California Dreamin

7

Every summer the two families would go to the beach together as Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Ayala always used to when they were young.
That day was probably the hottest so it was perfect.

Nina was back home as she couldn't stand the thought of leaving her mother alone for too long.
Of course she argued with her father but not because she left, rather because she was growing up to be a beautiful woman and the Ramirez family was full of men. He was jealous they would see her body.
Unfortunately for him though, the bruises he caused her daughter almost disappeared so she was back into being her confident self.

"Call me when you'll come back home and tell me everything, Neens. God, I can only imagine how hot he looks after coming out of the water." Nina had a pretty disgusted face as she listened to what her best friend was fantasizing about.
After telling her the same old "yes", "I'll tell you everything", she put the phone down, put on a sundress and reached everyone outside her house as the Ramirez's were waiting in their respective cars for them to get going as well. They never left the Ayala's behind.

As Ms. Ayala was closing the house, Ruben, one of the Ramirez's son, poked his head out of the window.
"Kat! What took you so long? Jealous boyfriend?"
He teased.

Nina jokingly moked him and as she was about to get into her family's car, she heard Richard speaking from Ruth's one.
"More like an obsessive friend, I bet."

The girl gave him a "leave her alone" look before closing the car door. They had to arrive to South Padre Island, which wasn't the closest beach to El Paso but the two families shared a semi-detached house there since when the two mothers were kids. So it was much convenient for them and it was tradition, although it was still a twelve hours trip. No wonder it was 7 AM when they got into the cars.

Without thinking twice, Nina fell asleep.
In another car, Richard was thrilled. He always hated that traditional summer vacation with his family and Nina's, as he would spend most of the time arguing with her when they were kids or complaining about her presence when they started to grow up and simply ignore each other. However, that year was different.

They were finally on good terms and he was hoping she'd forget about her friend for those two weeks.
He wanted to make a move. He still didn't know how though, he was the shyest boy ever when it came to girls.

They stopped a few times to get gas and when they arrived it was already 7 PM. Some of them still wanted to go to the beach to look at the sunset and they went.
Nina wasn't feeling much like it.
She didn't say a word to Richard, she was too much in her feelings. She was being paranoid about her body as she was afraid the bruises were still visible.

The two houses have gotten a bit small for the two families over times as there were already a few Ramirez kids, Nina on the other hand didn't mind it at all. She'd smile whenever she'd hear their little feet's tappings on the floor as they ran around the house or their little giggles.

Despite her opinion about marriage, she'd love to have children one day.
She always smiled at the thought.

The families had dinner at the giant table they had in the backyard after cleaning up around the houses as they've been untouched for a year.
Nina had so much fun with the Ramirez's as usual. Apart from Ruth, her favorite Ramirez was certainly Ruben as he was the funniest and even a little rebellious. Of course he had to suffer the consequences with his father but he never changed that much.

Because of his personality, Nina had a little crush on him when she was around nine or ten years old. It faded with time given their eleven age gap and Nina realized it while growing up.
However, she never stopped thinking of how everyone in that family was really good looking, the Ramirez genes were literally something else.