Thank you for beta'ing, MsSchneeheide!
Happy Halloween! And now, the moment you've all been waiting for…one of them, at least!
"So, why are we going to this guy's house who we don't even know again?" Maritza asks as she slides her pies into the oven, one by one, being careful not to spill the mixture or burn herself.
"Many of us wanted to get together for Thanksgiving, and there isn't enough room here. Fahri is rich, so, therefore, has a large house and dining room table. Y sé que tú y Raiza no lo conocen, pero yo sí. He went to school with Karla, Ramón, Diablo, and I. He's pretty nice," Blanca informs her. "Now, I wasn't really the best of friends with him, but I'm getting close to Diane and he's like a son to her. She asked if we all could come along, and he was cool with it."
And I know you and Raiza don't know him, but I do.
Maritza nods in understanding. "Oh, okay, entiendo."
I understand.
"I was thinking we could also go look at shelters today, if you wanted to?" Karla wonders aloud. "It could help you prepare, and we're not going to Fahri's until three. Ramón would stay home with Benji while Raiza's with us."
"Yeah, sure!" Blanca says with a grateful smile. "Diane says she feeds the homeless on Thanksgiving, so we may see her around."
"Oh, that's nice!" Maritza shrugs. "I don't mind."
Raiza and Benji suddenly start yelling at the top of their lungs while running into the kitchen, holding hands. "What, what, what?" the women and Maritza question them in unison.
"¡Usa tus voces internas, por favor!" Karla instructs them in a kind but firm voice. She ruffles their hair. "¿Qué pasó?"
Use your inside voices, please!
They both giggle while looking at each other. "We smell punkin pie!" Benji explains.
"Yeah, when can we eat it, tía? ¿Cuándo, cuándo, cuándo?" Raiza asks excitedly, jumping up and down along with Benji.
When, when, when?
The ladies and Maritza beam at their cuteness. "After dinner, niños, it's for dessert!" Karla lets them know.
"You have to be very patient, okay?" Blanca chimes in.
"Aw, but Mami..." Raiza pouts, tugging on Blanca's jeans. "I want it noooow."
"Me too!" Benji agrees.
"Hey, you two...the good news is, pumpkin pie isn't the only yummy thing we're having today, so it's not like you'll have to wait forever for something delicious to eat," Maritza assures them. "There's also cut up turkey with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with no skin, and stuffing! I know you think the green beans are yucky, so I didn't mention that. You can eat your vegetables with mashed potatoes to maybe hide the flavor if you'd like!"
"Yaaaay!" the children cheer.
"Can I bring my dolly, Mami?" Raiza wonders aloud. "I wanna hold her en la cena."
at dinner
"Of course, nena," Blanca responds sweetly. She runs her knuckles down Raiza's cheek and cups the little girl's chin. Maritza is aware that it's probably because they're going to be around more than a few men Raiza doesn't know, and she needs her lovey to comfort her.
"If she has Dora, can I have Pikachu?" Benji asks his mother, referring to his favorite Pokémon plushie. "Pweeeeeease?"
Karla kneels down to Benji's level. "Mijo, you remember when I told you Raiza gets scared around boy strangers?" He nods. "That's why she asked for her lovey. We don't want yours to get dirty or sticky, and we don't want you to be distracted and play with it instead of eating...but I guess it would okay for one night, I want to play fair."
"Whoo-hoo!" Benji shouts and throws his arms around Karla's neck. "I love you, Mommy!"
"I love you too, little man." Karla wraps him in a hug and kisses the top of his head. She looks up at Blanca and Maritza. "It's okay that I'm spoiling him once in a while, right?"
"Definitely!" they reply at the same time.
"Hola, mi amor," Ramón greets Karla once she stands up. They share a cute peck on the lips.
"Ew, cooties!" the kids interrupt them and everyone chuckles.
"Te ayudaré a preparar el desayuno si quieres," Ramón continues. He leans down to press a quick kiss to her belly and stands back up, embracing her. Maritza has to admit to herself that they're adorable together. She wishes her own parents had been like that, but it's all Dean's fault they weren't. She looks over at her mami, who appears to be delighted at their interaction.
I'll help you make breakfast if you want.
Karla grins at him. "Gracias, we're having huevos rancheros con jugo de naranja."
with orange juice
Ramón lifts her hand to his lips and kisses it. "Eso suena maravilloso, sweetie."
