Rafael Martinez

Brooke rearranges the flower vase in the corner of the room for the fifth time in the last half hour and walks to the center of the room, placing her hands on her waist and examining everything once again.
The light green strappy dress hugs her waist and flows loosely down her legs to mid-thigh. Her hair is down, covering the tattoo. The damn tattoo. Just remembering that she now carries a permanent mark that represents me makes me want to possess her again.
Seeing her skin marked and knowing she couldn’t sweat didn’t stop me from devouring her the very next second.
When she walks over to that damn vase one more time, I step forward and wrap my arms around her waist, stopping her from moving it another inch to the right, only to move it back to its original position.

"Calm down, babygirl."
"I can’t, she’s going to notice."
"She’s going to notice we’re dating because of the vase’s position?" I ask, and she turns to me, slapping my arm.
"I don’t know how, but she’ll find out."
"Remind me again why we don’t want your parents to know about us?" I ask, because I genuinely don’t get it.
I haven’t told my mamá yet, but it’s only because I want to do it in person, and with everything going on lately, I haven’t been able to fly to Fort Lauderdale or bring her here. Maybe for Christmas?
"It’s not that I don’t want them to know, it’s just that it’s weird to think about how I’d introduce you guys to my parents." She starts gesturing, imitating a conversation. "Hi, Dad, hi, Mom, you remember Seth, Raffi, and Kyle, right? They’re my boyfriends. Yes, all three of them."
She brings a hand to her forehead and lets out a nervous laugh. I press my lips together, knowing that if I laugh now, I’m not helping at all.
"Babygirl, listen to me." I hold her shoulders. "We’re going to act normal. We’ve always been friends. We all know William and Helen, it’s going to be fine."

"Still nervous?" Kyle asks, entering the room.
"Of course I’m nervous, I never should’ve agreed to this. I should’ve just driven to Palo Alto and had dinner with them at home."
"Are you that ashamed of us, Sunshine?" he asks, walking over and touching the small of her back. She turns her face to him.
"No, of course not. I’m just scared of their reaction." She hides her face in her hands. "Our relationship isn’t exactly conventional, in case you haven’t noticed," she says, lowering her hands and looking from me to Kyle.
"But it’s real," Seth says, joining us.
"And your parents just want to see you happy," Kyle adds, kissing Brooke’s temple. "It’s going to be okay."
"And no matter what happens, we’re here, we’ll face it together."
The doorbell rings and Brooke flinches.
"Four in," I say, and she looks at me, confused. She’s only ever heard us use that phrase in moments of conflict, but it simply means we’re in this together and no one gets left behind.
"Four out," Seth and Kyle say in unison, and Brooke repeats it.

She smooths her dress a few times, squares her shoulders, and opens the door.
"Mom!" She hugs Helen, then does the same with William. "Dad, how was the trip?"
"It’s only thirty minutes down the highway, sweetheart, not exactly a trip," he replies, stepping past her and extending his hand to me. "Raffi." He repeats the gesture with Seth and hugs Kyle.
"Which is something you should remember—just thirty minutes. You all should visit us more often," Helen scolds. "All four of you." I hug my mother-in-law. How I wish I could call her that for real.
"You’re absolutely right, but if I go, will there be apple pie?"
"Are you suggesting I’ve ever failed to make one, Rafael?" she asks, stepping back and giving me a stern look.
"No, ma’am. That would be a lie."
"Seth, my boy, how are you? Have you been eating properly?" She hugs and kisses the youngest on the cheek, and I have to hold back from commenting that yes, he has—eating your daughter.
This is going to be much harder than I anticipated.
"Kyle," she places both hands on her hips after hugging him, and I notice how similar she looks to the pose Brooke struck just minutes ago. "Your mother asked me to pull your ear. Apparently, you haven’t called her in a week. She wanted to come, but your dad had some event at the golf club or something."
"It’s been a crazy week at work," Kyle raises his hands in surrender as she opens her mouth to reply. "I know it’s not an excuse. I’ll make it up to her, Helen."
"Shall we go in? Dinner’s almost ready."
"If Brooke doesn’t burn it again, she means," I comment, and the blonde glares at me. If she knew how hard I’m trying to hold back all the jokes, she’d be thanking me.

"Good afternoon, Miss Brooke?" Henry, the security guard covering for Damien, calls our attention, standing on the welcome mat. "A package just arrived for you, and I found some other letters addressed to you at the bottom of one of the drawers at the front desk. So I brought them all over."
He announces and hands the packages to the blonde. My stomach sinks like lead, a wave of dread tightening my muscles.
"Did you get presents?" Helen asks.
"I think so," Brooke replies with a trembling voice.
"Open them, open them," the matriarch urges, shaking her arm so her bracelets jingle.

Seth and Kyle stare at the packages. Our eyes meet, and our expressions mirror one another. Brooke looks at me and I shake my head. I want so badly to hold her, but instead I take the envelopes while she opens the package with trembling fingers.
She pulls out a small pink collar, for a puppy, with a heart-shaped tag. Attached to it is a note. I move closer to read it.
"The puppy is beautiful. I like seeing you smile again."
"Oh, how cute! For Persephone! Who sent it? Was it Liv?" Helen asks, and Brooke just stands there, frozen, staring at the note.
My brothers and I exchange glances, the message clear: we’ll get through dinner first, without raising suspicion or worry, and then we’ll deal with the problem. As much as I want to tear every envelope into a thousand pieces and find out how we didn’t get any of them until now, we can’t do that with Brooke’s parents here.
Seth starts a conversation with William, guiding him to the kitchen. I place the rest of the envelopes on the table beside the door and force a smile on my face just as Kyle approaches Brooke and places a hand on her lower back. She stiffens as if shocked.
"Shall we check if your daughter burned our lasagna, Helen?" I ask, throwing an arm over my mother-in-law’s shoulders and following Seth.

A few minutes later, Kyle and Brooke join us. She’s still visibly shaken but doing her best to hide it.
We sit around the dining table, two trays of lasagna, salad, and wine served. I hold Brooke’s hand under the table, and she squeezes mine in return.
"So how are you all doing? And how’s our favorite neighbor?" Kyle asks, smiling at Helen.
"Oh, you won’t believe the latest from Mrs. Clotilde," she announces before launching into a tale of her arch-nemesis’s latest antics.

Dinner goes smoothly, the packages forgotten by our guests. We get wrapped up in Helen’s stories, reminiscing about birthdays and moments we all shared together. She’s always treated me like part of the family—little does she know how right she is. Or maybe she does. I notice how she watches our interactions, like when Seth handed Brooke the wine without her asking, or the way Kyle touched her shoulder to say he’d get dessert—an Oreo mousse that was delicious.
Every time Brooke laughs, I see how her mother looks at me and my brothers. Maybe my girlfriend was right, and she’s going to find out. Is our love really that obvious?

William Roberts gives my shoulder a pat and heads to the front door, waiting for his wife to say her goodbyes. She hugs Seth and Kyle before coming to me.
"Take good care of her, Rafael," she murmurs in my ear.
"Yes, ma’am," I reply automatically.
She pats my cheek affectionately and turns to Brooke.
"Thanksgiving dinner will be at our place, no arguments," Helen announces, hugging her daughter. "I want all four of you there!" She looks at us all.
"We’ll be there, Mom!" Brooke replies.
"You make a lovely couple," Helen declares and closes the door behind her.

We exchange stunned looks, and Brooke is the first to laugh. The blonde hides her face in her hands.
"I think she knows!"