. But now you got my family involved, and now Carlos is going to tell my mom- who's very Catholic, and I mean very Catholic. I'm not married! This baby's going to be a ba-"
"Woah, woah, woah!" Alfred interjected, "You're getting ahead of yourself. I didn't even tell Carlos, Matthew squawked because he's happy for you. He likes babies. And well... You know Carlos doesn't like me, but he's been friends with Matt since they were brace faced dorks. Come on, what did you expect?"
"I expected you not to tell anyone." She replied through gritted teeth. He sighed audibly over the line.
"Okay, I'm sorry. What can I do to make it better."
"Meet me in the park tomorrow. I'm calling in sick, and we're going to discuss some things. Capiche?"
"What do we have to talk about that's so important we can't talk about it on the phone?"
"Hm, gee, I don't know Alfred, maybe because I'm pregnant and you made a show about being there for me. Well, now I need you and you're going to stick to your code of honor. I'll be waiting for you by the playground at noon. Don't be late. It's the park on seventeenth." She sassed back before slamming the receiver down.
/
Calling in sick was a breeze, faking a cough and sore throat fooled her boss easily, and now Emilia was free to sleep in until ten and take her time getting ready. She didn't know why she felt the need to do her makeup and hair, but after so many days of looking tired and dreary she felt it was appropriate. Emilia had picked the park on seventeenth street because it was the closest one to her apartment. Donning a sweet, demure face and an oversized sweater and stretchy leggings, she felt both comfortable and pretty. She needed it after feeling so inadequate next to Agatha yesterday. The clock on her dresser read eleven fifty, so she gathered her things and left. The ride would only take about ten minutes, she wasn't in a hurry and she was sure she'd get there on time.
/
She found Alfred sitting by the playground like she instructed him to. He was watching the children play on the equipment, and she made sure to quickly sit next to him and rub her stomach tiredly so the other mothers on the playground wouldn't get the wrong idea.
"How long were you waiting." She whispered as she watched a toddler go down the slide.
"Oh, I got here exactly at noon. You're five minutes late to your own meeting." He replied smarmy like, but felt his stomach tighten when he saw a little girl fall face first onto the sand. Since when did he get that way over kids?
"Come on, let's go for a walk. I can't think with so much noise." Emilia lied through her teeth, taking him by the hand and leading him through a concrete trail through the foliage.
They walked away from the busy playground, still hand in hand. It was peaceful, the park being large in size with great fields and lush grass and trees. The local community was working on a garden nearby, adding some color to the expanse of green and brown.
"Why'd we leave the playground?" Alfred inquired, rubbing her hand with his thumb, treading dangerous waters when it came to how far he could go.
"Okay, I just didn't want to be there any longer. Did you see how tired those mothers looked... And the kids! They were so loud and just ran around aimlessly." She ran her free hand through her hair then pressed it against her forehead in disbelief.
"Emilia, they're kids." Alfred deadpanned, stopping the both of them to stand on the side of the trail, the occasional biker speeding past them. He held both her hands gently.
"You have to relax, so much stress isn't good for you- pregnant or not. Come on, we used to babysit Raivis together when he was an infant."
"But Raivis didn't yell or scream or kick as much as any of these kids!" Emilia interjected, turning away to mumble, "All he did was cry and whimper when you laughed too hard around him."
Alfred gripped her hands a bit firmer, a look of determination on his face.
"Yeah, but Emilia, you have to remember that the only reason why he didn't act up was because you were so good to him. Now imagine yourself with your own baby. You're going to be a great mother." He held her hands up to his lips and kissed them.
"I'm going to make sure of it."
Since when did she allow herself to let him go that far? Why wasn't she pulling back and recoiling to his touch? Maybe she did need him after all...
"Alfred." She breathed out, her expression unreadable.
He hummed in response as he pressed the top of her hands against his face.
"Do you... Do you still love me?"
He looked up, his eyes wide and bright. Her ears then filled with the sound of his loud laughter and she looked puzzled- even hurt, for a split second.
"Emilia, of course I do. Why else would I go through all this trouble? I may not be able to have you as my wife, but any way I can have you I'm alright with. As long as I still have you in my life."
Alfred's words were sincere and genuine, and she let go of his hands to wipe at her eyes, for fear of crying in front of him again.
