"Listen,
In so many ways baby
You've helped me, to grow
There are so many things love
You've helped me to know
If we did it all again baby
I'd choose you
Cause there is no end
We're never through
And that's why

Whatever you want from me
You know you got it
Whatever you need baby
You're gonna get it
You got me forever
You got me forever"

The Floacist—"Forever"

Sabine watched Erik emerge from the house.

His children followed Robert down the beach with Butchie nipping at their heels. Her father and two of her uncles and one older cousin looked over the unfinished house they were building. There was a large gray pallet stacked with the traditional marbled reddish-brown bricks lying next to bags of cement mix and various tools.

Erik turned to look at the front of their home.

"How do you get to the roof?" he asked.

She walked him to the side of the house and showed him the wide wooden ladder that led up to it. He climbed to the top carefully watching his bad arm and she followed him. Looking around at the plastic chairs and sleeping bags spread out, his eyes gazed out at the sea.

"Nice," he said taking a seat. She sat next to him.

They watched Robert, the kids, and her father inspect his work until a big white Ford truck pulled up. Four children and three adults spilled out from it and Cedro gave a loud yell greeting Sabine's favorite older paternal cousin, Luis, and his family. Luis's wife Alma waved to Sabine and the four children climbed up onto the roof and surrounded her. She stood and hugged each one.

"Erik this is, Chucho, Theresa, Augistino, and Carmina."

Chucho and Theresa were fifteen-year-old twins. Augustino was eight and Carmina was nine. They all stared at Erik with curiosity.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Theresa asked.

"No," Sabine said.

"Abuela said he was your boyfriend," Chucho said.

Sabine felt her mouth fall open.

"Who are they?" Carmina asked pointing to Deuce and Marina.

"That is my daughter Marina, and my son Deuce," Erik said.

The children scrambled down from the roof and ran over to Erik's kids and Robert. Erik's hand clasped hers.

"Boyfriend. I like the sound of that," he said.

Sabine shyly held his hand and looked at the water.

"Your father put me on notice," he said.

"I am not surprised."

"I told him that I loved you."

Sabine stared at him.

"You still love me?" he asked.

Yvette climbed up the ladder and joined them on the roof.

"Oh, it's nice up here," Yvette said looking around.

She walked over to the giant white water tank sitting on the far end of the roof.

"How often do you have to refill this?" Yvette asked.

Sabine stood up and walked over to her.

"Once every four months. We have a water truck coming to refill it after Christmas."

Erik joined them in looking at the tank.

"They have a generator on the side. Cedro turned it on for the refrigerator. This house isn't low tech at all," Yvette said.

"We have solar panels behind the tank too that handle the lights. Our stove runs on propane."

Erik and Yvette lifted their heads.

"Something smells good," Erik said.

"My grandmother is getting ready for us."

"You can take a sun shower. Those bags heat up fast!" Yvette told Erik.

"It's only eight, so you have time to get ready before breakfast," Sabine said.

"I will go clean up," Erik said leaving them on the roof.

"Be careful going down," Yvette called out.

Sabine sat down on the plastic chair again. Yvette joined her.

"Deuce and Marina are in seventh heaven right now. They were a little worried that there were no kids coming like you said."

"More are coming. Trust me, they are going to wish it was just those four."

Yvette regarded her with curious eyes.

"I'm glad my brother agreed to come here."

"Me too."

There was a long silence and Yvette wrangled her hands in her lap.

"I'm just going to come out and say it…"

Sabine leaned into her seat and watched Yvette grapple with something.

"I can tell that Erik cares for you very much. You are good with his children and your family has been very accommodating and kind to us with this trip…"

"But?"

"I don't want you to waste time investing energy into him. I get that you want him to coach you. Anyone on your level would. But he's in a shaky place right now. I like you a lot, Sugar, and I want our stay here to be a good time for everyone…I just think that Erik might…he might…ah fuck it. My brother is a dog."

Sabine giggled and Yvette wiped her forehead.

"I think you are the first Black woman I have seen him crazy about since we were teenagers and I don't want you to be a rebound plaything for him. I love him to death…he's good people…but his track record is just dreadful. I want you to know that. I may be line stepping saying all that but I can't sit back and let another Black woman get hurt by a man. Even if he's my own brother. Okay. I'm done."

Yvette sat back with her hands folded in her lap.

"I appreciate the warning."

