Here is the big reveal for Lizzy...

It was 9 am on a grey, wet and windy late fall morning. September and October were beautiful in Cambridge but November? Not so much. The corridors of her house were quiet. Of course, in general, college houses on a Saturday morning were not well known for their early risers. She breezed through the dining room, picking up a banana and a carton of OJ before heading over to the T. She popped them into her backpack, pulled out her rain gear, headphones, and t pass and headed over to the red line.

The T station was empty. At least I'll be able to get a seat this morning, Lizzy thought. Setting up her iPod, Lizzy zoned out to the sounds of Radiohead and started to think about the conversation she needed to have with her papa this afternoon. She wanted him to be excited and happy for her. It had been her dream to work for the New York Times and now she actually had an internship with them. Why wouldn't he be happy for her?

Her papa had always been resistant to Lizzy leaving Boston for any reason. Her junior year of high school her class went to Washington DC but her papa refused to let her go. Then, her senior year, the Spanish club planned a trip to Mexico and again he refused her. Her parents were from Mexico, so she thought they would be excited for her to go to their homeland and yet, he was adamantly opposed. In fact, they never went anywhere. Never travelled anywhere outside of Massachusetts. Summer days on Revere Beach was as far afield as they might go. Well she was growing up and he was going to have to get used to the fact that she might be further away then a bike or t-ride. Maybe she should work on getting her driver's license too. She was probably the only 20-year old at Harvard College who didn't have her license. Now that her 21st birthday was approaching she would want to have one so she could go out with her friends occasionally. Not that she was that into drinking but it would be nice to have the option.

She hopped off the red line at Downtown Crossing and climbed up the steps to wait for the orange line. 9:25. She should be fine to get to the restaurant for 10 and help her mama prepare for the lunch crowd. Lizzy hadn't been home much over the past two weeks. Mid-terms had kept her on campus so she'd only worked one shift last weekend. She didn't really mind helping out at the restaurant and since her papa had gotten sick, she was the only one who could manage reconciling the books. That's something else she would need to figure out when she was in New York this summer. Maybe it was time to hire an accountant. At any rate, coming home each week gave her a chance to check in on her folks and sisters. Make sure that Lilia and Katerina weren't getting into any trouble and try to encourage Maria to get into some trouble.

This ride was faster on this leg and pretty soon the T was pulling up to the Jackson Square stop. Lifting up her hood and pulling out her umbrella, Lizzy walked up Centre Street towards her parents' restaurant. It was a quaint little restaurant, a replica of the restaurant her abuela had in Oaxaca before she was born, or so her papa had told her. It had become locally well-known for their chicken in mole sauce and hot chocolate. She could use a steaming mug of it now. Hopefully mama had some on the stove waiting for her.

Lizzy walked around the back of the building that housed their restaurant and home. Racing up the back steps she popped her bag down in the front room and looked into the kitchen. Lilia and Katerina were slumped in chairs in the kitchen, sleep still in their eyes. "Hola chicas, que pasa?" The girls looked up at Lizzy and grunted. "I guess I won't be getting a good morning from you two. Is mama downstairs already?" Lizzy asked.

"Yea. I can't believe we had to work last night. We always have to work on Fridays and it's not fair. We had to work the entire weekend last weekend because you were barely around. You should've come home to work last night to make it up to us," Lydia whined.

"Quit complaining. You know around your finals I'll be picking up extra shifts to help out." Lizzy retorted. "Well, I'm heading down. I'll see you in a bit."

Lizzy headed back down the steps to the restaurant and could already smell the garlic and onions cooking. "Hola mama," Lizzy called out.

"Where have you been? I've been running around trying to get things ready and you've been wandering around your pretty little college campus taking your sweet time to get here," Francesca Benetez chided.

"Mama, it's 10:00 on the nose. I'm always here at 10. I was upstairs checking in with Lilia and Katerina and putting my backpack down. Now, what can I do to help you Mama," Lizzy patiently replied. Every weekend it was the same story. First the complaints and then the questions about her dating life would arise.

"How are things at school? Do you have a boyfriend yet? You're getting close to finishing and you really need to find a nice rich American to marry. There must be so many rich American men at Harvard. Why, if Lilia or Katerina were there they'd have already gotten married. You should know what to do, " Her mama said in an exasperated voice.

"Mama, I'm not in school to get married. I'm in school to get an education." Lizzy repeated for likely the millionth time in her life.

"I don't know why you don't listen to me. I just don't understand. Just go, go out to the seating area and make sure its ready to go for the day," Franny, as her mama was commonly known, called out, already walking away.

Lizzy got down to work. The next hour flew by and soon enough, a few regulars were seated for lunch. 3:00 came around and the last of the lunch customers were gone, the dining room was clean, and she could head upstairs to check on her papa.

Her papa had been the main cook for the first 11 years the restaurant had been open but a heart attack had slowed him down and ever since he barely stepped foot in the restaurant. Well, that's not quite true. After his first heart attack, he continued to supervise the cooking but, in the past two years, after his second heart attack, he had retreated to his office and barely emerged for meals. They'd needed to hire an extra cook to take over more of the responsibility. It was a bit of a blow financially for the family but fortunately her papa seemed to be regaining his strength and maybe he would start cooking more again. She found him where he always was, reading in his office. He was really enjoying having her at Harvard now. The Spanish language library was filled with classics he hadn't read in years and she always brought him a new book to read when she came home to work.

"Papa?" Lizzy called as she entered the room.

"Ah, mi lucero, you have finally come to see me," her papa responded.