That sounds wonderful
Benji puts his hands to his hips and frowns. "Daddy, you're lazy! You didn't wake up when Mommy did!"
He turns around and lifts up his son while covering him in good morning kisses. "Well, I'm up now, mijo!" He sets the tiny boy on his shoulders and runs to the couch as Benji laughs out loud. Ramón brings his son back into his arms and starts tickling him. Karla smiles as she watches them, and then they come back to the kitchen.
The giggles coming out of the little guy warm Maritza's heart, but it also aches because this should've been her own father with her and Raiza. Instead, they had a useless asshole to fill that position. He was just a sperm donor that helped create Raiza and a terrible person in Maritza's house as she was growing up with her mother.
"You must be the cutest and most loving family on earth," Blanca tells them with a beam.
"Well, I don't know about that, but we are certainly very happy together!" Karla says pleasantly. "Hey...you and your girls are lovely, too, never forget that!" The four of them share a group hug, with Raiza squeezed in the center of the circle, her minuscule arms around one of Maritza's legs and another of Blanca's.
"Gracias," Maritza, Blanca, and Raiza say in unison.
The women's shelters they've been to so far are desolate, indeed. Blanca hadn't expected anything more than this. The beds are very close together and all in a row, two on each side, resembling an orphanage. The lighting is dim, but it's fine during the day and at night, people would want their sleep anyway, so it doesn't matter. Children play cards and board games while their mothers read or rock babies to sleep. There's very little chatter, as everyone is probably quite depressed and a little lonely. Blanca can see evidence of physical and emotional abuse on many of the people in the room. Still though, there are signs of love and joy in here, such as a woman quietly singing to some kids, two ladies bent over a magazine and giggling, and a pair of twins-a boy and girl-skipping around the room and wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. They're all excited to receive the plentiful food Diane and others provide for them. Maritza, Blanca, Karla, and Raiza help her out, while secretly seeing what goes on in this room.
Raiza had asked before why they're going to these sad places, and Blanca explained the situation as best she could. They didn't want Papá to find them if they stayed too long with Tía Karla, and Raiza had then agreed that would be too scary.
"Can we still see Tía?" Raiza asks.
"Of course we can," Blanca answers her softly, too low for Diane to hear. "We just can't live there."
They follow Diane to a Hispanic woman lying face down on a bed, her short, stringy black hair splayed all around her. A multicolored headband is dangling from her fingers and she's dressed in tattered brown jeans, worn-out boots, and a dingy jacket that was probably once pink. "Excuse me, ma'am...would you like something to eat?"
"Mmm..." The lady rolls over and Blanca gasps in shock to see Gloria's face blotchy and marred with bruises and scars. A nasty cut is on her bottom lip and it looks halfway healed. "Nah, pero you got a piña colada?"
Diane smiles at her gently and then her jaw drops in astonishment. "Gloria Mendoza? Oh, honey..."
"Yeah, what about it? Por favor, answer my question, I don't need your pity," Gloria snaps.
"Sorry, we can't give out alcoholic beverages..."
"It's cool, I know that, just messin' with you! I'd love one of those hot meals you got, no shit!" Blanca had covered Raiza's ears as soon as the curse word started coming out of Gloria's mouth. Diane hands the woman a plate of mashed potatoes and turkey covered with gravy, green beans, and sweet potatoes, and then a water bottle. "Gracias."
"De nada."
"Gloria?" Blanca asks, stunned. She flips her sunglasses up to the top of her head, forgetting momentarily about her injury. "We...we haven't seen you in so long..."
"We missed you so much!" Karla adds.
"That's what happens when you got a piece of shit for a boyfriend," Gloria mutters. She turns to Blanca. "Ay dios mío, that's really you...wow, he did a good job, so you're a battered woman, too, huh?"
"Oh, this is from some monster who used to work at Martin Van Buren High, not Dean," Blanca states, referring to her black eye. "My husband is dead." She rests her hands on Maritza's and Raiza's shoulders. "These are my daughters, you may remember Maritza...and then Raiza."
"Damn, lo siento. Nice to meet you girls, though." Gloria shakes hands with them. "Yo, I got kids of my own, too. I left 'em all with my mami for Thanksgiving...mi tía Lourdes is going over there as well..."
"You should be with 'em, Glo," Diane murmurs. "They're your family..."
"I love my babies, I don't want 'em stuck here on Thanksgiving! What the fuck motha you think I am?"
