After reading the third message Devin has left this morning, I place my phone back on the table and continue peeling garlic. Our disagreement left me with an uncomfortable feeling, and I let him know by sending him a carefully written email where I also relayed the information Roxy gave me about her mom. I do care about him, but his reaction about me knowing of the investigation and keeping it to myself was disproportionate, yet I wanted him to know every detail of what his daughter saw.
Today, Christmas day, is the seventh day since we last spoke in person. He's messaged me every day and I have barely reacted. I'm not ghosting him, but I'm simply giving us time to think.
My family has been trickling in to celebrate the day, and so far my tías have not touched on the topic of why I'm here by myself.
"What's going on, mija?" Mom asks while stirring a pot of stewed beans.
"Nothing's going on," I shrug.
"Why isn't that handsome boyfriend of yours here?"
I knew it wouldn't last long until someone asked.
"He's spending the holiday with his daughter."
"A daughter..."
"Ma, stop wiggling your eyebrows like that."
"Why? He has it all! Looks, manners, brains, and a daughter. What else can you wish for?"
"That he trusts me. That he doesn't jump to conclusions, just like I did when I found out the secret he had been hiding from everyone."
I recount the events of the past week to my mom when we are not interrupted by other family members coming in and out of the kitchen. When my gossipy cousins inquire as to why Devin isn't here, my mom tells them that he will be here later, to my dismay.
"I completely agree with you, Tania, but I also understand where he stands. Things went fine and with the result he wanted, but if the plan had backfired, he would have been even further away from seeing his daughter. You didn't influence the plan, but his father needs to back off and let Devin deal with his problems on his own. Like I did when your brother broke up with the pu- person he was dating."
"Come on, Ma! We all know who spread the gossip at the mercado."
"It wasn't me!" She feigns insult. "That jinetera was caught, how you say that, smooching the owner. Your brother was furious and I kept to myself."
After giving her a 'yeah, right' look, my brother enters the house with another woman, but this time, my mom smiles.
"Is that the new girlfriend?"
"Yeah, isn't she lovely? I met her at church and invited her for coffee here. Your brother saw her and the rest is history. I was quite the matchmaker in my younger years."
"I thought you said parents need to back off."
Caught in her blunder, Mom busies herself cleaning the counter from all the garlic peels. My brother brings the girl into the kitchen and before he gets to introduce us formally, my eyes immediately catch the rock adorning her finger.
"Are you engaged?" I ask him while Mom squeals at the realization.
"Yeah, she's all I need," he looks at her and gives her a wink, making her blush prettily. After introducing her to me and serving drinks for themselves, he reclines from the kitchen counter and points at me with his nose. "Where's Devin?"
"Ah... he'll be here later."
"Good! The bro in law is a cool guy. You will like him," my brother says to his girlfriend.
Mom and I are left alone once more as they head to the backyard with everyone else. I'm still processing the news. "Engaged? He's the last person in this world I thought would get married."
"And you are the last I thought would get a boyfriend, so you are even. Did you get Devin a Christmas gift?"
Still shocked about her harsh truth I respond. "Yeah, but it doesn't matter now."
"Of course, it does! Go wash your hands, bring it to him and use it as the excuse to invite him and his daughter to come here. You've given him enough guilt, eh, sorry, time to think."
"What if he doesn't want to see me? I've been kind of cold to him in the past days."
"Then he's a proven idiot," she smirks. "He loves my food, so you can lure him here with that."
What do I have to lose? After washing my hands until the garlic smell is gone, I get in my car and drive towards Devin's apartment. The moment the door opens, I lift the gift bag in my hand and present it to him.
"Merry Christmas."
Devin crushes the bag between us when he cups my face and kisses me, then gives me a hug. "I'm so sorry about everything, Tania. I overreacted. Everything caught me by surprise and I didn't want to lose Roxy again."
A female voice inside his apartment catches my attention and I look at him expecting an answer.
"We have an unexpected guest inside. Please come in and we'll catch up later."
