Overjoyed

Chapter 31 - When you go home, everything looks different

Vanno was at the wheel as we set out on the forty minute drive back to the house. It was after five and the sun was hanging low in the mid-March Denver sky. The backseat of the little Renault was a little cramped between Dan, Paulo and I. A sleeping Mia was contently lying across both Dan and my lap. Surprisingly; the ride wasn’t awkward at all. Dan seemed rather relaxed and comfortable as we all engaged in pleasant conversation. After a couple of minutes, Paulo turned to Dan and matter-of-factly stated, “You talk funny.” We all found it hilarious and burst out laughing, except his grandmother who turned around and pulled his ear from the front seat. “It’s okay,” Dan said when he’d stopped laughing, “I get that quite a bit.” Paulo just looked on sulkily, clutching his sore ear.

My light hearted mood instantly dissipated as we turned into the familiar tree-lined street where my family lived. I knew everything was about to change when we would have to go and face my mother. Possibly for the last time.

As soon as Vanno had pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition, my curvaceous cousin came running out to greet us. Although we were four years apart, Estefania and I had always been close. “Este!” I yelled, rushing out of the car to embrace her, like two teenaged best friends. I hadn’t seen my family in over eight months, and I had missed them so much. Uncle Damon came out to help with the luggage, which wasn’t all that much by any standard, two bags each. I couldn’t help but giggle at his stern expression when he shook Dan’s hand.

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After we set our luggage down and gathered our bearings we sat down to a huge, tasty meal Estefania and Aunt Maria had prepared for us. It was chicken, one of Dan’s favourites and I smiled at him from across the table. My family were very taken with him, asking him all sorts of questions. Dan was going all shades of red being the centre of attention like that. Vanno’s girlfriend, Natasha, had joined us for dinner and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when Dan said he was in a band called Bastille. “I thought he looked familiar” she mumbled, loud enough for us all to hear. “You know their music?” Uncle Damon asked, his facial expression having drastically changed when he heard Dan was a musician. He must’ve thought he was one of those struggling artists playing free concerts in random bars. “Yeah” she admitted, “they’re really big. I’ve been to one of your concerts, it was awesome. It’s great to meet you” she said shyly, turning to Dan. “Thanks so much, it’s good to meet you too” Dan said with a nervous smile. “Dan just got three weeks off after their big USA tour, he’ll be going off to London soon to get started on the new album” I announced proudly, taking control of the conversation. “I’m glad to hear Eliza’s picked someone who’s doing so well for himself” Uncle Damon mused, “and what about your career, Pumpkin?” he asked, turning to face me. I cleared my throat, not keen to broach the topic of my job loss with my family. I squirmed a bit, not knowing what to say until Dan came to my rescue and said, “Eliza quit her job to spend more time focusing on her writing career.” There was a momentary silence at the table before Aunt Maria exclaimed, “That’s lovely Cosa Bonita, you were always such a good writer.” Estefania chipped in and said, “Yeah, at fourteen she was writing my eleventh grade essays for me. Teachers could never believe I’d written something so good.” Thank God. I was afraid Uncle Damon would be mad and admonish my ‘decision’. I knew that deep down he had always hoped I would amount to this great professional, ever since his great disappointment with Estefania getting pregnant at nineteen and not going to college. She had enrolled in a beauty school when Paulo was a few months old and was now a cosmetologist but I gathered he still wasn’t happy.