Red_Roses_and_Black_Dahlias_-_Macy_T

her child, my niece, Adrianna, she kept on calling me every other day to
check on me, see if I ate well, slept well, or didn't forget to put on SPF.
“I’m good, Drea. Honestly. I’m not the one people should be concerned
about.” My eyes found Valentina’s now-sleeping form in the rearview
mirror.
“Yeah, I heard. It sucks what these poor babies have to go through.”
I hummed, knowing that, unlike the hundred or so people who were there
today at the church, lamenting over the two orphans Jack and Marcela
Raymond had left behind, my sister was genuinely concerned about them.
“It does. But they’re so strong, Drea. I’ve never seen two girls who have
lost everything as suddenly as they did cope as well as they do.”
I checked on Sofia again, only to see she had walked closer to the grave
and that her shoulders were shaking. Crying. I gulped, closing my eyes and
totally missing my sister’s answer.
“Sorry, what?”
“I said I would love to meet them someday. Why don’t you bring them
around to the house sometime? Adrianna would love a little mate to play
with.” Eyes still strained on Sofia’s shaking figure I rubbed my forehead.
“Yeah. Sure. Listen, I gotta go, okay? We’re still at the funeral, it’s— it’s
a mess.”
“Of course. Sorry, I just wanted to check on you and see how you were
getting used to life with two strangers. I hope to see you on Sunday. Bye,
Maddox.”
“Bye, Drea.”
Sundays were family days at our house. We all gathered there for dinner
before spending the evening reminiscing about our childhood. Sometimes our
cousins joined us, sometimes it was just our parents and Drea’s little family.