A/N: Hey all, it's been a while, school's just been so busy. I'm already starting a new term and new classes this week and I still have about 7 months left until I graduate. November can't get here soon enough. If you're still reading this story, thank you, and I want to apologize in advance because my writing is rusty, and my words feel broken.

-05-

Gloria had just finished washing the last of the dishes from dinner when her cell phone rang. She hardly paid attention to the caller ID before answering.

"Hello?"

"Mom," It was Elena. "I'm just calling to check in. I hadn't heard from you, and I was getting worried."

"Oh, hi Mija. I'm sorry, we just finished dinner," Gloria told her lightly. "I haven't had a chance to look at my phone since getting off work."

"Is everything okay?

"Yes, time just got away from me. I picked Isla up from daycare and then we went to the grocery store, and I just finished doing the dishes." Gloria looked down at her attire. She hadn't even had time to change. She was still in the clothes she'd worn to work, minus her shoes.

"Is she behaving?"

"She's been great," Gloria confirmed happily, turning to look in the direction of the living room. "She and Benny have been arguing back and forth on what movie to watch for the last 15 minutes."

"Is it still okay if she stays the night?" Elena asked quietly.

"Of course, Elena," Gloria reassured her. "I've loved having her here."

"Okay, I packed a change of clothes in her backpack and her toothbrush. Could you also braid her hair for me, before she goes to bed? I hate brushing knots out of her hair, and I don't want to listen to her cry about it in the morning."

Gloria nodded into the receiver, momentarily forgetting that Elena couldn't see her. "Is everything okay?" she asked quietly. "You sound… frustrated."

"I am," Elena answered truthfully. "Tony's mom has been calling me all night, wanting to know what happened this morning. He is sending me text messages that I need to pick up my stuff or he's going to throw it all out. I just had a customer cuss me out because he asked for extra tomato on his burger and there was only one slice. One of the girls called in for the third time this week. I'm just so fucking sick of people tonight. I want to leave. I'm out in the alley, trying to keep it together before I go postal in there."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Gloria asked, leaning against the counter. "What happened this morning? He said he was kicking you out?"

Elena sighed, realizing that she hadn't told her mother what had happened. "It's a long story and I don't have time to get into details, but we got into an argument and he told me that Isla and I have to leave. I thought he'd cool down, but he hasn't stopped texting me since noon."

"It's almost nine," Gloria told her, flipping her wrist to look at her watch. She frowned and had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something rude. She didn't know enough about Elena's relationship to comment, but what she'd heard over the last several hours hadn't made her thrilled. She'd only met Tony twice before but had yet to really form an opinion about him either way.

"I'm here at the diner until midnight."

"Is there someone who can drop you off at my place?" Gloria asked her, trying to maintain a sense of calm. "I don't want you going home tonight. You need to rest Elena. If you go home, you two are just going to end up arguing and that's not right."

"I know…" Elena sighed. "I'll ask someone to drop me off… Can I talk to Isla?"

Gloria walked into the living room, her smile back in place as she beckoned Isla to take the phone. "Your Mami wants to talk to you," she told her. She took a seat on the sofa and situated Isla onto her lap. She listened as her granddaughter talked with her mother and used her current state of distractedness to braid Isla's hair. Other than brushing her teeth, there'd be nothing else to do before it was time to put the little girl to bed.

…

It was after midnight when Gloria heard a knock at her door. She sighed softly as she adjusted a sleeping Isla in her arms. She laid her back on the sofa, covering her up gently with the pink fleece blanket that they'd been cuddled under just moments before.

"Shh, shh," she hushed Isla, as she squired and squeaked in her sleep. Careful not to disturb her, Gloria walked on tiptoes toward her front door. She looked out the peephole, confirming quickly that it was Elena before unlocking and opening the door.

"Isla's sleeping," Gloria warned her, a finger to her lips as she locked the door once more. "Have you eaten? Are you hungry?"

"No," Elena whispered, toeing out of her shoes. She felt greasy and gross from work and wanted nothing more than to shower and crawl into bed. She didn't even have the energy to shower, but she knew she'd sleep better if she were able to wash the day's troubles down the drain.

Gloria appeared next to her with a banana. "At least eat something," she encouraged her. "It always helped me coming off night shift to put something in my stomach before going to bed."

Elena smiled at her sadly. "She looks so peaceful," she whispered, looking at her daughter's sleeping form.

"What it would be like to be four again, huh?" Gloria smiled, crossing her arms under her breast as she watched her granddaughter. She too envied the little girl. She'd had a wonderful night with her granddaughter, and had enjoyed getting to be a grandmother, but she was exhausted. It had been a long day, and she was eager to lay down and call it a night.

"Can I take a shower before bed?" Elena asked her softly.

"Of course," Gloria motioned toward the hallway. "There are towels in the cabinet."

Elena sighed, looking down at her work clothes. "I don't have anything to wear."

"I'll bring you something of mine," Gloria told her. She turned and pushed on her daughter's lower back, encouraging her to make the walk into the bathroom. As she heard the water start, she made her way into her bedroom and quickly gathered a pair of pajama pants and a long t-shirt for Elena. Knocking softly on the bathroom door, she laid the clothes on the sink.

"Thank you," Elena told her from behind the curtain. "Mmm… this shampoo smells good."

Gloria smiled. "Doesn't it? Hibiscus rain."

"It's yummy." Elena suddenly sounded a lot more awake than she had just a few moments ago.

"I'm going to move Isla to my bed. You two can share, and I'll sleep on the couch," Gloria told her, preparing to close the door. "I'll make breakfast in the morning, and then we can talk about what's going on."