"I mean, you join your children and have a good dinner at your mom's house, catch up," Diane clarifies.
Gloria scoffs and shakes her head. "Look, I haven't seen Lourdes in years. I just know my mami thinks I'm a loser, even though she invited me to live with her. She tries to guilt me into doing it by saying she moved all the way to New York from Puerto Rico for me. I was twenty-one when I last saw her for a visit. The boys suffer here with me sometimes, but mostly if they're sad, I send them to Mami's with the girls. I don't want to see my aunt or my mom. It's humiliating and then they'll say they told me so because they hated Arturo from the start. My own daughters don't even like me either...Elena is nice enough to visit, but I can tell she's uncomfortable. She found me digging through the trash for food, humiliatingly enough, and then recommended shelters like this one. Ceci just took one look at me and stormed off."
"If they really love you, they won't pull that crap on you," Karla assures Gloria. "Maybe if you go and see your daughters more often, they'll come around. It ain't like you're in jail...you can go home."
"Estoy muy avergonzada," Gloria says glumly.
"Don't be ashamed...it's Arturo's fault that he was an abuser, not yours, no matter how much he tried to tell you it was," Blanca puts in sympathetically.
"Yeah, and how about this...I'm friends with Elena and Ceci, I can invite them and the rest of your familia to Fahri's big mansion, where we're all going," Maritza starts, gesturing toward herself, Blanca, Karla, Raiza, and Diane. "You gotta come with. Maybe y'all can try to reconnect like Mami did with Karla."
"Fahri..." Gloria mutters. "I bet he forgot all about me. We were tight back in high school, but...so much has changed. I'm broken, for one. Why would he wanna see me like this?" She points to her face and sniffles. "Look at me, I'm an embarrassment! Half my kids disrespect me. Benny and Julio only love me because they're small." She lets out a sob and buries her face in her hands. Blanca immediately sits down next to her and massages her back in soothing circles. "At least you didn't put yourself in danger..."
"En realidad lo hice," Blanca corrects her. "Oye, hablemos en español para que no entienda, no sabe por lo que he pasado y no tengo ganas de decirle." She subtly tilts her head toward Diane, and Gloria nods. Luckily, Karla gets the hint and leads Diane, Maritza, and Raiza away so Blanca and Gloria can talk in private. "También soy una sobreviviente de violencia doméstica...Dean era un monstruo, así que tuve que irme con mis hijas. No murió, desafortunadamente."
Actually, I did. Hey, let's talk in Spanish so she won't understand, she doesn't know what I've been through and I don't feel like telling her. I'm a domestic violence survivor, too...Dean was a monster, so I had to leave with my children. He didn't die, unfortunately.
"Oh, shit...I called it from the beginning. Nunca pareció un buen novio para ti," Gloria mumbles into her folded arms.
He never seemed like a good boyfriend for you.
Sighing and rolling her eyes, Blanca continues. "Sé lo que es huir con mis hijas y no poder quedarme con un amigo o familiar, porque temes que él te encuentre y te ponga a ti y a todos a tu alrededor en peligro, por lo que debes moverte de un lugar a otro lugar como un nómada. Solo que...mis hijas y yo nos estamos quedando con Karla y Ramón en este momento, hemos estado durante una semana, así que tenemos que irnos después del Día de Acción de Gracias. Nos mudamos aquí unos días antes de Jalowín, alquilé un departamento para nosotras, pero la tormenta lo destruyó y no pude pagar más facturas."
I know what it's like, running away with my kids and not being able to stay with a friend or relative, because you're afraid he'll find you and put you and everyone around you in danger, so you gotta move from place to place like a nomad. Only...my daughters and I are staying with Karla and Ramón right now, we have been for a week, so we need to leave after Thanksgiving. We moved back here a few days before Halloween, I rented an apartment for us, but it got pretty much destroyed in the storm and I couldn't pay more bills.
"Oh, lo siento." Gloria turns to one side to glance up at Blanca. "Podrías unirte a mí aquí. Me vendría bien una amiga."
You could join me here. I could use a friend.
"Probablemente lo haremos. Y sabes, estamos en el mismo barco de no estar seguros de que nuestros hijos nos aman y culparnos a nosotras mismos por el comportamiento de nuestros ex. Sin embargo, ¿sabes lo que he aprendido? No tenemos la culpa, y nuestros hijos nos aman, incluso si no lo demuestran, lo hacen. Maritza tiene dieciséis años y su amor por mí nunca se ha ido. Elena quería ayudar...ahora al menos podría haberte llevado a casa con ella..."
