Sixty Days (28 page)

Lola had decided to head home and rest for the night.
She said it was only fair that I stay with him, being his wife and all. I could tell she wasn’t happy that we got married behind their back, but we had already accepted that this would probably happen.

It’s nearly three in the morning and he still hasn’t woken up yet. I trust with all my heart that he will. But I can’t help but doubt
that it will happen soon. I finally give up and decide to close my eyes and rest for a second.

“Tell me the
truth, did he get me pretty bad?” I hear his soft voice as he caresses the cheek resting on his hand.

At first
, I think I am dreaming. But, when I look up I can see that he’s awake. He’s trying to smile down at me but he looks as if it hurts him to do so. “You’re awake,” I say, still in shock.

“You didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easy, did
you?” he teases. How can still be positive and happy-go-lucky with everything that has happened is beyond me.

“I thought I had lost you,
” I say, the tears coming back.

“Awww…shit, baby. Don’t cry. I told you, I’m not going any
where. You and I, we’re forever,” he says trying to dry my tears with one hand. “Come here.” He moves to the side. I can see that it hurts him to do so, but he’s also determined. So, I oblige and join him in the bed.

“I love you, Mickey. Don’t you
dare ever to do that to me again,” I repeat the same words he told me last night and give him a quick peck on the mouth.

“Now…where have I heard that before?” He chuckles then winces
. “I love you too, my heaven.” He kisses my temple.

“You look as hot as ever, by the way.” I rest
my head on his shoulder and he holds me tighter to him.

After having a few seconds to ourselves
, I call a nurse and tell her that he’s awake. She’s not happy that I waited so long to tell her, but I guess she understood my reasoning. I decided to call the house later in the day. He’s doing better, so there is no use of waking them at this hour when they can’t even come to see him.

“How’s your brother? Did I get a good one on him?” Mickey asks once the nurse and the doctor leave
and I’m back in his bed with him.

“Don’t know. Don’t care,
” I tell him.

“Laylah…”

“No, Mickey, no. He almost took you away from me. I just don’t think I could ever forgive him. He was so unreasonable. He was such…such a coward,” I tell him almost pleadingly.

“He’ll come along,
” he says and kisses me on the temple. “Come on, let’s get some sleep, my heaven. You look tired,” he says once he sees me give a big yawn. Resting my head on his shoulders and him resting his on top of mine, all wrapped out in each other’s arms, we sleep.

The
perfect fit.

After getting a few hours of sleep, I call the house and tell
them the good news.
They all agreed to drop by after breakfast. No one has heard from Kevin and if they have, they haven’t mentioned anything to me. The doctor came in after I finished my phone call and told us he would like to for Mickey to stay for two more days, just to make sure nothing changes. Quickly after he leaves, I call the house back to tell Lola everything the doc says. She thanked me for keeping her updated on everything.

Everyone arrives a few hour
s later to visit Mickey. My mom walks in with the overnight bag I asked for her to pack. He doesn’t like the idea of me staying in the hospital and insists that I need my rest, but I’m not hearing any of that shit. I tell him that I’m staying with him. He can tell I had already made up my mind, so he drops it. The family stays until lunch where we all eat in his room from the hospital cafeteria. Soon after, they all agree to leave so both Mickey and I can rest.

I
am sitting next to Mickey on his bed and we are talking. Well…he is talking, smiling, and playing with our joined hands as I kiss every inch of his swollen face, when my brother comes into his room. “If you’re here to start more shit, then I suggest you leave,” I snap at him before he can even explain what he’s doing here.

“I’m sorry
,” he says in barely a whisper. “I was out of line. I should have let you explain before ever attacking you like that.”

“It’s okay
, man, I think I get it,” Mickey says, always being the better person.

“Do you really love him?” Kev asks looking at me now.

“With all my heart,” I say looking Mickey in the eyes.

“Why my sister, man?” he asks.

