Page 121 of Yours, Finally

She shook her head, eyes adamant on mine. "No. They need to know the whole truth, and fear of their reaction wasn't what put the idea in my head."

She turned back to her parents, and I did the same.

"You taught me that it's important to be honest," she said. "We didn't go into it wanting to hide it— I truly thought of it as keeping it private to buy us time. I was afraid we'd mess it up; I was worried about the pressure of figuring out if Jake and I belonged together while under a microscope. Somewhere inside I knew— being with Jake was my best shot at a love like yours. I didn't want to make a mistake and get distracted by others' opinions. It sucks that we made mistakes anyway."

"Pero hija…" Tía Sonia interrupted herself. She took a deep breath before trying again. "Your actions didn't align with your words. You wanted to be together like that— if you had been ready, you wouldn't have cared about what other people had to say anyway."

"But I care about what you and Dad think! And the rest of the family."

"I cared, too," I said. "That I do not regret."

"We were ready to try." Vi gazed down at me again, and gave me a small smile. "We found something wonderful."

She sat on the chair next to me. I held her hand tight on top of the table, at full view of her parents. Tío Raúl's sight focused on the gesture.

"Okay, yes." Tía Sonia sighed. "Yes, it's good that you cared. I just wish you didn't feel it safer to keep it quiet than to tell us. I wish… I wish we could have been happy with you from the start. But that's in the past. I'm glad you're telling us now. Mistakes can be repaired, if people put in the work."

"I'm putting in the work." I gazed at Vi. "We are."

"I love Jake, Mom. Dad. We just want a chance to be happy in love, with you and everyone happy for us, too."

Tío Raúl's eyes shifted between us. A smile tilted his lips. "I am happy for you. What a gift, to have you two building something great together. We couldn't imagine a better partner for each other."

"Mom?" Vi squeezed my hand, her eyes on her mother.

Tía Sonia chuckled. "Happy? Of course I am happy! And I'm also sad that we missed out. If there was any hint of fear of us before, I hope it's gone now that you shared the news with us."

Vi gazed at me, waiting for my response. She had never been as scared as I was.

I took a deep breath. "Next time I worry, I'll have the hard conversation with you all. I won't hide things again."

Tía Sonia put a hand over ours on the table. "Then all is right in the world."

Chapter 36

Vi

"I have one question,"I said.

Jake had gotten me a glass of water, and we sat with my parents at the table. He and I still displayed our interlocked fingers on the wooden surface, and my eyes kept returning to them.

I pulled my gaze away, to catch my dad's eyes. He looked at me with a glint in his eyes.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Did you suspect?" I smiled. "Gabe and Lina said they did."

"I did not!" Dad said. "I thought you treated each other like you treat Gabe. I did not see this coming."

"I didn't, either." Mom grinned in a gesture I recognized in myself, when I looked in the mirror. "Then again, we didn'tsee you interact the same way that Gabe and Lina did. Maybe you were unconsciously hiding it from us even before getting together."

Dad laughed, recognizing my mom's teasing.

"You're probably right, to be honest." Jake gazed at me with a considering look. "I had convinced myself it would never happen, so showing any of it seemed useless, if not dangerous."

"Tell them how long." I squeezed his hand and smirked, shifting my eyes to my parents. "I've had a crush on him since high school."

"High school?!" My dad said.