He hesitated, glancing down at the baby. “I don’t want to wake her.”
Zita did chuckle then. “She’ll be fine. The house is quiet and babies can sleep through all sorts of things.”
He peered at Xaviera again.
“I promise,” Zita said. “Besides, it’s cold out here.”
“All right.”
Inch by inch, he got to his feet. Zita swallowed her laughter. He had no experience with babies, which made him doubly sweet for doing this.
“This garden is incredible,” he said quietly as they walked back to the house.
“It’s Mama’s passion,” she said.
When they got inside, David insisted on putting Xaviera in the stroller so Elena could sleep longer too, so Zita set it up. He carefully laid the baby inside, freezing in place when she stirred for a moment. Then he pushed the stroller into the living room where it was warmer and they’d hear her if she stirred.
When he was happy, Zita started breakfast. His heroics deserved the fullDesayuno Salvadoreno, and the girls would enjoy it as well. Through the doorway, she saw her mother sitting at the dining table, drinking a coffee and reading the newspaper.
“Mama, I’m makingDesayuno Salvadoreno. Do you want some?”
“Sí. Gracias.”
Zita poured David a coffee and pointed to a stool. “Sit down and rest your arms.”
He grinned. “They get heavy, don’t they?”
“Sure do. Next time I’ll show you how to use the baby sling.” She grabbed the ingredients she needed from the fridge.
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Nope. You got extra brownie points for letting me sleep in, so you can sit there and look pretty while I cook you a meal.”
“If I’d known all I needed to do was hold a baby to get you to cook for me, I would have done it sooner.”
She laughed. “It was incredibly brave of you.” And for that she kissed him again, this time a little longer. “You’re my hero.”
Beatriz came charging into the room. “I’m hungry.”
Zita smiled at the young girl. “Can you feed Bess and Saint for me, and I’ll make you breakfast?”
“All right.”
After she’d fed the dogs, Beatriz and David chatted while Zita cooked. David slowed his speech to make it easier for her to understand. Beatriz was telling him about Guatemala and why she had left. Zita had heard the story before, but it didn’t make it any easier. The girl’s stepfather deserved to rot in hell.
By the time Zita had finished cooking, the rest of the girls had appeared. Zita dished up and handed a plate to David. “Traditional Salvadoran breakfast – scrambled eggs, tortillas, pureed beans, fried plaintains and sour cream.”
“Thank you. It smells great.”
They all moved into the dining room. As Zita sat next to David, she asked Alejandra, “How is Julio this morning?”
“Much better.”
“Mamita, can Larissa and I go to the mall today?” Tiana asked. “We wanted to meet a couple of friends.”
“Boy friends or girl friends?” Carmen asked.
“Both,” Larissa answered.
