When Mami opened the door for Tía Nona on Thursday afternoon, my aunt was holding hands with a tall, skinny man. She let go of him and hurled herself onto Mami. They hugged and laughed and cried. Finally, they pulled away from each other but kept their hands locked together.
“This is my sister, Mecho,” Tía Nona said to the man. “Mecho, this is Juan Miguel.”
Juan Miguel was wearing white shoes, white pants, and a pale green shirt that matched Tía Nona’s dress. He and Mami hugged like they were old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time. “I’ve heard so much about you!” Mami said. “Welcome, welcome!” She pulled him into the living room. “These are my girls.” She introduced us one at a time, and we all hugged him too, but not like old friends.
“So this is the famous Anamay?” Juan Miguel said when he got to me. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“You should hear Anamay play the piano,” Tía Nona said. “She was already marvelous five years ago when she had only been playing for a little while, so I can just imagine how much better she is now!”
“Yes, each of my girls has her own special talent,” Mami said.
I frowned at my mother. She always had to bring my sisters into everything.
“Mecho’s expecting again,” Tía Nona said to Juan Miguel.
“Congratulations! You have a beautiful family.”
Mami smiled. “Thank you.”
“Maybe this time you’ll have an hombrecito to take care of his sisters,” Juan Miguel said.
“That’s our hope,” Mami said.
Oh brother.
“Is this Consuelito?” Tía Nona got down on one knee, held Connie’s hands, and looked straight into her face. “You’re right, Mecho, she does look like me!”
Connie loved that. She pointed at Juan Miguel. “Is he your boyfriend?”
Tía Nona and Juan Miguel laughed. “Yes,” Tía Nona said.
“Are you getting married?”
More laughter, but there wasn’t an answer this time. Of course, I already knew the answer, but I wondered when they planned to tell the rest of the family. “You’re such a big girl!” Tía Nona said. “I imagined you as a little baby. How old are you now?”
Connie held up three fingers.
“My goodness, you’re almost all grown up!”
“And I’m very mature for my age,” Connie said.
There was a knock at the door. Abuelita burst in with a scream and threw herself at Tía Nona, who screamed back. The two of them held on to each other for a long time. When they finally let go, Abuelita’s cheeks were wet and her eye makeup was a little smudged. Then she noticed Juan Miguel. “And who is this handsome young man?” she said.
“Mamá, this is Juan Miguel.”
Abuelita reached up to wrap her arms around Juan Miguel’s neck. Another long-lost-old-friend hug.
“Where’s Tavito?” Tía Nona asked.
Mami looked at the clock on the wall. “He should be home from work soon.”
“What about Lalo? Is he coming?”
“Well, I invited him,” Mami said.
“Oh, he’ll be here,” Abuelita said. “Unless he gets tied up at work. He has a new job, you know.”
“Well, while we wait, I’ll give the girls a few little presents I got for them in Spain.” Tía Nona reached into the brown tote bag that hung from her shoulder.
Connie jumped up and down. “Presents, presents, presents!”
Tía Nona laughed. “All right, calm down.” She handed each of us a little wooden box. We pried them open right away.
“Oh, castanets,” Rosie said. “We learned about these in dance class!” She lifted her castanets out of the box and looped them onto her thumbs. The rest of us copied her and started clacking away.
“And one more thing,” Tía Nona said. She took out a giant book and handed it to me. “Don Quixote. It’s a classic.”
“Thanks, Tía Nona!” I hugged my aunt, and then opened the book. I flipped through a few pages and glanced at the long Spanish words. Reading this book was going to be a fun challenge.
Rosie peeked inside Tía Nona’s bag. “Do I get a book too?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, no,” Tía Nona said. “I know how much Anamay likes to read, so I picked that up for her. But you like your castanets, right?”
“Of course she does,” Mami said. “Thank you so much, Nona. But you really shouldn’t have gone to the trouble to get an extra gift for Anamay.”
I couldn’t believe Mami said that. Why didn’t she want me to have anything special? But before Tía Nona could answer, Papi walked in the door. The introductions and hugs started all over again.
When everyone was settled in the living room, Tía Nona said, “Juan Miguel and I have an important announcement.”
“But Lalo isn’t here yet,” Abuelita said.
Tía Nona looked at Mami and raised her eyebrows just a little.
“Should we eat dinner first, while we wait for him?” Mami asked.
“And eat without him? That would be rude,” Abuelita answered.
“Mamá, we can’t sit here all night waiting for Lalo,” Mami said. “The girls will have to get ready for bed in a few hours.”
