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Quietly dating Marcus over the last six months has been wonderful and after a delicate conversation between the two of you, Marcus feels that it’s finally time to take things to the next level...have you meet his daughter. From what he’s told you, she’s aware that the two of you are dating but there’s an unknown to how she may actually feel about it or how she’ll act towards you and that’s a little - very - terrifying.
Marcus planned a backyard picnic at his house to keep things comfortable, and you liked the idea, pointing out that Missy would have an easy escape if she didn’t feel comfortable.
Although you hope that won’t be the case.
He’d smiled kindly and said, “I love that you’re thinking of her like that. I don’t think she’ll need it, but you’re right, that’s a great idea.”
Now the two of you have been setting up for the last hour and half, and the only task left is to cut up some fruits to snack on.
“My mom called a little bit ago. They should be here any second now.” Marcus broke the silence that had built up while you were thinking.
“Ay! Marcus should we still be cutting? Do I leave and come back? What should I do?”
Marcus’ face is soft and understanding. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. Be natural, she’s going to love you I’m sure of it.”
Love
There is no way a teenage girl with a widowed dad is going to “love” her dad’s new girlfriend but you appreciate his enthusiasm and like clockwork, you hear the front door open and Anita Moreno calls into the house. “Knock knock! Coming in!”
“In the kitchen mom.” Marcus calls back while wiping his hands then looks to you. “Ready?”
“I hope so.” You say trying not to sound as nervous as you feel.
Missy rounds the corner first. She smiles politely at you and continues toward her dad. You look to Anita for some guidance, she slowly blinks and gestures for you to take a deep breath. Marcus has Missy tugged into his side and he’s walking closer to you with her in tow and exhales, looking at you. “All right time for the official introductions, yeah?”
She looks just like her mother. In the photos Marcus has shown you, she looked like a perfect mix but up close, she is her mothers twin. Beautiful.
You reach your hand out to her and introduce yourself. “Hi Missy, I’ve heard so much about you and then some!” you laugh, “I’m happy we can finally meet.”
God was that cheesy? It felt like it. Shit she’s going to hate you.
“Ditto, my dad’s been telling me all about you and I’ve been begging to meet you!”
“Oh yeah?” you smirk up at Marcus and he shrugs, smiling.
“Oh yeah.” she says with a chuckle.
With the ice officially broken, Marcus tells Missy to go wash up and to meet you guys in the backyard for a surprise. As soon as she’s gone, a breath you didn’t know you were holding fumbles out of you. Anita and Marcus look over to you and both smile.
“Hiciste bien mija, ahora te puedes relajar.”[You did well mija, now you can relax.] Anita tries comforting you before clapping her hands. “Okay! My abuela duties are done for the day. You all have fun. Adiós! Y adiós Missy!” she calls out into the space.
Marcus leaves you alone to walk his mom out. You can hear Missy upstairs, making you painfully aware of how real this moment is. Marcus is the first man you’ve ever dated with a child, and as if dating isn’t already complicated enough, then including the feelings of said person's kid is like walking on thin ice with sharp boots. You know that the decision for you to meet Missy wasn’t taken lightly but you can’t help but think... why you?
Marcus comes back and finds you fiddling with your shirt, clearly deep in thought, and decides to bring you in for a hug. Already knowing what you need and most likely already knowing what’s going through your head.
“It’s going to be great.”
Outside, your mind is still racing, your thoughts slip into your native tongue and next thing you know you're speaking out loud.
“Marcus... estoy nerviosa todavía?”[I’m still nervous]You blurt out to Marcus while setting the plates down.
“Yo te dije mi amor, ella te va a amar.” [I told you my love, she’s going to love you.]
“Amar es una gran palabra Marcus. Tú sabes eso. Solo quiero respetar a tu hija y a su mamá.” [Love is a big word Marcus. You know that. I just want to respect your daughter and her mom.]
“Y te amo por eso pero confía en mí. Por favor cariño.”[And I love you for it but trust me. Please hon.]
