Lena could swear she was cursed, better yet, she knew she was cursed, it had to be the only explanation for why her family decided that Antonio's third birthday was going to be a big celebration and invites were extended to friends of the family which she knew meant boyfriends.
Isabela and Dolores were both ecstatic as they were both dating two different boys from the village. Her oldest prima was dating Guillermo Matias, the middle child of the local carpenter, he was a broad stout boy who made her papa look tall in comparison but was quite strong as he was often with father cutting down and hauling trees.
Her twin was dating Diego Negron, the fabric owner's son and Lena knew if it wasn't for her own gentle interference that it would have never happened, as she caught the looks that the thin shy boy had given as Dolores had passed by while her and Mirabel had been in the shop.
It had taken some convincing on her part as well as Natalia's and ended up in him finally being brave enough to ask her. It had taken them all by surprise when he had gifted her twin a trinket bowl carved out of wood for her gift a few months ago.
Diego had also gifted Lena a smaller trinket bowl that was shaped like a marmalade flower. He had admitted that he had just recently taken up wood carving and now had access to some wooden scraps due to being friends with Guiellermo.
She was happy for them, she really was, but that left her with the unasked question of whether or not Natalia would be allowed to come, they had been dating for well over two years officially and the gardener had met parts of the family already, but she wasn't sure what her mama and papa would say much less what Abuela would say.
As though reading her mind, Tia Julieta spoke up, "Why don't you bring Natalia?"
She felt her face heat up with embarrassment at the suggestion and was eternally grateful that this was mentioned with just her and her Tia in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast and not at the table with everyone present.
"I-" she tried to think of an excuse or explanation or something but found that her words were failing her, what could she say to her Tia about it?
The older woman put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a knowing look, " I think your mama and papa would like to thank the person responsible for you eating and sleeping better."
Lena blushed, she didn't think anyone had noticed, she had been waking up feeling better even after channeling spirits and had been cleaning her plate on a fairly regular basis.
"I will ask her."
After a few more moments of silence Tia Julieta spoke up softly, "Your tio would be proud of you, Lena."
She was momentarily stunned and blinked back sudden tears that formed, she had secretly hoped he would be proud, wherever he was..
"Gracias, Tía. " she whispered.
Natalia accepted the invite of course, mainly because Mirabel and Antonio insisted on going with Lena to help convince her and no one would resist saying 'no' to Antonio especially when he made the sad puppy face, which Lena would swear Mirabel taught him because she was the master of it at the same age.
Antonio was delighted at the acceptance and gave Natalia the biggest hug he could muster, wrapping his tiny arms around her neck.
"I'm glad someone else will be there I know."
Lena nudged her prima playfully," We know everyone in the village."
Mirabel rolled her eyes dramatically, "Of course we do, but talking to boys is so boring."
Antonio pouted slightly.
"You don't count Tonito." The bespectacled girl corrected quickly and patted him on the head gently and the pout quickly faded.
"Diego will be there. You know him, he recommended what fabric to use for the headbands." Lena reminded her prima.
"He doesn't count."
"Because he helped you pick out fabric? The only one you don't know is Guillermo."
"Okay, so one boy. Still boring."
"Oye, you and Camilo are so dramatic."
"Are not."
Natalia tried to hide a smile unsuccessfully, and added thoughtfully, "Well, my headband was beginning to fray a bit, do you think you might be able to fix it and maybe you could teach me how to sew?"
If Mirabel's face lit up any brighter it would have competed with the sun.
The morning of the party Lena was in charge of keeping the birthday boy occupied until everything was finished and ready for the actual party, which wasn't until the early afternoon. She decided the best way to keep him from being underfoot from the rest of the family was to take him into the village to Natalia's garden, both of them promising repeatedly to their mama that Tonito would not get his clothes dirty playing in any dirt or mud.
Their papa's gentle interference that allowed them to finally able to leave and no sooner did they get the approval did Antonio sprint out the door with Lena running out after him.
He was just about to spring down the hill when she scooped him up and he squealed in delight.
"We promised Mama not to get dirty, remember?"
"But donkeys!" he protested slightly, trying to squirm out of her arms.
"I know, we'll get there soon enough. No one eats as quickly as Cami."
He giggled and she put him down and offered her hand, he took it and they walked the rest of the way down the hill towards Natalia's home.
The nervousness that Lena had started the day with had begun to dissipate as they circled around the front door towards the garden to find Natalia with the donkeys talking to them patiently and holding a freshly dug bundle of carrots in her hand.
"Feliz cumpleaños, Tonito!" the gardener greeted upon seeing him.
"Hola! Can I help feed them?" he asked excitedly as he ran over to her.
