They decided to meet Lance at Arthur's house, since that was the only place they knew they would not be overheard by someone they couldn't trust.
"So, finally, you guys took too long. And to think you always got mad whenever someone hid something from someone else, like Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter, and so forth. You always said they should just tell the truth from the beginning, they would save themselves a whole lot of time, and a whole lot of problems."
"We didn't have to do anything to hide it. Just not say anything. Like, nobody got hurt, did they?"
"No, I guess not. Still, don't tell me that all this was actually the cat's idea. No offense."he added quickly, as Sissy started to growl.
"It sort of was Sissy's idea, but it was also our idea. Sissy came up with parts of it, we came up with the rest. And we were the ones who put the idea into action, except, well, what we just told you now. Sissy just thought we were taking too long, so she decided to take a different course of action."
"Then she was right. You did take too long. Or was that just a back up plan, just in case what Maru tried didn't work?"
"Sissy came up with it herself. We did think about it, but it just seemed too immoral, you know."
"Speaking of immoral, how exactly are we going to solve this? What will people say? I know you've never cared about that, but well, this is something very serious."
"Simple. We already have a solution for that. We worked it out on our way here. It's very simple. There's nothing to it."
Arthur would just have to trust them. He knew they had probably come up with something, after all, they could always solve every problem that came their way with no problems, or blunders. He sat down with his Gameboy, and began trying to pass the latest Crash Bandicoot game. Since he knew so much, had graduated from college, now he spend his time testing video games before they went on the market, to see how good they were. This one, he thought was interesting, it just needed some minor adjustment, mostly on the graphics.
When Lance got there, the dectuplets were, as always, very happy to see him, but this time, they treated him differently. They hugged him tighter, and kissed him twice, on both cheeks, instead of just once. Arthur hugged him, too, even though before, he had just shook hands.
"What's all this?"he asked, confused. "Is something wrong, am I going to die?"
"No,"Ma.Xamila told him. "We just had to receive you the way one receives a relative. Before, we just had to pretend to receive you as a friend, but now, we receive you like what you are. A relative."
"We're related?"
"Yes, we are. You're our brother."
He just looked puzzled. They must be crazy. He couldn't be related to them, he didn't have any family. Then he looked at Ma.Eugenia, she had also told him that she had no family. Only her mother, who was dead.
"We have something in common, don't we?"she used to say. "Neither of us have blood ties. Nobody. Sure, my godparents always treated me as good as any of their daughters, but I know that they could never love me like one of their daughters, not I them as my parents. I always knew if we ever had a disagreement, they would side with the dectuplets, Alfonsina, Monica, or Aimee, never with me. I've never seen anyone who looks like me, who has the same name, or anything, justâstrangers, I guess you could say. Sometimes I've heard the people around here say that blood isn't really that, that important, but it is to me, and not just to me, but to everyone back home. That I don't know if I can even call home anymore, because you can obviously see that myâfather isn't from Mexico. I know nothing about my family history. I know about my mother, because since she was also from San Pedro, and knew both of my godparents from long ago, they told me about her. But outside of that, my family history is just one big blank. I don't even carry my father's name. I've always considered myself a Mexican, but now, I'm part something else. Now even someone like that hateful, Caridad can stand up and say she's better than me, well, she always could, because she knows both of her parents' history, but me?"
And now, it turned out, that she had her father, even though, she found it hard to accept him as her father. That she had only her godparents, and their daughters. Their thirteen daughters.
He felt the same way Ma.Eugenia felt, about feeling less than other people, because he had no family. But it would be too big of a coincidence, if he were a part of the same family that had raised Ma.Eugenia. Especially these girls, whom everyone made fun of. He always admired them. They didn't care what people said. They weren't afraid to be themselves.
"You're just joking, that can't be true."
"It is, and we don't joke, not with you, not with anyone, well, maybe sometimes, with some people, but that's very rare, and not about something like this. You might think that we don't know, because we're younger, but we know. Remember we don't like Illinois. We were never allowed to speak of that place in front of my mother. And my father always said it gave him nightmares. That's why they didn't even like to come the United States, either. Anything having to do with that place, they wanted to avoid. Well, perhaps we should just tell you what happened. That's what we're here for, anyway. Cuzz, Alfonsina, Monica, Aimee and Maru know most of it, Kitty some of it, and Sissy and us, everything. No one else even suspects anything.
You see, before us, our parents had another baby, a boy, this one, around your age, his name is, because he is alive, Eduardo Ivan Lance Altamira Alvers. Just like the rest of us, he carried an identification bracelet. All of us do, not just us because we're identical, and people can't tell us apart. Our other sisters don't wear them, except maybe on special occasions, but we all are given a bracelet, a watch, and a necklace containing our names, dates of birth, and birthstones. It's just, well, let's say a family tradition. Every birthday, and of course, for all the sacraments, too. We also got one, when we were baptized, when we did our Primer Comunion, when we were confirmed, you get the idea.
