The Lost City, a Continuation - Chapter 13

Index of Chapters (to start at the beginning)

Chapter 13

Susan opened the door of the Fellove home. The first thing Aurora noticed was how cool it was inside. The house appeared large, but not ostentatiously so. As she walked through the foyer Aurora admired the artwork on the walls. The paintings were all by Cuban artists or of Cuban themes. They turned the corner into a long hallway that led to the kitchen. The hall was lined with floor to ceiling glass windows on one side that revealed a swimming pool, terrace and the waterway beyond. As they entered the kitchen a woman was standing at the stove with her back to them. She turned around when she sensed she was not alone. Standing in front of Aurora, wearing an apron, was Doña Cecilia.

“Aurora, mi hija, how long has it been?” Cecilia’s voice cracked.

“Too long,” wept Aurora as she became enveloped in Cecilia’s open arms. They kissed in the traditional Cuban way and both began wiping the tears from their eyes.

Susan observed this all, feeling that this had definitely been the right thing to do, if not for Fico, then for Doña Cecilia. Aurora had been like a daughter to Cecilia and she was a link to her long dead son, Luis. And the feeling was mutual. Aurora was an only child, whose parents had died in a horrific traffic accident when she was only a teenager. Doña Cecilia had been there to comfort her when Luis died. She had blessed her relationship with Fico. She had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go.

“Enough crying,” Susan finally said. “Tonight is for celebrating. Besides, it’s time for you to meet ‘the monsters.’”

“Kids,” Susan shouted. “We have company. There’ll be time to play Atari later!”

“These kids and their video games,” Susan said. Aurora gave her a blank look, not knowing what she was talking about. Susan picked up on Aurora’s disorientation and said, “You’ll learn soon enough.”

The three Fellove children came into the ‘Florida room’ that adjoined the kitchen. “This is Susie, the oldest,” said Susan. Susie put out her hand to shake Aurora’s and Susan said, “I think your Tia Aurora deserves a kiss, don’t you?” Susie leaned in and gave Aurora peck on the cheek. It was at that moment that Aurora realized that she was, in fact, an aunt. That she had a family, a family that she had never known she had. Her eyes began to well up again.

“If you’re our aunt, how come we never met you before?” said the older of the two boys in English.

Aurora answered in broken English, “because until last weeek I leeeve in Cuuuba.”

“This is Fico the third,” said Susan interrupting the interrogation, “Who needs to speak more Spanish.”

“My name is Fred,” answered the boy defiantly.

“And this little man is Luisito,” said Susan, ignoring Fred and pointing at the youngest of the Fellove children.

“Mucho gusto, pleased to meet you, said Luisito as he planted a wet kiss on Aurora’s cheek.
Aurora was about to begin crying again for the third time in five minutes. Of course, Fico had named his second son Luis, in honor of his brave brother, her husband, who died too young. Aurora was thinking about her life and how happiness had eluded her. She had been unable to have a family of her own and here was Fico who seemed to have it all: nice home, a beautiful wife, and three adorable children. All of a sudden she felt like an outsider again but she answered Luisito’s greeting, “igualmente, likewise.”

At that moment, the sound of the front door closing reverberated throughout the house, followed by the jingling of keys. “Lucy, I’m home,” yelled Fico. He always joked that he was Ricky to Susan’s Lucy. Sometimes he would just call out “Babalu!” or some other Ricky Ricardo line. Fico came around the corner into the Florida room and saw the assembled family, including Aurora. He looked at his watch, smiled, and without breaking character, said “You’ve got some ‘splaining to do!”