"He's cute with his big ole dented head and all that charm, but he never really grew up like a normal person. I mean, there really isn't such a thing as "normal", but he's been coddled and pampered for so long that he doesn't know what it's like to earn a woman. I know I'm not making sense. Women have always thrown themselves at him so he hasn't had to work for their respect. I'm talking too much. Lemme shut up," Yvette said.

"I'm all ears, Yvette."

"I don't want him to use you as a rebound. I'm scared that he'll turn you into this balm in Gilead to get through his mess…"

Yvette held her face in her hands.

"I shouldn't have said anything," she said.

"I'm glad you did. I totally get what you're trying to tell me."

Yvette turned her body toward Sabine.

"Please be careful. I want him to be happy and find love and have a good life. A real good life. I honestly don't trust him to have his shit together any time soon. From what I saw on the drive here, you two have something special. I just don't think he can handle it."

"I love him."

"Dammit."

They both laughed.

"He loves me."

"Well…shit," Yvette sighed and Sabine chuckled.

"Sorry."

"I guess I'm too late. I'm wishing you all the luck in the world. You'll need it."

"That bad, huh?"

"Calista was probably a bad fluke. They were not good together at all. I'ma pray for y'all."

Yvette grabbed her stomach as it rumbled.

"C'mon, let's head over to Abuela's," Sabine said.

They climbed down from the roof and met Belinda with a large foil covered platter.

"Please take these biscuits over, I have one more batch baking," Belinda said.

Yvette took the platter.

"Deuce! Marina! Chucho…you guys c'mon! Wash your hands. Time to go eat. Papi, time to head over," Sabine shouted.

Erik walked out looking refreshed and smelling good wearing a thin yellow t-shirt and pale brown shorts.

"Right on time," he said.

Sabine thought about what Yvette said as they strolled over to her grandmother's large ranch-style home. Erik was all smiles talking to Yvette as his kids wandered over with her cousins and Butchie. Sabine did feel a bit of worry in the back of her heart. She had dumped Alex and despite her love for Erik, she was worried about using him as a rebound for herself. She wondered about him using her, but the viciousness she saw in the way he attacked Colin on that boat in Hawaii gave her pause on those thoughts. He was out for blood the moment Colin suggested she could have someone else. Erik could've totally taken advantage of her in Hawaii, she wanted him to before the fight, and as much as she tried to keep it under wraps, she wanted him physically. Watching his legs and backside as he walked in front of her gave her naughty thoughts until they reached Abuela's home.

Several folding tables were lined up and draped with plastic blue covering outside the front door. A red and white striped tent cover provided shade from the sun. Plates and bowls filled with flour tortillas, fried potatoes, thick-sliced bacon, roasted chorizo, and machaca mixed with onion- fried scrambled eggs, chimangos smothered in cinnamon and sugar dust, along with seasoned pinto beans were spread out and ready to eat. Yvette placed the biscuits next to the flour tortillas and the jar of medium salsa and Lila's fresh pico de gallo.

"Morning," Lila said as she stepped out of her house wearing her favorite pair of overalls with flower decals.

"Good morning. Everything looks and smells delicious," Yvette said.

"Thank you. Sit down," Lila said waving her hand at the plastic chairs surrounding the tables.

The children grabbed seats and Sabine was happy to see Deuce and Marina getting along so well with her younger cousins. Her parents soon joined them as Belinda added the last batch of buttered biscuits to the table. Introductions were made and Lila said a prayer in Spanish before they tucked in.

The kids made breakfast burritos and stuffed themselves just as much as the adults did. Spanish, English, and Spanglish flew around and she relaxed into having Erik seated right next to her. No one was shy about getting seconds and thirds. There was plenty of food available. Yvette took pictures of the meal and every one with her phone. While they ate, a giant water truck showed up on their road kicking up dust behind it. Butchie took off running to bark and investigate the intrusion.

"They weren't supposed to come until the twenty-seventh," Cedro said.

Her father walked over to their house to wait for the driver.

"Must be coming early because the holiday has them busy," Belinda said.

Sabine's Uncle Ramon turned to Chucho.

"Don't take any of the ATVs too far. We'll gas them up more later," he said as he smothered his eggs and chorizo with salsa.

"Okay," Chucho said.

"You have ATVs?" Deuce asked.

Chucho stood up and Deuce followed him to a shed on the side of the house. Another big truck with a hardshell top rolled in. More relatives. Things were about to get popping. More kids, more adults, another mixed breed dog named Toro joined the crowd, and Sabine's favorite grand Aunt who spoke no English proudly gave her a big hug.

