The Rivera family was now at home together at a family dinner, at least most of them, in a study near the living room was Diego Rivera and was on the phone with a very wealthy client and wrote down a few things on his father's desk. "I'm telling you, Mr. Reagan, you can't find a better 2003 Charger than the one I showed you."
His mother, Esmeralda Rivera, walked into the study where she saw her son still working while dinner was just done and was awaiting diego to sit with them, she leaned against the door and cleared her throat. "Diego, put the phone down and come eat with your family, work can wait." She said looking at her son, Esmeralda Rivera was the matriarch of the family.
"In a second, mama, i'll be right there, just let me finish up this deal." Diego said looking at his mother softly whilst holding the phone away from his ear, he was about to go back to the deal when his father came into the study.
"Diego Fernando Carmen Carlos Rivera, listen to your mother." Fernando said sternly yet softly, he placed a hand on his wife's back and rubbed it softly, Diego nodded before sighing.
"I'll call you back, Mr. Reagan, yes we'll continue the deal tomorrow. Happy fourth of july." He said hanging up the phone before sitting down at the dinner table as he kissed the head of Gabriella's head, his daughter. "Sorry everyone, a client called." He apologized getting his plate and looking at everyone with a smile.
"Don't worry mi hijo, your father did the same thing sometimes before he retired, every day you look even more similar," Esmeralda said, giggling a little. "Well, if we talk about 'similarities', your daughter is similar to you in the fact of 'arriving late to dinner'," he remarked, laughing with his daughter, but not before earning a bonk on the head from his mother. His father tried not to laugh infront of his wife which of course Esmeralda gave him a look.
And speaking of the devil, the door of the house was suddenly opened and Rosa Rivera, Diego's sister, entered. "I'm sorry for the delay, mi familia, but the traffic was very heavy," Rosa said as she greeted each member of the family and hugged her niece and mother, she kissed the top of her head and kissed her papa's cheek.
The Rivera family was now spending quality time eating and laughing together but suddenly and without warning their fun was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone "Way to spoil the fun," Rosa said leaning against her seat and took a sip of her wine, "Don't worry, I'll get" Diego said as he got up and walked over to the phone to answer the call as the others watched from afar at the table.
"Hello, Rivera Family Home, Diego Rivera speaking" Diego said when answering, "What, How? That's not possible. I just saw him not too long ago." Diego responded somewhat upset, which alerted his family, "Ok we'll be there" He said dejectedly as he hung up the phone and turned back around to head back to the table.
"Mijo, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Esmeralda asked when she saw Diego's sad face.
"Coach Buzzer has.... he has....." Diego couldn't find the words to say it, "He has what Diego?" asked Fernando now a bit worried and confused looking at his son.
Diego didn't want to say it but in the end he got it out of his chest. "Coach buzze has passed away." he said causing his family to looked shocked and suprised at the sudden news.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rivera family had arrived to their hometown, they arrived at the church where they saw everyone walking inside of the church then Diego saw Marcus Higgins, one of his old friends from the old days, talking to a chick by one of the cars. "Come on baby, after the funeral you and I could go drown our sorrows in a bar or maybe at the motel." He said which only got the chick to slap him in the face and she left somewhere.
Diego laughed at his friend's misfortune and approached to talk to him "I'm surprised you haven't been arrested for sexual harassment yet Higgy" he said gaining Higgin's attention
Higgins, upon seeing Diego, just laughed at his comment. "The police wouldn't dare, they wouldn't want to leave the girls without this, Hermano" he said, pointing to himself.
The two adults just started laughing and giving each other a friendly hug. "I'm glad to see you again, Higgins" Diego said. "I'm glad to see you too, man." Higgins responded.
"I wish the circumstances were better than these, but its really good to see you again. " said Diego smiling sadly at Higgins, "Same" said Higgins who now noticed Diego's family, "Hey, is that your sister?" He asked when he saw Rosa standing by Gabriella and Fernando.
