Chapter 70.3

Amara woke the following morning with her enthusiasm completely refreshed. She’d spent an entire day learning about her new family and their loved ones; now she wanted to give them the same chance. It was impossible to count how many times she’d brought Vee up to her family. How wonderful she was, how beautiful, how effortlessly compassionate. A literal angel that, to some extent, Amara still couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to be dating.

Before they left, Evelyn made the two of them breakfast. While it cooked, Amara took the opportunity to show off all her new photographs. She’d taken pictures of every single member of her family, and now organized them on the massive island in the center of the kitchen to show off the relationships between everyone Vee was about to meet.

When they finally departed for Rosie’s house, Amara had trouble containing her excitement. Nearly all of her favorite people in the world were about to meet, and she just knew her family was going to love Vee.

After Evelyn dropped them off and left to find parking, Amara practically dragged her radiant girlfriend up the sidewalk. The door opened long before they were near enough to ring the bell; Sofia had been waiting at the window and rushed outside the moment she saw them approach. The little girl leapt into Amara’s arms, who proceeded to spin Sofia around with equal exuberance.

“What took you so long?” Sofia grumbled. “They told me you were coming by in the morning but it’s been morning for forever!”

“We had to eat breakfast!” Amara protested, propping up the little girl as they neared the entrance. “And then we hit some traffic on our—”

“Is this your GIRLFRIEND?!” the little girl shouted. She pointed at Vee, her eyes wide. “She’s so pretty! Wow!”

Vee pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, then kissed Amara on the cheek after the door closed behind them. “I was about to say the same about you, Sofia. My name is Vee, it’s nice to meet you!” The two politely shook hands, but before Vee let go, a tiny burst of rainbow iridescent sparks danced across Sofia’s wrist.

The little girl’s eyes somehow managed to grow even wider, her mouth hung open in amazement, and she quietly repeated herself. “Wow…”

From the nearby living room, Sofia’s parents walked into view. “Amara! Long time no see!” Luis said with a hearty laugh. “Sofia, cariño, what did I tell you about jumping on people? Did you at least ask first?”

“She’s super strong! She doesn’t mind!”

“It’s about asking permission, not about—” Luis sighed, then shook his head. “Who am I kidding, everyone here is just as excited to see you again. If perhaps a bit less spry in their greetings. I take it this is your lovely girlfriend?”

“Luis, right? I’m so happy to be here,” Vee said, extending a hand. “Your daughter is simply adorable.”

“Vee, Amara here could not stop talking about you yesterday!”

Amara blushed as everyone briefly turned their attention to her. “What? She knows I brag about her all the time.”

After a quick laugh, Luis gestured to his wife. “Vee, this is the love of my life, Guadalupe.”

Although Vee attempted to shake his wife’s hand as well, Guadalupe didn’t return the gesture. Instead, she clasped her hands around a small rosary hanging around her neck. “Dios mio, I almost didn’t believe Amara, but look at you. I can see His light in your eyes.” She bowed her head before quickly making the sign of the cross by tapping her forehead, chest, and shoulders.

Amara, Vee, and Luis awkwardly exchanged glances before Vee spoke up again. “Guadalupe? That’s not necessary. There’s no need to treat me any differently than you would any other guest.”

Guadalupe gasped, a mixture of surprise and absolute reverence on her face. “Oh, so humble! Even hearing my name on your lips is a treasure!” Without warning, she turned away from Vee and walked towards the backyard, muttering a series of prayers under her breath as she left the room.

“I take it she’s religious?” Vee asked, turning to Luis.

“Very much so,” he admitted with a sigh. “I asked her not to make a big deal out of it, but… Heck, that’d be like asking me not to make a fuss if Sammy Sosa walked through that door. Sofia, do you want to go find Grandma Rosie and tell her Amara is here? Last time I checked she was in the backyard with Gabe.”

“Okay! Amara, I’ll be right back!” Sofia jumped to the ground before running to the back door. As she left, Amara quietly mouthed “Thank you” to Luis.

Now alone in the Calderón household, Amara grabbed Vee’s hand and gave her a kiss. “Sorry about that. To my knowledge, most of my family is kinda chill about religion because of Rosie, but obviously Lupe wasn’t raised with those same stories.”

“It’s fine, Amara, truly. It’s not the first time people have been weird about my nature, and it’s certainly not going to be the last.” She redoubled her grip on Amara’s hand, then looked deeper into the house. “Since we’ve got a few moments to ourselves, want to give me the tour? In all your excitement, you failed to mention how beautiful this house is!”

“Yes! That’s a great idea! Okay, so this is the entryway, obviously, and from here we can either head to the living room or the kitchen. Past the living room are the bedrooms, and past the kitchen we’ll find, like, the den and the dining room and stuff.”

Unsure which would be the best place to start a tour, Amara strolled into the kitchen. Soft, warm daylight drifted in through a small window at the front of the house, and Vee eagerly started looking around as Amara pointed out various neat things about the space.

“What’s this?” Vee asked, pointing at the wall immediately next to the entrance.

“What’s what?” Amara turned around and joined Vee. “Oh, that’s… huh. I don’t know, I don’t think I noticed this yesterday.”

In the corner of the kitchen, on the opposite side of the entrance, a small alcove had been built into the wall. Anyone walking into the kitchen would miss it entirely, which was likely how it had gone unnoticed by Amara all this time. The alcove held several shelves, all of which were packed with pictures, necklaces, dried flowers, and other small trinkets.

“It… almost looks like an ofrenda,” Amara said.

From across the kitchen, another feminine voice spoke up. “Ofrendas are temporary, they’re only up for a few days during Día de los Muertos. This is just a simple home altar we keep up to honor our family.”

