The Bet

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was filled with lost of laughter and yelling. It was everything Ana missed the most since she left Texas. Her nephews and nieces surrounded Chris on the couch as they each asked him questions about Captain America, Avengers, or just Marvel stuff in general. Shaking her head, she decides to rescue him. She walked over to him and pulled him to stand up. Her niece Sammie scowled at her since she was sitting the closest to Chris.

Ana laughed and stuck her tongue out at her.

"I'm stealing him away because y'all have been hogging him."

Sammie huffed as she crossed her arms, "But he didn't get to finish answering my questions."

Ana laughed and scooped up Sammie, "I promise you'll still get to answer your questions just give him some adult time, okay?"

Sammie scowled, "Fine but I want him to sit next to me when we open presents too."  She turned her brown doe eyes towards Chris and jutted out her bottom lip. Ana silently laughed at Sammie's pleading face.

Chris laughed, "Of course, I'll sit next to you." Sammie smiled and jumped down to sit next to her siblings and cousins.

Ana pulled Chris away from all the chaos and towards the backyard as she led him towards the edge of the fence where a gate sat in the middle.

Chris eyed her, "Where are we going?"

Ana chuckled, "I want to show you something."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Alright..."

Holding his hand, they exit through the gate and follow a path Chris hadn't noticed before. It was a graveled path that didn't look like it got much traffic. Ana was silent the entire time and he could sense she didn't want to talk so he stayed silent but squeezed her hand every now and then assuring her he was there. She looked up at him and smiled but it wasn't one of her normal smiles, there was a sadness in her eyes.

After about a mile of walking Chris saw a clearing up ahead but there was an iron gate. To the left and right of the entrance there were flowers beds and etched on the gate read "Ortiz Family Cemetery". He looked down at Ana while she just gave him a small smile.

Ana's hands trembled as she pushed the gate open Chris followed staying silent. He knew where they were. Ana had mentioned once that her dad's family had their own private cemetery. The idea came from her grandparents and so they purchased a plot of land for their family. She led Chris towards the back of the area and passed a few plots.

She stopped just short of a lone headstone.

Hector Andres Ortiz

Ana knelt in front of the headstone and took out the small marble from her pocket. She placed it in the stone vase. She smiled at the memory of her and her dad always keeping the random marbles they would find. Every time she would find a lone marble she would pocket it and keep it in a vase. She had found that marble at the airport on their way to Texas so she kept it to place it at her dad's grave. The vase was already halfway full now. 

Tears filled her eyes, but she remained silent. She missed him so much that there would be days where the grief would hit her like a freight train. But that was the thing about grief, it wasn't linear, even twenty years later she mourned her dad. She mourned for the life she missed out on with him. Her brothers got that experience of having him as a dad, but she only got seven years. She was losing her memories of him and that's what hurt her the most. The tears began falling down her cheeks and Chris knelt next to Ana wrapping her in his arms.

Ana's body shook as she sobbed the excitement from her and Chris's secret engagement wore down when she realized this was just another milestone that her dad would miss. She was thankful for Owen but somedays she just really wanted her dad. Chris held Ana as she continued to cry as he whispered comforting words to her. Eventually her breathing had evened out and the tears dried on her cheeks.

She pulled out of Chris's grasp and tipped her chin up to kiss him. She smiled at him and turned to her dad's headstone.

She sighed, "Dad this is Chris, my fiancé."

It was the first time saying it out loud and it felt amazing. Chris smiled at her and then turned to the headstone.

"Its s a pleasure to meet you sir."

For the next hour Ana and Chris told her dad the story of how they met, she told him about her friendship with Scott, she told him everything she'd been up to since moving to Boston. Finally, her mom texted her letting her know that the food was almost done. Ana said goodbye to her dad and her and Chris made their way back to the house.

For the rest of Christmas day Ana felt the happiest she felt in a long time. Maybe it was because she was finally back with her family or maybe it was because she had Chris right next to her. But she couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The joy she felt as she watched her nieces and nephews open their presents, as she watched her parents dance under the mistletoe before her dad gave her mom a kiss. The happiness she felt when her brothers gave their approval of Chris, something they swore they would never do. The butterflies she felt when Chris pulled her into his side and whispered in her ear how much he loved her and how he couldn't wait to marry her. The smile on Ana's face never left her that day.

She should have known it would all come crashing down eventually.