Vera
I watch as Mila, Alex, Silas, and Desoto discuss what movie to watch. Silas has progressively gotten more comfortable with them all, except I can tell there's still a slight wall with Desoto. Breakfast is long forgotten and it's about 6pm.
Silas has decided what to call Mila and Alex. Mimi and Uncle Ally, which is a personal favorite of mine because of the way Alex scowled. He flipped Si upside down and tickled the breath out of him for that one, but Silas just laughed.
"I don't wanna watch Toy Story. I already have like 20 times." Silas says to Mila, he's telling the truth. He went through a phase, a very, very dark one for me.
"What about Monsters Inc.?" Alex suggests, Si shakes his head. When I said he was stubborn, I wasn't exaggerating they've been discussing movies for 20 minutes.
"How about we binge the Spider-Man movies?" Silas lights up at Desoto's idea. He nods and starts looking the first Spider-Man movie up. They are all surprised that he can spell it out. I feel pride spread in my chest. My smart boy.
Without warning the door swings open and in pours Jasper, Cam, Matteo, and Desoto's mom.
"Cariño, ¿qué pasó? ¿Cómo estás aquí? ¿Quien hizo esto? Los tendré a 12 pies bajo tierra cuando termine. Te ves cariño, tu cabello y tu piel brillan, mi amor. Ah, Mila, ¿cómo estás querida? ¿Ya tienes náuseas matutinas? Es hermoso volver a ver a todos mis hijos en un solo lugar." (Honey, what happened? How are you here? Who did this? I'll have them 12 feet underground when I'm done. You look darling, your hair and skin shine, my love. Ah, Mila, how are you dear? Do you already have morning sickness? It's beautiful to see all my children in one place again.)
She's like a whirlwind, but an absolutely beautiful and caring one. I pay attention to her saying we are all of her children and it warms my heart. No one has referred to me as their child in over a decade, and I've never felt the love of a mother, not really until Stella.
I see the moment her eyes land on Silas who is tucked into my side. She looks at him, then Desoto, then me about three times.
"Santiago Desoto, no tenías absolutamente nada que hacer haciendo esas actividades con esta dulce niña y sin protección. Tienes suerte de que se vea tan precioso y adorable. Debiste decírmelo. Habría venido con regalos para mi nieto." (Santiago Desoto, you had absolutely no business doing those activities with this sweet girl and without protection. You're lucky he looks so precious and adorable. You should have told me. I would have come with gifts for my grandson.)
Everyone in the room is trying desperately to hold back laughter, other than Desoto who is covering his face with his hands and me whose face is red and hot.
"Hello dear, what is your name, and how old are you?" She smiles kindly at Silas making wrinkles form at the corner of her eyes.
"I'm Silas, and I'm 5. My birthday is on September 3rd." Stella beams and comes closer to Silas, crouching infront of him.
"Why, that's not far off, is it? Do you know who I am?" Silas shrugs.
"If I'm guessing, I think you're my grandma." Stella nods.
"You're a smart boy, aren't you?" Stella says, he nods adamantly. His attention shifts to me.
"Mama, why is there 3 people in the corner, one is crying, the other grinning really big while rubbing the crying one's back, and one dressed like he's from Men In Black." I turn my head and look, sure enough Jasper is crying, Cam is trying to comfort him but is too excited, and Matteo is in a black suit and white button up.
I stand and go hug Jasper tightly, peppering him in kisses which makes him laugh eventually. I then hug Cam who is basically bouncing in joy. He lifts me by my waist while we're hugging and twirls me around. He places me on the ground and I stand infront of Matteo now. He looks older no doubt. Taller, probably the same height as Desoto now, and like muscle big, like Alex.
"Are you too cool for hugs now?" He stares at me blankly for a second, then in a flash has his arms wrapped around me. He lets go of me and I see a quick glimpse of his dimples. I look down to Silas by my side. I pick him up and set him on my hip.