"Yep" Diego replied looking at his family. "Wow, she has grown very good, is she single?" Higgins asked, "Yep, but I'll warn you that she is also a big fan of La Lucha Libre, Hermano so best not piss her off." Diego said with mischievously which caused higgins to laugh and nodded.
After their little reunion, they walked towards the church and saw lenny and his family as well for kurt and his family. "Didn't I tell you to turn the phone off there, Greg?" Lenny said to his son, who had on a expensive looking tux and dssunglasses on. You could definitely tell this family had money.
"Yeah, but it's my massage therapist." Greg said which caused diego and his family to have a look of confusion on their faces. 'What child has a massage therapist?' Thought Esmeralda, they walked beside higgins and walked up to the other friends and families.
"What? No, no, no, No cell phones."
"No cell phones? Then i'm out of here." Higgins said to his old friends which they smiled, Diego and his family held small amused looks on their faces.
"Higgy, Rivera!"
"Who's ready to get their funeral on?" Marcus said, doing a weird dance, infront of everyone, "I'm sorry death makes me weird."
"We see that Marcus." Diego said and everyone laughed. He smiled, diego and his family walked up to them and introduced themselves to the wives.
"Rivera, how you been." Lenny said hugging and patting diego's back with a wide happy smile on his face, diego and him pulled away. "Oh, you know, things been good with me and the family, hollywood." Teased Diego smirking, lenny shooked his head and let out a small laugh. "Gabriella come meet a friend of mine." He called out to his daughter, who shyly stood next to Diego.
"Lenny, this is my daughter, Gabriella, this is Lenny Feder. One of my old friends from the ol' days." Diego said introducing his daughter to his friend and which lenny waved at the girl and of course, Gabriella smiled and waved back.
"Mi amor, why don't you go see the other kids, you might become friends with them." Diego said kissing her head softly, she walked over to the other kids. Diego continued to reunite with his friends that he had missed dearly through his life but he was glad to see them since they parted from each other.
the Lamonsoff family pulled up beside them which caused Diego to get out of his daze and turned to see his old friend. "Hey, now." Eric Lamonsoff called out as he pulled up, his wife beside him in the passenger seat, his son sat next to his daughter a large shaggy dog sat next to them.
"Lamonsoff. Rolling up in a Caddy?" Lenny appreciated as Eric's Family climbed out but the dog stayed in the back, Lenny nodded at all off them as they climbed out.
"That's how we do it." Eric shrugged, a large grin on his face.
"And you, you've grown up on me, man. Are you a B-cup now?" Lenny said jokely smiling at eric. Eric laughs
"Hey, nice ears. You get the NFL package on those?" Eric said
"Nice Caddy. You selling lawn furniture and crack?" Kurt said to his friend.
"Come on, I'm the co-owner of Branchville Lawn Furniture, man. I'm the boss now, baby." Eric said proudly to his friends.
"Oh, good for you, Eric." Diego said happy for his old friend.
"Glad you brought your mother this time." Kurt said pointing at the dog.
"Oh that's a Good One." Eric said high fiving him.
"It's like shaking hands with an eagle. I'll see you later." Eric said driving off.
"Oh, my God. It's Captain Caring of the SS Melodrama." Diego heard marcus say and turn to see an Elvis look-alike standing on the steps of the church, which was his friend Robb.
Kurt laughed at higgins's comment as they slowly walked "Oh, he's gonna play this one big." He sighed.
"Cue "Hey."" Highins did an impression of the man
"Hey." The Elvis look-alike spoke in the exact same way as Higgins had predicted making them all laugh.
"Hey." Lenny then laughed as he greeted the man.
"Hell of a circumstance, huh?" The man sighed as he climbed down the steps, looking between his old friends.
Lenny nodded, "I know, I know. It sucks." He appreciated. "Great to see you." He spoke as he huffed the significantly shorter man.
