A Place In the Sun
5
"You can do this, Julia," Julia said to herself in the mirror. "It's just your family! No big thing! You've already seen Mateo and Anita and your mother, there's not many more to go. You can do it."
Julia didn't know why she was feeling so nervous about going. It really wasn't that big of a deal!
She looked in the mirror and smoothed her skirt.
"It's just one night, dinner, it's just your family," she assured herself again before leaving her room.
...
Rosa tried to calm down her mother who was frantic over making sure everything was just right.
"Mama, do you really think that Julia and Anita care which direction the flowers are facing? They look great," Rosa told her.
"Really, Mrs. Santos, everything looks really good, you've done a great job getting all of this together," Tim assured her.
"Thank you, both of you," Isabella said.
Rosa could tell that her mother was very excited.
"I just want everything to be absolutely perfect," she said. "Everyone will be here soon!"
"Mama?" Anita said, coming into the Valley Inn Dining Room.
"Anita!" Isabella ran over to her daughter and gave her a big hug.
"Mama, you look great!" Anita said.
"Thank you!" Isabella said smiling. "Hello Bobby."
"It's good to see you, Mrs. Santos," he said sorta quietly.
Bobby backed away from the group a bit as Anita and Isabella talked.
Julia was the next to arrive. She was greeted by her mother and sisters just before Mateo and Hayley arrived with Liliana and Christopher. Mateo and Hayley introduced the children to their aunts and uncle.
"Is everyone here?" Julia asked her mother.
"Almost!" Isabella said, still very excited. "Edmund is bringing Sam and Maddie, they should be here very soon!"
"Mrs. Santos, a call for you," a waiter said, motioning for her to come and take the call.
Isabella took the call and came back to her children a few moments later.
"That was Edmund, he had an emergency at Tempo and has to have someone else bring the children over so they'll be a few minutes late."
Bobby felt a little relieved that he still had a few minutes. He was nervous beyond explanation about seeing Sam.
Isabella herded her crowd over to a large table set up in the center of the room and called the waiters to bring out the food.
...
Gillian winced as Dimitri laid her in her bed at Wildwind.
"Are you in pain?" Dimitri asked her.
Gillian laughed a little and told him, "Barely any compared to two days ago."
"Well, I guess that's good!"
"So, where's Katalin?"
"She's downstairs with Peggy making up some surprise for you. But, I want to talk to you a bit first."
"I figured that," Gillian said, looking down at her hands.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of," he assured his cousin.
"But you still want an explanation? About Katalin and about what I've been doing for the past four years?"
"Well, yes, that would be nice."
"What did Jake tell you?"
"Not much. He told me that you were in an accident and that you were in the hospital and that you had a daughter. This, of course, was a shock to me. He told me that you wanted me to take care of her while you couldn't, I agreed and came to get Katalin. I didn't ask him anything because it wasn't his place to tell me anything about her or you, that's up to you."
"Yes, it is up to me. I'm guessing that you're wondering who her father is?"
"Give me three guesses and the first two don't count," Dimitri laughed.
"What?" Gillian asked, confused.
"She's Ryan's daughter," he told her.
"How, how did you know?" she asked, puzzled.
"For one, she looks a lot like him. She really looks nothing like you, Gillian. She's got his coloring. Second, she has his presence. She is just so much like him!"
"Yeah, she is a lot like Ryan," Gillian smiled.
"So, I'm right?" he asked.
Gillian nodded.
"He doesn't know, does he?"
Gillian shook her head, "So far, only you and Jake know."
"You know you have to tell Ryan."
"Yes, I know, but I can't," Gillian sunk down in her pillows.
"Why not? C'mon, Gillian, he is her father."
"He'll hate me for it!"
"He'd be thrilled that he has a child! A child is such a precious gift."
"A gift I've denied him for nearly four years! No, he'll hate me for never telling him. It's best that I just hurry up and get better and get out of town with Katalin, I never should've come back."
"Gillian, you have to tell him."
"I KNOW I have to tell him, but I really don't want to. I mean, I want Kata to have a father, and I know that Ryan would be the perfect father, but...agh! It's all just so complicated."
"It's not, Gillian, it's really quite simple."
"Believe me, Dimi, it's not, nothing with Ryan is ever simple."