Author's Note: Sorry for the delay – real life and all that.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Paulo's jet was parked on the west apron of the secondary runway, near the far end away from the terminal building of the executive airport in Orlando. Javier timed their arrival for mid-afternoon, a couple of hours before the Rodriguez family were due to return. He whisked Letty and Angelina on board out of sight and introduced them to the pilot, Tony (puttering around and slowly doing preflight checks), then the two men worked in tandem to transfer the various bags of clothes and things from car to plane in record time.
Javier then got rid of his car by driving it a few blocks away, pulling up to a bus stop, and giving it to a working-class Latino man waiting for the bus, telling him in Spanish the car was his. All he wanted in return was a ride back to the airport, which was duly – and very gratefully – given. He even properly signed over the title, having gotten his money's worth from the machine.
Paulo and the kids, Maribel and Paulito, arrived in a taxi just after five, all three chattering happily about their weekend at Disney. True to form, Maribel immediately fell in love with baby Angelina, holding her tenderly as she sat next to Letty at the four-person table and playing peek-a-boo. Even Paulito, being brought up to be a gentleman, sat down across from his sister and at least pretended interest, while his father didn't feign it; Paulo loved kids, his own or other's, and welcomed Letty to the family with such warmth as she had never known in her life.
Suddenly Tony's voice came over the plane's speakers from the cockpit: "Señor! A police car is approaching, lights flashing!" A moment later, as the adults stared at each other in consternation, Tony confirmed the car was stopping in front of their jet, blocking them from leaving. A single uniformed police officer climbed out and warily approached the door, which had not yet been closed and locked, the short drop stairway still extended. Javier looked frantically at Letty, drawing breath to say something, but she was already instinctively slipping out of her seat and under the table onto the floor, pulling her hospital blanket (she had been sitting wrapped up in it, feeling perpetually cold these days) up over her head, leaving the baby in Maribel's willing – if surprised – arms. The two teens, sitting across the table from each other, both straightened up, covering the gaps between table and seats and hiding Letty completely. Nodding approval, Javier and Paulo turned in unison and stepped towards the door.
The cop was a thirty-something white male with apparently several years on the force, judging from how he handled himself. His name tag read simply "Jones". He wasted little time on niceties, jumping straight into the reason for his "visit". "We had reports of a woman and a baby boarding this plane, who match the description of a woman wanted for questioning in several states." He proceeded to give – from memory – a fairly accurate description of Letty. Javier was cursing silently; apparently they hadn't been careful enough.
Paulo had naturally taken charge. "Well, as you see, all we have is my family – and my chef, and the pilot, of course." Tony had come to stand in the cockpit doorway. Javier, patting his back pocket surreptitiously to make sure he had his new passport, took a second to appreciate how Paulo had finessed his answer: he hadn't denied Letty was onboard outright, and he had just finished welcoming her to the family.
"And the infant...?" Jones asked, peering around the men towards the table – and stopping in evident embarrassment. Paulo and Javier, naturally turning with him, had to bite the insides of their cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing and giving the game away.
Maribel, holding the newborn naturally level against her chest, had grabbed a baby blanket and draped it over her shoulder, covering it and half of Angelina, looking for all the world like she was breastfeeding the baby! Her flaming cheeks and haughty, "Excuse me?" before turning her face away to stare at the windows only added to her veritas: Young Unwed Mother Caught Breastfeeding by a Stranger.
And then thirteen-year-old Paulito piped up with "Hey! Don't stare at my sister's tits!" in English.
His own face turning beet-red, Jones mumbled something about their informant obviously had been wrong, turned, and made a hasty exit, nearly stumbling down the steps in his haste to escape. Paulo managed to haul up the folding ladder, shut the door and lock it before letting out the howls of laughter, joining the rest of the passengers.
Javier managed to lean over the table to peer underneath. "Are you okay, Letty?" he gasped out, but she was; wiping tears of helpless laughter from her cheeks. It was a few minutes before she was able to pull herself back out from under the table.
"I should spank both of you!" Paulo got out, shaking his finger at his children.
"Oh, don't do that!" Javier jumped to their defense. "That was absolutely perfect! Thank you!" And he ruffled Paulito's hair before leaning over to kiss Maribel's cheek.
"He's gone – and we have clearance for takeoff," Tony reported from the cockpit. "Permission to get out of here, Señor?"
"For god's sake, yes!" Paulo replied, still chortling.
Four hours later, Javier was no longer laughing. In fact, he was distinctly near panic.
It had begun with Letty. After nursing Angelina, she had gratefully handed the baby back to Maribel. "I don't feel good," she told her husband – and she frankly looked it.