We probably will. And you know, we're in the same boat of not being certain our kids love us and blaming ourselves for our exes' behavior. However, do you know what I have learned? We are not to blame, and our children love us, even if they don't show it, they do. Maritza is sixteen years old and her love for me has never gone away. Elena wanted to help...now at least she could have taken you home with her...
"Soy una extraña para ella y Ceci. Las dejé cuando ambos eran pequeñas. Con su abuela, pero aún así...solo me conocen por las fotos."
I'm a stranger to her and Ceci. I gave them away when they were both little. To their grandmother, but still...they only know me from pictures.
"Al menos sabía y confiaba en quien se los estaba dando. La madre biológica de Maritza no tenía idea de quién iba a tener a su bebé, simplemente dejó a Maritza en nuestro porche y tocó el timbre como si estuviera entregando un paquete. Ella dejó una nota, era demasiado pobre para cuidar a su hija, bueno, tampoco es que yo fuera tan rica...y sólo tenía quince años y medio y me obligaron a vivir con mi novio abusivo en ese momento. Era uno de los peores lugares para que creciera un niño, pero mi chica lo desafió todo. Ella me protegió lo mejor que pudo y se ocupó de su hermanita."
At least you knew and trusted who you were giving them to. Maritza's birth mom had no idea who was getting her baby, she just dropped Maritza off on our porch and rang the doorbell like she was delivering a package. She left a note, she was too poor to take care of her daughter, well it's not like I was that rich either...and I was only fifteen and a half and forced to live with my abusive boyfriend at the time. It was one of the worst places for a kid to grow up in, but my girl braved it all. She protected me as best she could and she took care of her little sister.
"Aww, sé que hiciste lo mejor que pudiste con ella y Raiza. Mi hijo también me protegió, pero sólo tiene seis...los niños ni siquiera deberían tener que pensar en este tipo de mierda. Son tan inocentes...se supone que su vida está por delante de ellos, y sus pesadillas no deberían ser recuerdos de que papá empujó a mamá por las escaleras y le dio una maldita paliza. Él siempre decía que quería matarme."
Aww, I know you did your best with her and Raiza, though. My son protected me too, but he's only six...children shouldn't have to even think about this kind of shit. They're so innocent...their life is supposed to be ahead of them, and their nightmares shouldn't be flashbacks about Daddy pushing Mommy down the stairs and giving her a damn beating. He would always say he wanted to kill me.
Blanca's heart breaks at the sight of a downtrodden Gloria and hearing the slightly older woman's story that's so eerily similar to her own. Gloria used to be so enthusiastic about everything, always taking risks, and she had much longer hair back then, making it look like she was a free spirit, which she was. "Dean me diría lo mismo. Siempre me asustaba muchísimo. Me prohibió hablar español, a menos que estuviera actuando una de sus fantasías de mucama en español. Estoy de acuerdo...los niños no deberían presenciar tanta toxicidad en el hogar. Justo esta mañana, estaba pensando qué afortunado es el hijo de Karla y Ramón, Benji, de tener padres que se aman tanto que lo único por lo que debe preocuparse es ver una pequeña muestra pública de afecto, nada más que lindos picotazos en los labios y largos abrazos y susurros de dulces cosas entre los dos."
Dean would say the same thing to me. He would always scare the fuck out of me. He forbade me to speak Spanish, unless I was acting out one of his Spanish maid fantasies. I agree...kids shouldn't witness such toxicity in the home. Just this morning, I was thinking how lucky Karla and Ramón's son Benji is to have parents who love each other so much that the only thing he's gotta worry about is seeing a little public display of affection, nothing more than cute pecks on the lips and long hugs and whispers of sweet nothings between the two.
"Toda esa familia tiene mucha suerte," Gloria points out.
That whole family is fucking lucky.
"¿Lo se, verdad? Pero aparte de eso, Gloria, te lo ruego...por favor, únete a nosotros para el Día de Acción de Gracias." Blanca puts her hands together in a prayer motion. "No te arrepentirás. Puedes ver a todos con quienes perdiste el contacto, ponerte al día...confía en mí, es una gran sensación. Realmente espero que alguien sea lo suficientemente amable como para llevarte y puedas surfear en el sofá."
