The Vampire's Little Mate

three

"¡Que linda!" So pretty.

I felt my body tense. Did Rudy's parents not know English? Not that it was bad, but my Spanish was incredibly poor.

My tía hardly ever spoke Spanish to me or my cousins. It's as if she was ashamed of being una salvadoreña. I hated that, because I wanted nothing more than to validate I was in fact Hispanic.

So for my tía not to have properly teach my Spanish had always made it harder for me to carry a conversation with other Hispanics. I always felt... inadequate.

"Buenos días, mamá, padre." Good morning, mom, father. Rudy gave a hug and kiss to his mother and a handshake to his father.

His mother was beautiful. She had long, curly, dark hair and a smooth, caramel, oval face. She was shorter than me and had the perfect hour glass figure. Her eyes were just as dark as Rudy's. His father, though, was as tall as Rudy. His hair, unlike his wife's, was short and slicked back. I could tell his hair was naturally straight.

"Hola, bien venidos," I said. Hello, welcome. My voice was barely loud enough, and it shook.

Rudy's mother looked at me in shock. "¿Sabes como hablar en español?" You can speak Spanish? She turna looked at Rudy, and I followed her gaze. He looked just as shocked.

"Mas o menos, señora." More or less, I'd said. I could feel my cheeks and neck burning. I was so white nobody thought I was half salvadorian either.

"I didn't realize you were Hispanic," Rudy said to me. He had this lazy smile and bent down to me and kissed my cheek.

"I'm half," I whispered. "But my Spanish isn't very good, Rudy."

Rudy's smile widened, "I guess I'll have to teach you, mi amor."

Rudy's father then spoke up. "Lupe, understand English, so don't worry about having to answer in Spanish."

Relief washed over me knowing I wouldn't have to struggle. "Oh, okay."

"Como te llamas, mija?" Lupe asked me, what is your name? I smiled, thankful she'd said something I didn't have to guess on.

"Me llamo Dinah, señora," I answered. My name is Dinah.

"Eres muy bonita." You are very beautiful. Lupe came to and gave me a big hug, followed by a kiss on both cheeks. I mimicked her movements.

Time passed, and I found that I was very comfortable with Rudy's parents. Having only meant them this one time, they felt more like my family than my blood relatives did.

We spent the day talking, watching some shows, and then talking. Mostly talking.

That's how I found that Rudy was Spaniard and everyone in his family was either Spaniard, Honduran, or Nicaraguan. One thing for sure was that there were no Mexicans. I'd giggled, relating that no one in my family was Mexican as well.

Rudy has a younger brother, Marcus, who couldn't make it since he was busy doing something with his mate and her family.

When it came to me, I felt very anxious. There wasn't much to tell. I'm an only child with no mother and father. I lived with my tía and her esposo and kids. I visited my grandparents often(the only real source of love I had, but I kept that to myself).

The look Lupe gave me was a very sad one. As if she knew I'd felt alone for the majority of my seventeen years. Suddenly Rodolfo Sr. got up from his seat.

"It was very nice meeting you, Dinah, but Lupe and I should get going," he said, helping his wife up.

We hugged and each other, and Rudy and I walked them out. We stood in the front door and watched their car pull away. Soon their taillights faded in the distance, and I rested my head on Rudy's chest.

"See? That wasn't so bad," Rudy whispered to me. I smiled, and opened my mouth to say something but a yawn came out instead. "Lets get you to bed, mi amor."

I nodded and started to turn away when Rudy grabbed me from underneath my knees and behind my back. I yelped in surprise.

"Jeez, Rudy," I said. "Could've given me a warning!"

All he did was chuckle and begin his trek up the stairs. My eyelids felt so heavy that I could barely keep my eyes open. I snuggled into Rudy's chest, and felt sleep pull me under.

"Buenas noches, mi amor," I heard Rudy say. Goodnight, my love.