"You're pale." He was instantly concerned. He put one hand on her forehead, but she wasn't feverish.
"I'm fine," she lied. "Just tired and a little woozy – probably from the altitude. I just want to lie down for a while." After spending the last few days since the birth mostly lying in a hotel bed, or sitting in the car, she should have felt more rested.
Javier went to the last group of four seats – there were four such clusters which could be reconfigured on the fly – and with a few swift adjustments turned them into a double bed, which he insisted Letty lie down upon, bringing her a pillow and an extra blanket from a cabinet. She did so gratefully, then alarmed him further by falling asleep immediately.
Then he heard Maribel whisper something to Paulo, and his equally soft reply. "What was that?" he pounced.
"It's nothing," the older man tried to reassure him. "It's very common in newborns, and needs only a quick, easy treatment."
That wasn't going to fly without an explanation. "What?"
"She's just got a touch of jaundice – see, her skin looks a little yellow. But I told you, it's nothing to worry about!" Paulo glanced at Letty, sleeping a few seats away, and made an executive decision, thumbing a nearby switch for the intercom. "Tony, how far out are we?"
"Forty minutes to landing, Señor."
"Please call ahead to the tower, and tell them we need an ambulance waiting to take a mother and newborn baby to the hospital, as a precaution. Possible exhaustion and jaundice, respectively."
"Si, Señor."
Paulo turned back to his friend. "There, you see? We are taking no chances, but they will both be fine."
Both Paulo's diagnoses and his predictions turned out correct. Letty had been bleeding more than she should have, and had developed a slight anemia, corrected with a blood transfusion, while Angelina merely needed a few hours in a newborn light suit to counteract her – perfectly routine – touch of jaundice. The hospital in Guayaquil kept both of them overnight just for observation, with Javier once more sleeping on a couch much too short for him, Angelina's bassinet between him and Letty's hospital bed.
The hospital stay had one unexpected benefit which neither of them had foreseen, but gladly accepted. The next morning, before the two patients were released, a nurse came in with a clipboard just as Letty began nursing her baby. "I take it this little one was born at home?" Nurse Maria asked in Spanish. Javier replied in a cautious affirmative when it was evident Letty's nascent Spanish wasn't quite up to it.
"Have you had a chance to apply for her birth certificate yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Well, we can take care of that right now, then!" Maria replied perkily, flashing the form on her clipboard.
Javier grinned at Letty, whispering "Birth certificate" in English, then proceeded to give all the particulars for Maria to enter in the form, with their new names, the address of the penthouse annex, and grabbing a common name at random for their fictitious midwife in attendance. He knew government officials would never check up on that. Letty, smiling, simply nursed the baby and let her husband handle it.
Thus did Angelina Ava Perez become a bona fide citizen of Ecuador from birth.
A short time later, the new family finally arrived at their new home in a taxi – Paulo had taken care of getting all the various baggage from the plane to the apartment the night before. After a quick stop in the lobby to get Nicoleta and Angelina Perez onto the list of official residents (and letting the guards on duty coo over the baby in a most un-macho way), they took the elevator up to the top floor, finding Paulo and the kids waiting in the hallway – Javier had forgotten it was a school holiday.
So he handed the baby in her carrier to Paulo, and scooped Letty up without warning into his arms to carry her laughing across the threshold.
And then refused to set her down again, giving her a complete tour of the penthouse from his arms. At last, Maribel opened the side door from the kitchen into their little apartment with a broad grin, and he carried her across their own threshold – and stopped dead, mouth agape at the transformation.
Paulo and the kids had been busy: a new king-sized bed (with gorgeous bedding) had taken the place of the tiny twin bed Javier had been sleeping in, while a new crib and changing table stood ready nearby. There was even a new small round wooden table with two chairs in the kitchenette.
A heartfelt round of thanks was in order – both the new parents made certain to thank each of their benefactors. Then, finally, Javier asked Maribel to turn down the bed, and at last set his wife down upon it, plumped pillows behind her back, slipped off her shoes, and tucked her in. She just grinned and let him pamper her. Then he made a nest of more pillows (there were about a dozen scattered about) beside her, and took Angelina out of her carrier and placed her gently in the nest.
And then stubbornly refused to allow Letty to get out of bed for anything other than using the bathroom or taking care of the baby for an entire solid week. He brought every meal on a bed tray, and spent every hour he wasn't cooking there beside them both, playing with the baby whenever she was awake, talking the world around, sharing memories and hopes and dreams.
Nicoleta loved every minute of it.