Marco thinks on this. "Do you have a house?" "Well, yeah, but it's not ready." "Did uh, you wanna stay with me and my mom? I'm visiting her this weekend for Thanksgiving. It'll only be me and her around. Plus my Papi." "That would be amazing! Noah would love this!" "Noah? Your boyfriend?" Marco rubs the back of his head. "No, my kid." "KID? AT SIXTEEN?" He starts looking at Ava like she's crazy. "Calm down-" "YOU HAD A KID AT SIXTEEN?" "NO!!! My mom wanted to kill off her baby, so I used that new Chinese tech to transfer her egg into my body." "Wait, you're that investor everyone is talking about?? You spent 100M on a gadget??" "It was important," Ava pouts, "And yes." "Well, did you want to follow me to my mom's house?" "Yeah, sure!" Ava hops in her car and Marco hops in his car, leading Ava out of the car garage.
FRIDAY, 3 PM
9132 Cheyenne St. Thats his mother's address. Ava drives in front of the house, getting out Noah Oliver and light luggage. While waiting for Marco, she observes the house. It's a two-story maroon and brick house. It has an old fashioned feeling that makes you feel at home. She hears Marco closing his door and says, "It's beautiful Marco." "Yeah, I bought it for her. She loves it for her, my Papi, and my sister." "Oh you have a sister? How old is she?" "She's one. A real cutie too!" "Aww, Noah Oliver is a month old. He knows how to crawl though, so maybe they'll get along." "That's young to know how to crawl." "He's a fast learner, let's go inside." Marco nods in agreement and walks with Ava to the door. Marco opens the door and they are greeted with a delightful smell of chicken.
"Mami! Papi!" An older lady comes from around a wall and kisses Marco all over his face. She looks very young, maybe 40. "Mi baby!! Cómo estás hijo?" "Bien Mamá! This is Ava, she needs a place to stay until Sunday I believe." The lady turns to Ava, and Ava becomes frightened. The lady looks at her likes she wants a hug, but Ava wasn't that open to hug strangers. If Marcos mother saw this, she ignored it. Ava was expecting a hard, rough hug, but instead receives a soft, motherly hug. Marcos mother looks at Ava's face and says, "Hola niña! I'm Liliana, but you can call me Lily." Ava feels very comfortable around Lily's presence, and smiles in response. Lily makes a scrunched up face at both of us, and yells, "Ay! What have you two been eating? You look as pale as a plátano! Come come, eat!" Ava and Marco follow Lily to the kitchen, and Ava sees plates of chicken and rice on the table. She also sees a man around the same age as Lily sitting at the table, baby in hand.
"Hola Papi! Esta es Ava." The man smiles sweetly at Ava and says a bunch of words she doesn't recognize. "Papi doesn't speak English. He said nice to meet you, call him Ondreaz." Ava nods, taking in the scene. They all sit, and everyone digs in. Lily is holding Noah Oliver, talking a storm to Ondreaz, and Marco and Ava are quiet. Marco says, "So, how are you? Do you feel safe?" "Yeah, I do." "Earlier you didn't talk as much as you did at the airport." "Just getting used to all this. Your family is very sweet though." "Thanks, they really like you." Ava nods and finishes her food. Marco lingers on her a little too long before he decides to finish his food. After they eat, Lily shows Ava the spare room. "You can stay in here for your stay. Your little Noah Oliver can stay with Maria." "Maria is your daughter's name? Thats so pretty." "Si Ava, mi abuela came up with it." "Well its great!" "I already set Noah Oliver down to sleep, so you have nothing to worry about. I know you must be tired, Marco told me all about how you had Noah." "Well yeah, but I love him. If you don't mind, I should be getting some sleep now." Lily nods and closes the door. Ava drops everything and plops her body down. Its exhausting getting this much attention from one woman! Ava sighs and lays on her back. 'Lily is nice, she just gives me weird vibes. She seems to be hiding a dark demeanor, but what do I know? I couldn't tell that my dad was evil from a mile away!' When Ava was settled with her thoughts, she fell asleep.