Tattoo Artist | o. diaz

cuarenta y ocho: thanksgiving pt. 1

2 weeks later
"Oscar, hurry up before my dad eats all the food!" Venus yelled down the hallway. It was finally Thanksgiving, and while she was thankful for a lot, Venus was a little upset because the DNA test matched one of the guys taking her to court. "And he said I take forever." Venus mumbled to Cesar. Everyone, meaning Venus, Cesar and Luis, was waiting for Oscar since he didnt want to dress like he normally does to eat with Venus' parents.

"Don't rush me just because you decided to wear sweatpants today."

Venus rolled her eyes and watched Oscar come down the hallway in black dickies, a button up flannel and his Nike cortez shoes. "That's because I'm trying to breathe after we feast." Venus stated, referring to how she's about to eat eat. "You look good though." She went on to compliment with a smile.

Oscar sent her a sarcastic smile and kissed her forehead before following her out of the house. Cesar already buckled Luis into his car seat, so once Oscar closed Venus door and got into the driver's seat, he tookoff down the street.

"Is it just going to be us and your parents?" Cesar asked from the backseat, leaning forward so his chin was basically on Venus' shoulder.

"No, Jamal and his parents come because our house is bigger. And Pablo, he comes every year since his parents kinda disowned him." Venus told him. "And sometimes, strangers walk in to eat, but my parents normally dont say anything."

The rest of the car ride was quiet except for Oscar's rap music. Even Luis stayed quiet, looking out the window and humming along to the music while swinging his feet. When they got to Venus' parents house, there was only 2 additional cars along the curb and Oscar parked on the driveway. They lived in the nicer part of Freeridge, but it was still Freeridge and Oscar didn't want people fucking with his car.

Cesar rang the doorbell with Luis and while Venus and Oscar took their time. "What's up, lil man?" Emiliano exclaimed bending down to pick Luis up and throw him into the air. "Cesar, right?" Cesar nodded his head and shook Emiliano's hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir."

"Same for you. His eyebrows aren't that big." Emiliano stated, looking at Venus since she always described him as the kid with the big eyebrows.

"Sal de mi cocina, Pablo!" Everyone heard Lisbet yell. "Ya casi termino!"

"That boy never learns." Emiliano stated, shaking his head while leading everyone to he living room.

"Solo quiero un refrigerio." Pablo whined, surprised both Cesar and Oscar since they've never heard him do anything of the sort. Lisbet yelled at him again and everyone heard him groan then stomp out. Pablo walked into the living room to plop beside Venus and Luis. "Why are you here?"

"I literally used to live here, chulo."

"Used to." Pablo stated. "Aye, you brought the whole family!" He exclaimed, looking at Cesar who was beside Venus with Oscar beside him. Pablo stuck his hand out for Oscar to to hit.

"So this is where you come every year?" Cesar asked him. Pablo nodded and spread out his arms. "This is my second home, right Venus?"

Venus nodded her head and turned to Oscar and Cesar. "He's been coming over for every holiday since we met."

"Yeah, I'm basically their son. Or like a cousin that comes over whenever there's food." Pablo elaborated.

"Or an annoying in law." Emiliano stated, looking away from the TV to the group.

Pablo's jaw dropped and he shook his head. "The disrespect, Mili."

Emiliano took a sip of his beer and looked to Oscar and Cesar. "You guys want a drink?" Before they could answer, Emiliano stood up and walked out to go into the kitchen.

The second the fridge opened, Lisbet started yelling. "Qué haces?! La comida casi listo! Ustedes son desagradecidos!"

"Ay, Jesús Christo! Sólo estoy recibiendo bebidas para ellos."

There was silence for a few seconds before Lisbet huffed. "No tenías que gritar." She stated in a normal tone, turning back to her food. Emiliano rolled his eyes before walking up behind her and kissing her cheek and temple.

"Te amo mucho, Lis. Ya deja de estresarte." Lisbet waved him off and mumbled a "Te amo" as Emiliano walked back into the living room. He had beer bottles and water since the soda was all the way in the dining room. All the guys reached for beer before Venus could even blink and Luis watched them.

"I want some, papá."

Simultaneously, everyone, including Lisbet in the kitchen, shouted, "No!" Luis pouted and his bottom lip quivered before he started crying.

"Papito, shh. It's only for big people, you can't drink that." Venus comforted. Luis turned around and buried his face into Venus' chest. "Come on, we can go play." Venus stood up, rubbing Luis' back as she stepped over everyone's legs to walk down the hallway. "Quieres enseñarme tus juguetes?"

Luis nodded his head, wiping his face and hopping down when Venus opened the door. Luis ran to the corner to his bins and looked though them while Venus sat in the bean bag chair. Luis brought over an armful of his toys and dropped them beside Venus.

"Mamá watch." Luis ran over a corner of the room where the ball pit was, except now, there was a mini rock climbing wall. Venus stood up and watched Luis climb to the top before he jumped off, almost giving her a heart attack, and landed in the ball pit. Luis started laughing and flipped around, trying to get out of the pit.

"You sure that's safe?" Venus jumped at the voice, and turned around to see Oscar leaning against the door fram with his arms crossed.

Venus leaned back as he came up behind her, getting comfortable against him. "There's one of those mats under and the balls are like 3 feet deep."

Oscar smirked down at her and started laughing, making Venus
punch his shoulder before letting a few giggles slip out. "That's me with you every night."

"Shut up." Venus blushed, turning around when she heard a crash and Luis was back in the ball pit.

"No mientas, you said it yourself. Remember 'Big Dick Diaz'?" Oscar whispered, making sure Venus was the only one who could hear him.

"Stop it." Venus whined, hiding her face as she blushed even more.

Luis pretended to swim in the ball pit with Venus and Oscar watching him when there was a knock. Cesar stood there, looking over at Luis confused before he shook his head. "The food's done."

Idk if I told yall, but my Jamal story is published ;) it's called "All Fall Down"