Quickly turning around, Amara saw Gabriel’s daughter walking closer. “Oh, Camilla! Hi!”

Camilla ignored the greeting. Instead, after closing the distance, she started pointing at several pictures in the altar. “This was Rosie’s husband, Máximo. He passed away about four years ago. Up here is my namesake, and Great Grandma Rosie’s real mother: Camilla. Next to her is Vicente, and while we don’t have pictures of them, these bracelets were mementos of his parents. He brought them with him when he left Puerto Rico with Camilla.”

“Wait, Vicente?” Amara gasped, stepping closer to look at the picture in question. The man staring back at her had dark, slicked-back hair and thick, bushy eyebrows. He had a strong jawline and a kind smile, but most importantly of all, his eyes were filled with compassion. “That’s… that’s my dad. I’ve never seen him before, Mom doesn’t have any pictures of him.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she reached out, hoping to pick up the picture and examine it more closely, but Camilla grabbed her wrist. “Don’t. We shouldn’t disturb the altar, it’s bad luck.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t…” Amara stammered, caught off guard by Camilla’s icy stare. “Do you know if Rosie has any other pictures of him? Or, if not, maybe I could just take a picture. I brought my camera, so it would be pretty—”

“This is the only one we have, sorry. And using a flash could damage it, so I wouldn’t if I were you,” Camilla said, her tone unexpectedly sharp.

Amara shrank slightly, nervously wringing the straps of her camera bag as she failed to match Camilla’s presence. She didn’t know what to say, and she didn’t want to risk making things worse than they already were.

Thankfully, Vee came to the rescue. “Camilla, hey there! My name is Vee, I’m Amara’s partner. It’s good to meet you!”

Camilla ignored Vee’s extended hand. “…You’re the angel, right?”

“I am, but it’s really not that big a deal. I’m just as much a person as anyone else here,” Vee said, still smiling despite Camilla’s attitude.

“Well, glad you found time to bless us with your presence. What’s your day job? Feeding the homeless and curing the blind or whatever?”

Vee’s facade finally cracked, just a bit. “W-well, no, the Church is pretty hands off. I mostly try to fight off hostile magical invasions and stuff. I heard Amara explained a little bit about how hectic our lives have been recently.”

“So, what, everyone that’s not on your precious school campus gets ignored? Wow. Real cool.” Camilla scoffed, then spun around on her heel and stormed out of the kitchen.

“Shit, Vee, I’m so sorry,” Amara turned to her love and hugged her. “I don’t know what Camilla’s deal is!”

“I remember you saying she was a bit cold, but that felt more like full blown anger. Not to mention her aura was all over the place; something’s eating away at her, but I’m not sure what it is.” Vee sighed as she hugged Amara back. “Maybe you just need to give her some time. For all we know, she just has strong opinions about magic and it has nothing to do with you.”

“Hold on, back up, did you say aura? Since when can you read auras?”

“Oh, right, um… Since yesterday?” Vee admitted. “You were so excited about meeting your family and telling me all about them, I didn’t want to interrupt. But, yeah, I found a way to channel my magic so that it illuminates auras around people. I don’t fully understand what I’m seeing yet, but it seems to align somewhat with positive and negative emotions. My running theory is that I’m seeing a manifestation of, like, inner peace and turmoil? Then again, it might also be—”

“There’s my beautiful sister!” Rosie appeared at the other end of the kitchen and walked closer as quickly as her age allowed. “And this must be the gorgeous angel you mentioned yesterday. Vee, right? Oh, you’re even more beautiful than Amara let on!”

Amara and Vee shared a silent, split-second conversation in which they agreed to pause their conversation for a later time. After, Vee turned her full attention back towards their actual reason for being here today. “That’s me! I’m so happy to be here. You have such a lovely house, Rosie—we were just appreciating this beautiful altar. Evelyn didn’t have any pictures of Amara’s dad, so it’s wonderful that you kept a memory of him here.”

As Rosie threw her arms around Amara, she sighed and turned her attention to the altar. “I suppose that makes sense. We couldn’t exactly afford cameras back when we lived in the Hooverville. Dad really was one-of-a-kind, it’s a shame you never had a chance to meet him. How many other people were kind enough to change the heart of an ancient archdemon?”

“Camilla says this is the only picture of him, is that true?” Amara asked.

“As far as I know, that’s correct, sadly,” Rosie sighed. She briefly turned to look at the exit behind her, then asked, “Was Camilla giving you shit? You can tell me if she was. She’s been in a mood ever since Evelyn came back.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d phrase it that way, but…”

“Bah, I’ll see if I can talk her out of it. She’s at that age, you know?”

“Rosie, I’m that age too. She’s only a year younger than me!”

“You’d be surprised how much difference a single year makes!” Rosie protested. “But enough about that. Come outside! Everyone’s waiting for you, and Gabriel is getting the grill cleaned up so we can cook ourselves lunch soon!”

Eager to forget her uncomfortable interaction with Camilla, Amara happily refocused her attention on her sister and the rest of their amazing family. Everyone was just as nice to Vee as they’d been to Amara—excluding Camilla, of course—and they spent the rest of the day simply enjoying each other’s company. Max was happy to show off some of their outdoor games, Evie and her husband introduced Amara to some of their favorite music, and Evelyn happily allowed the family to ask her countless questions about the past millennia.

They weren’t able to stay as long as they had yesterday, as Vee and Amara unfortunately needed to return to Aurelius. After making countless plans for future events, birthdays, holidays, and everything else under the sun, Vee, Amara, and Evelyn hopped in the car and headed back. Their trip was filled with delighted reminiscing about their fantastic weekend, and how excited they were to repeat it as soon as possible.