Here's the next chapter. Please Enjoy.

37. Melting Miami

Before visiting hours ended, we were all able to say hello to Lisa. She was a bit groggy from her surgery but Amy needed to be fed, so the baby was brought to Lisa and we were allowed to visit. We didn't stay very long because Lisa looked exhausted. She had been in labour for 12 hours before they decided that surgery was needed.

Maria and Ricardo kissed Amy and Lisa before promising to return in the evening. Daniela would be by first thing in the morning because she and her fiancée Kurt were travelling to Hawaii for a surfing competition. They were leaving the following day and Daniela wanted to see her niece one more time before going on her trip. Daniela and Kurt travelled a lot. In fact, they were in Hawaii the last time we were in Miami. That's why I didn't get to meet her then. I still wouldn't get to meet Kurt, but that was OK with me. It was one less name to remember.

Alex was allowed to stay at the hospital with Lisa so he gave Ricardo the keys to his van so we could get to where we were staying. Carlos and I would stay with Abuela Rosa and Ricardo, Maria and the girls would stay at Alex and Lisa's. They did think about sending Carlos and me to Alex and Lisa's, but then Evie and Isabel would have had to sleep on the couch because Rosa only had one spare room. I suggested this arrangement and everyone seemed happy with the sleeping arrangements.

Carlos carried in the bags and I helped Rosa into her house. We waved as Ricardo pulled away. They would return in the morning for breakfast and then Ricardo and Maria would go back to the hospital. Carlos, Isabel, Evie and I were going to the beach and Rosa was going to her local version of the Clip 'n Curl. The entire family, including Celia's husband and kids, would go to the hospital for late afternoon visiting hours and spend a little time with Alex, Lisa and the baby.

The next day went exactly as planned. We had breakfast and then went to the beach. We spent some time in the water and some time sunning ourselves on the sand. At one point, I had a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt like we were being watched. I looked around and saw nothing so I ignored it. I played with the girls and talked with Carlos and enjoyed our time together.

We brought along a picnic lunch and when the food was gone, we gathered our things and headed back to Rosa's. It wasn't that far of a walk, but we were going to the hospital in a couple of hours and everyone wanted to shower and change before Ricardo arrived to collect us.

Ricardo walked into the house exactly at 3:30. Everyone but Rosa was ready, so he went to see what was holding her up. It turned out that she wanted to wear a hat, but it was too high for her to reach. She used her cane to try and get it down and she ended up knocking everything on the shelf to the floor. She was busy trying to clear it up. Ricardo helped and we were on our way a few minutes later.

The hospital seemed more hectic today than it did the day before. There were 3 new people and Daniela wasn't there, but how could three extra people cause so much noise? I turned to see Carlos chasing his little niece and nephew around the halls, all three screaming and laughing. Maria scolded Carlos and he stopped immediately. Unfortunately, the kids needed Celia's stern word to calm them down. Abuela Maria wasn't getting the job done.

Both Lisa and Amy were doing well today. The doctor said that they would be able to go home in the morning assuming that there were no complications overnight. This was good news. Unfortunately for most of us, we'd have to head back to Newark for work on Monday.

Amy was passed around again and when visiting hours were over, we wished her and Alex luck and the rest of us went out to dinner. We went to a nice Italian restaurant. I wasn't sure why Celia chose this restaurant, but I doubted it was in deference to that half of my heritage.

When we were all seated, Celia explained her choice, "I'm glad you could all join us tonight. Not only are we celebrating another Manoso, but I've got an announcement as well. I have bought this restaurant and three others like it in the greater Miami area. I will be dividing my time between the four restaurants to make sure that they are all a great success. Dinner is on me tonight. Please order anything you want."

Everyone cheered and congratulated Celia. Carlos explained that Celia was a chef but her ultimate dream was to run a restaurant. She had been managing a small chain of restaurants for the past few years and this opportunity came up and she couldn't resist. Celia designed the menu, trained the chefs and oversaw the management of all four restaurants.

Even though they had the same name and were technically a chain, each branch of the restaurant offered something unique. The one we were currently at specialised in authentic Italian desserts. Another employed several Italian women who made pasta from scratch twice a week. Another restaurant specialised in vegetarian and seafood dishes and the final restaurant offered authentic Italian truffles flown all the way from Italy in their dishes.

