We Come Alive 5

Epilogue: Maria "Manny" Sanchez

Manny Sanchez

After a hard back and forth inner fight with herself for what was right to do and after graduating high school with honors, Manny went to Stanford for college to study pre-law. Manny took her daughter Esmeralda with her and allowed Bryce, the father of their shared daughter, to live with her in her apartment so they could raise Esmeralda together. The two never got back together throughout Manny's three years to graduate with her degree.

Manny heard her name be called as she walked across the stage. She looked into the audience to see her parents cheering for her, her three, almost four, year old daughter standing on her seat clapping for her mom. Manny shook the hands of the head college officials before getting her diploma. A degree in pre-law. She smirked to herself as she walked off the stage and to her seat. Not too bad for a teen mom.

When the ceremony was over, Manny found her parents and jumped into her dad's arms. "I did it!" She beamed.

Mateo lifted her up like she was still a little girl and kissed her cheek. "I'm so proud of you Mija."

The moment Mateo put Manny down, Kiara wrapped her arms around her daughter's neck and shook her back and forth. "¡Estoy tan orgulloso de ti!"

Manny hugged her mom back and let her kiss all over her face. "Thank you, ma." She laughed.

Manny turned her attention to her daughter holding onto Mateo's hand when her own teen mom finally let her out the death grip she was in.

"You happy for me?" Manny asked her daughter.

Esmeralda smiled widely and nodded her head. "Yeah! You-you worked really hard."

Manny scooped Esmeralda up and kissed her cheek, her diploma in her hands still as she did. "When daddy comes home from work, we're gonna celebrate. Wanna go to dinner tonight?"

"Can I have grilled cheese?" Esmeralda asked, taking off Manny's cap and trying to put it on her own head.

Mateo and Kiara laughed at their granddaughter while Manny just chuckled and nodded her head. "Yes, you can. You can get a grilled cheese. You know, I did this for you. I want to give you the best life you can ever have."

Esmeralda looked straight at her mom and wrapped her arms around her head. "I love you, mommy."

Manny smiled, tears filling her eyes. "I love you too baby. I love you so much."

After her graduation, the small family moved back to Texas where Bryce went back to living with his brother and Manny got her own apartment with Esmeralda. Manny began working as a child welfare caseworker soon after college and did it for three years before quitting when it became too hard mentally and emotionally for her to do her job on a daily basis. Luckily, she had one lined up right after.

Manny sighed as she sat on the barstool at the island counter of Clover and Ricky's home. She watched Clover slide a water bottle across the counter to her before opening her own and drinking from it.

"So, you're jobless?" Clover stated the obvious.

Manny nodded her head, twisting her long brown hair up into a bun. "Yeah. I'm a single mom with no job."

Clover could hear Esmeralda watching tv in the next room, laughing at the cartoons on the screen. "I can cover your rent if that's a problem." She offered.

"I'm not taking an NFL handout." Manny scoffed. "I'd rather run Ricky dry." She joked.

Clover raised her eyebrows. "I know his bank information by heart. I memorized it." She smiled. "But I'm serious. You're like my sister. If the roles were reversed, you'd help me out."

"I've learned to earn my keep." The Mexican girl reminded her. "We came from the working class. I'm not just going to go leech off of you."

Clover shrugged as she pulled herself up onto the counter beside the stove. "I did it to your family throughout high school, it's not so bad. You should try it sometime."

Manny glared at Clover who just laughed. "I'm serious."

"Fine." Clover swung her legs back and forth. "How about you work for me. I'm pretty sure I'm probably the only NFL player in the league who doesn't have a manager. Or an assistant. You can even do it from Texas unless I have something to do off the field. It'll be good pay and you get a lot of pros. Free tickets to my games, free tickets to events I attend, and my sister who doubles as my stylist will make you custom dresses. What do you say? Work for a dumb jock?"

Manny smiled softly. "Wouldn't that mean I would take a percentage of your check."

"After taxes, yeah." The African American girl pointed out. "Manny, I grew up in a shoebox of an apartment, slept in a closet me and my sister called a bedroom, and slept in a bed with you while you nine months pregnant just to have somewhere to sleep at night. I barely got through college and if it wasn't for the NFL I'd be sleeping back in your bedroom in Dallas. I'm signed to a multi-million dollar contract as long as I don't die in the next five years. We're 24, how much money does a 24-year-old really need? Just take the job. And you can help plan my wedding. That's pretty important."

Manny laughed and held out her hand. "I'll take the job. Shake on it?"

Clover went to reach her hand but realized they were too far away from one another. "Whatever. I'll call my lawyer and tell him to write up a contract."

"You have a lawyer?" Manny asked surprised.

The two heard the front door open then close, footsteps walking around, then Ricky's voice talking to Esmeralda. Clover nodded her head towards the entrance of the kitchen.

"He has a lawyer that I use." She corrected.

When Ricky walked into the kitchen, he was sweaty from his workout and went straight to the fridge for food. "Hey, Manny. How are you?"

"I'm great." She beamed. "I just got a new job."

"Oh yeah?" He breathed, stuffing fruit into his mouth as he turned around. "As what?"

"My assistant and manager." Clover smiled.

Ricky looked between them then chuckled as he walked out of the room. "Y'all have fun with that. I'm taking a shower."

Manny continued to co-parent with Bryce for their daughter Esmeralda. Since Bryce got a house not too far from where he was living with his brother, Esmeralda had no option but to go to Grand Ridge High School when the time eventually came. Unlike Manny in her high school years, Esmeralda loved going to public school. She had lots of friends and was a cheerleader for most of high school, cheering on her grandfather's football team every Friday night.

When Clover has to retire from football, Manny still worked as her manager. One night when she went along with Clover to a business dinner in Fort Worth, Manny made friends with the owner while she sat the bar getting bored of football talk. Miguel, the owner, asked Manny out for a date for the following night. A year later they would be having their wedding. A year later, they would have their first daughter together, Mariana. Esmeralda at the age of 12 was thrilled to finally have a sibling. Two years later, Manny gave birth to her third and final daughter, Alessandra.

Manny began to manage the string of restaurants Miguel owned alongside him. She was content with her family. Her three daughters and her husband, the life she always wanted. She had true love, true happiness, and raised her daughters with pride. Esmeralda, Mariana, and Alessandra even broke the cycle that Manny, Kiara, and Kiara's own mother had. None of Manny's daughters had children in their teenage years. Mariana being the first to make Manny a grandmother when she was 21.

Manny remained best friends with Clover. Their children being close as well. When Clover retired altogether from all football-related things, she took her kids and husband to Miguel's restaurant for a celebration dinner.

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