“The heart isn’t responsible for who it chooses to love. And, why not her? Have you met your sister? She’s the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I’ll choose her a million times more if given the chance,” Mickey says, tightening his grip on my hand.

“So
, you two really are in love. How could I be so blind?” he asks to no one in particular. “Can you— can you both ever forgive me?” I can see the remorse in his face. I can see he’s in pain and ashamed of what he’s done.

I look at Mickey and he l
ooks at me. We then turn toward my brother where he’s giving us a hopeful look. “Yeah…we forgive you,” we both say in unison.

“But
, don’t you dare to ever do it again,” I warn.

“I can’t promise that. If he ever hurts you, Lai, I won’t hesitate
,” he admits.

“He won’t hurt me,
” I confidently tell him.

“
Did you guys really get married?” he asks.

“Yeah, man. We d
id. Best fucking day of my life,” Mickey answers beaming up a smile at him.

“And
, you’re both happy…?” We both nod with twin smiles. “Good, that’s good,” he says shaking his head as if he still can’t believe anything that has happened.

“I really am sorry. Dad
came and talked to me, but I had to come here and see for myself. I’m glad you both found each other and that you’re happy. Please believe me when I say how sorry and stupid I am.”

“We know,
” Mickey and I say at the same time, which makes us laugh.

“So…Vega, I’m your fucking brother in law. How’s that going for ya?” Kev jokes.

“I’ve been better,” Mickey answers, smiling back at him.

If there is s
omething that Mama has always taught us, it is to forgive each other. We are all humans, we make mistakes, we’re not perfect, and no matter what, family is the most important thing. No matter how mad and disappointed I am with my brother at this very moment, I would’ve still forgiven him. Whether it was today, the day after that, or three months from now after, I would have.

He’s my family. F
amilies always forgive each other and look pass our imperfections and mistakes. At the end of the day, everything can be worked out.

Chapter Eighteen

M

y brother stayed for a couple of hours that day. He asked a lot of questions about our relationship. I could see that he was still a little reluctant about it, but he seemed open to the idea. I know it never was exactly his cup of tea but he needs to get used to it, because Mickey and I are forever, especially now that we are about to start a family, and nothing is going to change that.

We were supposed to get Maddie during the days Mickey was in the hospital.
 
After Kev left we had both called John and explained to him what had happened. He understood and wished Mickey to get better. He also told us he could bring her to us on the 6
th
of January, which is the day after tomorrow. Mickey has finally been discharged and we are getting ready to head home.

Ever since the family found out about our marriage
, the living arrangements have changed. Angel and Carla moved in with mom and dad, Luke would be staying with us in our home, and Ari and Mary are going to my old room at the main house. And, our daughter is set to join us soon.

Since we needed to arrange Maddi
e’s room for when she came home to us, we had trusted Luke and Ari with that last little secret. Although, to be honest, for me it seems more like a surprise than a secret.

Anyway, we recruited the two of them to get her room ready
. I gave them the drawing of what I had in mind for it and told them how to do it all. I would have loved to do it myself with Mickey’s help, but due to the circumstances, Ari and Luke were the perfect people for the job.

N
ow, it’s just a thing of getting home and I can’t wait. Maddie is going to be able to enjoy one of the greatest holidays in the Hispanic community. Just the idea of her cute little face being excited by it has every part of me counting the hours until we have our daughter. Until our little family is together.

Luke is set to pick us up at the hospital today and to take us straight to our home. Knowing my family
, they are all probably there waiting for us to get home. They still hadn’t said anything about our secret marriage, probably for Mickey’s sake. But, I’m sure that they will all get to it soon enough and we’re ready for it.

“Is it really necess
ary for the both of you to sit in the back? Can’t one of you move to the passenger seat so I don’t feel like a chauffeur?” Luke asks, once we are on the road back home.

“Hell, n
o! She stays right here with me,” Mickey says, pulling me tighter to him. When we were getting in the car he had insisted for me to sit next to him, not that he had to beg much. Once I took a seat next to him, he pulled me close to him and hasn’t let go of me ever since.

