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“Isco, I… I’m really not sure if this is a good idea,” Álvaro says in a small voice.
Isco has been practically dragging him along for a long time. He rolls his eyes. “Why are you so scared to meet my parents?”
“I… I’m not scared,” Álvaro says. “But… who did you even tell them I was?”
“Well, the spawn of Satan that seduced their son and almost got him killed a few times,” Isco says, and when he sees Álvaro’s face, he sighs. “I didn’t.”
“Be serious!” Álvaro says. “It’s…”
“I told them you were my best friend, an orphan boy who had a quite difficult life and who works with me on the farm now,” Isco says. “Did I say any lies?”
“No,” Álvaro says, apparently moved.
“My mother will love you, don’t worry,” Isco says and hugs him. “She loves orphans in general, she’d take in all orphans she sees if she could. Sometimes I think if I’m actually her son, you know… maybe she picked me off the street when I was a little kid.”
“Isco!”
“Okay, I’m joking. But she will love you.”
Álvaro looks a bit relieved, but still mightily nervous as they approach the house Isco grew up in. It looks beautiful to him, a place where he can imagine Isco had a happy childhood. It’s far from the dim and dirty blacksmith’s shop he grew up in.
Isco lifts his hand and bangs on the door before Álvaro can stop him and tell him to wait, I’m not ready.
The door opens and a woman in a simple dress and an apron walks out. When she sees them, a wide smile appears on her face. “Isco!” she exclaims and hugs him.
“Mother!” Isco says, pretending to squirm in her embrace, but Álvaro can see that he’s as happy to see her as she is to see him. “This is Álvaro, remember, I told you about h-“
He doesn’t get to finish his sentence because his mother lets go of him and hugs Álvaro like he is her long lost son as well. “Welcome, sweetheart,” she coos. “Isco told me so much about you! Poor baby! Come in, come in!”
Álvaro looks at Isco when she disappears inside. “What did you really tell her?” he asks.
“I told you. She loves orphans.”
“Little kids, maybe. But Isco, I’m well over twenty and she called me poor baby.”
Isco scratches his head. “Well, maybe I exaggerated a bit when I was telling her about your childhood…” he says. “But hey, it was hard!”
Álvaro just sighs and walks in.