Frozen Love

New Home

As the kids arrived at the dining area, the three adults and two males stood near Julieta and Pepa. Jazmín had yet to remove her grip from Camilo's ruana. Nor had Mirabel removed herself from the girl's arm.

So, the moment the children all walked into the room, the three youngest trailing behind, Pepa couldn't help the rainbow that formed over her head-especially seeing her little boy's wide smile. Julieta could only chuckle at her daughter's silly grin.

The two mothers knew how much they had wanted to make friends with the girl. They tried to explain that she needed time to get used to her new surroundings. They tried to explain that she was going through a lot. But all the kids understood was that she was sad. And that only made them want to befriend her more.

If the parents turned their back for just a second, a mere second, their two kids would vanish. That's all it took for them to disappear and visit the girl's room. It wasn't just once or twice either; it was throughout the day.

But no one could be mad at the two for disobeying. The minute they realized where the two kids disappeared and saw how relaxed Jazmín would become around them, all lectures would float away.

Even now, she seemed relaxed standing between them. Nodding her head as Camilo said something, Mirabel quickly agreed. Mirabel tugged her towards the table, Jazmín reluctantly removing her hand from Camilo's ruana and following her.

As they got closer to the table, Jazmín let out a small yelp as she watched an extra chair suddenly moving in front of her. Her eyes widened as she watched tiles flipping around, moving a few chairs over, and placing the new one at the table. "Va-Vaya," she breathed out. She wasn't afraid of the house anymore. She was more fascinated by it than anything. "Th-That's so cool."

"You can sit next to Cami and me!" Mirabel stated, climbing into one of the chairs.

"O-Okay," she whispered, slowly climbing on the chair to the left of her. Her eyes soon widened again as a plate of various foods was placed in front of her. She turned to her left just as Camilo sat his plate down and climbed into his chair.

Julieta soon walked over with a plate for Mirabel then gave Jazmín's head a small pat. "Camilo, I think you gave her too much," his Tía said, laughing softly. "If you can't finish, Cariño, don't worry about it."

Jazmín picked up an arepa and quickly bit into it, lightly kicking her feet under the table. She gave Julieta a nod as everyone else sat down to eat. Her eyes moved across the table as she continued to eat.

She noticed Isabella and Dolores sat next to one another across from her, smiling at her before turning to one another, whispering. Luisa sat next to her sister and mother. Pepa was seated next to Camilo while Alma sat at the head of the table next to Dolores and Mirabel. Next to both Pepa and Julieta sat at the end of the table sat two men. She guessed that they were Camilo and Mirabel's Papi's.

"How is the food, Jazza?"

Her eyes quickly darted to the boy sitting next to her. His green eyes fixed her as he took a big bite of his Tía's arepa. "Muy buena, (Very good,)" she whispered, looking towards her already half-empty plate.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoy it. You can have as much as you like," Julieta spoke, giving her a gentle smile.

The man sitting next to her gave her a smile of his own as she took another bite of a croissant. So did the other male sitting next to Pepa. Though they didn't seem to be bad people, she felt a bit uncomfortable under their stares. And she could almost feel the look Alma was giving her.

"Ah, Jazmín," Julieta started, holding her right hand out in front of the man next to her. "I nearly forgot. This is mi esposo, Agustín."

"Oh, and this is mi esposo, Félix!" Pepa quickly added, holding her left hand towards the man next to her.