Natalia glanced up at Lena who reminded her hermano gently, "We promised mama you wouldn't get dirty."
"I won't." he promised sincerely.
"Here let me show you how to feed them," Natalia walked up to the first donkey which looked at her with mild curiosity and she held out the carrot," don't hold it too tight but tight enough so they can't eat the whole thing."
Antonio nodded, his curls bouncing on his head.
The donkey bit into the carrot loudly and started to chew for a few moments and then took another bite.
"Can I try?" he asked.
"Sure."
Antonio fed the donkeys until the carrots were gone, he had managed to keep his clothes clean but his hands were slightly dirty from the carrots and drool from the donkeys.
He was about to wipe his hands on his pants when Natalia stopped him, "Let's get you cleaned up before we head to your party."
Lena mouthed a silent thank you as they walked towards the house, she frowned at the sight of large white fluffy clouds rolling in from the distance. Her mama had been in a good mood before they had left with Antonio that morning, sure she had been a bit more nervous than normal, but she was always that way when it came to big events.
Grey filled the skies by the time they had gotten washed up and were heading up the hill to Casita. Antonio bounced along ahead of them while Lena held the freshly picked banquet of flowers and Natalia held a large glass jar of honey.
"Castia, a little help?" Lena asked hopefully, as they approached the door, knowing that Antonio's knocking would be too soft to hear above the chaos that was inside and neither one of them would be able to knock given that both of their hands were full.
The house creaked a shudder in response and swung the door open.
They stepped into the courtyard to find colorful banners hung up across the balcony upstairs as well as purple flowers decorating the railing of the stairs.
"So this is the famous Natalia."
The familiar low rumble of her papa's voice greeted them before she could attempt to steer them towards the kitchen. He stepped out from the kitchen and greeted them with a grin.
Lena felt her face warm up, but the gardener returned the smile and extended a hand to which her papa looked at for a moment and gave her a large hug, she barely had time to hand over the flowers before they were crushed. Lena took them quickly.
"Buenavida!" He let go of the startled gardener and then teased," Flowers for me?"
"Actually for Dona Alma, as a thank you for extending the invitation." Natalia explained.
"She will love them, if not I will." her papa said, which caused the gardener to beam.
Thunder rumbled above them in the distance.
"Pepa!" Abuela shouted from above them on the second floor.
"I'm trying!" her mama called back from the opposite side of the house, "I can't find Antonio!"
Her papa cupped his hand over his mouth and shouted back, "He's down here!"
Her mama stood over the balcony edge with a worried look on her face and a cloud above her head, it dissipated upon seeing him.
"It's okay mi vida, he's cleaner than when he left." her papa replied as a reassurance, and then turned to them," everyone is almost finished setting up, if you want to see what's left to do. Tonito let's get you to your mama."
"Okay!" her hermano said and started to bounce off.
"Sorry for the chaos." Lena apologized and guided Natalia towards the kitchen where Tia Julieta was stacking chorizos on a brown clay platter.
"Hola Natalia! Glad you could make it. Lena, would you take this outside to the table and come in to get the rest?"
"I can help." the gardener volunteered, putting the glass jar of honey down as well as the flowers and taking the plate before Lena could.
"Gracias. There's still the rice, beans, chicharron, arepas, plantains.."
"We'll send in the others." Lena said volunteered with a smile and took the red clay plate of arepas sitting on the counter.
Tia Julieta gave them a relieved smile, "Gracias."
"De nada." The gardener replied as they walked out of the kitchen and down the short hallway to the open door that led outside.
A large wooden table had already been set up with a red plastic tablecloth, chairs on each side, plates and silverware were already placed. Lena recognized the tall thin boy that was talking with Isabela as Diego, she knew he was tall and skinny but seeing him and Tio Agustin in the same proximity, her tio looked very overweight and short in comparison.
How Diego managed to spot them from the curly mop that was on top of his head was quite impressive as he strode over in what seemed like two strides from his leaning spot on the tree and took the plate from Lena.
She tried not to gape at how he managed to not snap his arms as thin as they were.
"There's more where that came from." Natalia said from behind them.
"I'll go help." Diego volunteered.
Luisa followed suit despite giving a worried look up at the sky.
Camilo's eyes lit up at the sight of food and he went to reach for an arepa when Lena smacked his hand lightly.
"Not until everyone is here and seated, Cami."
He scowled for a moment at her and then gave a heavy sigh and trudged dramatically toward the door.
Natalia tried to stifle a giggle.
"Don't encourage him." Lena said
"He's always dramatic and hungry." her twin added with a smile, "Nice to finally meet you."
"You too, so you and Diego?" the gardener asked.
Dolores blushed slightly.
