Unable to hold it in, Luz laughed out loud. Yeah right, she said, her hand resting on her belly. After this one, there would be no more babies coming out of her. "How long have you been working on this?"
"After you went to bed the night of our argument," he admitted. "I know how much you like having all the facts in front of you. I'm sorry for just springing this on you."
"You didn't, I was being a brat. Blame the baby." Harry leaned in and kissed her temple, whispering to her that all was forgotten. Luz took the laptop out of his hands and set it on her lap. "Now, show me this house again."
Harry was glad that she was slowly coming around, but he was left a little confused. "But, I thought you liked making plans and presentations. I even had two charts!"
Luz herself was confused by his complaint. She did like the presentation, that's why she wanted to look it over some more. But with a pointed look from Harry, Luz remembered the conversation they'd had years ago about the power of plans. "Did you seriously put this together just to have sex with me?"
"Of course not," Harry defended. "I just thought, you know, since we're here, and the kids are out with their Auntie Gemma..."
So they bought a new house, Luz actually allowed to help chip in this time. Not as much as her husband, but enough to make her feel like this was a decision and a purchase they were making together. And she took on a lot of the decorating this time around, claiming that if they were going to live in some big fancy house, she would need to make it less so on the inside.
Denise turned and gazed at the house in question, in awe of it as well, though her thoughts probably weren't on the same wavelength as Luz's. The last owner was some old Hollywood film writer that was eventually moved into an assisted living home. Denise and the other neighbors on the block had watched for weeks as different people came to visit for open houses and showings. She thought it was going to go to some young thing with an older rich husband, but apparently not, but Denise remembered almost every single face that viewed this house, and Luz's or her litter of children wasn't one of them.
"Yes, well, I'll leave you to it then," Denise said, her smile impeccable despite the fact that James was now rolling across the front lawn. An odd choice for their neighborhood indeed. Still, she was nothing if not neighborly. "I have a daughter about Ynez's age, we must set them up for a playdate. And I have an older daughter who would be more than happy to babysit. I know it must be hard managing four children on your own."
"I just might have to take you up on that, except I'm- married," Luz finished lamely when she realized Denise was already walking away.
"She's weird, Mami," Robin said, still in Luz's arms.
She gave her daughter a look, but she didn't hold it for long. "Yeah, well, I have a feeling she feels the same about us, peanut."
***
About a month later, Luz and her family were all settled in, and Denise feared all her assumptions were correct. Well, almost all of them. Though no one had ever seen evidence of a husband, Leigh Anne Nussbaum from down the street insisted that Luz was married, having seen the ring on the young woman's left ring finger when she brought the new neighbors a welcome basket of goodies.
"It's just gorgeous, Denise. Vintage, I think."
So she was married, but no one, not even Leigh Anne, had seen the elusive husband. No, it was only a mother, four kids, and two dogs hanging in and around the large house, except for when an older couple stopped by; grandparents, Denise assumed.
Strangers Part 2
Start from the beginning
