Trouble in Paradise.

36. Racist.

Chapter 36: Racist.

Nathy Peluso's "Puro Veneno" plays through the stereo in the house as I flip pancakes. I am wearing Zachary's Jersey as I dance around the kitchen with a spatula in my hand. Anna is in her crib beside the island. I sway my body with the music as I walk back to the stove and turn it off. I place the pancake on top of the stack of pancakes in the tray. I separate the pancakes into two plates and I add the fruit compote that I made from strawberries, raspberries and blackberry, by the side.

Zachary walks into the kitchen with a white towel around his neck. He picks up Anna before he kisses me.

"Good morning baby." He says and I blush.

"Morning." I tell him as I set the plates on the island. "Breakfast is served, come eat." I say as I sit on the stool beside the island. Zachary sits beside me and he starts eating. I stare at him as he chews the food, waiting for his reaction. He lets out a moan and I smile.

"Babe, this is so good." He tells me.

"Thank you". I say before I start eating my food.

"What time are we picking up your grandmother?" He asks me.

My grandmother is coming to New York. Well, the two of them are. My father's mother, my Abuelita is staying with me. And my grandmother on my mother's side, I call her my Sobo, is staying with my parents. The two of them can't bear to live in the same house, we don't even want that drama. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and Zachary's parents are coming into town today. We're all having dinner at my house. It's going to be a pretty eventful day tomorrow and I cannot wait.

"She gets in at eight in the evening. So, we'll be at the airport at like seven thirty." I tell him, cutting into my pancake.

"I would like us to take her out to dinner when we pick her up." Zachary tells me.

"That'll be nice. We'll go to the Mexican restaurant in Soho." I tell him.

"Soho? That's like miles away from the airport." He says, staring at me.

"My Abuelita doesn't eat American food. If need be, she prefers traveling with everything she's going to cook and eat. But since New York has a lot of Hispanic people, I told her not to bother. We can always go out to eat." I tell him.

"That's fine. We'll do what will make her more comfortable." Zachary says, eating the last piece of pancake on his plate.

"Don't your grandparents live here in New York?" I ask Zachary and his facial expression changes.

"Yeah, they do. But it's just my mother's parents though. My father's parents are dead." He tells me.

"Oh, I never knew that. We can still invite your mother's parents to dinner." I tell him.

"I don't know about that, Vee." He says, placing Anna on the island as he holds her head up.

"It'll be nice." I say, touching his arm.

"They're a lot to handle. Well, my grandmother is." He tells me and I nod.

"So are my grandparents, but they're still family. And I wouldn't want them to spend Thanksgiving alone." I tell him, pouting.

"Fine." He says giving in. "But if anything goes wrong just know I told you so." He adds.

"Nothing is going to go wrong." I assure him.

***

It took me all night to make dumplings. Making those dumplings was a chore. Right now, I'm making braised duck with rice and carne asada. My grandmother made just one dish and that was butternut squash enchiladas with red chile sauce and chorizo bread stuffing. My mother told me that she would bring the turkey and that her mum was making sushi and tempura.