Yvette seemed to be overwhelmed by all the action taking place around her. Marina took off running back to the water with the younger children and Erik polished off another plate of potatoes and biscuits. Two ATVs came screeching out of the brick shed with Chucho and Deuce driving them. Erik jumped up.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he said halting Deuce.

"What?" Deuce said.

Chucho handed Deuce a helmet. Sabine eased over to them.

"I don't know about you using one of these," Erik said.

"Why?" Deuce whined, his face scrunching up in his signature scowl.

Yereli and Fay, two of Sabine's teenaged female cousins ripped out of the shed with two other ATVs. They all stared at Erik.

"The kids are really safe with these," Sabine said, "we wouldn't let them use them if we didn't trust them."

"Can you not act goofy on this thing?" Erik asked.

"Yeah—"

"If you don't, I'll snatch you off of it and you won't touch one for the rest of the time here."

"Okay, dang…"

Deuce turned his head away.

"Keep that helmet on."

"I will."

Erik stepped back and the teens roared off into the open desert.

"They're good. Relax," Sabine said.

Erik watched his son become a dot in the distance and his face began to loosen the tightness it held. He stroked the new growth on his chin.

"Robert and I rode those when we were like seven and twelve. By ourselves."

Sabine reached out and took his good hand.

"He's having fun. Better than Disney World," she said.

He nodded and returned to the table to help clean up.

Sabine scratched her head and Belinda ran her fingers across her hair.

"Want me to braid this now or later?"

"Let's do it now," Sabine said.

Back inside their own home, Sabine sat between her mother's legs in the living room. Belinda ran her fingers through a pink plastic tub of various colored beads and hair decorations as Sabine rested her cheek on her mother's warm uncovered thigh.

"Beads or clip-ins?" Belinda asked.

"Shells."

Belinda took time to part Sabine's hair in small sections to oil her scalp with Blue Magic Hair grease. She could feel the cool dark blue hairdressing melting the moment it was layered against her warm skin and lovingly rubbed into her thick hair. She heard her father talking to Erik over at the unfinished house and she could hear Yvette adjusting one of the plastic chairs on the roof so she could read her Kindle and sunbathe. Robert sat in front of the house strumming his acoustic guitar and tuning it.

"Look what I found!"

Marina ran into the house.

"Hey, baby, do me a favor. Wipe your feet off on that rug before you come in. We want to keep the sand out as much as possible," Belinda said.

"Sorry," Marina mumbled.

"No, you're okay sweetheart. You didn't know."

Marina wiped her feet and brushed her toes with her fingers. She stepped inside carefully and held up her hand.

"Lemme see," Sabine said holding out her hand.

A small corkscrew shell with shiny metallic blue colors on the inside dazzled the eye. There was a small hole in the center.

"Pretty," Sabine said.

Marina knelt down in front of her and watched Belinda oil her scalp.

"Regular or fancy?" Belinda asked.

"Just a few straight backs. Alternate thin and thick ones," Sabine said.

Belinda began corn rowing and adding shells as she went. She dug into the plastic bin for more shells. Marina slipped her fingers inside and picked out shells for her. It didn't take her mother long to finish ten rows.

"Like it?" Belinda asked Marina.

"Yes."

"Would you like your hair done too?"

She nodded.

"Go ask your father if it's okay."

"He won't care," Marina said.

"You can't let people play in your hair baby without your Dad's permission."

"Why not?"

Belinda glanced at Sabine and a soft smile painted her lips.

"Your hair is very powerful. And special."

Marina touched her puffy curls.

"It is?"

"Yes. Because it is so special, you have to protect it. It has good energy in it and some people will mess up that energy if they mess with it. Never let people touch your hair unless you want them too. Understand?"

Marina nodded.

"Go ask your Daddy," Belinda encouraged.

Marina jumped up and ran out of the front door. They heard her speak to Erik and then they heard her footsteps running back.

"He said okay!"

Marina wiped her feet and Sabine moved from her mother's legs and made room for the little girl.

"Come sit," Belinda said.

Sabine's mother placed a pillow on the floor to raise and cushion Marina's backside.

"Do you want regular or fancy?"

"Fancy."

"Beads or shells?"

Marina looked up at Sabine's hair.

"Shells."

Belinda handed Sabine her combs.

"Go wash these for me."

Sabine took the combs and washed them out in the bathroom sink. She handed them back to her mother after drying them on a soft cloth hanging in the bathroom.

"When was the last time you washed your hair?"

"Three days ago."

"Are you tender-headed?"