You know we already told you our parents liked to take us to places, to see the world, to learn about different cultures. One of these places, was of course, Chicago, Illinois. I don't really know why they decided to visit there, from what I know nothing's ever happened. Probably because of a baseball game, or something. We have relatives who are fans, and maybe they wanted us to come see the game. So, the entire family got on a plane, and off we went. Things went fine, for a few days.
However, one night, no one would tell us exactly what happened, because they didn't like to talk about it, and Sissy here,"she looked at Sissy. "She likes to keep secrets sometimes. What we do know, is something about a fire. Like the building was burning, or I don't know exactly what. We were only about a year old, and there were so many of us, eleven, counting Ma.Eugenia, she was there, too. From what I know, let's see,"she frowned in concentration. "Father was trying to get us all, but he got stuck, I don't know how, and Eduardo was the only one who could move. So, he asked him to save us. Then there was some kind of an explosion."
Lance listened to what the dectuplets Ma.Xosefina told him. When she mentioned the flames, he remembered those dreams, they always involved him feeling scared, and he was carrying bundles, what was probably babies, trying to get them to safety. Then, he remembered what she said about the bracelet. He reached into his pocket and got out something he had always had. It was just pieces of metal, with his name engraved on them, though, you could clearly see that wasn't the whole name, just letters, the only two names that were clear were Lance and Alvers. That was it.
"You see, the bracelet. Oh, dear, it's in smitherings."cried Ma.Xitlalli.
"So, it's true?"gasped Kitty.
"I guess with the explosion, he must've flown away from the site, you know, since it was an explosion."commented Arthur. "You know, an explosion outside, implosion, inside. Things get blown away, things get pulled in. Uncle Rigoberto was obviously heavier, I mean you gotta admit, he was very tall, not to mention, well-built, and he was further away from where the explosion took place."
"You do remember."said Ma.Xaviera firmly. "You just don't like to remember, everyone remembers everything, they just don't like to remember."
He did remember, he thought. Someone saying "Hijo, salva a tus hermanas y a la hija de la Sra.Gabriela! Salvalas a ellas y salvate tu!"in an urgent voice. He had gone back for the bracelet as it had fallen off, while he carried the last baby, and then, then. Now that he thought about it, he could understand what people said in Spanish. He could even speak it himself, without any trace of an accent. He just never liked people to know, since then they might ask questions he could not answer.
"But why didn't anyone ever try to find him?"asked Kitty.
"Because after what happened, well, my mother was in tears, hysterics, you know, they thought he had died. You know, she just didn't want to see that place ever again. We packed up and left. Never to see it again. Of course, Mother's been in a coma for months, now. Sissy was the one who told us that he was still be alive. And Mother asked us to look for him. That's why we're here. She also wanted him to be happy. And well, we knew you wanted Kitty to pay attention to you, so we did our best to see that she did. We asked Maru to come and date you, as she would do anything for us, and our mother, and then, well, you know. And why we gave you money, and said that now you worked for Arthur, so no one would suspect you stole it, and so you could live a little more decently. Now, Mother will be delighted to find out she will be a grandmother. This will be great-grandmother Petra's first great-great grandchild."
"What do you mean?"he asked.
"The reason Kitty is here, listening to us, too. Why did you think she was here? Because, of course, she also has something to say."
"I'm pregnant."she told him, still not having gotten over the shock of the dectuplets' story.
Lance was very happy. He couldn't believe at once, he had found what he had always wanted. He wanted a family, just like any other person. Now, not only did he have a family, he was going to be a father.
"You should, of course come home to Piedras Grandes at once. Mother will want to know you are at her side, and you must take your place as the patron at Piedras Grandes. As for the other issue, we've got everything all worked out. You see, while you were lost, you are already married which will seem very natural, since people in San Pedro marry at a young age, anyway, however, you will celebrate the wedding again at Piedras Grandes, because you would just like to be married there. You get the picture."
Kitty was also glad that she wouldn't be a single mother. That was what had worried her most. And to find out that Lance, who always seemed like a 'bad boy', to imagine that he was actually related to some of the wealthiest people in Mexico. That he owned an entire hacienda, and he was the one everyone would obey. It was almost too good to be true.
"What will everyone at the mansions say?"she asked.
"They will say nothing. They are all, of course, invited,"Ma.Xosefina looked at Lance. "If you have no objections."
"Of course, not."
He did want them all to go. He wanted that Scott Summers who had always made him feel inferior to find out that now, it was him, Lance Alvers, no, Eduardo Ivan Lance Alvers Altamira, who was on top. He had seen the way the dectuplets, and even Maru looked down their noses at him, how they wore such expensive fabrics, and jewelry. Now, he could do the same.