“Ok cariño,” you copy, “Te confío… Pero no quiero que ella piense que estoy reemplazando a nadie.” [Ok honey, I trust you…but I don’t want her to think I’m replacing anyone.]
You try to keep quiet since Missy could walk out any second but your attempt failed seeing as she’s standing right behind you now.
“Whoa! I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.”
You nearly fall out of your shoes with how fast you turn.
“Sweetie, hey!” But your recovery attempt can’t hide how flustered you are.
“My dad didn’t tell me you spoke Spanish too.”
Missy’s eyes stay on you. She’s impossible to read. You can’t tell if she’s upset, disappointed or just genuinely confused.
“Uh yeah I do, it was my first language actually.”
“Mine too!” suddenly her smile spreads across her entire face. “My mom used to talk to me everyday in Spanish to make sure I kept it but-”
“I haven’t been keeping that up.” Marcus interrupts and comes around to stand between you and Missy.
“Y por qué no?” You tease.[And why not?]
“Porque no sabía ella lo quería”[Because I didn’t know she wanted to] He retorts and lunges to tickle Missy but she dodges him.
Marcus straightens and raises a brow and gestures between you and Missy. “Why do I get the feeling this is going to become a problem for me?”
“You wanted us to meet so badly.” You respond laughing. “Ladies gotta stick together right Miss? Is it okay if I call you that?”
“We sure do and please. I like nicknames.” She answers, ready to run if Marcus has plans for further attack.
-x-
The picnic goes even better than you could have ever imagined. Missy may be her mother's twin but her mannerisms are all Marcus. She’s animated when she tells you about her friends and what she likes to do in her free time when she isn’t at school or being a mini Heroic. It also doesn’t go unnoticed how Marcus’s behavior shifts -- at first, he’s quick to talk but as the conversation goes on he becomes a mere spectator. You let Missy ask you anything and she does: she asks where you’re from, what you like to do during the summer time, favorite games… Really anything that came to her mind, and you answer. More than once, you look at Marcus, and each time, he's smiling at the sight of you. Why were you so worried?
After some time, Marcus leaves to get more drinks and there’s a moment of comfortable silence between you and Missy.
“Um-” Missy breaks the silence. “Do you speak Spanish often?”
You carefully look at her before answering. “Yeah I do. My parents don’t really speak English so it’s pretty easy to just stay in it. And when I’m with your dad, it kind of slips in every now and then.” You end with a chuckle and notice she’s no longer looking at you but fidgeting with her shirt. Huh. She has the same nervous tick as you.
“Is- is that okay with you?”
Missy looks back at you. “I love it actually. I was just wondering if you could keep speaking Spanish with me and my dad. Or even just around? I miss hearing it all the time.” She pauses and thinks about her next words. “It was cool hearing my dad in conversation again.”
She looks away from you and to her hands now in her lap. It takes you by surprise but your heart swells.
“I can do that. No problem.” You match your volume to hers, catching on that it wasn’t something she wanted Marcus to hear.
“Thank you.”
-x-
Eventually Missy moves to the hammock and leaves you and Marcus to the patio chairs. She falls asleep there, looking at the stars and telling you guys about constellations. Her dreams about being an astronaut sprinkled in around facts about the different stars and her favorite constellations.
You and Marcus notice an overwhelming silence after you ask if she could find a certain planet. It turns out she was so worked up in entertaining the two of you with fun facts that you didn’t catch her words drifting and how her hands had settled against her stomach - Instead of the reaching and pointing she was doing so much of before.
Although you soak in the quiet for a little while, the wind chill eventually becomes too much for you that even with a blanket wrapped around you, a few shivers escape. Taking the hint Marcus takes it upon himself to carry Missy to bed while you gather the remaining food and bring it back to the kitchen.
“She’s getting way too big for me to keep doing that. She’s sleeping where she drops next time.”
You hardly process his joke as he joins you in the kitchen. Instead, you decide to bring up something that’s been in the back of your mind since she fell asleep. “Marcus, she asked me if I could speak Spanish around her and in general when I’m around.”