"I don't know what that is," Marina said.

"When your Dad combs your hair, does it hurt?" Sabine asked.

Belinda smirked.

"No."

"Let me know if it hurts while I'm doing your hair," Belinda said.

She began sectioning the girl's hair and oiling the curly roots down to the wavy tips with a pink moisture lotion instead of the blue hair grease. Once the hair was glossy, Belinda carefully worked her braiding magic, giving Marina layered zig-zag patterns. Sabine helped out by braiding the ends as her mother went on to another braid.

They took a break to rest halfway through and watched Cedro open up and clean the BBQ grill that sat near the right of the front door up against the half-moon window near the kitchen.

"We'll have some hot dogs and carne asada tostadas for lunch," Cedro told Marina.

Deuce and Chucho returned for soda and hurried back onto the ATVs going off into another part of the desert. Belinda washed her hands and wiggled her fingers before she went back to work on Marina's hair. By the time they were ready to have a late lunch, Belinda was decorating the last braid at the top of Marina's head with the shell she found on the beach.

"Go see how pretty you look," Belinda said.

Marina rushed into the bathroom and stared at herself. Sabine held up a big hand mirror so she could see the back of her head.

"You like it?" Sabine asked.

"Yes!"

Marina ran out and gave Belinda a hug.

"Thank you! Daddy, look at my hair!"

Marina ran outside to show Erik who was studying the marinade Cedro was mixing for the meat in a glass bowl.

"Hey, look at you, baby girl!"

Erik touched the ends of her hair gently and felt the shells decorating it. Sabine stepped to her mother and gave her a side hug.

"Thank you for doing that," she whispered in her Mom's ear.

"Auntie! Look!"

Marina climbed up the ladder to the roof.

"Wow, that's so nice. You look so pretty!"

"Need some help, Papi?" Sabine asked.

"No, I got Erik here. We'll take care of lunch. You womenfolk can handle dinner."

"I thought we were going out to eat?" Belinda said.

Cedro frowned.

"Everyone is kind of doing their thing and we just got here—"

"Robert and I can cook dinner," Sabine offered.

"Yeah, Mom. We can make pasta and use up Abuela's bruised tomatoes before they go bad," Robert said.

"Okay."

"Can I help?" Marina asked.

"Yeah, go up to my grandmother's house and ask her for the tomatoes in the brown plastic bag," Sabine said.

Marina took off running again. Belinda chuckled watching the girl move.

"She loves to run," Cedro said. Erik nodded.

"Call me when lunch is ready, I'm going to take a nap," Belinda said.

Sabine sat next to Robert and enjoyed the sight of her father schooling Erik on the best grills and smokers. After a while, she went into her parent's open bedroom and grabbed another acoustic guitar from a stand, took it back outside, and sat next to Robert who faced the open fire pit they would use later that night. She played with Robert trying to get the chords right to a funky old folk song they were trying to write together but could never finish with stupid limericks.

Erik glanced at her every now and then as she plucked away some tasteful licks.

"You can really play," Erik said.

"Told you," she said.

Marina finally made her way back with a brown plastic bag and another white plastic bag.

"What's that?" Sabine asked.

"Potatoes. She said to cook them before they go bad too."

Sabine sat her guitar against the house and took the bags from Marina.

Deuce and the other teens rode back in on the ATVs and parked over by the unfinished house.

"We're hungry!" Yereli said.

Fay hopped off of an ATV and started playing with Robert's hair as she sat next to him on bleached whale vertebrae they used for seats. There were four surrounding the firepit next to a handful of plastic chairs.

"Give us an hour," Cedro said.

Chucho and the others piled into the house. Deuce went over to Erik.

"There's this big giant whalebone on the beach!"

"Oh, yeah, it's the jawbone of a humpback. It's been there for over twenty years now," Cedro said, "We brought some of its bones here for seats."

Yereli pointed to the one she sat on.

"Come see it, Dad!"

"I'm helping out," Erik said holding a plate of uncooked carne asada.

Cedro took it from him.

"Go check it out, I got this."

Erik followed Deuce and they made the long walk to go see the whale remains together. Sabine looked over at Chucho.

"How was he?" she asked

"Who?" Chucho said brushing back his floppy black curls.

"Deuce."

"He's cool. Why?"

"Nothing."

Butchie started barking over at Lila's house. Another car had arrived, a small gray Toyota with only one person stepping out from it.

"Who is that?" Sabine asked.

"Looks like Battie from the Campo," Cedro said.

"No one else is coming today, right?"

