Mom’s various screams and volume levels, and has clearly deduced this is not an emergency. When he finally strolls into the room, he greets me with a hug and kiss. “Hi, baby.”
“Hey, Daddy.” I stab a deep-fried crab cake with my fork and plop it down on my plate.
“What’s going on?” He glances at Mom as he takes his usual chair at the head of the table.
“Demi has something to tell us.”
His gaze swings back to me. “That so? What is it?”
“Can you let me finish this yummy crab cake first?” I chew extra slowly, relishing the taste, then spear some Cuban-style shrimp from one of the serving dishes. I quickly pop a shrimp in my mouth. “Mmmmm. Did you pan-fry this in pineapple? And garlic? It’s so good.”
I’m stalling and Mom knows it. “Put down the shrimp, Demi.”
Ugh. “Fine.” I lay my fork on the plate, swallow, and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “Mom, maybe you should sit down too.”
They’re both alarmed. “Dios mío!” she cries again. “You’re pregnant! Marcus, she’s pregnant!”
My eyebrows shoot up in alarm. “What! No! I’m not pregnant. Jesus. Sit down already.” I hastily add, “Please.”
Suitably chastised, Mom settles in the chair next to my father.
I clasp my hands on the tablecloth and clear my throat, as if I’m about to deliver a really depressing lecture. “Okay, first of all, to reiterate, I am not pregnant.” I give them a warning look. “But this does have to do with Nico, and I need you guys to remain calm—”
“Is he all right?” Mom says in horror. “Is he in the hospital?”
“No, he’s not in the hospital, and I literally just asked you to be calm. Could you please promise to let me finish speaking before commenting?”
Dad waves a big paw. “Go on.”
“Promise,” I order.
They both mumble a promise to stay quiet.
I release a breath. “Nico and I broke up a couple weeks ago.”
When Mom’s mouth snaps open, I slice my hand down to karate chop the air. Her mouth closes.
“I know this isn’t something you want to hear,” I continue, “and believe me when I say I didn’t expect it to happen. As far as I knew, we were happy together and our relationship was on track.”
Dad growls. “What did he do?”
I let this particular interruption slide. “He cheated on me.”
Silence falls.
“Was it… was it a drunk mistake at a party?” Mom actually has the nerve to sound hopeful.
“Even if it was, that’s still unforgivable,” I say firmly.
“Well, it’s far more forgivable than if he—”
“Three different girls,” I interject, and her mouth slams shut again. “One of them was my friend, one was the sister of his co-worker, and the third was a random girl he met at a bar when he was out with friends.” He fessed up to the third indiscretion via one of his text diatribes. “Four, if you count the girl he cheated with in high school—” Another lovely text confession, although that one was more of a confirmation. “So, no, there’s no hope and no forgiveness. I’m officially done with him. Maybe one day I’ll be able to be his friend again, and the only reason I’d even consider that is because of our families, not for myself.”
“Oh, Demi,” Mom says sadly.
“Obviously I’d never ask you guys to stop talking to Dora and Joaquín, but…” I hesitate, wringing my hands together. “I know we invited the Delgados to visit for Christmas, but—and I’m begging you here—maybe we can ask them not to come…?”
Dad, who reacted protectively when I revealed Nico’s infidelity, now looks uneasy. “But everything has already been planned, sweetheart.” I know my father well—he doesn’t want to look bad in front of his friends.
“I get it, but I’m asking you, as your only daughter, to please put my well-being first when it comes to this. I can’t spend Christmas with Nico and his family. I just can’t. The breakup is still too fresh and it would be so awkward. It would…it would hurt me,” I say softly, and then avert my eyes because I hate showing vulnerability in front of my dad. He’s so strong that falling apart in front of him feels like a crushing failure.
But the words have the desired effect. With tears clinging to her eyelashes, Mom stands up and comes over to hug me. “Oh, mami. I am so sorry.”
As I hug her back, I watch my father, who’s still trying to rationalize Nico’s actions. “You truly don’t think you’ll give him another chance?”
“No,”