"Oh papa, you know I've been downstairs in the restaurant helping mama. How are you feeling? Have you been taking your medicines?" Lizzy asked. She always worried for him but the past two years had been worse.

"Always keeping your papa in line. Never fear, your mama is so afraid I'm going to drop dead that she stands over me while I take my medicines every day. I'm feeling well. Now Lizzy, do you have my book? I'm completely done with the last two you brought me." Her papa looked much better and his eyes were twinkling as he started to search through her bag. He grabbed the book and looked it over. Oh, wonderful. I haven't read this one in years. A true classic." Tomas looked up at her with a critical eye now. "Lizzy, you look worried about something. And it's not my health. Tell me your story." Tomas Benetez said as he patted the chair next to him.

Lizzy grabbed her backpack and sat down next to her papa in the chair she had occupied for every important conversation in her life. She had thought a lot about how she was going to tell her papa about the internship. During her train ride this morning she had decided that the best way to tell him was to simply hand him the letter she received from the New York Times and let him read it.

"Papa, I have some very good news. I think it's best if you read this letter I've received." She handed the piece of paper over to him and watched his expression as he unfolded the paper and began to read.

Tomas Benetez had always supported her writing. Talking about her successes to all the restaurant regulars. He should be excited. She watched him as he read. At first he looked interested but all of a sudden all the color drained from his face. He dropped the letter and his head dropped down to his hands.

Lizzy jumped up and kneeled down in front of her father. "Papa, what's wrong! Are you ok? Do you need anything?" Lizzy urgently asked.

"Oh Elizabeth, everything is wrong and it's all my fault." Lizzy had never seen her papa this distraught. He wouldn't look at her. Wouldn't turn his face to her.

"What are you talking about papa? Did you read the letter? It's good news. My dreams are being realized. I know you're not comfortable with traveling but truly papa I will be fine." Lizzy urged.

"Elizabeth, I have dreaded and put off this conversation with you for too long." He sighed. "I can't believe it's been 20 years. We should have talked about this a long time ago. I am sorry Lizzy. So very sorry and I don't know what to do." Her papa mumbled as he said the last words.

She had never heard or seen her papa look this sad, morose really. But she truly did not understand what he was talking about. How could an internship be so terrible as to upset her papa this much?

"Papa, you're scaring me. Please talk to me," Lizzy urged.

Talking a deep breath, her papa looked up and met her eyes. He sighed, stood up and walked over to the window. "Elizabeth, do you know the story of how we came to this country? Do you know, do you know where you were born?" Her father began.

"Um, I know that you and mama were both from the state of Oaxaca and there was some civil unrest. You didn't think it was a safe place to raise a family so abuela sold her restaurant and gave you and mama the proceeds so you could move to America to start your restaurant. You came to Boston because the Lopez' had settled here and they had found a great Latino community here in JP. Is that right papa?" Lizzy asked.

"For the most part, yes. What we've never discussed is our status - or your status. You see, mama and I were born in Mexico... and so were you. We travelled here, when you were 9 months old. We thought once we got here we could convert our tourist visas to permanent visas but we weren't successful. But we didn't leave like we were supposed to. We simply stayed. And here we are, still here, but not legally. Only Maria, Katerina and Lilia, are US citizens," her papa said.

Lizzy's head was spinning. The words sinking in and as they did, she jumped up from her chair and turned to her papa. "Wait! Are you saying I am an illegal immigrant?" Lizzy almost shouted. "I am not an American citizen!"

"I am so very sorry mi lucero. No, you're not a US citizen. You can't work because you aren't here legally. Your sisters can because they were born here, but we - you, me and mama, are not. I've hoped and prayed that they'd change the laws. That there would be a way to change this. When we came 20 years ago, it wasn't really a big deal. You could do all sorts of things without having a social security number. But in recent years it's just gotten so very hard. That's part of why your mama is always trying to get you married. She is so worried that if you don't marry, you'll be found out and deported. I'm sorry I didn't tell you - long ago - but it seemed we always found a way around it and I just thought that by the time it mattered, the laws would've changed and you'd be fine." Tomas Benetez looked over at his beautiful daughter, his little bright star, with true remorse. How could he have done this to her?

For the first time in a very long time, Elizabeth Benetez was speechless. It had honestly never occurred to her that she wasn't an American. She had lived here her entire life, or at least, she thought she had. Her entire life now felt like a lie. She couldn't stay here in this house. She couldn't look at her papa or mama. They had lied to her all these years. She couldn't look at her sisters. They didn't have her problem. They could do anything they wanted. It just didn't feel fair and yet she was stuck. She needed to leave.

Lizzy looked once more at her papa, grabbed her backpack and ran out of the house.

Outside in the crisp November afternoon, Lizzy took fresh eyes to her surroundings. At least the rain had stopped. She took off towards Jamaica Pond. She had often worked through challenges walking around the pond and Arnold Arboretum.

'I'm here, in the United States, illegally. I could be deported and sent to a country I haven't seen since I was 9 months old.' These thoughts were circulating in her mind combining with pure disbelief. It simply had never occurred to her. Why? There had been so many signs and yet it had never entered her mind to even ask. On all of her college applications she had always written that her place of birth was Boston, MA and her parents had never said anything. What was she going to do? She didn't understand what this would mean. Several loops around the pond did her no good however, and she decided she needed to work her way back towards a T station so she could get back to campus. Her first stop was going to be Widener Library. She needed to research immigration and understand her options. She sent a quick text over to Maria letting her know that she was heading back to Cambridge. Maria would tell her parents; saving Lizzy the necessity of another conversation with her parents.