“Not yet,” he says, seeming baffled. “But we won’t have any problem selling it.”
“I can’t sell that car.”
“What’s going on here, Maria?”
I eye the G-Wagon, which is what his teammate called theirs. “Could we maybe discuss this in private?” In addition to the man who apparently delivered the new vehicle, people are swirling all around us, hustling to get to where they’re going for the holidays. It’s only a matter of minutes before someone recognizes the Marlins’ famous new pitcher.
“Sure.” He gives the man a hundred-dollar bill he had ready for him. “Merry Christmas.”
“Same to you, and if I might add, I’m a huge fan. Go Marlins.”
“Thanks, man.” Austin accepts the bro-shake-back-slap guys do these days and then holds the passenger door for me.
The new-car smell is the first thing I notice.
Austin takes the bow off the top, stashes it in the back and gets into the driver’s side.
“What about the BMW?”
“We’ll get it tomorrow.” He looks over at me. “I should’ve asked if you wanted to drive.”
“No, you can. I’d be afraid to drive a car this expensive.”
“The car is yours, Maria. Of course you’re going to drive it. And why do you want to keep the Honda if you have this?”
“I can’t drive this to the clinic where I work with people who don’t have enough to eat, Austin.”
He releases a deep sigh. “You said you liked the one Lolo got for Elle.”
“I do, but that doesn’t mean I expected you to get one for me.”
“I wanted to do something cool for you for Christmas. I thought you’d love it.”
“Anyone would love this car, Austin.”
“Anyone but my fiancée, you mean.”
My stomach aches in earnest now. “Please don’t be hurt. You’re so amazingly generous, and you know how much I appreciate that, but this car is not me.” And it sort of pains me that he didn’t already know that. How could he not know?
He surprises me when he pulls over just outside the airport and puts the SUV in Park before turning to me. “We give a ton of money to charity. I’ve fully funded the new clinic.”
“And I love you so much for that. You’ll never know what that means to me.”
“I do know what it means to you, because I know you. I know what matters to you. As long as we’re taking care of those less fortunate, aren’t we allowed to enjoy a few luxuries?”
“We live in the most beautiful home I’ve ever seen and just had ten magical days in Hawaii. Our life is one big luxury.”
“So, what’s one more?”
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings. You obviously went to some trouble to arrange a nice surprise for me, and I don’t want to ruin it.”
“You’re not hurting my feelings. I just thought you’d need a bigger car for when we started adding to our family, and this thing is a beast. I want my family in something super safe, because the way people drive around here freaks me out. I pity the fool who hits you in this thing.”
“It does seem rather rugged.”
“It has amazing safety ratings.”
“I am a safety girl.”
“See? I knew that. Please don’t be thinking I don’t get you, because I do.”
I reach for his hand and curl mine around it. “It’s a really nice surprise. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“But I can keep the Honda for driving to work?”
He rolls his eyes. “If you must.”
“I must.”
Leaning across the center console, he says, “Kiss me.”
So I kiss him because there’s almost nothing else I’d rather do at any given moment.
“If you’re not happy, I’m not happy,” he says. “If you decide you don’t want to keep the G-Wagon, we won’t keep it. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s a big deal that you want me to drive the safest car you could find.”
“Keeping you and Ev and any other kids we have safe is the only thing I care about.”
He’s still grappling with the trauma of seeing his beloved daughter through a near-fatal illness, and knowing that makes me understand one of the primary reasons he wants me to have this particular vehicle. “Then I’ll drive it with pleasure to everywhere but the clinic because it brings you peace of mind.”
“Thank you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more,” he says as he pulls back into traffic and hits the gas to get us to Abuela’s.
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
“I can’t wait to see Everly.”
“I know. This is the longest I’ve been away from her for anything other than work.”
We debated taking her with us to Hawaii, but after a rocky transition, she’s gotten into a good routine in Miami with a preschool she loves and new friends. She spends so much time with Austin’s parents, who live with us, that we decided it would be better for her to stay in her routine. Not to mention, it was the first time we’ve truly had to ourselves since we became a couple. Even though we FaceTimed with her every day, we still missed her like crazy.
I’m almost bouncing in my seat by the time we pull up to Abuela’s, which is mobbed with cars. We end up parking two blocks down the street and are walking to the house when we see Wyatt approaching from the other direction. I’ve been so caught up in getting home to Everly that I almost forgot about his big annual checkup today.
“How’d it go?” I ask him before we even say hello.
My sister is happier with him than she’s ever been in her life, and the thought of anything happening to him is simply unbearable—even if we all know he’s living on borrowed time.
He gives a thumbs-up. “All good. Got my inspection sticker renewed for another year.”
“Oh, thank God.” I hug him tightly. “Thank God.”
“Awww, you guys love me.”
“Yes, we do.”
Dee comes running out of the house, stopping short six feet from him. “You were supposed to text me!”
“I got done early so I came right here. All good under the hood, baby.”
She lets out a cry and runs for him.
He wraps his arms around her and lifts her off her feet.
“Put me down! Your heart!”
“Is in perfect shape, especially since it found you.”
He puts her down and kisses her as Austin gives my hand a tug toward the house. “Let’s give them a minute.”
“Thank God he’s okay.”
“You said it.”
“They’ve only been together a short time, and I already can’t imagine her without him.”
“Me either. They’re a great couple.”
We enter into chaos in Abuela’s kitchen. Every woman in my family, or so it seems, is overseeing some part of the feast, but the only “woman” I want to see is the little one who’s wrapped herself so deeply around my heart that it’s like she’s always been there.
“So glad you made it,” my mom, Elena, says when she hugs me and then Austin.