Sabine was already trying to get a headcount together for the pasta dinner.

"No this is it for now."

"Good."

Sabine glanced over at Marina.

"You want to see the whale?"

Marina nodded.

Sabine led her on the long walk to the whale. Erik was inspecting the gigantic sun-bleached bottom jawbone with his barefoot when they found them. Several other bone fragments were scattered in the sand. Marina held her nose.

"It smells over here! Eww!"

She jumped back when her sandaled feet touched the dried and horribly twisted remains of dead fish. Dozens of the carcasses littered the area. She picked up one and smelled it.

"Yuck!"

Marina threw it but part of it fell on her and she jumped around wiping herself.

Sabine kicked sand over a few of them. Most were probably from illegal overfishing.

"What is that?" Deuce asked.

Near the whalebone was a dried-out body of a mangled fish much different than the other dead ones.

"A totoaba. Fishermen use gillnets to catch them. It's illegal to fish for them. The Chinese want them for their swim bladders. It's known as fake-gold because the price per gram for it is worth as much as gold."
"For real?" Deuce said poking the dead fish with a stick.

"They have cartels that come out here to fish up and down Baja for these."

"People get rich off of that?" Erik said.

"Yep. It messes up the food chain down here. There are vaquitas that feed on these fish. They are really small porpoises…the smallest in the world. They're endangered and they get caught in the fishnets with these fish too."

"That's fucked up," Deuce said.

"Hey!" Erik said.

"Sorry…but it's true."

"Language!" Marina teased.

They admired the whale remains.

"Are those pelicans?" Erik asked when he caught sight of two large birds flying low in the desert backdrop.

"Yeah, they nest in the cactus."

Sabine led them carefully through some wild brush and had them keep their voices quiet as they observed the large flat nests.

"They used to be endangered because of DDT poisoning back in the day, but the population down here has improved," she told them.

"What are those?" Marina asked pointing to another bird in the distance. They walked closer to it.

"That's a blue Heron."

"The cactus doesn't hurt their feet?" Marina asked.

"The nests are big. They don't feel it," Deuce said.

Admiring the light green cardon cactus, creosote bushes, random ocotillos, and small tree-like yucca plants, they made their way slowly back to the house with Deuce and Marina walking ahead of them.

"Kids are having fun," he said.

"What about you?"

"If they're happy, I'm happy."

The kids walked further ahead of them.

"I heard your Dad say something about your grandmother to your uncle. He said people over at the Campo near San Felipe call her a witch—"

"Bruja."

"Bruja?"

"More like a medicine woman."

"Bruja means witch then. So is she?"

"Yeah. That bother you?"

"I've never met one before and she seems regular to me."

"It has a heavy connotation when you talk to religious people about it. There are a lot of brujas in my Dad's family."

"Will you become one?"

"Me? A sea witch maybe."

"For real though. Would you be one too?"

"Takes years of study and apprenticeship. I'd have to be here full time for all that. It's not my lane. Robert may be one. El Brujo. He's touched in that way."

"Whatchu mean?"

"He has second sight, at least, that's what Abuela says. Don't know if he'll take to it. He likes playing music and writing songs."

"So now I have to worry about your Mom grinding me into dust, your Pops stabbing me on sight, your brother predicting my doom, and your grandmother working roots on me if I fuck up."

"Looks like it."

"I better not fuck up then."

"Hmmm."

"Hmmm?"

"Time will tell."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Me and the kids saw your grandmother burning something when we woke up. What was she doing?"

"A cleansing and some protection."

"Like smudging with sage or something?"

"No. Smudging is what some Native folks do for ceremonies. A cleansing can be done with certain types of sage at any time and by different people. Abuela was making sure we keep good energy close. For my surfing and Robert's education."

"I might need some of that."

"I'll ask her about it. She still has you on probation. The kids are fine, but you…"

"Y'all hard on a brotha."

Sabine pushed him as they walked and he swatted her hand away.

Once they returned to the house, Sabine had Marina help her clean and cut up the tomatoes and potatoes, and then they played a game of checkers in the living room until Papi called them all to eat. It was buffet style and everyone grabbed a paper plate and served themselves in the kitchen then spread out all over inside and outside to eat. Sabine sat at the kitchen table with Marina, Fay, Yvette, and Belinda. The kids went for hot dogs and chips with soda, while the adults ate the carne asada with Sangria that Belinda whipped together. Sabine loved the sense of timelessness in their second home. There was no rush to do anything and everyone came and went as they pleased.

