"You don't think we'll have to give your parents a separate tour, do you?"Ma.Ximena asked.

"No, I don't think they want a tour."Kitty told her.

"Oh."the dectuplets looked crestfallen. They liked to act as tour guides, and show off their home, and their knowledge.

"It's not the end of the world."Arthur told them.

"Sometimes I wish it was the end of the world."Sissy commented. "For people, anyway. They're annoying, and I can never understand them completely."

"I guess you're right, Sissy. People are confusing to us, too."Ma.Xosefina told her.

"Tomorrow, everyone else will start arriving."

"Everyone else?"asked Kitty.

"Of course, all our relatives have to come, our great-grandmother, our aunts, uncles, and cousins. Aimee and Carlos, not to mention everybody in town. Everybody. Oh, and of course, the artist that we asked to come sing. He's doing it as a special favor for us."

"And let me guess, they're also going to kiss and hug everyone when they get here."

"Yes, and you should change your appearance. You can't wear pants, you know, you're a lady. There's nothing we can do about your hair, it's so short, you shouldn't wear it in front of your face, though, and you'll have to put on some jewelry. Oh, and you'll have to wear a hat when you go out, unless you're wearing a dress that buttons up to your neck."

"You mean I have to dress like you?"

"You'll be amazed how much more comfortable it is, if you do. Besides, it looks nicer. You wear brighter colors, and of course, we make our own clothes. If you don't know how, we'll teach you. Or make them for you ourselves. Now, we should go and visit Meche's Aunt Teodora. That should help pass some time. Would you like to come with us? It's not far, just walk over to where the workers live with their families."

"Fine. There's nothing better to do."

They went towards a part of the hacienda that the dectuplets did not show them before. This was different. It wasn't very glamorous, or pretty. There were shacks, made of sticks, almost falling down. They went into one of them.

It was quite small, all there was, was a small table in the middle, the floor was dirt, and in one corner was an old woman, dressed in basically the same style as the dectuplets, only that the material of her clothes wasn't as expensive as theirs, and she did not wear any jewelry. Her hair was longer than anyone's Kitty had ever seen. It was obvious that this woman had never had her hair trimmed in all her life. While the hair closest to her scalp was white, the ends of the braids were pitch-black. She had twisted, turned, and knotted the braids several times, but it was obvious that they still trailed behind her. Kitty could not imagine how long her hair would look if she freed it of its braids, and just let it hang from her head.

"Hasn't she ever trimmed her hair?"Kitty asked.

"Oh, no."answered one of the dectuplets. "We women never trim our hair. Or dye it, perm it, or do anything to it."

"You mean, you've never done anything to your hair?"

"No."

"What if the ends are dry? How do you brush it? How do wash it? How do you take care of it?"

Everyone asked themselves these questions. The dectuplets, and all the other women here must obviously put a lot of time and effort into taking care of their hair. Despite the fact that it was so long, and that there indeed was a great deal of it, judging by how thick their braids always were, it was always shiny. Very shiny. Shiny, as if...it weren't hair at all. Every time the light hit it, it reflected the light. Even Ma.Eugenia's and Meche's hair did the same, though they had jet-black hair, instead of red.

"That won't happen. Not if you take care of your hair properly. As for washing and brushing it. We've never had problems. Our hair washes and braids itself. As for everyone else, Maru has Meche to do that for her."

"What about Meche?"

"We never asked how the maids take care of their hair. You should probably ask one of them."

It was an odd afternoon. When the old lady looked at Kitty, her eyebrows went up. It wasn't the first time it happened. When they had gone to San Pedro, all the men, women, and children had stared at them, pointed, and raised their eyebrows. Some had laughed out loud.

"You see, we told you you should put something else one. You'll be talked about a lot. It's just not right that a lady dress the way you do. What's 'normal' to you isn't normal to us. Now, I guess you can see what we felt like when we were in Bayville. People teasing us about our clothes. We just won't give up our way of life for nothing. We like it. And nobody is going to make us change the way we dress, or the way we think, or the way we behave. Well, a couple of times we did change. When we went to places with a different climate. In London, St.Petersburg. We had to. Or we would freeze."

That afternoon, more people arrived. The detuplets' father's brother, Abejundio, came, with his daughter, Caridad, and Aunt Isabel. Caridad was about the same age as the dectuplets, fifteen, and obviously enjoyed making other people upset, and took great pleasure in saying things that would hurt them, because the second she saw Ma.Eugenia, she ran towards her and called her 'ilegitima'. Caridad had hair the same shade as Alfonsina, which she wore tied back, with a big ribbon.

"So, you're the one that died, aren't you?"she said to Lance. "I don't know if that was a good thing, or a bad thing."she said eyeing his clothes. "You don't dress properly, I don't suppose you act properly, either."

"Chachi!"

"It was only a comment. Of course, I would rather be you, than a certain someone sitting close to the portrait of Uncle Francisco."she added, putting her lollipop back in her mouth, grinning.

Chachi looked at Kitty. Instead of hugging her, she looked at her hair, and took the end of the ponytail, looking at the ends of the hair.

"That's very nice."she said with a scorn. "Just look at you. Wearing pants, and such short hair. You look like a man."she laughed. "Don't tell me you actually married her?"she asked Lance.