I know, right? But aside from that, Gloria, I'm begging you...please just come join us for Thanksgiving. You won't regret it. You can see everyone you lost touch with, catch up...trust me, it's a great feeling. I really hope someone is nice enough to take you in and you can couch surf.
"Sí, y déjame ayudarte como lo hiciste por mí hace tantos años. Tú y tus hijos son más que bienvenidos a quedarse con nosotros," Karla lets Gloria know as she rejoins them.
Yes, and let me help you like you did for me all those years ago. You and your kids are more than welcome to stay with us.
"Alright, I guess so," Gloria murmurs.
"Yay, that's great!" Blanca exclaims and she and Karla high-five. Diane, Maritza, and Raiza come over to them after going fully around the room. "She's coming to Thanksgiving dinner with us!" Maritza stares at Blanca with a far-off look in her eye. "Nena, ¿me has oído?"
did you hear me?
"Hm? Lo siento, I must've spaced out..."
"I said Gloria's joining us for Thanksgiving!"
"Awesome, I'll let Elena and Ceci know to join us and bring their hermanitos y abuela y Lourdes."
"Pero, don't force them, just invite them, okay?" Gloria tells Maritza, who nods.
"You got it! I could give you a makeover if you want."
"Gracias. I...I probably need a shower too first," Gloria admits sheepishly. "I wanna clean up. I smell like garbage and my hair's greasy...I'm grimy all over! I got these ugly clothes from Goodwill...been wearing 'em since I became homeless...like about a couple weeks ago."
"No problem, you can use our shower and we'll take you shopping!" Karla assures her.
"Oh, muchas gracias..."
"De nada."
Taking a shower does wonders to Gloria. It makes her feel refreshed and a lot younger. The warm water soothes her skin and as she massages shampoo and conditioner into her scalp, she can almost feel the debris coming out of her hair. With a loofah, she scrubs her whole body free of dirt from being out in the elements. She and her sons have been in and out of shelters, but mostly wandering around the cold, bitter streets of New York, looking for a safe place to stay that would keep them well heated and dry. She always tries to make sure she gets the short end of the stick out of all of them and simply has them stay with their abuela, but they normally want to be with her-even in a homeless shelter.
The upside of going to Thanksgiving is spending a nice day with her little ones for the first time in their lives. Arturo made every day miserable, especially holidays. He would force Gloria to do all the cooking and cleaning while he sat there and watched television. He got off on her slaving away. Every night ended with a beating that her boys never saw. The problem, though, is that she's mortified to face her mami and her tía and everyone she once was friends or acquainted with in high school. Those who knew her as a strong, positive, capable-of-anything young woman would now see a shell of who she used to be. Her lively spirit is crushed, her high self-esteem has long diminished, and she's not even that hot anymore. She's so gross that she can't get her job back at the bodega.
When that ugly loser had molested her at the last sleepover she'd ever gone to, she felt tainted. She never told anyone and it wasn't obvious, though, so it hadn't affected her so badly that she dropped those who loved her. This abuse by her ex was a whole lot different. At least Dixon had left her alone afterward. However, she never wanted to be near him again. He's been a trigger for her ever since that incident.
Gloria was brave when she led her girl group through a throng of rowdy imbeciles who were sexually harassing Karla instead of listening to Blanca telling them to stay away from her best friend. She'd been sixteen at the time.
She had the best moves out of Diane's whole hip-hop class and could dance the salsa so well that she was labeled the most popular girl in her senior class. Every girl wanted to be her and all the guys and some chicks would ask her on dates. Gloria always complimented Red on her food and would sometimes help her in the kitchen. She was like a little sister to the Russian lady.
She passed every class with flying colors, making her tía proud-okay, so she cheated in math, but no one would ever have to know. It's not like she needed it in her daily life before. She never will.
She tried pot and smoked cigarettes with Fahri and Aleida on one of their patios or at parties. Tiffany would sometimes join them. Blanca did one time, but decided it wasn't really for her. Karla, Lila, Theresa, and Leon flat-out refused.
There was that close call when Lourdes came home from church early and Gloria shoved her boyfriend into her closet when she thought her tía was coming into her room. He'd somehow managed to escape through the window without Lourdes noticing. She was eighteen, but Lourdes had a rule about not having sex before marriage and there were no boys allowed in the house when Gloria was home alone, period. The result of her not listening to her aunt was that she got pregnant at age nineteen and then twenty-one.