“What’s wrong with him?” Luke asks looking at me through the rearview mirror.

I shrug and look to Mickey. “What’s wrong with you?” I ask, a smile on my face.

“Everyone finally knows about us, babe. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go. I’m making up for lost time. If they ever had any doubt about us, I’m going to prove them
wrong,” he says, pulling me in for a deep kiss.

“No kissing in
the car,” Luke jokingly reprimands us. “I’m happy for you two, you’ve been through enough,” he says all serious now.

“Thank y
ou,” both Mickey and I say at the same time.

Luke laughs “Any who…I made use of your gift, Laylah
,” he says with a shy smile.

“Really?” I ask a little hopeful.

“Really,” he gives a shy smile and nods.

“I’m proud of you, Uncle Luke.” I smile back.

“What’s with the whole uncle shit?” he jokes.

“Shut up! You know
you love it,” I tease back. “In all seriousness, how does the room look?” I ask giving him a serious look through the rearview mirror.

“We are no Picasso like you, but I’m pretty sure you
both will be proud of the work Ari and I did on the room. And, your baby girl will love it once she sees it,” he says beaming at us.

“Oh, please! I gave you the easy stuff to d
o. I’ll finish the rest tonight,” I jokingly tell him and he smiles back at me. But, I really do have a few more things to add to the room that I’d been thinking about.

“Do you want to see her before anyone else, man?” Mickey asks.

“Do I want to see the little girl that has got you two all mushy, mushy and crazier than ever? Do I want to see my new favorite niece? Does a cat have four legs? Of course I do. What kind of stupid question is that? Give me,” he says once he sees Mickey looking in his phone for the picture of Maddie and us that we took on Christmas Eve, making both Mickey and I laugh. We had stopped at a red light so he can actually get a good look at the picture. “Oh gosh! She’s so cute, look at that curly hair of hers. She’s adorable, I’m so happy for both of you.” He hands the phone back to Mickey once the light has changed.

“
She’s as sweet as it gets,” Mickey says.

“Sweetest kid you’ll ever meet
. She’s a shy little thing at first, but once she gets to know you, she’s just a ball of love,” I add.

“I think the family will love her, you guys.
Don’t worry. She’s the perfect fit for this crazy familia of ours,” Luke reassures us. “Congratulations, Mamma and Poppa.” He winks at us.

As predicted
, my family had abandoned the main house and has taken over ours.
  God bless their loving souls, but part of me was hoping for some alone time with my husband.

“Later
,” he whispers in my ear, noticing the disappointment on my face when we see our house invasion.

Our family had thoug
ht it was a great idea to throw us a wedding shower. Never mind the fact that we are already married or that we just came from a long stay at the hospital and want nothing more than to rest.

Mickey and I head upstairs to take a quick shower and change. We also want to see Maddie’s room. Ari had followed us claiming she wanted to check if she had left her phone charger in the room she was staying
in, which is now Maddie’s room. Luke did the same, claiming he wanted to change of clothes. The room was pure perfection. They followed every detail I told them and it is just amazing. Add to that, the idea I had of painting the Disney princesses on one of her walls and every three year olds princess bedroom dream is made true for our very own little princess.

“Thank you
,” I tell them, giving them each a hug.

“You’re more th
an welcome, it was our pleasure,” Ari says. “I would have killed to have a room like this.”

“It’s every princess
’ dream come true for our very own little princess,” Mickey says, repeating what I had been thinking.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you just adopt me too and give me a room as amazing as this one
,” Ari jokes, making us all laugh.

In the middle of the room
close to the wall is where the bed is located, it’s in the form of a castle. To one side, it has some stairs so she can go up its balcony and play, while the other side has slide, for her to go down in a fun way. Close to the window there is a day bed in the form of the Cinderella carriage with a toy chest included. Then, there is the drawing of the sky on the ceiling. That was what I was most worried about. Knowing from experience that it was a hard thing to do, but they really did an amazing job on it.

