The Days of Emilia

Chapter 13: Quinces

Emilia's POV

"Eh?" I asks as mom holds a mirror up to Elena's face. We just put on her quinces tiara trying to convince her to wear it.

"Mom, a tiara is a backward symbol of how women are only valued for their beauty. And now that I'm wearing one... I don't care. I look awesome. And it's super sparkly!" Elena starts but quickly decides she likes it. The 3 of us laugh and cheer.

"I'm so glad you like it. 'Cause tomorrow's your quinces, and your only job is to be happy." She says to us softly. I help Elena adjust her tiara further and we talk about hair ideas.

It's been a week since I overheard mom and papi's fight. Mom told us abuelita's bed hurt his back so he's been staying at Schneider's.

Just like mom I've been pouring all my energy into the quinces. I was determined for everything to be perfect for me and my sister.

Mom has been in hyper-focused bitch mode all week. Snapping at people left and right. She and Abuelita have been especially at odds. In fact they were arguing right now about the color of balloons.

"Girls, your dresses are in the closet. If you should happen to find a straightjacket there, please bring it out here, for your crazy mami." Abuelita says sassily. Elena and I get up and grab our garment bags from the hall closet before going to our room to change. Elena's dress was white while mine was blue. The color scheme for our decorations.

"Ooh." Mom and Abuelita both exclaim as Elena and I walk out in our dresses. The fish at how we look and how puffy the dresses are. Alex stands a few feet away catching it all on camera.

"It's so beautiful Abuelita. I feel beautiful..." I say with a tear falling from my eye. I don't know why I was crying. I guess it's because I truly felt like a princess for once in my life.

"Oh mi Nina!" Abuelita says while hugging me.

"Thank you so much, Abuelita. It's beautiful." Elena says happily.

"What's wrong with it?" Abuelita asks her.

"Nothing. I'm happy, I'm smiling." Elena explains.

"Exactly. You are not sobbing with joy like your sister. I have failed you. I have failed my family. I have failed Cuba." Abuelita says dramatically into Alex's camera.

"Everything is all set for tomorrow. And I just want to say, you have chosen the perfect ballroom." The hall director says as she shows us our room for the quinces. Nothing was set up but all the materials were here for quick set up tomorrow.

"Excuse me. Where is the dance floor?" Abuelita asks.

"Um, you're standing on it." The director says.

"Are you kidding me? I have relatives who escaped from Cuba on a raft bigger than this." Abuelita states as she looks down at the comically small dance floor. She then proceeds to shout at the director in spainish.

"Hey. Hey, Lucy. I'm sorry about her. Let me translate. She would like a larger dance floor." Mom says stepping in.

"Give the lady a bigger floor." We hear a voice say from the entrance.

"Papi." Alex exclaims running up to him.

"Hey." Papi greets him with a hug. Elena hugs him next with a slight chuckle. I end up giving him a short side hug. Not wanting to seem suspicious, but also not wanting to hug him after what happened.

"Hi." Papi greets mom.

"Hi. You're here." Mom says. Clearly she wasn't expecting him.

"Yeah. I asked Papi to come so we could practice our father-daughter dance." Elena says looking between me and mom because she didn't tell either of us that she invited him.