Belinda had to send Marina out with the other children. She had gotten comfortable being up under the older women and Belinda wanted her to enjoy the other young people. The entire pack of kids went to go explore the wide-open space behind the house. Erik grabbed a beer from a cooler and sat at the kitchen table with the adult women.

"How's your shoulder?" Sabine asked.

"I haven't thought about it until you asked about it just now. It's okay. Pain meds keeping it under control."

Robert washed his hands in the kitchen sink and began frying up ground beef in a large metal pan. Sabine boiled water for pasta and then washed lettuce and more tomatoes that hung in a basket in the window.

"Cooking again already?" Erik asked.

"With this many people, you have to start early," Belinda said sipping on her drink.

Cedro walked in and caressed the back of Belinda's neck. She bent her head back and Cedro pressed his lips against her and gave her a salacious kiss. Sabine smiled and when she glanced over at Erik, he seemed surprised and looked away from her parents who kept kissing until Cedro pulled Belinda out of her chair and into their bedroom. Her father closed the curtain separator that they used as a door, and everyone could hear Belinda giggling as Papi spoke to her in Spanish. Yvette's mouth was open.

"That's what I want," Yvette whispered to no one in particular.

Her eyes darted to Sabine's.

"Should we leave? Are they about to…?"

Sabine laughed and handed Robert onions to cut up. Something was definitely going on in the next room in hushed tones, but Sabine and Robert were used to it and went about their business. Growing up with homes filled with people constantly made her parents do what they needed to do when they could. No children were present and Robert had music playing on the counter. They were good.

Sabine took a peek outside the window and saw all of her cousins and Erik's children smacking a giant beach ball to one another as they hustled into the water screaming and laughing together.

She wanted that image to last forever.

###

"Why does it smell like rotten eggs?"

Marina's nose was crinkled as Erik helped her climb down into the hot springs.

"Sulfer," Robert said as he eased his lanky body into the naturally heated water.

Erik watched cold water from the sea rush in as his own legs got used to the hot and cold. They all stuck their legs in first until they were able to sink down into the full heat. Erik found himself hopping in and out from hot to the cooler holes that were closer to the sea itself. He couldn't get in all the way because of his sling. Deuce could only stay immersed for two minutes before he was sweating and had to let his feet bathe in the heat.

Sugar sat all the way in with her eyes closed. Cedro and Belinda soaked in their own little spring. Erik relaxed and thought about their Christmas Eve plans. Their early dinner of roast pork and fried cabbage was filling and Cedro broke out the champagne early to celebrate.

Erik reached over and stroked Marina's hair. She leaned up against his right leg and moved her hands under the hot water.

"It still smells bad," she said.

"It's good for the skin," Erik said.

The sun began to go down and once it grew too hot and everyone had sweated enough, they made the drive back to the house from Puertecitas. Erik watched the colors of the desert change from browns and ruddy orange with splashes of green to dark mauves and deepening blue-blacks of the coming night sky.

"You ready for Santa?" Erik asked Marina.

She shook her head.

"No?" he asked.

"I forgot about him," she said.

Deuce laughed.

"How did you forget about Santa Klaus?"

"I've been busy having fun," she said.

Belinda turned her head from the front seat of the SUV.

"That's so sweet, Marina," she said, "I know Santa didn't forget about you."

Yvette stayed behind to rest earlier and Erik found her seated on one of the whale bones with a fresh fire burning in the pit once they arrived at the homestead. Most of the Moreno family were circled around warming themselves. Belinda passed out marshmallows, graham crackers, and metal sticks with king-sized Hershey bars to make s'mores. Once the children were licking chocolate and gooey white melted clouds, she brought out her guitar and played with Robert and Sugar by her side.

The fire crackled and popped up little sparks of reddish-orange flames. Erik sat back in a comfy beach chair with Marina snuggled against him, her eyes on Sugar playing so skillfully. Deuce poked the fire with his s'more stick his eyes bright with the day's adventure with Papi. They spent the day fishing for their Christmas meal on Cedro's boat. Erik was with them as well as Marina. Papi taught them all how to set their bait and cast their line. The calm of fishing worried Erik that his kids would be bored, but Papi made the quiet exciting. They caught plenty of fish and stored them in several white buckets filled with seawater to keep them alive until they would be filleted and fried fresh in a secret homemade batter.