O
n the other side of the room there is a chalkboard wall that also happens to hide the closet. Unlike Mickey’s shop where the wall is black, this one is pink so it can match the rest of the colors.

“W
hat exactly is it that you want to add?” Mickey asks. “This looks pretty perfect.”

“Oh! It is. Trust me
, it is. You both did a great job! The clouds look amazing, by the way,” I say turning to Luke and Ari.

“Pish posh, it was a piece of cake. Mart
ha helped a lot, too,” Luke says waving his hand like it’s no big deal.

“I’m sorry
, who?” I ask feeling confused.

“You know… Mart
ha Stuart,” he casually says.

“Yeah…we m
ay have forgotten half of the stuff you told us. So, we pulled out the big guns and researched Martha’s stuff. We may have also looked up stuff on YouTube,” Ari admits, earning a shut up look from Luke.

Mickey and I both laugh at both of them
. “Anyhow, as I was saying,” I say once I manage to stop laughing. “I just want to add ‘Princess Maddie’s Land’ with a portrait of Maddie over there,” I point to the upper center of the chalk wall, “in a permanent paint, like I did with Mickey’s shop. I also wanted to paint all of the Disney princesses next to the carriage along with some animals, maybe a white horse, stuff like that. I also wanted to do a portrait of us as a family right next to the door. You know, as if we were the royals with their little princess, like the ones they have in some movies.”

“Yeah…that’s definitely
your type of doing. We could never pull that off,” Luke says admiring the places I pointed out.

“Seriously, adopt me,
” Ari repeats.

“So
, you want to paint us as royals?” Mickey asks, walking to where I’m standing in the middle of the room.

“Yeah…I also wanted to paint the door with the ch
alk paint. If there is any left,” I add as he kisses the top of my head and hugs me from behind.

“Oh,
there is plenty of it left,” Ari adds.

“It sounds perfect, my heaven. Just don’t over work yourself, okay?” he softly says close to my ear.

I move my head so I can look at him. “I won’t,” I promise and he lowers his head so he can lay a kiss on my lips that ends up becoming deeper than I expected it to be.

After our kiss
, Ari and Luke decided to go downstairs to give us some alone time.
Mickey and I decide to go to our room to take a shower and freshen up before we see what these crazy people have in store for us.

The shower was quick. We dressed in our comfiest clothes wanting to fee
l like we are finally at home.

I wasn’t tha
t surprised to see they had opened the basement and took out all of our belongings and put them back in their original place. My home was finally my home again and everyone knew it. When we get downstairs, everyone is already in the living room, waiting. Half are sitting on the floor and the other half had brought out their own chairs, since our living room doesn’t accommodate as many people as Mama’s and Lola’s. There are two spots left on our sofa, which only fits three people. Taking one of the spots is Mario, leaving the three of us in the spotlight because of our little secret.

“Be honest with me, how mad is she?” I whisper to him once I
take a seat between him and Mickey, referencing Mama’s mood.

“She made chicharrones last night and didn’t
even let me eat one of them. She knows how much I love them,” Mario says, pouting over the delicious, greasy, homemade fried pork skin.

“That is just mean,
” Mickey says whispering his amusement.

“So, pretty mad,
” I say nodding my head.

“How could you two get married and not invite any of us?” Mama
asks, making the three of us jump.

“I, we, just couldn’t wait any
longer,” Mickey sheepishly says.

“
We are still getting married in April, like we planned,” I add.

“We didn’t even know you two were engaged!” Lola exclaims
, throwing her arms up in the air.

“
We were going to tell you all, Mom,” Mickey says, looking at our joined hands and tightening his grip.

“We are sorry,
really sorry. But you have to understand that for us, it was the right thing to do. It was my— our, perfect wedding. Sure we didn’t have you guys there, but it still felt perfect for us.”

“We e couldn’t wait,
” Mickey adds with a shrug.