When Roxy sees me, she runs enthusiastically towards me and almost tackles me with a hug, which surprises me since she's only seen me once. The little girl holds my hand and brings me to the living room where the tree I brought has a place of honor on a side table. A beautiful woman dressed in chic beige clothes and with impeccable makeup sits on the couch sipping from a cup of coffee.
"Tania, I would like to introduce you to Roxy's mom Theresa," Devin says to me. "Tessa, this is my girlfriend Tania. We work together on her party business since the beginning of the summer."
Surprised by the announcement, I shake her hand almost in slow motion.
"Tessa was released thanks to the information in your email about what Roxy heard."
"Oh, that's good. Glad it helped," I sit on the armchair that Devin invites me to and grab a Christmas cookie from a tray. The surprise has opened my appetite and I need something to keep my hands busy.
"More than helped," Tessa says, placing her cup on the table. "Until that day when Roxy heard our fight, I wasn't aware that he was dealing. I forbid him to bring that stuff into the house and he got aggressive. For our safety, I tried to not even think about the topic or bring it up again," she sighs. "That's most likely when he brought his merchandise to the apartment. I got caught in his problem and knowing this could separate me from my daughter simply freaked me out. The short time I spent in detention, made me think about many things, among them how wrong I've been keeping her away from her father."
Devin shuffles his feet and looks a bit embarrassed, but smiles.
"We were about to discuss some informal arrangements until we can get hold of our lawyers."
"Oh, I will then come back later. My Mom wanted to remind you of their Christmas party."
The last I want is to interrupt what is probably the most civil conversation they have had in a while.
"We'll be there. In fact, if Tessa agrees to it, why don't you bring Roxy with you and I'll catch up with you after we finish talking."
"Sure, if you agree," I look at Tessa. "I can bring her. Tons of kids to play with there."
Tessa stares at me and then at Devin. "We never got along well. God knows our fights were epic. I'm glad to see you made a better choice than I did. I always worried you would end up with someone who didn't like Roxy. I see this isn't the case."
"I'll never replace you as her mother. I'll be happy if Roxy grows up to see me as a good friend." I reassure her.
"I can have two moms, right? Jordan has two moms and she says her dad was a tube."
My eyebrows shoot up at Roxy's interruption. Tessa laughs and Devin's mouth hangs open.
"Go ahead and have tons of fun. I'll give you a call tonight," Tessa says to her daughter before giving her a hard hug.
Roxy and I leave, and start the drive towards my parents' house.
"Did you have a good Christmas morning? It was probably a great surprise to have your parents around."
"Yeah, and Santa got me Barbies and dresses. I gave Daddy a drawing as a birthday present."
"You mean as a Christmas present."
"No, Christmas is Daddy's birthday too."
"Today is Devin's birthday?"
Roxy nods and sings off-key to Mariah Carey on the radio. The whole car ride I keep thinking how absurd it is for someone like me who is always planning birthdays to never have asked my boyfriend about his birth date. Of course, we talked about him never celebrating it, but it all makes sense now.
"Hey! You look as if you saw a ghost. And who's this?" My Dad walks towards us from the side of the house.
"Oh, yeah. Uh- This is Devin's daughter, Roxy. He will be here in a bit."
"Aren't you a precious little thing?"
Roxy gives him a shy smile and I hold her hand as I bring her to the group of kids glued to the TV. One of my cousins' daughters engages her in conversation.
"How did it go?" Mom asks as I walk into the kitchen where dinner has progressed and she works on the desserts.
"It's his birthday... I didn't know."
"Devin's birthday?" She asks and I nod. "Where is he?"
"At his apartment, and will be here soon."
"Ask him for his eh-tah! We need to do something!"
"Eh-tah?"
"Time of arrival!" She walks around the kitchen in circles while I take my phone out of my pocket and message him.
"Thirty minutes," I say to my mom when I receive an answer back.
"We need all hands on deck! No birthday goes by uncelebrated!"
I grab the groceries notepad and make a quick list of stuff we'll need. My mom opens a hallway closet and I find a miniature version of my backyard storage.