Summary: Maribel (RoD MC) and her family, including her cousin Vanessa (ILITW MC), get together in Lake Tahoe, California for a family reunion.
Author’s note: This was written for cora-nova’s Choices August Challenge, bonus prompt Family Reunion.
Maribel closed the door to her hotel room and began walking towards the elevator. She was looking forward to seeing her mother’s side of the family again. It had been too long since they were all together. They were spread out along the West Coast; she and her father were in Los Angeles, her maternal grandparents were in San Diego, Uncle Tony was in San Francisco, and Aunt Sara, Uncle Fernando, and her cousin Vanessa were in Westchester, Oregon. They had chosen Lake Tahoe as the site of their family reunion because it was a central location. As she walked down the hall of her floor, she heard a door open.
“Maribel!”
She turned around, rushed over to Vanessa, and gave her a hug. “It’s so good to see you!”
“You too!” Vanessa motioned to the young blond man beside her. “This is Connor. Connor, this is my cousin Maribel.”
Maribel smiled at him warmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Connor. Vanessa’s told me a lot about you.”
“Oh, has she? Connor grinned. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
Vanessa looked to Maribel. “Don’t tell Grandma and Grandpa that Connor and I are sharing a room, OK?”
“Of course! They’d probably want to drag you off to confession immediately.”
They took the elevator downstairs and headed to the hotel restaurant, where the family was meeting for dinner. Her father, grandparents, Sara, and Fernando were already seated at a large table. They sat down and began talking.
Not long afterward, Connor turned to Maribel. “You weren’t kidding about confession, were you?”
“No, why?” Her question was answered as a priest approached the table. “Oh! That’s our great-uncle Pedro.”
Vanessa looked from Connor to Pedro. “Uncle Pedro, this is my boyfriend Connor.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Father,” said Connor.
A few minutes later, Tony walked in with another man, younger than him, with blond hair that had been partially dyed green. “Hi, everyone. This is Greg.”
Maribel’s grandparents looked at each other, and then her grandmother turned to face Greg. “I’m Tony’s mother, Silvia, and this is my husband Manuel.” She then turned to Tony. “I didn’t know you were bringing a friend.”
“Greg moved in with me recently,” said Tony.
“Oh, you brought your roommate!” Silvia glanced at Pedro, then looked at Tony pointedly.
Tony glared at his mother. Before he could say anything, the waiter arrived. After everyone had ordered, he brought a bottle of wine for the table.
“None for you,” Maribel’s father said to her.
“Fine, I’ll have a Diet Coke.” After everything she had been through with Logan, she was no innocent, but apparently a glass of wine with dinner was still too much to ask for, even though everyone else was having some.
Once they all had their drinks, Manuel raised his glass. “To our family. Salud!”
The others raised their glasses as well. “Salud!”
“Nice tattoo, Maribel!” said Tony.
Maribel smiled. “Thanks.”
“Don’t encourage her,” her father said.
Like she couldn’t make up her own mind! “I was thinking of getting another one, actually.”
“You should come visit me. I’ll take you to a great tattoo parlor. Rahim’s work is magical.” Tony grinned. “And he’s easy on the eyes, too.”
When their food arrived, Pedro led them in prayer. “Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
They began eating, and continued to catch up with each other. Maribel filled in her family on her first year at Langston.
Silvia directed her attention towards Vanessa and Connor. “You two have been together for a while now. Are you engaged yet?”
“Not officially,” said Vanessa. “We want to get married eventually, but not yet. I want to go to grad school first. Then my friend Dan and I want to open up a practice together. He’s going to be a counselor, and I want to do animal-assisted therapy.”
“Vanessa is so good with animals,” said Sara. “When we came back from Portugal a few years ago, she had adopted a kitten, tamed a crow, and was petsitting our neighbor’s dog. It was like coming home to a zoo!”
“And what about you, Maribel? There must be lots of nice young men at Langston. Have you met anyone special?” Silvia asked.