"Silas these are your other uncles. The Men In Black one is Matteo, the pearly whites is Cameron, and tears is Jasper." Silas gives them all a small smile.
"Do you like Spider-Man?" Silas asks, Jasper and Matteo say yes.
Cam responds with "Who doesn't?"
Which makes Si smile. "We're going to do a marathon, wanna join?" They smile and say yes. Before we sit down, I whisper to Si that he hasn't come up with their name yet. He lights up and ponders for a minute.
He points at Jasper and picks Uncle Jas, then Cameron and picks Uncle Cam, finally Matteo and he picks Matty. Matteo gives the same expression Alex gave to his nickname. He just blows out a breath and mutters, "This kid is out to get me already."
We sit and watch the first Spider-Man and Silas is asleep in the first half. There's a slightly uncomfortable silence when the credits start to roll. Stella suddenly gets up and stands in front of us. She smiles and takes her phone out of her pocket. She turns it sideways and looks at us with a knowing grin. All of the men sigh except Cam, who smiles brightly and pulls Jasper closer to him.
"Necesito tener una foto de mis bebés. Ahora sonríe." Everyone does as she says and smiles for the photo. I even see Alex put on a small smile for her. Once she has taken the picture she lights up with another idea. (I need to have a photo of my babies. Now smile.)
"Todos deberíais salir a cenar. Ponerse al día. Puedo cuidar a Silas. Me encantaría." There aren't any sighs this time but hesitance. In theory it isn't a bad idea. It would be fun, and I trust her to stay with Silas. Cam pops up off of the couch and stands by Stella's side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. (You should all go out to dinner. Catch up. I can take care of Silas. I'd love to.)
It's slightly funny to see just how small Stella is compared to Cam or really any man in this house. Wavy brown hair, green eyes, maybe a couple inches above 5 feet, and absolutely gorgeous. I wish to look like her at her age which I'd guess is about 50.
"I think that is a wonderful idea, mama. Let's see what the jury think." They look at us and wait. First Jasper gets up and joins them, then Mila who drags Alex, Matteo, who doesn't look happy about it, gets up. Finally it's me and Desoto, on opposite sides of the couch. He looks at me waiting for my decision as if he'll only go if I do. I look at everyone who is on both sides of Stella looking at me. There's a fog of silence over the room, waiting for my call. I get a little cocky off of it.
"I can't stand with you guys because I have a sleeping child on my lap, but of course I'm going." They all breakout into grins and laughter and break up to go get dressed. Before everyone leaves Cam tells us to 'dress fancy because why in the hell not' and I think he has a fair point. I bring Silas to our room and get ready myself. I have to borrow a dress from Mila because I had no plans of dressing up while I was here. She gives me a pale blue, satin, floor length dress and silver strap heels.
As I'm putting the finishing touches on my hair which is wavy all the way down my back, I see Silas start to shuffle himself awake. I come to his side and crouch in front of him. He opens his eyes and scans my outfit.
"You look pretty, mama." I smile and kiss his check.
"Thank you, sweetheart. I'm going to have dinner with your aunts and uncles. Your grandma is going to stay here with you, she'll be just downstairs." He nods and rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. I say what I've been meaning to all night while I have the chance.
"I saw that you've opened up to most of your new family but not your father, why?" It took more effort than I thought it would to call Desoto Silas' father, but I keep going regardless.
"It might not be safe. We have to be careful." I try to muster up a reassuring smile but it falls flat. Is this what I've been teaching my son? Trust no one. Don't open up. I bring my hand up to stroke his cheek.
"Silas, we don't have to be scared anymore. We can trust these people. They won't hurt you or me. Your father is a good man who just made some mistakes and I have made some too, but the best thing we did was having you." He beams at me and nods. I give him a kiss on his head and tell him goodnight before leaving out the room.
It makes me feel even better that I didn't lie to him once about any of what I said. I don't think we have to be scared anymore. I think we can trust them. I know they won't hurt us. I know Desoto and I both made mistakes. And I know the best thing we did and could have possibly done was create Silas.