Miguel drops the bulky shopping bag close to the stall and tilts his head, not understanding. The teen giggles and looks back at her sister, who throws her a warning look.
"Well, you see…" she continues "Anna starts ovulating this week, and I was imagining how cool it would be if her baby had the same father as mine!" she lowers her voice, leans closer "And look, I know it's supposed to be a secret which of you boys is the one who conceived which baby… But come on!" she smiles, points at her belly, "I think it's pretty obvious in our case..."
She winks, then glances again at her sister, who is hiding her face with a hand and mouthing a silent apology to Miguel for her sister's outrageous behavior.
"So, what do you say?" the pregnant teen continues, speaking normally, "Think you can fit Anna between your house visits this week?" an idea crosses her face "Oh! How about right now? You can use Dad's van over there!" she says pointing at the brown van, but then remembers something and drops her shoulders "Oh, but we can't pay you right now, we already spent the Stork money…" her face illuminates "Buuut I can give you some cream cheese for your grandma!"
She starts moving crates and boxes around the stall, taking for granted his agreement on her proposal. Miguel waves his hands trying to stop her, glances back at Caro who watches him in silence. He shrugs and throws an embarrassed smile.
"No, no Isabella! It's okay! Just the usual things from my abuelita's list! We're kind of in a hurry anyway."
The pregnant teen shakes her head.
"No, no, I insist! Your grandma LOVES our cream cheese and won't mind some this week. She can make some flautas! (a Mexican dish consisting of a tortilla that is rolled around a filling of meat and cheese and then fried.) Do you like flautas?"
With the situation rapidly going out of control, Miguel leans forwards and grabs the plastic crate Isabella is about to lift.
"Just the usual, please!"
The teen looks at him with confusion, "You sure? It won't take long. I can keep an eye on your bag while you and Anna have sex in the van, you're a fast shooter anyway... I mean, come on!" she says with growing excitement, "Can you imagine if our babies were twice sisters?"
She motions to lift the crate again, but Miguel keeps his weight on it, his face one of desperation. He moves closer and whispers in her ear.
"See the girl behind me? With the green hoodie? I'll ask her later today if she wants to be my novia, and THIS isn't helping!"
Isabella's eyes open wide. She glances at Carolina, who smiles and waves back. The teen forces a smile.
"Y-yeah, okay, we're also in a hurry anyway..." she says releasing the crate and straightening her white apron, pretending nothing happened "So, the usual right? Cotija, eggs, rompope, string cheese, you know…" she shrugs "The usual..."
"The usual…" Miguel says taking a breath. He turns to Caro and motions her to prepare the payment while avoiding her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry about that..." he says with a red face as Caro unlocks her smartphone and hands it to him "I mean… We don't actually 'know' if her baby is mine..." he chuckles "How could we? I mean... each time I cum inside a girl there's only like, what? A ten percent chance of getting her pregnant?"
Caro smiles, amused at his discomfort, "Well... it's someone's baby!" she says with a shrug.
Miguel forces a laugh, waits in place, looking like he would welcome the pavement opening and swallowing him whole.
Isabella is about to complete his order when her father beckons for her help. Anna quickly moves to replace her, throwing her sister a knowing look. She passes Miguel the items he ordered, which he distributes between his and Caro's overflowing shopping bags.
"Sorry for all that..." Anna whispers as they finish, she presents the inside of her wrist with a tattooed QR code. Miguel waves the phone over it, "Sometimes Isa gets these 'cool' ideas in her head and can't seem to let them go."
Miguel nods, "Yeah, it's okay. Just tell her not to speak so loud next time…" he swallows, looks around and whispers "I don't want to get in trouble again."
Anna nods, taps her temple causing her pupils to flash with white rectangles "It would be really cool thou... For you to be my baby's father I mean..." she says absentmindedly as she completes the payment "Hope you can visit me this week if you have an opening on your schedule…" she leans closer, talks with a softer tone "Or even when I'm not ovulating… Anna says she also misses feeling you inside. Have you had sex with twins yet?"
The boy is caught off guard. He looks back at Caro who is distracted fiddling with her phone. He babbles, taking a step back.
"I-I'll think about it. Thanks, Isa!" he says and yanks his shopping bag up, looking for a second as if he just tried to dislodge a tree from its roots. He stops and tries again, finally managing to raise it a couple of inches off the ground.
Anna chuckles and waves him goodbye. Miguel nods and walks away. The teen sighs, rubs her forehead and turns to the next customer who keeps demanding her attention with frantic desperation.
***