Maribel reached up and touched the sparkplug that hung around her neck. She never took it off; she always wanted a piece of Logan close to her heart. She still wasn’t over him, and she wondered if she ever would be. “No, I’m focusing more on my studies.” Maybe she’d better change the subject. Logan was still a sore subject with her father, and she didn’t want to risk him coming up. “So, what are we doing tomorrow?”
“It’s going to be a nice sunny day,” said Fernando. “How about we go to the lake? We could swim, or go boating.”
“Good thing Uncle Pedro’s here, in case we need an exorcism,” said Vanessa.
Silvia’s eyes widened. “What?”
“You never know what might be out there,” Vanessa pointed out. “And I heard things from my friend Milla. What if the lake is haunted?”
“You have such a vivid imagination,” Sara said. “I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Anyone want to check out the casino tonight?” asked Greg.
“I do!” replied Tony.
Manuel shook his head. “You’re throwing your money away.”
“Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty. Proverbs 28:22,” said Pedro.
Tony looked to Maribel, Vanessa, and Connor. “You guys want to come?”
Maribel thought about the last time that she had been in a casino. She still had nightmares about being trapped in the vault after seeing Jason stab a member of his task force to death. When the gas grenade had gone off, she thought she was going to die. “No, I had a really bad experience in a casino. I’m afraid it might bring back memories.”
“You lost big, huh?” Tony asked.
“I almost lost everything.” If Logan hadn’t opened the vault and rescued her, she would have lost her life.
Vanessa looked at Maribel sympathetically, then turned back to Tony. “We’ll pass too. Connor and I will keep Maribel company.”
Later than night, Maribel went to Vanessa and Connor’s room, and the three of them spent time talking. Without the older generations, they could speak more freely.
“You’re an artist, right?” Maribel asked Connor.
Connor nodded. “I mostly do sculpture.”
“Are you any good at drawing?”
“It’s not what I usually do, but I can draw, yeah.”
Maribel looked at Vanessa. “Did you tell him what I went through last summer?”
“Of course not. That’s between us.”
Maribel turned to Connor. “You know how I said I wanted to get another tattoo? I was hoping maybe you could design it for me.”
“Sure, what did you have in mind?”
She took a deep breath. “Last summer I found out that I was pregnant. I know it wouldn’t have been easy, but I wanted to keep the baby.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “But…I lost it.”
“Oh God, I’m so sorry.” Connor leaned in and gave her a hug.
“Thanks. Anyway, I thought it would be nice to get a tattoo in memory of my baby. I was thinking of an angel with a ribbon wrapped around its robe, half blue and half pink, since I don’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl. That’s the miscarriage ribbon. And maybe you could make the angel look like a combination of me and Logan. The father.” Maribel reached for her phone and opened up the photo app. She scrolled through her pictures and found one of Logan, then showed it to Connor. “That’s him.”
“I would be honored.” Connor walked over to the desk and found a pad of paper. He sketched the design, then showed it to Maribel and Vanessa. “Here’s a rough idea of what it would look like. You’ll have to imagine how it would look with the colors.”
Maribel was overwhelmed with emotions as she looked at the drawing. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. I hope I did it justice.”
“You did.” Maribel touched her shoulder. “Think it would look good here? I like the idea of an angel on my shoulder.”
“Definitely,” Connor told her.
“That’s perfect,” said Vanessa.
“I bet Logan would love it too,” said Maribel.
“Are you in touch with him at all?” Vanessa asked.
“Not as often as I would like. But at least I know how to reach him.” Maribel picked up her phone and took a picture of the sketch, then sent a text to Logan. This is the tattoo I want to get in memory of our baby. Do you like it?
A little later, Logan replied. I love it. It’s beautiful, and so are you. I miss you.
Maribel smiled as she read the text. “He loves it,” she told Connor and Vanessa. “I hope you can meet him someday.”
“I hope we can too. I know you miss him.” Vanessa hugged Maribel tightly. “Remember, I’m always here for you. We’re family.”