"How does he see through all that hair though?"
"Lena!" her twin gasped.
"What? It's true, he has more hair than you. "
"Does not!"
"Is that why you like him?" Lena teased her twin, "so you can style his hair to see what looks good on yours?"
She heard chuckling and it was coming from Tio Agustin, Isabela and a shorter boy who was about the same height as her papa and just as round. She recognized him as Guillermo and she secretly hoped there was enough food to feed him and the rest of the family as she had seen him at Tia Juielta's cart over the years, and the amount of empanadas, arepas and other food that he would eat made Camilo's food sneaking habits pale in comparison.
Luisa came out with a large tray of the rest of the bandeja paisa items while Diego carried another plate of arepas behind him. Everyone attempted to negotiate a seat at the table and somehow Lena ended up between Antonio and Natalia with Tia Julieta, straight across from her.
The sky darkened as they ate and she tried not to notice that Abuela shot her and her mama both with disapproving looks. Natalia meanwhile was being entertained as the birthday boy had managed to wiggle out of his seat and into the gardener's lap while Maribel was on the other side of her chatting about the latest sewing project.
Camilo had somehow gotten himself into a contest with the respective boyfriends of who could pile the most arepas on their plate without the tower falling down while Isabela and Dolores were trying not to have the tower of arepas fall on either of their plates.
Clean up had just finished and they were moving into the courtyard when it started to sprinkle.
"Clear skies, clear skies." Her mama muttered while fretting with her braid.
It did nothing to keep the rain from falling in earnest as everyone began to head into Casita.
"Where's Tonito?" Lena asked having suddenly lost her youngest hermano.
Everyone looked around for a moment and they heard a squeal of delight, turning they saw him hopping in the newly formed mud puddles.
"Your clothes!" their mama cried.
The rain was so heavy it was beginning to plaster his hair to his face, he brushed it away and continued to jump into puddles. Lena ran out with the intention of scooping him up and pulling him inside but found herself not only soaked but covered in mud as well.
It was like the donkey incident all over again, except instead of feeling embarrassed she was oddly amused and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face, her hermano had a point it was fun to play in the puddles.
Natalia soon joined them, along with Mirabel, Camilo, the boyfriends who started a mud throwing contest to which Isabela and Dolores ran to the safety of Casita to hide away from leaving the adults as the only ones not involved until her papa stepped out and pulled her mama with him.
"See mi vida, just like our wedding day."
Her mama looked hesitant but was quickly swept up in a dance led by her papa. Even Tia Julieta managed to get into it.
Everyone was soaked except Abuela and for a moment Lena didn't care as Antonio's laughter rang out above the din of the rain.
Before they knew it, the rain had slowed down and the clouds broke up and the fading sun poked out from the corner of the clouds.
Towels were dispersed at some point and everyone had dried off as much as they could and made in around the front of the house to the courtyard where they gathered for the rest of the evening.
Mirabel had finally gotten a chance to show Natalia her latest sewing projects, one of which was a small embroidered pillow with weights on it for Luisa. Her youngest prima even got a chance to show Natalia how to sew a bit and fixed up the frayed headband before Antonio was tucked into bed with yawning protests.
"I'll walk you home." Lena volunteered as they reached the courtyard to see Isabela and Dolores saying goodnight to their respective boyfriends.
Natalia nodded and they walked down the hill together hand in hand in silence.
"Sorry about the mud on your skirt. " Lena apologized as they reached the front door.
"Stains will come out, Antonio had fun."
"I'm sorry I was just nervous earlier about everything -"
Natalia stopped her with a slight shake of her head. "Mi cariña, there was nothing to worry about. Tu familia es maravillosa y tu tambien."
She was so stunned by the words that she didn't have time to react when Natalia leaned forward and kissed her lightly.
"Buenas noches. Go home before I have to walk you back."
On the walk back Lena felt it only took a few moments before she reached the lights of Casita.
She saw her mama outside the door waiting for her and swallowed nervously approaching.
"Mama, I-" she started but found herself wrapped up in a tight embrace as light rain fell over them.
"Mi hija." her mama whispered and pulled her into a tighter embrace.
The hug held for a few more moments before Lena let go and her mother touched her face with both hands.
"Esta bien?" she asked, concerned.
"Si, si. You've just grown so much in the past few years and I'm sorry I didn't notice. I'm so proud of you hija." she hugged her again.
"Gracias, mama."
"Your tia was right."
"Hmm?"
"Natalia is good for you. You remind me so much of mi hermano." her mama smiled at her sadly for a moment and then blinked away tears, "let's get you to bed mi hija. It's been a long day."
"It has." she agreed, letting herself be led through the courtyard and up the stairs to her room.