"Well, the Buzzer's up there coaching heaven's team now." The short man pointed out, looking up at the sky sadly.
"That's true." Lenny nodded.
Rob nodded as he started to list basketball players that were dead. "He's got Wilt, Pistol Pete, Dr J." He spoke the last one causing Me to frown.
"Actually, Dr J's alive still." Diego corrected and Lenny nodded in agreement at Diego.
Rob frowned and then was quick to try and cover his mistake. "Well, those types of guys." He justified and i just chuckled at him.
Lenny nodded at him to make him feel better. "Yeah, yeah." He agreed with a hint of amusement.
"You look good, though, man." Lenny complimented and then looked the man up and down, tilting his head to the side a little as he thought about it. "It's like if Elvis was an Oompa Loompa he's right in front of me." He then laughed.
"Well, I don't make jokes at funerals because it's disrespectful. But if that's part of your healing process, I'm cool with it." The man remarked.
"That's nice. Thanks." He huffed the short man again. "Are you cool with a finger in you?" He joked, poking a finger on Rob's bum while he made a funny noise and the man jumped slightly. He then turned over his shoulder and called over for his wife to join him "Hey, Roxanne. Remember Rob the guy I always tell you about? Rob?" He asked Roxanne as Diego moved back to stand by his friends.
"Of course. The kid who didn't hit puberty till he was 19, right?" Diego heard Roxanne noted causing Lenny & diego to Laugh and Rob to frown he then turned to Lenny.
"That was our secret." Diego heard Robb grumbled.
Diego was now talking with Higgins and Kurt about the past and the things they were currently doing however his conversation would be interrupted when he saw Gabriela who was talking to the person he least wanted to see at the church
Higgins noticed that Diego was staring at something so he turned to see what it was "Hey, isn't that..." but his comment remained unfinished since Diego immediately went to where Gaby was. The guys and their wives watched from afar and the guys gave each other a look of knowing.
"Gabriela, stay away from her" was what Diego said pulling his daughter close to him and away from the woman. "Diego it's been a while" was what the woman said when she saw him and held a tight and small smile on her face. "What are you doing here Valentina?" He asked upset
"I was asked by Mama Rivera, to be here for the funeral and i deserve to know Gabriella, do i not?" Valentina questioned furrowing her eyebrows closely, she crossed her arms above her chest and stared at diego.
"You lost that right, after what you did and after you left them both all those years ago." Diego said angerily which caused Gabriella to look between the two in confusion and was intrigied to who the woman was, Esmeralda came over and stood by Diego & Gabriella.
“Hush, my darling." Esmwral "Valentina, it's been a while," she said politely.
“It is a pleasure to see you again Doña Esmeralda, I am very grateful to you for inviting me” Valentina said as she kissed the sides of Esmeralda's cheeks then smiled softly at Gabriella.
"Mama, What the meaning of this? Why did you invite her here?" Diego asked, somewhat annoyed with the precense of Valentina which caused her shift uncomfortable and look away from his eyes.
"You already know why, Mijo." she said, Diego shifted to look at Gabriella then back at Valentina and Esmeralda. "She will never know about it, never mama, i will not allow it." Diego told them both firmly before leaving towards the church with the rest of the friends.
"Papa, who was that?" Gabriella asked curiously who was the woman that her papa and Abuela was talking about, Diego shooked his head and sighed. "No one, Mi querida corazon, she was just someone from papa's past and has come to haunt me." Diego told her softly, Rosa looked at Diego then saw Valentina causing her eyes to widen and she froze at the sight of her before slowly going inside of the church with her dad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rivera ramily were in the church now and was sitting down awaiting for the funeral to start. Diego was sitting next to his family and they were behind the Feder family. Meanwhile Valentina nearby close to The Rivera family and she looked at mainly Rosa & Gabriella which Rosa looked back but Valentina looked away quickly with a blush. As the funeral continued, so did Higgins weirdness. After Lenny made his speech, Robb went up there and sung a song which caused a few of people to start laughing whilst trying not to laugh.
