WILLY

I took a long, hot shower and it washed away the day’s grime but did nothing to soothe my aching heart and raw nerves.

I’d almost walked across the street to see Ruelle. I missed her and I absolutely hated the way things had ended up between them.

Missing having Andrés underfoot didn’t help, either. It was hard to separate the boy from his mom, but I needed to try harder. Andrés needed a man in his life and there was no reason I couldn’t be that for him.

Like one of those Big Brothers or something.

But missing Ruelle was harder. I dreamed of her sometimes, my heart breaking in my sleep when she smiled that sweet smile of hers and I knew it wasn’t for me.

When I opened my top drawer for a pair of underwear, my gaze fell on the photo of Delores that had been on the dresser since shortly before I proposed to her. She’d been laughing, with the ocean behind her, and it had always been one of his favorite photos.

What if I’d known I would lose her?

It was a question that had been hitting me at random times over the last few days. If I’d known I would lose my wife and our daughter, would I have walked away without looking back?

I would have missed out on the pain, but I also would have missed all the love we’d shared and the wonderful memories we’d made. I wouldn’t trade a single day with Delores for anything.

But I was missing Ruelle simply because I feared the pain if I were to lose her.

I got dressed and walked down to see my mother. She was clipping coupons and she smiled when she looked up.

“Cariño, you look nice.”

Confused, I looked down at myself and realized I’d put on a button-down shirt. A casual one, but still not a T-shirt.

And I’d tucked it in.

“Going courtin’ clothes, I guess” I muttered.

“Ay, really?” her face lit up, but I watched her rein it back in. “Who are you going to court?”

“I need to talk to Ruelle. Can I send Andrés over to help you?”

“Tell him I need help reading the tiny expiration dates.”

Then she set the scissors down and gave me a 'Mom look'.

“On one condition though. Promise you'll spend some time with the little one when you’re done, no matter what happens. At least play a game of cards with him.”

“I promise, Ma. No matter what happens with Rue.”

“Then go. And don’t hold anything back.”

I almost chickened out halfway across the street. Maybe I should turn around and think about what I wanted to say to her. Not a script by any means, but at least an idea of what might come out of my mouth.

But if I started overthinking it, I might chicken out and say nothing at all. After taking a deep breath, I closed the distance to her front steps and rang the doorbell.

Rue’s expression was so neutral when she opened the door, I knew she must have seen me coming.

“Hello, Guillermo. Did you have another sugar accident?”

“Not today. Can I come in and talk? My mother said she could use Drés’ help with the coupon clipping.”

As if me saying his name had summoned him, Andrés ran full bore into the kitchen.

“Willy!”

“Hey, champ!” I ruffled the kid’s hair and then looked at Ruelle. “Is it okay?”

She nodded.

“Grandma Rosario wants to know if you’ll help her clip coupons.”

“I’m not very good at cutting yet. And I want to see Willy.”

“She needs help with the dates,” I said. “I just want to talk to your mom for a few minutes and then I’ll come rescue you from coupons and play cards with you, okay?”

Andrés looked skeptical.

“Pinkie promise?”

“Pinkie promise.”

Once Andrés had put on his coat and boots and Ruelle had watched him get across the street, she turned to face me, her arms folded across her chest.

“I’m sorry,” I let out. “I’m sorry and I’ve missed you. A lot.”

I hadn’t been sure what to say, but I knew I’d started off on the right foot when her face softened.

“I’ve missed you, too, Guillermo.”

“You snuck up on me, Rue,” I continued. “You were the neighbor lady. My mother’s friend. Andrés’ mom. And then you became my friend. I got used to having you around and I don’t like not having you around now.”

“That’s right now, but what about an hour from now?” she asked. “Or until something triggers that fight-or-flight reflex that seems to kick in if we get too close.”

The way her expression closed off again broke my heart.

“I can’t do the push-pull thing anymore. You pull me in and then you push me away. And then you do it again. It hurts and now it’s hurting my baby boy, too.”

“I know, but I don’t want to push you away anymore.”

It was awkward, standing in her kitchen as we were. So I shoved my hands in my pockets.

“What changed?”

Her arms tightened, almost as if she was hugging herself.

“Willy, I don’t think you wanted to push me away before. You couldn’t help yourself. I mean, you traded something you’ve treasured since you were a teenager so my son could give me a hope chest for Christmas, but when you saw a sign we care about you, you ran.”

“Losing you changed me. Knowing I’d hurt you and that I was never going to hold you again or see you smile at me the way you used to changed me.”

“When you looked at Drés’ picture of us, it changed everything. He drew us as a family. But we weren’t the family you wanted.”

“That’s not it, Ruelle. I promise.”

I took my hands out of my pockets and started to reach for her, but she gave a slight shake of her head and leaned against the counter.

“Looking at Andrés’ hopes and dreams of us as a family terrified me because I’ve had those hopes and dreams before and I lost them. It hurt so bad I couldn’t breathe and I didn’t think I would live through it. When I saw that picture, I didn’t think we had a chance at being a family and that hurt. I tried to push you away before it hurt more and that was stupid.”

