Maria Maria | Oscar Diaz

42 - Welcome Home

After spending a few weeks in the hospital I was way past ready to get home. My doctor and Maria's doctor had given us the okay to go home. We spent our last hour in the NICU saying goodbye to baby Angelina. The doctors say that with her growth and development trend she should be able to come home in about a month. Our fingers are crossed that she'll be able to come home sooner than that. 

Angel met us at the entrance of the hospital. I was wheeling Maria to the front in a wheelchair. She looked up at me and laughed a little. "You know, you didn't have to do this." I nodded. "I know, but it's the hospital's rule mamita." I leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Angel got out of his car and popped open the trunk for our bags. He smiled hard when he saw the two of us exiting the revolving doors of the hospital. 

"You two love birds ready to go home?" He walked over and helped me load up the bags into the trunk. Afterwards I helped Maria out of the wheelchair and into the car. "Hell yeah, I'm ready to go home and smoke a big ass blunt." Angel laughed. "I already got one waiting for you compa." He handed me a pre-rolled blunt that had to be holding about a three grams itself. "Damn? What did you put in here?" He smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry about all that." I turned around in the front seat to make sure Maria was okay in the back seat. She was pressed against the door looking up at the hospital. 

"Everything okay mami?" She looked over at me with wide eyes, they were a little glossy. "I just hope that she will be okay in there. Without us." I looked into her eyes. "She will. She'll be home before we know it." She nodded and sat back in the seat. Angel drove us to our house. Sad Eyes and Santi's cars were parked out front and all the Santos were sitting around the lawn on the couches and the porch. When we pulled up everybody stood up and started smiling. I got out of the car and helped Maria out behind me. She held onto me and smiled. "It feels to good to be home." I nodded, "Yes it does."

Santi slapped me on the side of my arm. "Welcome home Spooky!" I nodded, "Appreciate that fool." Sad Eyes walked up and stood in front of me for a moment. Then he rushed me and hugged me so hard I thought I was going to get knocked off of my feet. "Damn, I guess somebody missed me." He let go and leaned back. "You damn right! I didn't know if we were going to lose you that night." Then he looked at Maria, "Or you." He leaned in and gave her a more gentle hug than he gave me. Then he leaned back again. "Don't ever scare us like that again."

Me and Maria smiled. "We'll try not to." Angel walked up with our bags. "Yeah, because you two are the best cooks we have. You don't want me to tell you what happened when Santi tried to make baked chicken the other night." I looked over at Santi and gave him a confused look. "You fucked up baked chicken homie?" Santi shrugged his shoulders and took another swig of his beer. We all laughed and went inside. 

Angel dropped our bags into my room. I sat down at the living room table and pulled Maria down to sit on my lap. I looked around the house for a moment. "Where's Cesar?" Everyone looked around the room or down around their feet. I started to get pissed off. "I said, WHERE'S CESAR?" Sad Eyes stood up and walked over to me. "Spooky, um, while you were gone, something happened." Maria looked at me with concern. She knows that besides her and our daughter he was the one person on this earth that meant the most to me. "What do you mean something happened?" I gritted the statement through my teeth. 

Before anyone could answer me the door opened up and Cesar walked in with Jamal and Ruby. "Hey guys, is Oscar home yet?" He scanned the room and stopped once he saw me and Maria sitting at the living room table. "Oscar! You're home!" He ran up to us. Maria stood up so that I could hug him. He ran into me hard and I grabbed him and hugged him even harder. "I'm home mano, I'm home." But I quickly pulled him back from me and looked at him. "Cesar?" I shook my head in confusion while looking at him up and down. Cesar looked back at me just as confused at first but then realization washed over him. "Oh, yeah." He rubbed his hands over his now bald head. "This happened while you were gone." 

"You got in?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I, I just didn't want to sit around waiting while shit needed to get handled." I sat back down in the chair. My little brother decided to join Los Santos. All on his own. I had mixed feelings about this. I had plans to have him jumped in for protection purposes but he would eventually move away and could forget about all of this. I never expected him to WANT to get down. Cesar turned to Maria. "Maria, I'm glad you two are okay. How's the baby?" She smiled and hugged him. "She's doing okay. And we named her yesterday." "Really?" 

"Yep!" Shouted Angel. "Her name is Angelina Maria Diaz!" Cesar smiled and hugged me again. "Congratulations again mano." I nodded. "Thank you." Angel could tell something was bothering me. "How about we continue the party outside, yeah?" He started moving everybody outside. Cesar sat down at the table once everybody went outside. I looked up at him again. "Why didn't you tell me?" "I didn't think I had to. I'm sixteen now Oscar. I'm old enough to make this decision on my own." "I don't think you are. Did you think this through?! It's not just getting in one day and then the next deciding you want to be out!" Cesar sucked his teeth, "I know that. "

I shook my head, "Do you?" I was balling my fists up and was about to jump up from my chair until I felt Maria's hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her and she was pleading with me with her eyes. I swear if it wasn't for her I would have gotten up from this chair and beaten the brakes off of him in this living room. Maria turned to Cesar, "Can you give us a moment Cesar? Please?" He nodded and stood up from the table. I watched him as he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

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Well that's one way to be welcomed home

Do you guys agree with Cesar choosing to get jumped in?