As Celia explained this to us, I was eternally grateful that we were at this particular restaurant. Carlos must have read my mind because he leaned over and whispered, "Even though all of the restaurants have dessert, you're probably very happy that we're at this particular restaurant."

I smiled and nodded and then returned to look at my menu. I needed to figure out what I wanted to eat because everyone else had decided already. I quickly decided on the green pesto and chicken lasagne and closed my menu. Celia took our order to the kitchen and when she returned, she handed out the dessert card so we could all get a look at what was available this evening. Everything is made fresh each day and if there is any left at the end of the day, it is donated to up to 5 separate homeless shelters in the area, along with any other cooked food.

I couldn't believe the variety of desserts on the menu. There were Italian desserts but that wasn't all. There were desserts from all over the world and many of them looked delicious. Maria pointed out that they had Baklava, one of her personal favourites. I saw that there was a German-style cheesecake, although I wasn't sure what made it German-style. I pointed this to Carlos and he said, "It's made with fresh cheese so it's not as rich as American-style cheesecake. It's also lighter and fluffier and almost melts in your mouth. I've had it before at a different restaurant and really liked it."

I looked at Carlos with disbelief. He rarely ever ate desserts so this one must have really been special. He smiled at me and said, "How about this, I'll order the cheesecake and you can have some of mine. That way you can try it and not have to be stuck with it if you don't like it."

I grinned and kissed Carlos on the cheek and said, "You have a deal there mister because the Tiramisu is calling my name."

Carlos laughed and we rejoined the conversation with the rest of the family. Rosa winked at me and I blushed. I don't know why she winked but I was sure it was because I had just kissed her grandson in front of the whole family without worrying that it would be inappropriate. Nobody seemed to notice so I just joined in on a discussion between Celia and Maria about ever rising College tuitions. I explained that I had struggled this year to pay mine, but I had a good job and that helped. Many other students weren't so lucky and came out of higher education with debts that pretty much crippled them for a decade or more.

Celia was telling us that she and her husband started a college fund for each of their children when they were born. To stop them from accessing that money if they fell on hard times, it was in an account that was locked and restricted until each of their children turned 18. I thought about my current circumstances and said, "What if one or both of your kids go to college a year early?"

Celia looked at me and said, "I suppose that is possible, but it's not very common, so we have the odds on our side."

I smiled and said, "You are right, it's not very common. I was the only person in my entire first year class at Douglass that was 16 on the first day. Luckily, nobody seemed to notice or care."

Celia stared at me for a moment and then said, "I didn't realise you were younger than Carlos. I respect your relationship and how slowly you are taking things even more now."

I turned bright red at her comment. It was clear that Maria and possibly Ricardo had explained that Carlos and I were taking things slow to the rest of the family. It was just really awkward to hear it directly from Celia. Maria looked a bit guilty but Celia didn't seem to care. She went on to say, "So many young people today are getting into life altering situations without really looking ahead and making decisions based on the type of life they really want. You and Carlos seem to be doing that and I'm very proud of the both of you."

Celia reached over and took my hand and squeezed it. She smiled at me and then turned to speak to her husband. Carlos took my other hand and held on to it and said, "It seems that my family loves you Babe. Even Celia, who never likes anyone, seems to like you."

I didn't know what to say in response to that but I didn't need to worry about that. Our food started to arrive so we were all occupied with tasting our dishes. In other words, our mouths were too busy eating to talk. I was grateful of that fact and I was very happy with my order. My lasagne was delicious. I offered Carlos a bite and he took it. He nodded and then did the same with his lemon chicken pasta. It too was delicious.

I looked around at the rest of the table and was pretty sure that nobody disliked their food. I gave Celia thumbs up when we made eye contact and then returned to my food. When I finished my meal and the plates were cleared away, Celia took our dessert orders. Everyone discussed how good the food was and how much we were looking forward to our desserts. We were not disappointed.

My tiramisu was borderline heaven. It was way better than anything I'd ever tried from my Italian half of the family or even the Italian restaurants in New Jersey. I tried to offer Carlos a bit of my dessert but he declined. "I'd rather listen to you eat your dessert than taste some of it."