Abuelita sat up and breathed out hard. “Well, okay. Let’s hear your news, Nona.”
Tía Nona looked at me and winked. I smiled and nodded so she would know I hadn’t given anything away.
Juan Miguel stood up and cleared his throat. “Señora Castillo, Mecho, Tavito, muchachas, I love Nona very much, and it would be an honor to join your wonderful family and spend the rest of my life with her. Therefore” — he turned to Abuelita and took a deep breath — “I ask your permission and your blessing to marry your daughter.”
“Ay, gracias a Dios!” Abuelita looked at the ceiling in thanks to God. Then she jumped up and hugged Juan Miguel and Tía Nona. Soon she was crying again.
“The wedding will be in August,” Tía Nona said. “That way all of you can come without missing any school.”
I looked at my parents and waited. Ever since Tía Nona told me about her engagement last week, I had wondered about this moment. I had never been to the Dominican Republic nor met more than half of my family, and I was excited about the trip. But my parents were sure to say we couldn’t afford the six airplane tickets. Maybe Mami would go alone. Or she would bring Gracie because she’s the oldest, or Connie because she’s the youngest. Or even Rosie for some reason. But I was the one that belonged at Tía Nona’s wedding. Everyone should know that.
Mami cried and hugged Tía Nona. “This is so exciting! My baby sister getting married! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Papi cleared his throat. “Of course Mecho will be there,” he said. “We would all love to go, but I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“Oh, Tavito, all of you have to come! Juan Miguel and I will pay for everything.”
“Yes, absolutely,” Juan Miguel said. “Money is not a problem.”
“That’s very generous, but I can’t accept.”
“But I need the whole family at my wedding!” Tía Nona started to cry.
“Let’s not talk about this right now,” Mami said. “It’s time for dinner. Don’t worry, Nona, we’ll figure out a way.” She put her arm around Tía Nona and led her into the kitchen.
As promised, nobody talked about our going to the wedding during dinner. Abuelita grilled Juan Miguel about his family and his work. He smiled as he answered all her questions, but Tía Nona scowled. “Mamá, you already know all about Juan Miguel and his family. I told you everything about him when you asked me all those same questions.”
“Well, I’m an old lady, I can’t remember so many details.”
Tía Nona rolled her eyes, and Mami came to the rescue. “Are you going someplace fun for your honeymoon?”
Tía Nona put her fork down and rested her chin on top of her interlaced fingers. Her dimples were super deep now. “Juan Miguel is being very mysterious about the honeymoon. I’ve been instructed to take two weeks off of work, and to pack swimwear and evening dresses. But he won’t tell me anything else.”
Juan Miguel put his thumb and forefinger together, twisted his hand in front of his mouth, then tossed an imaginary thing to the side. “My lips are locked,” he said, “and I have thrown away the key.” His white teeth sparkled.
“Aw, that’s so romantic.” Mami smiled and looked at Papi. Mami thinks everything is romantic. For their honeymoon, she and Papi took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty with a picnic lunch. They snapped lots of pictures when they reached the top of the statue and then they went back to Manhattan for dinner in Chinatown. Mami says it was a clear day and the view of the city from the ferry was beautiful.
Papi was staring down at his food, and did not look up.
“Have you picked out your dress yet?” Abuelita asked Tía Nona.
“Yes, let me show you.” Tía Nona got up and went into the living room to reach into her bag. She came back and handed a photo to Abuelita.
Abuelita squinted at the picture as she held it with her arm stretched out in front of her. “Oh,” she said with a frown. “You’re going to wear this to a church?”
Tía Nona closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “What’s wrong with the dress, Mamá?”
“Well, it’s so . . . revealing. It doesn’t seem appropriate for a decent woman.”
My aunt rolled her eyes again and looked at Mami.
“May I see it?” Gracie asked. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” she said as she looked at the photo. “Strapless dresses are really in style!”
Abuelita opened her mouth but Mami came to the rescue again. “So, tomorrow is our Altagracia’s big day!”
Tía Nona nodded. “We’re so excited about it! Should we come here, or meet you at the school?”
Then Mami went on and on about the details of Gracie’s graduation, where to meet, what time, blah, blah, blah. We never got back to talking about the wedding. Actually, Papi didn’t say a word the whole dinner. I couldn’t believe I had the chance to visit another country, meet the rest of my family, and go to my favorite aunt’s wedding, and Papi might ruin it by being so stubborn. Maybe there was a way to convince him to let us go. There had to be. I would come up with some good reasons and talk him into it. But I had to do it fast.