"Jesus Alfred, it's been two years, if you had just sent me away I would not be feeling like this-"
"Emilia?"
A familiar voice called out to her, and she looked up at Alfred, who looked just as confused as she did. She quirked a brow then turned her head to look over her shoulder. Antonio stood a couple feet behind her, in running shorts and an old college sweater.
"I haven't seen you in a while." She greeted dryly, silently grateful that Alfred had wrapped a protective arm around her waist; she wasn't sure she'd be able to talk to her former lover without exploding.
"I've been calling. You haven't been answering." He retorted, before casting his glance onto the blond that held her, "Who's this?"
"Name's Alfred. Pleasure. We were just leaving." Said man steeled himself before ushering Emilia back to the other end of the trail.
"Hey!" Antonio barked, jogging to catch up to them before stopping the couple in their path, "I haven't seen her in over a month, you can't just take her away from me. I need answers!"
He looked angry, his green eyes shone wildly. Alfred tried averting him, leading Emilia around him but Antonio grabbed onto him and shoved him to the side before grabbing Emilia by the wrist. Alfred didn't act as quickly as she did however, and reduced himself to standing a couple feet from them.
"Where have you been all this time? I've tried calling-"
"That's all you did! All you did was call!" Emilia snatched her arm away and fell into a wild frenzy of emotions. How dare he. She could feel her hair stick to her face as hot tears poured down her face. It had seemed like forever ago since someone had made her cry from sheer anger.
"Tu nomas llamasteis-" she slipped into Spanish, jabbing her fingers into his broad chest for emphasis, "All you did was fucking call, AND while you were still seeing her! Don't make it seem like I abandoned you! You're the one who ruined everything because you wanted to bed someone else for a change!" She shouted wildly, her words accompanied by animated gestures and jerky movements. He tried talking over her, but he couldn't match the passion in her voice.
"Te ame! Te ame con tanto ternura and locura que no te lo puedes imaginar, Antonio!" She felt so pathetic evoking these words, but he had to know. He had to know the pain she felt. Alfred was watching from the sidelines, ready to step in if things got too intense, they were already drawing onlookers and despite knowing that she needed to vent, he had to get her out of there.
"Emilia, sweetheart, let's go." Alfred coaxed softly, touching her forearm gently only to have her move away.
"No!" She screamed, her voice gravelly from the extensive use of it, "He has to know what he's done."
"Don't think I don't know about that dinner, animal." She said sardonically, uttering the Spanish insult with so much venom, it even made Alfred wince, "She bought a dress with your fucking credit card during my shift yesterday. So don't think for a second you can come up to me and reprimand me for moving on."
By now the brief tears had subsided and her eyes were red and puffy. Antonio stood quiet, not wanting to be made the fool, but he couldn't form any coherent thoughts. He had never seen her so livid and he resorted to reaching out for her.
"Don't you dare touch me. I never want to see you again." She spat out darkly, turning on her heel to leave the park with Alfred as Antonio watched them walk away, arms wrapped protectively over his waist and her shoulders due to the differences in height. They had made such a handsome couple. As the rubbernecking spectators disbanded and reverted back to their own endeavors, Antonio was left in the middle of the concrete trail, watching what could have been the love of his life leave with another man. He had never felt so much remorse in his life, but he let her go for now. He'd get her back one way, somehow.
Author's Note: It kinda took me a while to think of this then put it intk a chapter. I personally like fast paced stories, and I have trouble controlling the flow, but I really want this to take place over the course of a couple years. Antonio is eventually going to find out its his, and I already have an idea for it, but right now I'm trying to work on Emilia's relationship with Alfred. I think they're adorable together but they're not going to date just yet, but they find comfort in each other and I think that's sweet. I know there's a lot of plotholes, but I mean this is kind of like a novela, I would just go along with it for the drama. I added Cuba because I mean come on, he's a cool character and I never see enough of him. Plus, an overprotective cousin with no regard of whether or not he's throw in jail for assault is pretty badass. Family comes first in his case and I admire that. Also, Roma is coming back from Italy soon, and he's going to play a bigger part. So, please read and review and I enjoy whatever feedback you have for me. Seriously, I get excited when my Email notifies me about it. Until next time!