Fernando fell asleep next to Esmeralda and snored quietly which his wife and daughter noticed before Esmeralda slapped the back of his head causing Fernando to joint and jump in fright and suprise. "Wake up, amor." she whispered shouted jokely with a smile on her face, she also listened to the funny song that Robb was singing. "I'm awake, woman! I'm awake, no need to slap my head." Fernando said looking at his wife before she kissed his cheek softly and held his hand gently.
Robb then got on one knee and sang the final part of his song, which kurt gave $5 dollars to Lenny and of course, he placed it into his pocket, when Robb was done singing his song. Marcus made a buzzer sound which everyone in the room laughed and Robb looked angery and upset.
Few mintes later, Outside of the church, the families were eating some cake and having drinks, the kids were doing their own things.
"So how are we feel about Rob's girl? We're happy for him or--?" Lenny asked his friends about Gloria and Robb.
"Oh, my god. The St. Pauli Grandma?She seems all right." Marcus Said to Lenny
"She's Pretty.... You know, in a "me in a wig" sort of way" Eric said making the others, including Diego, laugh.
"Yeah. Yeah, exactly." Lenny said laughing at his friend's commentt.
"When Ben Franklin was flying that kite and it had the key on it... ...that was to her apartment." Diego said chuckling,
"You know, but I gotta say, he seems like he's in love, you know?" Lamonsoff said to his friends, of course they nodded. "He was in love with the first three wives." Lenny said as he looked at Robb & Gloria.
"The Cheater, the Beater and the Eater."
"You know, his problem is he's always so overly in love so quick, you know?" Marcus Said.
"And then one day he snaps and then it gets ugly in a hurry." Higgins said snapped his fingers and Diego agreed with him.
"Coffee, Mr. Feder?" Rita asked Lenny, his friends look at him which caused him to look back at his friends.
"No, no, no. I'm good, I'm good." Lenny denied.
"I mean, thank you. That's cool of you to voluntarily wanna give me coffee." Lenny said.
"Just, you drink it, you know, while you're studying inside the church."
"But you texted me you want coffee." Rita said confused making Diego laugh.
"I texted you that I wanted you to drink the coffee and study."
"So study your books in the church."
"Good ahead. All right, Rita" Lenny said turning back to his friends with a tight smile on his face, Rita left into the church and took the tea with her hands.
Few hours later.
"Mommy, i want some milk" Bean said to sally.
"Oh, sure, angel. You come here. I'll give you a little something" Sally said pulling out her breast and letting bean suck on it causing Diego to choke on his cake and looked at Sally, Kurt patted his back as Diego drinked some champange to ease the cake down his throat. Esmeralda covered Gabriella's eyes.
"Slow down, honey. Not such big gulps. You're gonna get a tummy ache." Sally said to Bean as Roxanne covered Becky's eyes, diego and kurt backed away from her slowly
"Your son is so cute" Esmerlada said, softly looking at Eric with a smile. "How old is he?" Roxanne asked Eric
"Oh, he's 48 months." Eric said, Diego and Kurt gave each other a look.
"That's 4." Diego said making Eric looking at his friend and nodded "yeah" he said.
"We meant to stop last year, but he likes it so much... ...and we don't like to say no." Sally Said, her daughter walked nearby and ate the cake with her hand which Sally saw and course spoke up. "Hey Sweetheart, could you use a fork, please." Sally asked her daughter.
"No. No, no, no, NO!" Donna shouted angerily smashing her cake before throwing the ruined cake onto the floor.
"Looks like she didn't get the memo" Kurt said making both Diego & Eric laugh, diego stopped laughing when he noticed both rosa and Valentina sitting next to each other, they were talked to each other causing diego to sigh and watched them very closely.
It wasn't long after the funeral, where all the families went to the hernshaw cabin for the week, however somethings might change between the families themelves.