She'd been in her prime in high school; sixteen through eighteen were her best years. Arturo stomped into her life when she was pregnant with Elena and they'd had an on-off relationship for eleven years before Arturo finally started taking anger management classes, or so he'd said. When she wasn't with him, she dated Joe Caputo and gave birth to her two sons. She left him when she'd found out about his foot fetish. She knew there wouldn't be therapy to stop that. Besides, she didn't want to keep stringing him along while waiting for Arturo to fix his evil behavior.
Thinking of all this brings Gloria to tears and she muffles her sobs as she washes herself. It takes a while for her to finish and then dry off with a towel. She puts on the bathrobe Karla had provided for her and brushes her hair, curling the ends under. Showering in peace without Arturo barging in on her had been so nice. At the shelters, it doesn't really count as pleasant, because she has to share with others and the water is usually cold. She had never imagined her life to go this far downhill. Prison was some people's rock bottom, but being homeless is hers.
She lathers herself with lotion and then changes into black pants and a pretty dark purple blouse Karla had bought for her today. She then goes into Karla's room, where the ladies and Maritza are sitting on the host's bed and Raiza is playing with a Dora plushie on the floor. "Alright, I'm dressed!" she announces. "Now what?"
"I can totally do your makeup," Maritza tells her enthusiastically, waving eyeliner and mascara at her. "You okay with liquid liner?"
"Yeah..."
"I can give you some eye shadow from my MacPro Palette, too. Purple cool?"
"Alright, gracias."
Blanca and Karla beam in the background as Maritza leads Gloria to the vanity. She sits in the chair and side-eyes her reflection in the mirror. Maritza carefully applies contour to Gloria's face and does her eye makeup and then inspects her work. "Perfect. Now..." She smiles and picks up a tube of lipstick. "A nice dark red is gonna double your stunning look. It'll be like you were never homeless. You can put that behind you."
"Maritza!" Karla and Blanca say suddenly at the same time in a scolding tone.
"No, it's fine, I can't wait to be beautiful again," Gloria murmurs. She's bubbling with excitement. "Maybe it'll make them remember the old me."
"Nobody forgot you!" Blanca fires back. "It ain't like you're fea."
"Well not anymore, the ugliness came off of me en la ducha."
in the shower
"You weren't before, we all love you," Karla insists.
"Sorry if I was offensive," Maritza tells Gloria.
"Just don't go too hard over this cut. You're doing great, honey. I appreciate this." She looks over at her old friends with a grin. "Gracias, chicas, for trying to boost my autoestima."
self-esteem
"De nada," they say in unison.
She winces when Maritza spreads the red color around her lips and then she turns around fully to face the mirror. Right away, she's blessed at her appearance and stands up. "Wow, I feel like a brand new woman!" she gushes while spinning around in the mirror.
"Aw, really?" Maritza asks, beaming with what is probably pride.
Gloria nods and hugs the girl. "Yes, sí, oui, all the words that mean a confirmation, yes in all different languages!"
"That's wonderful!" Blanca exclaims.
"It truly is," Karla agrees. "So, you ready to go out and face the world with that can-do attitude that I know you've still got?"
"Well..." Gloria's face falls. "Not entirely. My stomach is swarming with butterflies and I'm sweating..." She wrings her hands.
"Hey, I felt the same way when Maritza gave me a gentle push to make more friends other than Karla," Blanca sympathizes. "Or rather, reconnect with the former gang that I was never that close to 'cause of Dean. ¿Y adivina qué? It was a little awkward at first. Pero lo atravesé y got myself a little clique, including Karla, of course!"
And guess what? But I powered through it and
"¿Qué hay de tu madre? ¿O con alguno de los miembros de tu familia?"
What about with your mom? Or with any of your family members?
"Family never leaves you, unless they're really fucked up. Probablemente estarán muy felices de verte, y if they give you attitude, you got us. Always. I promise," Karla says sincerely.
They'll probably be really happy to see you.
"Me, too," Blanca chimes in.
"Same here," Maritza adds. Gloria is soon surrounded by them and they start to hug her, but then they hesitate. "Um, is it okay if we-"
Gloria waves them forward even more. "Bring it in, come on."
"Yay!" Raiza pipes up as they share a group embrace.
Thank you for reading and reviewing, Ms. Schneeheide, VeraRose19, and Juliette45!