Fridays at Cio’s parents house was a lesson in patience and organized chaos. Amelia’s kids ran around a kitchen where pots steamed on the stove top and hot pans were pulled out of the oven. His mom lorded over things in a dance perfected many years ago. Cio stepped into the living room where his brother, padre, abuelo and tíos were watching a baseball game. His sister’s voice carried into the room as she yelled for the kids to go outside and play with their cousins.

It was homey and he should feel comforted being surrounded by his family, except he hated being surrounded by his family. Cio took a seat next to his tío Jonathon. Not Jon. Not Johnny. Jonathon the tax man.

“Abuela outside?”

“Sí.” His grandfather was short with him. His voice was gruff and thick with his accent.

His father spoke in rapid fire Spanish next to him and his abuelo laughed. Cio tuned out the rhythmic words. He didn’t care what they had to say.

”Cio!”

“Madre!” He yelled back. The guys in the room scowled at him.

“Ven aca, monkey. I missed you.” Cio moved back to the kitchen and out of the oppressive atmosphere in the living room. His mom wiped her hands on the towel tucked into her apron. “Give me a hug. Your sister said your boyfriend is very handsome.” Her arms tightened around him. Cio found himself relaxing into her grip. “We are excited to meet the man who’s kept my Cio away from me.”

And he tensed back up. “No, mamá. He’s not my boyfriend. Ames got confused.” Though Dr. Price hadn’t seemed thrilled when Cio said he’d see if Ash wanted to go with him. Then he shared… that. Cio hadn’t had any idea how to respond to that. I’m sorry for your loss? No, it’d been at least 10 years. That would’ve been awkward. He was a little thankful Russell had returned then and saved him from having to come up with a response.

Chaos was renewed as four young boys came running into the kitchen. Muddy shoes left a dirty path from the back door, around the island, and back the way they came as his mom yelled rapid fire Spanish at them. His tía chased them back out, her own words interspersed with the occasional Spanish phrase. “Mamá, they don’t understand Spanish as well as English.”

“Hush, mijo. They understand well enough.” His mom stirred a pot in which a thin soup simmered and turned back to him. “Now then, who is the mysterious boyfriend if it is not the man Mia met?”

Her brown eyes were warm and he felt an urge to answer her. The warmth of the kitchen and his mother’s soft smile inspired even his most closely guarded of secrets to trip to the tip of his tongue. This is how they worked. Long moments where he could share things with her, then it all eventually backfired. He swallowed down the impulse to share as his tía returned to the kitchen.

“You’ll meet him soon, mamá. We’re just not serious enough for the family meetings yet.”

“You’ve been together for months. Your sister was married in less time than it’s taking you to introduce the boyfriend to the family.”

That wasn’t quite true. Besides, Amelia’s husband hasn’t been heard from since before Sylvia was born, but that fact was conveniently ignored whenever Cio’s singledom got brought up. And they wonder why he stayed away as much as possible. “Soon, mamá, soon.”

“Promise me, mijo.”

“Promise, mamá.”

“Before the wedding?”

Cio hesitated. The wedding was next month. “No, not before the wedding.” His mamá’s soft face hardened as a frown overtook her features. “Maybe at the wedding?” He was quick to correct the sentence. “I’ll, uh, bring him to the wedding. Everyone can meet him then.” And Cio was an idiot, but he’d never been able to resist giving in to his mother’s wants for long.

His mind played with the idea of actually asking Dr. Price to the wedding. Sure, he was the boss and Cio hadn’t called him by his first name since they slept together years ago, but Cio was interested in more if he was. Plus, Dr. Price’s reaction to him saying he was thinking about asking Ash had to mean something. Right?

“He’s handsome,” Amelia’s voice singsonged from behind him. “Protective too.”

“Protective? How on Earth would you know that?” Cio asked.

“Oh, come on hermanito. You should’ve seen it, mamá. The man, Richard, put himself right between us. Up and ready to protect mi hermanito from his big bad hermana.” Amelia bared her teeth and swiped at him before breaking out in laughter.

Cio rolled his eyes. “He was not. He was just making sure his employee wasn’t being harassed.”

“His employee must enjoy being harassed by him, hm?” Amelia teased him.

“Amelia!” Cio scolded.

“Cio!” Amelia stuck her tongue out at him.

“Niños! Silencio! Cio stop hiding stuff from tu familia. Keep your secrets for now, but we expect to see him at the wedding. Entendido?”

“Sí, mamá.”

He escaped back to the stifled quiet of the living room. It wasn’t long until he heard footsteps on the stairs. He leaned over and laughed when his niece, Sylvia, saw him. Her eyes widened and she let out a squeal. “Tío Cio!” 

“Sobrina!” He scooped her up. She let her head lay on his shoulder. “Are you feeling any better? Tu madre said you’re sick?” He cringed at his mixed languages. His nephews were having troubles with their English class in school, but when he was around the mix of languages, words just came out in the language they came out in. Amelia asked that they try to stick to English at least with Sylvia. It was just hard.

He sat with Sylvia on his lap. She still had a stuffy nose and a weak cough, but she laughed when he made jokes. He loved his nephews, but Sylvia had a special place in his heart.

“Ven a comer!” Come eat mamá called from the dining room.

Cio carried Sylvia in. Amelia laughed and took her from him to set her at the kids table. Cio took his spot next to Amelia.

By the time dinner was over, he was more exhausted than his work hours had ever made him. Keeping up a polite smile as his mamá kept tossing questions about his boyfriend to him, and while his dad kept tossing hard to read looks at him, and the stony silence of his grandfather who disapproved of his sexual orientation. It wore him down in a way nothing else did.

He was on the front steps, the chaotic sounds of the house muffled through the front door, when Amelia joined him. “So, I guess you’re mad at me?”

Cio snorted. Mad wasn’t quite right. “Nah, it’s my fault for not coming around more. Puts the focus on me when I do show up.”

Amelia leaned against him and pulled out a battered pack of cigarettes. “Want one?” she offered.

“Share?”

“Sure.” They sat in a companionable silence. The familiar scent of cigarette smoke curled around them. Cio welcomed the burn with each inhale he took. “Remember the first time we snuck one of these away from abuelo?” Amelia asked.

“Yeah. Padre caught us. I got a beating and you got sent to your room…”

“Where mamá brought me some cookies and told me papá wasn’t mad at me, just disappointed.”

“And I was stuck without dinner.”

Amelia laughed. “I suppose being the only daughter has advantages.”

Cio chuckled and took the cigarette back. “How’s Georgie doing? He seems in good spirits.”

“Yeah. He would. He thinks his school suspension is going to be a little vacation. Just wait until mamá sets him to work scrubbing the floorboards with a toothbrush.”

“God forbids he misses a spot.”

Amelia laughed again. “I miss you hermanito. I wish you’d come around more.”

“You could always visit me at work and guilt my boss into dating me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Enough with that, Cio. None of us care if you’re dating your boss. We just want to see you happy.”

Cio stamped out the butt of the cigarette on the side of the stone front steps. “I am happy, Ames. I’d be happier if you’d all butt out of my love life. Especially since I’m not actually dating anyone as you know damn well.” He jostled his shoulder until Amelia sat upright. “I need to head out. Tell the rest I said I’ll see them later.”

“All right. I think I’ll have another before I head in.”

Cio hesitated and took in the battered box. There were only three cigarettes left. “All right. Love you.”

"Love you, hermanito."