~26~

Like his parents, Marty had a nose for excitement and a knack for searching it out, even if he was, in this case, a couple of hours late to the party. Trudging into the living room, bleary-eyed and sleep-softened, he still shot Luis an accusing look when he discovered his cousins had arrived and he hadn't been awakened. "Papa," he grumped.

Luis held a finger to his lips, shushing any further protestations Marty might make.

Beside her brother on the sofa, Theresa smiled at her little nephew and reached out a beckoning hand.

Marty climbed over Little Ethan's prone body, stumbling over the socked foot peeking out from beneath the bed of blankets scattered on the living room floor, and went willingly into Theresa's open arms, snuggling against her sleepily. "I knew you'd come," he yawned, rubbing at his eyes with his small fists.

"Of course," Theresa murmured against Marty's golden brow, her lips curved into a smile as she teased him with a little tidbit gleaned from her brother's lips. "Too bad I missed out on Mama's pie though. That Hank. He's such a pig."

Luis hid his smile at the guilty expression Marty tried to hide as he nodded his head beneath Theresa's chin, strands of his blond hair sticking up in every direction.

"Maria too," Marty ventured.

"Maria too," Theresa agreed, meeting her brother's laughing eyes as she smoothed her hands down Marty's flannel-covered back and up again. She tickled her nails across the nape of the little boy's neck soothingly as she pressed her cheek against his silky crown.

Marty relaxed even more in her arms, his growing legs stretching out across Theresa's lap and his bare feet coming to rest against Luis's jean-clad thigh. Sighing softly, he twirled his fingers around the necklace around Theresa's neck. "Did Jane get to come too?"

"Tucked her in with Aunt Paloma an hour ago," Luis answered the question in the affirmative, relieved to find the ice was melting between them when the comment earned a small grin.

"You tucked Aunt Paloma in?"

"What? You saying she's too big to be tucked in?" Luis tugged playfully at one of Marty's toes, capturing the small feet in his hands when they tried to squirm away.

"Your papa used to tuck me and Miguel and Paloma in all the time," Theresa divulged, casting a fond look at her big brother as she revisited the bittersweet memories of her childhood.

"What about Grandpa?" Marty frowned, his forehead crinkling in confusion just before a jaw-cracking yawn had him blinking sleep-heavy lids.

"Grandpa," Theresa paused to mull over her response, "Grandpa loved us, but he couldn't be with us, so Luis tucked us in every night with a kiss from Grandpa and a promise that he would come back and one day we'd all be a family."

Silence fell upon them, the only sounds in the dimly lit living room the crackling fire and Little Ethan's soft snores while Marty seemed to consider Theresa's words, his responding question breaking and opening up Luis's heart again.

"Aunt Theresa, does she not love us enough? Is that why we're not a family?"

Oh man. Out of the mouth of babes, huh?

Someone has to tell him it's not true, convince him of it, don't you think?

What do you think of the interaction between aunt and nephew?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, Shaun (and everyone else, lol). There's not too many left.

Feedback is loved.

Thanks so much for reading!