Jokes and stories were shared. Some in English. Most in Spanish, but Erik and his family didn't mind. It was wonderful just to be part of a large extended family. Sugar's grandmother told a story about magical cactus giants that walked through the desert on windy nights. They only moved on windy nights so that humans wouldn't hear them. When she finished her tale, a gust of wind picked up and blew a few fire sparks high into the air and made all the children laugh nervously, their eyes darting out toward the open desert to see if they could catch sight of a walking succulent.

More stories were shared and Papi broke out some champagne for the adults and sparkling apple cider that Erik brought for the kids.

"Play 'Hotel California'," Erik said to Sugar.

Sugar's brown eyes sparkled in the firelight and Belinda strummed her guitar strings as she leaned over and kissed her daughter on the cheek. Robert took his fist and gently bumped it against his guitar for a beat and the three of them broke into a beautiful acoustic rendition.

Belinda led the singing and Sugar was right, she did sound good when she sang with her family. Their fingers flew through the chords and their voices blended in entertaining everyone. Yvette videotaped them and sang along. They all clapped when they finished and Belinda suddenly played and sang a soft haunting version of "Silent Night". Marina curled her body around his and he adjusted his sling to give her room.

"You okay, baby girl?"

"Yeah."

Erik watched Sugar and her demeanor changed suddenly. She glanced at her watch and her face took on a nervous look. She set her guitar down and stood up.

"I know it's not officially Christmas yet," she said.

"In ten minutes, it will be," Cedro said.

An excited murmur went through all the children present.

"I just want to give out some presents early…if it's okay."

Belinda nodded putting her guitar down and watching her daughter. Erik could tell that Belinda sensed something in Sugar that was making her jumpy.

"Give me a second," Sugar said.

She ran into the house and Erik adjusted Marina on his arm. Sugar returned with a green and red wrapped box, a thin blue sparkly wrapped gift, and a purple and cream wrapped envelope.

"This first one is for Papi and Mommy together," she said handing Belinda the green and red wrapped box.

"Get over here!" Belinda said.

Cedro stood from his seat and moved over to Belinda taking over Sugar's chair. They unwrapped the box together and pulled out red tissue paper.

"Is this a joke box?" Cedro asked, making Sugar laugh.

"No, I promise, there's something in there."

Belinda pulled out a piece of paper.

"Oh my God," Belinda gasped.

Cedro's eyes grew wide.

"What is it?!"

Deuce's voice rang out and the rest of the family chuckled. Lila patted Deuce's arm.

Belinda stared at Sugar.

"I know you two have borrowed against the house to pay for the restaurant, my tuition, and Robert's new fees. Papi, I know you work hard to pay for everything."

"She paid off the house," Cedro said, his voice shaky.

Belinda held Sugar's hand.

"I would've given this to you earlier but I wanted to save it for Christmas."

"Baby!"

Belinda jumped up and hugged Sugar. Cedro did the same.

"I'm also going to cover Robert's fees that his scholarship doesn't take care of. You don't have to worry about him or borrow against the house ever again."

Sugar handed the purple and cream-colored gift to Belinda.

"This is for you, Mommy."

With quivering fingers, Belinda opened it, then showed it to Cedro.

"My trip," Belinda gasped.

Sugar turned to her family.

"Mommy always wanted to take a fancy cruise around the world with Papi so they could surf in Australia and Europe. Now they can. Six weeks."

There were hoots and some clapping. Cedro looked gobsmacked.

Sugar's hand shook on the last gift.

"This one is for you, Papi."

Cedro took the blue sparkly wrapped gift that fit inside his hand.

"Jesus, Mija, you have given us so much already," he said.

His eyes were shiny and wet as he clumsily pulled apart the last gift. Pulling out another paper he stared at it and then his lip quivered and he covered his face, slumping down into the chair. Belinda wrapped her arms around him as he wept.

Erik sat forward in his seat with Marina.

"Is Papi okay?" Marina asked out loud.

"Papi is good…Papi is good…" Cedro choked out between his sobs.

Robert rubbed his father's back.

"When I was a baby, my biological Dad gave my Mom a real hard time. When she married Papi, he never took responsibility for me. No child support. No visits. Nothing. But I was good because I knew Mommy and Papi loved me and that was enough. At one point, Papi tried to adopt me, but my bio Dad fought against that…for a long time…"

Sugar's eyes dropped down to look at the fire.

"When I wanted to surf and make that a career, Papi was my first coach—"

"Your best coach," Cedro said wiping his eyes.

"My best coach…sorry Killmonger."

"You good," Erik said.

"I wanted to make a name for myself. Be a champion like that man right there…"

Sugar's eyes rested on Erik's face for a fleeting moment before she looked at Cedro once more.

