A/N: I decided to repost this, utilizing the chapter feature. I'm planning to release it a little at a time, in case this is your first time reading it. Some chapters are really short, so some will have 3-4 chapters in the same grouping. This was written over about two weeks, most of which was spent in a gorgeous coastal Maine house in January with no heat. One can write a lot on a laptop next to a fireplace.

Chapter 1

Angel awoke suddenly and looked out the window of the tiny plane. It was the first time she'd been airborne, and she was shocked she'd been able to sleep. She'd been both exalted and terrified for the first hour of the flight from New York to Orlando. Now that they were nearing San Juan, she couldn't keep her eyes open. The woman seated next to her had stared openly at her face the moment she'd sat down. Angel had spoken pleasantly to her for awhile and she had warmed considerably. Now Angel played with the rings on her first finger and wished she had her real clothes on. The woman was staring again, and Angel felt exposed. The older woman seemed to sense that there was something different about this thin young man sitting next to her. He was dressed fairly normally, in faded jeans, a t-shirt, and a light jacket, too warm for late spring this far South, but he still seemed to shiver.
"Are you ok?" she asked. She had a fairly thick Southern accent. Georgia maybe, Angel guessed.
"Yeah, it's just my first time home in awhile. I'm nervous."
"You said you were going to see your family, right?"
"Yeah, my grandmother, mostly. I haven't seen her in so long. More than 10 years."
"You look pale."
"I'm just tired. I've been travelling since five this morning."
"Oh, you poor thing. You'll be so happy to get to your family."
"Yeah, I can't wait to see my grandmother." This was true. Angel's Abuelita had always been her favorite relative. She was a tiny woman, strong and sparkling, with a fiery temper and a fiercely loving disposition. She was the person in Angel's family with whom she most identified.
"Where did you say you came from?"
"New York City."
"Oooh, that sounds scary to me. What's it like?"
"I love New York. It's the greatest city in the world."
"But your family is in San Juan. How can you live in that big city without your family?"
"I have another family in New York."
"Do you have kids?" She was fishing.
"No, I have friends." Angel decided to go for broke. If this woman had any gaydar at all (and she believed she did), she would already know what Angel was about to say. "And I have a lover. Tom."
"Oh." She didn't sound shocked. Angel had been right about the gaydar. "What's he like? Do you have a picture?"
Angel smiled. This woman had opened up a can of worms now.
"He's brilliant," she said proudly. "A professor." She dug for her purse in her backpack, trying not to let the woman see it. Angel was proud of being a drag queen, but being in drag on the streets of New York was one thing. Flying across the Heartland in drag was quite another. She wanted to reach San Juan in one piece, thank you very much. She pulled out a picture of Collins from her wallet. She was a little embarrassed that it had hearts drawn on it with puff paint, but the woman didn't seem fazed.
"Oooh, he is handsome." Angel smiled.
"Yes, he is."
"A professor, you said? What does he teach?"
"Philosophy."
"So he's a rich guy, huh?" The woman winked.
"Yeah, we're just rolling in money. Angel smiled in return.
"Got any more pictures?"
"Ummm. . .yeah. Here's one more." She handed it over.
"Who's the beautiful woman with him?" The woman looked a little more closely. "Oh wow, that's you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, that's me. That was New Year's Eve."
"Wow! You're gorgeous!"
"Thanks. He thinks so too." Angel was beginning to like this woman, and she was really glad she'd taken this trip. She would have to reevaluate her feelings about Southerners. Suddenly, the pilot came over the intercom, announcing their descent into San Juan. The woman handed the photos back to Angel, who put them back into her wallet. The plane touched down with a bump and taxied into the gate.
"I hope you have a great time with your family."
"Thanks." Angel smiled. "Enjoy your new grandbaby."
"I will. Give your Tom a big hug for me."
Angel grinned, as she always did when Collins was mentioned.
"I'll give him ten." She picked up her backpack, waved to the woman, who was waiting to take her carry on from overhead, and joined the slow progression of people leaving the plane.
As soon as she got off the plane, she saw them. Her family.
"Abuelita!" she cried.
"Angel-cita! Mijo!"
