sweet (f/?) | snippet #1

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ni tea0731

ni tea0731

"Welcome home, sweaty!"

Maria beamed as her relatives gathered about her, the applause and chatter making her feel warm inside. It wasn't every day that she graduated with her Master's, but today was that day and her family would never let her forget it.

"Thanks, doofus," she teased, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to hear the endearment in her tone. "Learned from the best."

She chuckled as he made a face, instead focusing on her mom, whose pride was as visible as the fairy lights about her studio apartment, or the flag painted in pink, yellow, and blue stripes. "Mom..." she started, but the older woman beat her to it.

"Mi hija..."

The hug was sweet. Sweet was the cinnamon scent that had followed them from the 2 bedroom apartment, the scent that freshened their tea or cleansed the kitchen space. Sweet like the feeble woman putting her entire weight into her daughter, truly letting go for the first time in 25 years.

Even as they toured her new dwelling, bringing in boxes from the rental van and sharing stories of Maria's youth, she couldn't help but notice the sweet side of things. Sweet brother, sweet moments...everything she looked at or through filled her with an airy sense of joy she couldn't explain.

All except the subtle twitch of the sugar shaker, a movement that Maria's stomach could only describe as sickly sweet.