Foolish one

Chapter 44

I was greeted by all the children when I pulled up on the driveway. "Hello chiquitas!" I said and got out of the car. I hugged them all hello. They were happy to see me. I like to say that I'm their favourite tía, it wasn't that hard, considering that I was the youngest sister. I was the funniest one also, but my siblings would probably not agree with that. "Would you all maybe help me with my bags. I can't get them all by myself" I continued. They all wanted to help, for a two-year-old it was more difficult than for the seven- and nine-year-old.

It was with a smile on my face that I made my way into my brother's house. "¿Hola hermana, estás bien?" Daniela asked with a smile. "Estoy bien ¿y tú?" I responded to her, still hauling my bags into the house. "Where do we put the presents?" Alicia asked. "You can put them under the tree, but don't open any" I answered and continued to talk to Daniela. She was sharing one of the guest rooms with Marcus and Sofia. My dad was sleeping in the other one, so I was on the couch, as usual.

My dad was not here yet, which was something I was very happy about. I didn't have to spend every minute I was awake pretending that I loved him. It was something I did for the children, they loved their abuelo and I was not going to ruin that for them. He was amazing towards them, and I didn't want to ruin their perception of him just because of what he had done against me.

We started the day by going on a long hike to the beach. My task was to push the stroller Sofia was in and carry the other two children when they got to tired to walk. My siblings said and didn't need to do that, and I agreed with them. I didn't need to do it, but I wanted to do it. The girls were insistent that they would be happier if I did it than if their parents did it. I obliged and the hike was more bearable.

Going on a hike with three children under ten was very difficult. They wanted to stop and play whenever they found something, and they wanted to play alone, with me, or with Sofia. Playing with your sibling was somehow unacceptable. Daniela was also very pregnant, and walking up a hill was difficult for her. We required many stops and walked very slow. I hated it. I loved spending time with the family, but I was someone that wanted to get from A to B as fast as possible.

When we got to the beach the children played in the cold water while the rest of us watched. Soon it was time to make the hike back to the house. We walked for even longer this time, stopping several times and taking a lunch break. It was a calm way to spend the day before Christmas, but I knew it wouldn't last for long. My dad would come here for dinner and then stay for Christmas. I would spend long hours in discussion with him. We had very different life values and every time we were left together for more then ten minutes arguments about these sparked.

Sofia slept on the way back. She was very tired from the day and needed a nap. I also needed to take a nap. I didn't get much sleep last night, courtesy of Alexia, and it was affecting me. We got back to the house around four in the afternoon. I played Mario Cart with Maria and Alicia until dinner.

It was time to go to bed. The house was all dark and I spent half an hour talking with Alexia about our day. The perfect way to end a day.

The next morning, I was woken up by Alicia and Maria. They were jumping on the couch I was sleeping on, trying to get me to wake up. It was successful and I was rudely awoken by them. "I need to get ready for the day, but I will join you as soon as I'm done" I told the two of them. "Can we come with? I love doing makeup" Maria said. Of course, I let them join me while I did my makeup and hair. After I was done, I did some very simple makeup on them, some lip-gloss and eyeshadow. Their mom agreed first, and the two girls wore happy smiles after I was done.

"Look abuelo, I match with Isa" Alicia said with a smile. She did match with me, and I thought she looked cute. "You look very good Alicia, and so do you Maria" he answered, comfortably leaving me out of his praise. I continued with getting ready, finally changing into the dress I had packed for our day.