Fine Form

40 | ESTUPIDA

it's taken me months to form this conclusion and to conclude, this is one of my best works and I'm damn proud of it. I have never had detailed outline while planning Fine Form but I'm proud how this has come to fruition and I'm leaving you guys with the final chapters. Thank you for staying with me until this date and continuing to support me, it means the absolute world! I hope you enjoy the final conclusion to Fine Form and an epilogue will be posted very soon.

40 — ESTUPIDA

WHEN DIMITRI AND I make it out of the bedroom, Grandpapa Asterio is chatting with Abuela. All the air in my lungs fade and Abuela's tear soaked eyes land on mine.

Something inside of my breaks and shatter and I'm letting go of Dimitri's hand and crushing my whole weight into her tiny frame. My cries are an ugly mess and I outdo a horse's call and Abuela, she's right behind me. She whispers she loves me, how broken she is and several curses in Spanish for abandoning her for these devastating three months. The only thing I can manage to mutter out is sorry repeatedly.

We cry, we break, we laugh together – as a family again. It feels so good having everything feel normal for once. For a tiny second of forever, everything is just as it should be but reality comes crashing down when Abuela wipes her eyes for the sixtieth time in the last thirty minutes and sniffles.

Her wrinkled hand wraps into mine tightly as if all of her five senses are betraying and I'm a figment of her imagination. "Estúpida. Don't ever run off like that, you understand me? I lost your mother years ago, I can't lose you either."

Tears leak into my skin, the warmth of her hands and her grief stricken face is everything to me "Never again. I promise," for the reminder, we remain like that. She glues all my broken pieces together, and I do the same.

After all the heavy crying and outburst, dinner rolls in a rumble of laughter and fond memories of childhood. Grandpapa Asterio takes the full route and blasts Dimitri for his reckless childhood years. His grey eyes are crinkled with tears and his hand slams down on the table in a fit of laughter.

Somewhere between the slow murmured conversation and the setting of the sun outside, my mind trails back to Jeremiah. I shouldn't be thinking about him in an exuberant time like this but my stomach tumbles and suddenly the roast potatoes that are slashed in gravy don't look appealing anymore.

Beside me, Dimitri shifts and his warm hands snakes into mine. He leans close to my ear, his warm breath sending a silver down my spine. I breathe him in – tonka bean, sandalwood, pink peppers. He smells like every inch of home. "What's on your mind, baby?"

"The NDA," I whisper back to him. My gaze shoots across the table where Grandpapa Asterio and Abuela are cracking on with their jokes. They are an unlikely duo but fit well together. In the future, I can see them golfing and gardening together. They haven't heard us yet.

Everyone knows about Dimitri and I, everyone knows this marriage started out as a facade. a part of me feels ashamed to think of the thought but the more I mull over it, the more rotten I feel. Even Abuela, despite that she's never asks me about it and I want to keep it that way.

Whereas Dimitri is laser focused on me. His hand tightens around mine, a gentle squeeze speaks volumes. "We'll discuss it tomorrow morning. Right now, enjoy the dinner." is all he says before he slices into the conversation that is happening across the table.