"…I'm on my way to doing just that. But I want to be a champion with my father's name…my real father's name…so I went and had my last name legally changed to Moreno. From now on when I take the winner's stand, I'll be called Sugar Moreno…"

Cedro stood then and hugged Sugar, the embrace long and heartfelt. Lila stood and walked over placing her arms around her son and granddaughter. She stroked Sugar's cornrows and whispered something to them both before Cedro faced everyone, his eyes red and his cheeks wet.

"I have no words…" he said.

"It's okay, Papi," Marina called out.

"Thank you, sweetheart. I will find some…I will find some."

He held Sugar's hand with a soft bewildered look on his face.

"Merry Christmas, Papi," Deuce said.

"Best Christmas ever," Cedro said.

Slowly, lovingly, the rest of the Moreno clan stood and gave hugs to Sugar and Cedro. Erik could tell she had always been family to them, but taking on the surname seemed to melt Cedro. He kept staring at the legal paperwork and tracing his finger over the words printed there.

"Breakfast at Abuela's and then gift-giving back over here," Cedro said.

Robert grabbed his guitar and began playing a happy tune that lifted away the tears from his father's eyes and replaced it with a proud gleam in his eye. Marina climbed off of Erik and walked over to Sugar to give her a hug. Deuce lingered in the background watching Papi until Sugar walked over to Erik. His own sister was wiping her eyes and jumped up to give Sugar a hug.

"Congratulations!" Yvette said.

"Thank you," Sugar said hugging Yvette back.

"That was cool," Deuce said holding out his fist to her.

She gave his son a pound and that was as close to a hug she was going to get from him.

"You give the best gifts," Erik said giving her a quick half-hug.

Sugar looked over her shoulder. Belinda was hugging Cedro and they walked into the house together. Her relatives broke away to go sleep, the children still buzzing with excitement and filled with sugar. He watched Deuce and Marina climb up onto the roof with Yvette to go sleep for the night. The plan was to keep them up top so Erik could place their gifts around the small Christmas tree inside the house that was posted up in the corner of the living room near the couch he slept on.

Sugar's eyes were still bright and a little pink in the whites.

"I hope you'll like my gift," he said.

"I told you not to get me anything."

"You'll probably need to sell it because I know you spent probably all of your winnings and your sponsor coins for all that."

"It had to be done. I wanted to free my parents. They work too much and need time together while they are still young and able to enjoy the world. I don't want my Dad to work his whole life for us. That ain't living."

"Sugar Moreno. Dark Sugar. Fits you."

"It does, doesn't it?"

Erik placed his fingers behind her neck and pulled her in close. He caught himself and looked around. Everyone had wandered off to bed.

"Should we put out the fire?" he asked.

"No. Let it burn itself out."

The glow of the lowering flames cast shadows on the house. He released Sugar.

"Night Daddy!"

Marina waved to him from the roof. Deuce had eyes on them too.

"Goodnight!" he called to them both.

"Guess you have to wait a few hours until they go to sleep before 'Santa' does his thing," she teased.

"Yep."

"I'll stay up with you."

They both took seats right in front of the door and watched the fire burn down to glowing coals. The snores from the roof let him know he could put out the gifts. When they walked into the house, they both saw that Sugar's parents had already placed a bunch of wrapped items around the tree. Erik pulled things from out of Sugar's van and snuck them into the living room with Sugar's help. Their task completed, they stood together staring at the display.

"They will have a ball tomorrow," Sugar whispered.

Loud snores spilled out from behind the closed curtains of Sugar's parent's bedroom. She giggled and covered her mouth. Erik pulled her hand away and kissed her. Her fingers ran up the sides of his face and held him as she opened her mouth for him. His tongue explored the needy opening that widened for him as he pressed up against her warm skin. He pulled back from her to catch his breath.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you."

"Say it again," he pleaded.

She kissed his lips after each word.

"I. Love. You."

"Again."

"Te amo."

"Again."

Sugar's soft full lips joined his once more and she showed him how much she loved him with her mouth.

And tongue.

And touches.

She kissed him on the couch throughout the coming of dawn and removed herself to sleep in the second bedroom alone on a free bunk bed. He wanted to hold her until the sun rose with its brilliant hues once more, but it was best that she didn't because Deuce and Marina were up bright and early to rip open wrapping paper and squeal with delight over all the presents everyone brought them.

Erik had to admit it.

It was the best Christmas he ever had with his children.