Elena pulled the curtain back, her dark brown hair saturated with white bubbles as she looked at her mother. "You don't have to move her; she'll be fine on the sofa. You shouldn't have to give up your bed."

"She'd be a lot more comfortable."

Elena shook her head before disappearing back behind the curtain. "She'll be fine."

"Okay," Gloria whispered softly.

Shutting the door and walking back into her bedroom, she tried not to think about the fact that it'd mean she'd be the one sharing a bed with Elena. It didn't bother her. If anything, it made her heart sing. When her girls were little, she'd always co-slept with them, and it hadn't stopped the older they had gotten. In fact, it had only ever stopped when she had left Puerto Rico.

Gloria sighed softly as she crawled up the length of her bed, toward the left side. She turned on the lamp that sat on her nightstand and was greeted by a picture of her girls as babies, innocent creatures she'd always sworn to protect. Sometimes she still couldn't believe that she'd failed so miserably. Crawling under her covers, she moved onto her side and looked at the pictures of her sons on the opposite nightstand.

All of these years later and she didn't have a single picture of all of her children together. It wasn't right. She'd had such a fun night with Isla and the boys, and she wanted so much to have more nights like that. She rolled onto her back and turned her head, looking again at the picture of her daughters. Taking the frame in her hand, she stroked her finger delicately over Ceci's face.

She hadn't spoken to her eldest child in nearly 15 years, and it killed her. She called her sometimes, once every two weeks, and had for the last several months, hoping that by some miracle Ceci would finally crack and answer. She left her voice messages all the time, telling her that she was sorry and that she loved her. Begging her to meet for coffee, or to just answer the phone and give Gloria the chance to explain and apologize.

She had yet to be successful in her endeavors, only ever catching Ceci's voicemail, which instructed her to leave a message after the tone, or hang up and call 911 if it was an emergency. She'd been confused the first time she'd heard the recording, only learning later that Ceci was a nurse in one of New York's busiest trauma centers.

She couldn't take credit for any of the amazing things her children were doing, but damn it, if she wasn't one proud Mama. Despite the circumstances, Ceci was doing great for herself. She hadn't let not having her mother around stop her from making something of herself.

Meanwhile, Elena, by all accounts was a better mother than she ever was. Everything she did was for Isla. She tried to calculate every step to ensure that no matter what move she made, her daughter's health and happiness would come first.

Gloria used to believe that she was that kind of mom. That she was sacrificing it all and sacrificing herself for the benefit of her children. Now she couldn't be so sure that her motives were right. Somewhere along the way, her vision had been clouded, and she'd lost sight of her goal.

Hugging the picture to herself, she sighed, and her eyes fluttered closed. How could she fuck up so badly? How could she disappoint her daughters, and fail them so miserably? How could she do it all over again and hurt her sons? It was only by the grace of God that they didn't completely hate her. She would never understand why those boys loved her so much, so unconditionally.

They deserved better than her. Her daughters deserved better. Her sons deserved better. Isla most definitely deserved better. What if she hurt her too? Gloria didn't know how she could hurt Isla, but given her track record, she didn't put it past herself and that terrified her.

"She's sprawled out on the sofa like a starfish," Elena said as she entered the bedroom, brushing out her long hair. "I'll be surprised if she doesn't roll off the couch at least once tonight."

Gloria's eyes fluttered open once more and she smiled tiredly, replacing the picture back on her nightstand. "That's why I wanted to put her in here. Are you sure you don't want me to move her?"

"It's okay," Elena said, setting the brush down on the dresser. She raked her hands through her hair and began to quickly braid it. "I'm so tired," she yawned, tying the end of her hair off with a ponytail.

"Do you work tomorrow?" Gloria asked, watching as Elena pulled back the blanket to crawl in beside her.

"At night. I have to call my mother-in-law in the morning and deal with all of that bullshit. It sucks," she smacked her lips. "He still hasn't quit texting me."

"Has he always been like this?" Gloria asked, rolling onto her side and propping herself up on her elbow.

"I didn't use to think so," Elena told her quietly. "Maybe I overlooked something." She sighed and shifted onto her back.

Knowing that Elena was tired and that she was tired herself, Gloria resisted the urge to ask any follow-up questions. Instead, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead and then turned to switch off the lamp.

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight."

The room was blanketed in darkness, and aside from their even breathing, the entire apartment was silent. A few moments later, Elena shifted toward the middle of her bed, her voice soft as she called for Gloria's attention.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?" Gloria hummed sleepily.

"I really missed you," Elena's confession was quiet and full of emotion as she rolled even closer into her mother's side.

Gloria's eyes sprung open, and she instinctively wrapped her daughter into a protective hug. Elena's face was pressed into her shoulder, and her arm was wrapped tightly around her waist.

"I really missed you, too, baby," Gloria whispered against her daughter's hair.

Elena was crying now. The stress of her day and the intense, conflicting feelings of love and hate that she had for her mother bubbling to the surface. It was so much to carry. It was all so heavy. All she wanted was for her mom to take it all away, for her to make it all better the way she used to do when she was a little girl.

"Promise that you aren't going to leave me again."

"Oh, baby," the sound of her daughter begging, sobbing into her shoulder, was enough for Gloria's heart to shatter into a million pieces. Her eyes fell closed once more, tears making their way out of the corner of her eyes. She squeezed her daughter tightly in her arms, trying to convey all of her love into the strength of her hug. "I promise… Elena, I promise you that I'm not going anywhere."