“What you went through was awful, Willy. I understand that. But I can’t tip-toe around your loss. I can’t wonder if you’re watching me and Andrés and wishing we were Delores and your baby.”

“No” I shook my head. “I loved Delores and she and the baby will always have a piece of my heart. But it’s a big heart, Rue. You and Andrés make me happy and I don’t wish for anything but being here with the two of you.”

I took the chance of pulling her hand free from where it was tucked under her arm and lacing his fingers through hers.

“I realized today that one day with you would make me happier than a lifetime spent without you because I was too scared to take the chance. I don’t know how much time we’ll have. It could be days or weeks, but I hope it’s decades. I want to spend that time with you.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes.

“Guillermo, I want that, too.”

“I can’t promise I’ll never make mistakes, Rue. But I won’t ever turn your life upside down, either. I know it might be hard for you to trust again, but I’d never walk away from you or Andrés.”

“I believe that. Like your mother told me, you’re a forever kind of guy.”

I nodded.

“I am. I just want the chance to be your forever guy. I want to help you fill that hope chest with memories.”

“And dreams for our future. Together. I want to take that chance, too, Willy. So much.”

The ache in my chest eased and I pulled her into my arms.

“This is the best Christmas ever.”

She chuckled.

“You’re a little late.”

I made a show of looking at the Christmas decorations still hanging around us and then kissed her.

“Some gifts are worth the wait.”

***

5 YEARS LATER

RUE

On the first Saturday in December, I heard the door to the garage open and close. I set a plate of pancakes in front of Andrés as my mother-in-law walked into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Rosario.”

“Morning, Abuela,” my son echoed.

“Morning, mi amor” Rosario made a beeline for the coffeepot. “The nice thing about living over your garage is being able to sneak down for coffee when I realized I flew in from Florida so late, I didn’t get any groceries.”

“Dad knows all the creaky spots in the floor, so he’ll know if you sneak in and out,” Andrés warned her. “He won’t tell me where they are, though. He says I have to learn where they are on my own or Mom’ll bust me when I’m a teenager.”

“I busted your dad more than once,” Rosario said, taking her coffee to the table.

“What did I do now?”

The sight of my husband standing in the doorway still took my breath away. He had on drawstring flannel pants, holding hands with our half-awake five-year-old daughter, and cradling our two-month-old son against his naked chest.

“Mommy I want hot cocoa” Catalina whined, yawned, and pressed her face in her father's leg.

Santiago was making the little squeaky noises that signaled snuggle-with-Daddy time was almost over and he’d want Mommy soon.

“Drés was warning me about the creaky spots in the floor,” Rosario said, getting a cup to pour my daughter some cocoa. “Just in case I decide to sneak over and raid the pantry in the middle of the night.”

“We’ll go grocery shopping later,” I said. “I could use a few things myself.”

Andrés practically jumped out of his chair.

“But the Christmas parade is today!”

“Drés not so loud” Catalina pouted.

Willy shifted Santi into the crook of his arm so he could ruffle Andrés’ hair with his free hand.

“The parade doesn’t start until four, champ. Eat your breakfast.”

“Daddy, will the sirens make Santi cry?” Catalina asked, suddenly fully awake.

“I have ear muffs for him, baby girl,” I smiled.

“And he’s a tough guy,” Willy added. “Like his big brother.”

“And sister” Rosario quickly added, holding out a cup of cocoa to Catalina.

“Of course, of course” Willy smiled.

“I really like the sirens” Andrés sat straighter in his chair.

“Oh, Rue, don’t let me forget to get presents for the town tree when we go to the store,” Rosario said.

“We got ours,” Andrés said, and he was off and running before I could remind him he was supposed to be eating.

“He’s a little too excited,” I chuckled as he came running back in so fast he almost ran into a chair.

Andrés dropped the shopping bags on the floor and pulled the toys out, setting them on the table. Willy and I had made a cash donation, but Andrés and Catalina had picked out toys to donate the last time we’d gone shopping. There were four. He’d chosen a Lego set for a child his age, Catalina had chosen a Barbie dream house, and they both chose two infant toys to be from Santiago and their baby sister in Heaven.

“We should wrap them, right?” Catalina asked.

Rosario shook her head.

“They want to match the toys with their lists of the children and what they asked for and if they’re wrapped, they won’t know what they are. Which you know, since we didn’t wrap them last year, either.”

“Doing the tape is my favorite part. Do you like the toys, Grandma?” Catalina asked.

“I think those are great presents and they’ll make the children who get them very happy.”

Andrés beamed the brightest.

“We share because we want them to feel lucky like we are, ’cause we’re very lucky, right, Dad?”

Willy kissed the top of Andrés and Catalina’s heads and then walked to me to hand over the baby. But first, he kissed me, his eyes shining with love and contentment.

“Yeah, we are. The luckiest family in the whole world.”

“This is going to be the best Christmas ever,” Andrés said as Catalina knelt beside him to help put the toys back in the bag.

“Every Christmas with you will be the best Christmas ever,” Willy said as he passed our son to me, and he kissed me again.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Thank you all so much for reading
Unwrap My Heart!

Thank you for joining Guillermo and Ruelle on their journey and I do hope you enjoyed every second of this book.

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~the_atticwriter