The Days of Emilia

Chapter 5: Strays

Emilia's POV

It was Wednesday night. Only a few days since mom's "date". Elena and I were sitting on the couch with Carmen in between us. All 3 of us were wrapped in a blanket burrito together taking a nap with the tv softly on in the background.

"Aw. The day every mother dreams of when her twin daughters grow a third vampire head." Mom says as she enters in from work. Tapping Carmen's head from behind the couch.

"Hi, Ms. Alvarez." Carmen says in her usual deadpan tone.

"We were working really hard on our immigration project for school, so we took a little power nap." Elena explains.

"Oh, 9:00 to 3:00 workday getting you down? Yeah, I take power naps, too. It's called blinking. I feel refreshed." Mom says pretending to snore for a second.

"Oh, can Carmen stay for dinner?" I asked like always.

"Of course." Mom says cheerily.

"Thanks, Ms. Alvarez." Carmen says like usual and mom walks into the kitchen to inform Abuelita of the extra guest. And we make our way to the bedroom to for more privacy.

"Maybe we should go ask mom if you can spend the night." I say wanting to get it out of the way.

"Yeah let's go." Elena agrees and we all make our way back to the livingroom.

"Hey, Mom, can Carmen stay overnight?" I asks mom.

"We're having so much fun." Carmen says with as much enthusiasm as she can.

"Why doesn't she sleep out here on el sofá? It will be more comfortable than the floor." Abuelita suggest. I kind of raise my brow at her in confusion.

"Oh, she just sleeps in bed with me." Elena answers before we walk back to our room.

Dinner went normally. Mom had been in a good mood lately which is why Carmen had been staying here all week so far.

It was the next day after school and again we used the immigration project as an excuse to hang out with Carmen. We were walking around as our 3 person burrito again coming from our room for a snack.

"Oh, Carmen." Mom says surprised to see her for some reason.

"We're taking a little break from our immigration project. We're really hitting a wall." Elena says with a chuckle. But she's the only one laughing.

"You're not as funny as your mom." Carmen says politely.

"Try not funny at all." I say rolling my eyes.

"Guys, guys, oh, my--I'm sorry. I'm throwing a sad man a stupid party. It's going to make him really happy, but I don't think Carmen needs to be around for it." Mom explains and my frown deepens.

"What?" Me and Elena exclaim.

"Hey!" Mom says sternly not happy with our tone.

"Guys, it's fine. I'll go get my stuff." Carmen says taking off the blanket and going to our room for her bag.

"No, no, no. It's not fine. She has to stay. This isn't fair!" I say starting to panic. I don't want her to be alone tonight. And it will be hard to sneak her in if there's more people in the house.

"She's been here most of the week. Can she only survive in this apartment's atmosphere? You guys can take the night off." Mom argues back.

"No!" I say with a lot more attitude.

"You better watch that attitude. This is not a big deal, so why are you making it one? And during the party, you can't just hide in your room. You have to participate." Mom says as we go to leave.