Groff-Miranda/Miranda-Groff

Fourty Six

*Cici's P.O.V*

"This is way too much, mami." I said, sitting in front of the makeup table. "Way too much for a quinceñera that's for a seventeen year old."
"Sh." Vanessa silenced. "My quince was the highlight of my teenager life. Your papa was there, he'll tell you. It was so much fun. Now shush and let me do my hija's hair for her quince."
By the time she was done, my hair was elaborately sitting on the top of my head. As if that wasn't bad enough she slid a tiara on my head.
"Isn't that-"
"Overkill? Nope. I called your grandma, in Argentina, and asked her to send this for you. It was your mami's." Vanessa said, standing behind me, looking into the mirror.
"Let's go, señorita."
We had driven to the hall where the party was and I had gotten dressed there, because face it, that dress wasn't fitting in a car if it was on me.
I turned and asked for a minute, and Vanessa slid out. I took the tiara off my head and looked at it. "My mama wore this." I muttered, running my fingers along it.
I had two memories of my parents. One of them was of September 11th, and I remembered it so vividly, as if it had been yesterday.
I sighed and stood up, walking out the room. I was surprised to see everyone. The cast, Gabe, West, and even Jack, my friend in Matilda.
"You complete moron." I laughed, walking over to hug him. The giant dress swished. "What are you doing here? Your last show is on Saturday!"
He brushed it off. "I had to come to your seventeen year old quinceñera."
We laughed. I hugged West, who already had stuffed herself with the appetizers . "Is there more food coming, because I ate too much."
"You look so beautiful." Gabe said, trying to hold in a laugh as I tripped over the ginormous skirt. "When do you get to put on your heels, because you're struggling."
"Hey, fathers!" I yelled. Jon and Lin looked up. "When's the flat to heel ceremony? Now?"
"No, now we dance." Gabe said, taking me to the floor, where people were already milling around. The music changed to a samba.
"A samba in this?" I laughed. "No freaking way."
We all danced for a while, and half-way through, Lin and Jon took the mic.
"Hi!" Jon said happily.
"Hola." Lin said.
"It's time for the changing of the shoes." Jon said. He grinned at me as I let out a sigh of relief. Heels. Finally.
"For those of you don't know what it is, this is a ceremony in which the the father, or father's in Ceci's case, changes the shoes of his daughter from flats to heels to symbolize her change into adulthood." Lin explained.
"Also, side note, la muñeca ultima, the last doll is going around the tables. The doll is the last one Ceci will receive in her life, theoretically and it symbolizes her childhood, and will guide her through adulthood." Vanessa said, coming to the mic. "Just give it a hug, with a good wish. She deserves the good wishes."
Vanessa disappeared as Jon and Lin stepped over to me, each holding a heel. I let out a squeak of happiness seeing my favorite shoes.
"Okay, I'm putting the first one on, so Lin is gonna kneel next to you, and you use him as a balance, and then we switch." Jon said. I nodded.
Lin kneeled on my right side, and I braced my hand against his shoulder. I lifted my foot. Jon looked up at me and grinned as he took off my flat and slid on a heel.
Then as I stood on one heel and one flat, Lin and Jon switched, and Lin was pulling my flat off my foot. He slid my heel on.
"Te amo, hija." He murmured. The two stood up and kissed my cheeks as I laughed. Suddenly, Vanessa's voice came over the mic. "It's time for the father-daughter dance!"
I laughed as we formed some sort of three way dancing formation, the music playing. I glanced to the left, and Vanessa was there, dancing with Sebastian.
For two songs we danced, and Jon stepped away. Lin and Vanessa danced together, and I took Sebastian.
"Special hermana y hermano dance, Seb." I explained to him. He laughed and clapped his hands. "It's a good tradition. At your wedding, we dance again."
"Bailar!" He cried, registering the word. I laughed.
By the end, I was exhausted. I had danced with just about every person at the party, including the girls. It was a lot of fun, but when I received the last doll, I was relieved.
She was a traditional Brazilian doll, and she looked like me. I took one look at it and burst into tears.
"Thank you all so much for making this the best birthday I've ever had. It means too much." I cried, holding the doll close.
As everyone left, I turned to look at Vanessa, Lin and Jon.
"Can we go to Ground Zero?" I asked. They looked at me in confusion.
"That's the only memorial there is for my parents. They were buried in Brazil. I want to go see them, but if you don't want-"
"Yeah. Let's go."
It was a struggle to fit all of us in the car, and my dress was still on. The drive was long and traffic was a mess. The air was still with awkwardness.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked the figure standing in front of my parent's names. Gabe turned around, scanning me.
"You're going to think I'm pathetic." Gabe said.
"I already do. Talk."
"I come to talk to them. You told me so much as children, your parents became mine. I love you so much, I talk to them."
I sighed. "Let's talk, then."
I kneeled on the ground, dress splayed everywhere. The entire city seemed to go quiet for me and my parents.
Just for me and my parents.

{A/N: Hey. So, as you can imagine, I am planning the end of this book. I really don't want to drag this out to 100 chapters, because you're all gonna get bored. It's gonna be a while away, but the end is planned. Side note, remember how Gabe and Cici were gonna do In The Heights? I'm sorry, but I've had to write that out. I'm just gonna say it already happened. Love y'all. xxAv}