"Don't pay attention to her."said Ma.Xiomara, told her later. "She's just jealous of us, because, she knows she doesn't have our talent and winning personalities. We just have to put up with her for only a few days."

"Unless she decided to stay."said Ma.Eugenia.

"I don't think she will."

"You know what she's like!"

"I still don't think she will."

"Don't tell me that everyone will think I'm lesbian!"Kitty groaned.

"They probably won't. They'll just think you're weird. You should at least wear a skirt, though. And a long one. It wouldn't be proper to show your legs."

Kitty didn't exactly like the idea of having to dress like the dectuplets, but if that was what it was going to take to stop Chachi from talking, she would do it. The problem was, that when she did, Chachi would then start to say things about her hair.

"You guys know a lot. Isn't there a way of making it grow faster?"Kitty asked the dectuplets.

"Not that we know of. Or, wait, there is. Don't ever trim it. That way, it won't be short. Hair grows, you know."

"Thanks a lot."

"Oh, you're welcome. Besides, it's not your appearance. Take a look at Maru, she dresses normally, and that doesn't stop Chachi from making hell for her. Chachi will do that to anyone. No matter what."

They were right, Kitty wasn't the only one Chachi made fun of. Ma.Eugenia also suffered teasing from her. Even though she dressed normally, Chachi loved to remind her that she was illegitimate, and to say that she didn't have her father's family name. She would do this in several different ways. The only ones Chachi left alone were just her family, or everyone when her mother was around. Her father didn't really care what she said to other people, as long as they weren't related to her.

"I don't want to see that girl ever again! I hate her. You have to make her leave!"Kitty told the dectuplets.

"We don't really have the authority to do that, you know. We may live her, but you have to ask the patron to do that, or the patrona. He's the only one who can. I mean, what if I ask her to leave, but then he disagrees with me. That would be a mess. Don't worry, just until you marry, then Chachi won't be able to step inside this house, if you don't want her to. For now, you have no authority."

"She will leave. I may not be married, yet, however, she will leave. I will make sure of that."

"Good. You'll be doing several people a favor. She may be our cousin, but we don't like her, either. Besides, everybody knows pregnant women must be humored. At least, my mother always was, from what we know."

Kitty walked into the despacho, where Lance spend most of his time, admiring the expensive things that had been his father, and sitting in his chair. She knew that Lance would say yes to her, no matter what. He always pleased her in every way. Whether it was by buying expensive gifts, that he said were worth nothing next to her, or by seeing that she was happy and comfortable. He always had every single piece of jewelry he gave, designed and made especially for her, and made from the most expensive gold, silver, or diamonds.

"Just look,"he told her, opening a gold cigar case. "Wow, gold. For a cigar case?"He opened it. "Must've smoked a lot, from the look of it. This drawer here, is locked, but I'll get someone to open it. I've never seen so much alcohol. There is everything. Brandy, vodka, tequila, wine. Alfonsina told me he mostly drank brandy."

"That's nice. I hope you don't take on to smoking or drinking."

He shrugged.

"Why not? If everyone does, I should, too. I should learn to live as what I really am. In all this luxury. There is so much luxury here."

"Whatever. You have to tell your uncle that his daughter isn't welcome here."

"Why?"

"Because I said so, that's why."

Chachi never bothered Lance, he actually enjoyed the fact that she would make scenes whenever Scott entered a room. He had been forced to eat in the kitchen, much to the displeasure of the staff, because Chachi refused to dine in the same room, sitting at the same table as a demon, she would call him. Everyone found this very odd, especially Kurt. Everyone thought he was the demon, the freak. However, whenever Chachi, Ma.Eugenia, or anyone else here saw him without the inducer, they would only admire him. They would not scream, or do anything like that. The dectuplets, Ma.Eugenia, and everyone else thought that Scott must have some crime hidden in his soul, something shameful, that he had to cover his eyes, and it was obvious that they didn't like him,but Chachi, was terrified of him. She wouldn't even look at him.

The first time she had seen him, on the second floor, she was convinced she had seen a ghost, or someone back from the dead. There had been an uproar, and now Chachi would not go back upstairs, alone for fear that he might find her again, and do something to her. Her maid now followed her constantly, never leaving her side, and carried a weapon, should Scott ever go near Chachi.

She had screamed, and ran downstairs, covering her eyes. People had asked her what was wrong, but no one could get anything out of her. They tried to pull her upstairs to her room, but she would not go. When Scott came, she just pointed at him and screamed.

"Why? I know she acts like an idiot, but that came in handy, didn't it?"

"I don't like her, she doesn't give up a chance to make me mad."

"Don't get mad at her. Aimee said Chachi was just neurotic."

"She is, and I don't want her here."

Lance sighed.

"Fine. She will only be here until the wedding, and I will ask that she leaves the very next day. Fair?"

"Fine, but no later."

Luckily, they were to be married the next day. Since Kitty was not Roman Catholic, and her father did not want his daughter to be married by a priest, the dectuplets said that they had already had a church wedding, and this would just be something small. When Maru learned that Chachi would leave the next day, she was overjoyed.

"What about everyone else?"she asked.

"I don't know."answered Ma.Xamila.

"So, you guys finally got what you wanted, huh?"Arthur asked.

"Not quite."answered Ma.Xosefina.