She ran toward her grandmother, who was surrounded by a throng of cousins. How on Earth did they all get here, she wondered.
Angel hugged her grandmother first. Abuelita took hold of Angel's wrist and looked carefully into her face.
"Mijo, you are so thin! What have you been eating? You are so pale!"
"I'm fine, Abuelita."
"You look so different. Where are your clothes?"
"They're packed. I didn't want to draw too much attention on the way."
"Let's get you home, you can change." Angel smiled. Her Abuelita knew her so well. Angel greeted all of her cousins with hugs and kisses. There were five there in total. Most of them had been very small children when Angel had last been to San Juan. They claimed Angel's thrift store suitcase and her 15-year-old cousin Julio insisted on carrying it to the car. Her favorite cousin from childhood, Consuela, took her hand and they walked outside together, chatting in Spanish as if they'd never been separated. The younger cousins swirled around them, whooping, singing, and talking in Spanish and English. In many ways, Angel felt more at home than she had in years.
They all went out to the parking garage. Abuelita led Angel and the others to a brand new minivan.
"Wow, Abuelita, is this yours?" Angel asked.
"No, I borrowed it from the Frasiers." The Frasiers were the family for whom Abuelita worked. "I told them that my Angel-cita was coming home, and that she'd want to see her cousins right away." Abuelita patted Angel's cheek and Angel hugged her again, joyfully.
Angel led Consuela to the back of the van so they could chat. As Abuelita started the van and drove her grandchildren home, Angel held Consuela's hand and leaned in close. She switched to English so that it would be harder for Abuelita to understand, even if she did hear.
"Connie, I have something to tell you. It's not an easy thing to say, and it may be even harder to hear." Angel paused. "I'm here to tell Abuelita goodbye."
"Goodbye? Angel, where are you going?"
Angel paused again. This was the hardest possible thing to tell people, especially those whom she loved. She sighed.
"Connie, I have AIDS. I'm doing ok, but I don't think I have too much longer." Connie stared at Angel.
"What? Angel, you're not serious!" Her eyes began to glisten as she searched Angel's face for a lie, a joke, something. "Please tell me that you're lying to me."
"I wish I could tell you I were, but it's true." Angel paused, then took Connie's other hand and smiled. "I also have good news. I'm in love."
"In love? Angel, I'm not ready for all this. It's too much."
"I know, Connie, I'm sorry. I realize that I'm springing a lot on you, but I just couldn't tell you this on the phone. I had to do it in person. Can you help me tell Abuelita?"
Tears coursed down Connie's face.
"Angel, what happened to you in New York?"
"Lots of things. I can't tell you all of it. Some of it is too sad to go into, but I'll never be sorry I went. Just know that I am happier now than I have ever been." Angel hugged her cousin and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She seemed to be doing a lot of that these days. She suspected that there would be plenty more to come. "Try not to cry. My life is the best it's ever been and I don't want any more sadness."
Connie sighed shakily, wiped off the last of the tears, and tried to pull herself back together.
"Ok, Angel, I will help you however I can. Abuelita will be such a mess. . .God, I can't imagine how she'll deal with this." Angel gently stroked her cousin's curls.
"She's strong, she'll pull through. We'll just have to help her."
Connie looked at Angel with her head to one side.
"Angel, you have changed so much."
"I wish you knew how good Tom is for me." His name was like a charm, she couldn't use it enough.
Connie smiled a little, in spite of herself.
"Tom? Is he your new honey? Is he cute?" Suddenly things were back to something like normal. They were gossiping as if they were teenagers again.
"You have no idea how cute." Angel pulled the picture out of her purse again. "Look."
"Whoa, you weren't kidding. What a hottie." Angel blushed.
"I know."
"And you love him?"
"Completely."
"And he loves you?"
"I am the luckiest person in the world. He loves me as much as I love him." Connie smiled, then her face clouded again.
"Has he got--?"
"Yes. He has."
"And--?"
"He's very healthy up to now." Angel crossed her fingers at shoulder level for Connie to see.
"I hope he stays that way."
"Me too." Angel replied, thinking 'I am going to need his strength before too much longer.'