He stops.
“Marcu-”
“She did?” his voice trembles.
“Um yeah. She said she missed it.”
Marcus takes a deep breath to keep himself together and leans over the counter. “Her mom used to speak to her in Spanish all the time and with me too and it became this thing for them but after she passed... I didn’t even think to keep that up with her. Or maybe I did and I selfishly didn’t want to.”
You take this moment to walk around the island to meet him face to face. Without saying anything, you grab his wrist to pull him towards the nearby couch. His eyes are misty and he’s holding back tears, but he doesn’t seem self-conscious; he only looks away from you to cuddle into your shoulder when you settle him down next to you. This isn’t the first time Marcus has gotten emotional with you about his wife, but it is the first time he’s cried about his widowed parenting.
“Would you also be okay with that, baby?” Your hand comes up to stroke the side of his face.
His eyes meet yours and he nods.
“So you don’t mind?” Still genuinely wanting to respect boundaries.
“Cariño, of course I don’t mind.”
Marcus takes your hand in his, and you pull away as he leans forward.
“I should go.” You say quickly in an attempt to stop the inevitable. You haven’t kissed Marcus since your arrival and you do miss his touch, but now is not the time.
“Stay here tonight.” Marcus whispers while continuing his pursuit of your mouth. His nose brushes yours, and you can practically taste the dessert you guys had not too long ago with how close his mouth is to yours. His top lip grazes your bottom lip and you know you have to stop this.
“I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”
Marcus has his eyes closed, and you can feel him getting hotter. The tears that were in his eyes are long gone and all that’s left is tension. He wants to kiss you but he’s waiting for you to initiate it because if he starts, there’s no stopping him. You do contemplate it for a second but decide against it, even though his lips are so soft and tempting.
“Quédate…” [stay here.] He repeats.
“Nuh uh Marcus, me besas y no podemos parar. También, no quiero presionar mi suerte con Missy. Si sigo aquí cuando ella despierta… eso es un obstáculo no estoy preparada por.”
[you kiss me and we can’t stop. Also, I don’t want to push my luck with Missy. If I'm still here when she wakes up… that’s an obstacle I’m not ready for.]
Marcus opens his eyes and smiles, instead just leaning his forehead on yours. “Tienes razón mi amor.” [You’re right, my love.]
“Siempre.” [always] You say before taking him by surprise with a quick kiss to his cheek. “We’ll plan for a sleep over soon. Yo te promete.[I promise you] Walk me out?”
He doesn’t pressure you any more and instead settles for dancing his fingertips along your spine while he walks with you to his door. There have been many nights where a goodbye makeout session occurred in this very doorway, but there’s a mutual understanding that the two of you may not even kiss at all tonight. You’re about to turn away but you feel Marcus reach for you and you take a pause to prepare for what he wants to say.
“I know today was a lot for you but I need you to know how thankful I am and how happy Missy was tonight.”
You don’t really know what to say so you stay silent to let him finish.
“When I got her to her room she said she was really glad I found someone who loved me as much as her mom did. I know you have your fears and I have some of the same ones but I believe in what this is and whatever you two talked about when I was gone, really did a number on her.”
As your eyes get watery, you remember how close Marcus had come to crying, and you can’t help but smile as a few tears fall down your own face. It’s on instinct that you lean in and kiss him, but you stop short.
“Please...besame?” [kiss me?] Marcus pleads -- not in a way that begs, but hoping.
And with his simple request, you do. The kiss is intentional - his tongue gently licks behind your top lip and while he pulls away the soft drag leaves you wanting more but you both know it’s the only one you’ll get today. He doesn’t beg or push for more, and it’s, again, a mutual understanding.
“Claro que te amo Marcus. Te amo mucho y yo se que voy a amar a Missy con todo, un día. No sé porqué estaba tan asustada.... Ella eres tu.” [Of course I love you Marcus. I love you so much and I know I’m going to love Missy with everything too, one day. I don’t know why I was so scared... She’s you.]