Chapter 34: The Home Life of the Riveras

The next day, Ernesto De La Cruz and his two friends arrive in Santa Cecilia. They checked out at a local inn, which was not as luxurious as Ernesto expected. But the only reason they stayed in their room was because it was the only inn in town.

"Well, amigos," Ernesto said as he pulled the covers over him. "We better get some sleep; tomorrow is going to be another busy day." He yawned and fell asleep, drifting off into slumberland. As he snored, Anotnoio and Gustavo shared a quick pillow talk.

"I don't know about you but I'm nervous about this," Antonio whispered. "What if we run into you-know-who?"

"Don't worry, amigo," Gustavo said, trying to calm down his anxiety. "For a small town, Santa Cecilia is kind of big so maybe we won't run into you-know-who."

Meanwhile, several blocks away, a musician walked through the streets in the early evening, whistling a happy tune. He was carrying his guitar and songbook. The man knocked on the door of a familiar house and entered inside.

"Imelda, kids!" Héctor called, jovially. "I'm home!"

"Papá!" The children shouted as they immediately rushed out of their bedrooms.

It wasn't too long after Héctor and Imelda became husband and wife by common-marriage law; they were blessed with more children after Coco. As the children grew, Héctor's elders passed away, leaving the house and farm to him in his care. For years, he has been supporting his family by playing music at parties, weddings, birthday parties, and other gigs. He always made sure to play locally, so he could still be close to his family and still be part of their lives.

The father was greeted by his eldest daughter, Coco with a big hug and kiss. She was no longer an infant anymore, she was a 22-year-old woman.

There was 21-year-old José, who was the second child. He was born a year later after his parents had their wedding ceremony.

Then there was the middle child, Selene who was about 16 years old.

The last two children were a set of twins, Manuel and Clara, who were 11 years old.

"How was your gig today?" Coco asked.

"It was great!" Héctor replied, with a grin. He was thinking of how many people danced to his songs.

"Papá, did you bring me a present?" Selene asked.

"I want one, too!" Clara piped up, excitedly.

"Girls, he didn't come back from a toy store!" José said sternly.

"Papá, I ate a grasshopper today!" Manuel said proudly.

"Oh was Mamá cooking?" his father joked. He leaned his mouth to the kid's ear. "Don't tell her I said that."

"I heard that!" a loud feminine voice shouted across the room.

The musician winced, wondering if he upset her feelings.

Imelda came strolling toward the living room and found her husband surrounded by their children. "All right, children, Madre coming through!" She greeted her husband with a peck on the lips.

In the past decade, the matriarch of the Rivera family had been working. Imelda started a shoe business after she discovered her talent in fixing shoes. This had happened when her eldest daughter broke her shoe, and she was able to fix it up. When Imelda first began her shoe shop, she struggled with making sales because people didn't like that she, a woman, was running the business. Women shouldn't be doing men's work, they said. Imelda has a talent for making shoes. Her husband lacked talent in making shoes, so he helped with customer service. Although he wished he could help so Imelda would not have to work so hard, she encouraged him to make money with his talent, which was music. Her parents gave her a head start in the business before they moved out. Her brothers joined her in the workshop business, too, but spent more time in school because they wanted to graduate from high school before officially becoming shoemakers.

Imelda greeted her husband with a kiss. Even though they had a common marriage law, Imelda felt that he deserved to be honored with that title. "How was work?"

"It was great!" the musician answered. "Everybody loved the music I played!"

Children pulled on Hector's shirt.

"Papá, darme the chocolate!" the youngest son pleaded. "I saw the candy in your pocket!"

"I want it too!" Selene whined.

"Yo también!" her little sister begged.

"Ah, Ah, Ah!" Imelda said loudly. She shook her finger at the girls. "Kids, you are not getting any candy! I don't want your dinner to be spoiled." She heard the tea kettle whistling. "Coco, come and help me in the kitchen!"

"Yes, mother," the eldest daughter nodded.

While mother and daughter were in the kitchen, the three younger children were still giving their father eyes that were sad and so big that they almost covered half of their faces.

"Sorry, kids, but you heard what your mother said," the man said, trying to be firm. But the more his younger children silently pleaded, the more Héctor couldn't resist.

"Por favor, Papá! Por favoooooooor!"

Well..." their father thought as he looked into their big and sweet eyes. "Okay!" He took something out of his pocket. He gave one piece of chocolate to Selene and two more pieces of chocolate to the twins.

The children were so happy that they gave their father a great big hug. Then, they gobbled up the candy.

"You know they're going to be hyper," his oldest son warned him. He was the only one who didn't want the candy.

"Don't worry, it's just one little tootsie roll," the family patriarch said with a twinkle in his eye. "It won't spoil their appetite."

"All right, everybody!" Imelda announced. "It's dinner time!" She came out of the kitchen to tell her family that. When she did, her eyes widened at the sight of her two youngest children jumping on the couch.

"Yay, Hahaha, whoopee!" the children shouted.

"Clara and Manuel, get off the couch!" their father pleaded.

"I'm not too hungry," Selene said, slouching on the chair.

"But we just made dinner!" Coco lightly scolded her. "You were hungry five minutes ago!"

Imelda slowly turned to look at her husband who was struggling to calm down his younger children. "Héctor, did you give them candy?"

"What, me? Oh no, no, no, no!" the man chuckled and shook his head. "Now mi amor, would I do something like that?" He froze when one of his daughters hugged him from his side and spilled the secret.

"Gracias for the candy, papa!" Selene cheered.

Upon hearing this, the matriarch glared at her daughter, who quickly backed away, and at her husband, who smiled sheepishly.

"Um, when I said no, that was a lie and I apologize." Héctor yelped when his wife pulled him from the collar of his shirt close to her face.

"You're sleeping on the couch tonight!" the woman hissed.

"Oh boy," the man said, his shoulders deflating.