I grimaced and quietly asked, "Did everyone notice?"

Carlos smiled and said, "Nah, you were quiet. I noticed because I know you and I'm sitting next to you."

I looked around and nobody seemed to have taken any notice of me so I relaxed a little and finished my dessert. I made an effort to stay as quiet as possible. By the time I was scraping the bottom of my bowl, everyone else was finished as well, all but Carlos. He was taking his time with his dessert.

When I pushed my bowl away, Carlos held out his fork with a bit of his cheesecake on it. I took a bite and immediately closed my eyes to get the full effects of the flavours rolling around my mouth. The cheesecake was delicious and part of me was regretting the tiramisu. When I opened my eyes, Carlos and most of the rest of his family were looking at me.

My first instinct was to turn beet red, but Maria's immediate intervention staved that off for a moment. She said, "We were discussing the trip home tomorrow. Ricardo and I have decided that Rosa, the girls and I will stay down here for a couple of weeks to help Lisa if she needs it. You, Carlos and Ricardo can go back tomorrow evening so you can go to work as usual on Monday.

I nodded and watched Evie and Isabel. They really seemed to like the idea of staying in Miami for a couple of weeks. I smiled and agreed that there were worse places to be on your summer holiday. When everyone was finished, we all went our separate ways after saying goodnight with hugs and kisses.

Tonight, Ricardo and Maria were going to stay at Rosa's and Carlos and I would stay with the girls at Alex and Lisa's house. Since Alex was staying at the hospital with Lisa and Amy, we had the place to ourselves. If we had been alone, we'd probably have gone for a walk on the beach. Since we had to keep an eye on the girls, we just sat out on the patio and talked about what to do the following day. Once again I had an odd feeling but I let it pass. I was enjoying the cool night air and didn't want to spoil the relaxed mood.

"We don't have the exact flight times because Papa hasn't actually booked the flights yet. He will be on the phone as we speak trying to get things sorted though. I think we should go out for breakfast and meet our parents. Afterwards, the girls can go with our parents and you and I could go and spend some time on the beach. We haven't had much alone time this trip and I think it would be nice to enjoy the sunshine a little."

I nodded and said, "As long as your family doesn't already have plans. I don't want to inconvenience anyone or cause problems."

"Babe, you worry too much. I'm sure my family will be fine with us spending a few hours alone at the beach. Papa will want to spend as much time with Mama and the girls before he leaves them for two weeks so it will be fine."

I agreed that we would talk to the Manosos in the morning and cuddled up beside Carlos on the lounge chair. It was getting late and the stars were beautiful. I must have fallen asleep outside because my next conscious moment was being lowered onto the bed. I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

At breakfast the following day, Ricardo told us about our flights. The flight leaves at 7:30 this evening. We'll be back here to pick you and Carlos up at 4 or shortly before. That should give us enough time to see Lisa, Alex and Amy one last time. Please make sure you're ready. He also explained that he, Maria and the girls were going to visit some old family friends that they didn't get to see very often. He invited us to join him but he also assumed that we'd like to take the opportunity to spend some time alone at the beach.

We thanked Ricardo for his invitation but declined. We wanted to go to the beach and spend the day relaxing before heading back to Newark. We said our goodbyes and Carlos and I headed back to Alex and Lisa's and the rest of Carlos' family went to visit some friends.

When we arrived back at the house, we each threw a bag together and riffled in the fridge for the makings of a picnic lunch. Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the fridge so Carlos promised that once we got settled, he'd run to the cafe that was nearby and get us some lunch and some drinks.

We laid out our towels side by side and I got lathered in sun screen before Carlos went to the cafe. I lay down on my towel and got comfortable. I closed my eyes and decided to relax until Carlos returned. A few minutes later, I felt the sun disappear. My stomach dropped because I knew something was wrong.

I started to open my eyes but something covered them. Something else was pressed against my mouth, causing me to gasp for air. I couldn't breathe and when I did take a breath, the smell and taste were horrible. I knew that there was something on the cloth covering my mouth because my world started to melt away. I blindly groped beside me, looking for my phone. I thought I found it but it slipped out of my reach. My last conscious thought before the blackness overtook me was that Carlos would return and think that I had abandoned him.

More to follow. Any guesses about what happened to Steph?