Nydia watched Lamar’s reaction when he took a sip of the Puerto Rican eggnog made with fresh grated coconut rather than the canned sweetened cream of coconut. “What do you think?”
“Este es el mejor coquito que he tenido.”
Smiling, Ana Medina clapped her hands as a network of fine lines fanned out around her eyes. “I told you he would like it. He says it’s the best he’s ever had, and that means he likes it better than his friend’sabuela’s. I got the recipe from my mother, which has been passed down through generations. She always used fresh grated coconut instead of the canned coconut milk.”
Lamar nodded. “That really makes the difference.”
Isabel opened the oven to test the doneness of a pork shoulder large enough to feed at least twenty. “Lamar, Nydia told us how you learned Spanish, but I must say you speak it better than my grandchildren.”
Lamar met Nydia’s eyes. “Kids nowadays don’t know the importance of being bilingual until they’re older.”
“How often do you speak it?” Isabel continued with her questioning.
“Not often enough,” Lamar said as he took another sip of eggnog. “I must confess I only get to speak it with Nydia.”
Sandra added rice to the smoked neck bones in the pot and stirred them until they were coated with oil. “You’ll be able to speak it every day once Nydia moves to New Orleans.”
Lamar gave each woman a lingering stare. “That’s something I’m really looking forward to.”
“So she is yourprometida.”
“Abuelita, Lamar is not my fiancé,” Nydia said, as pinpoints of heat dotted her face.
Sandra turned to glare at her. “If he’s not your fiancé, then what is he? Even when you were dating that bum Danny, you never invited him over for Christmas dinner.”
Nydia took a deep breath to slow down the runaway beating of her heart. “Lamar is mynovio.”
“What’s going on here?” asked a deep male voice. Luis Santiago had come into the kitchen without making a sound. “Don’t everyone answer at the same time.”
Nydia felt with the appearance of her father she had been suddenly rescued from a pride of ravenous lionesses. She walked over to her father and looped her arm through his. “Papi, Lamar was just giving Abuelita his approval on her coquito.”
Luis gave her a questioning look. “That’s not what I overheard.” He rested a hand on Lamar’s shoulder. “You don’t have to answer anything until I read you your Miranda warning, because these ladies will interrogate the hell out of you without legal counsel.”
Sandra continued stirring the pot with the rice and pigeon peas. “I’m a lawyer, so I’ll act as his counsel.”
Luis, a retired NYPD sergeant, stroked the mustache and goatee he’d grown since losing most of his hair at fifty. “I’m sorry, Sandra, I’m not going to let you and these other chis-mosas put my daughter’s boyfriend on the spot just because you want to get into their business.”
Isabel crossed her arms over the front of her apron. “We’re not gossipers, and I’m sorry if you believe we’re putting you on the spot, Lamar, but it’s obvious you’re much more than a boyfriend to my daughter. I’m saying all of this because you know what she’s been through, and I just need to make certain you’ll be able to protect her.”
Nydia hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until she felt the constriction in her chest depriving her of oxygen that made her feel slightly lightheaded. She met Lamar’s eyes, wondering what was going on behind the golden orbs.
“Not only do I love Nydia,” he said in a quiet voice, “but I’m also in love with her. That means you will never have to concern yourself about whether I will protect her.” That said, he turned and walked out of the kitchen.
“I like that young man,” Luis said, smiling.
Nydia bit her lower lip, as she chose her words carefully. “Mami, Sandra, and Abuelita, I hope you will stop with your inquisition. When I asked Lamar to celebrate Christmas with us, I didn’t think you would make him feel uncomfortable.”
Sandra made a sucking sound with her tongue and teeth. “He was hardly uncomfortable. Didn’t you see him give us the death stare? And I promise not to ask him any more questions.”
Nydia nodded. “What about you, Mami?”
Isabel rolled her eye upward. “Okay. My lips are sealed.”
“Abuelita?”
Ana narrowed the green eyes she’d passed along to her daughter and grandchildren. “The only thing I’m going to ask him is when is he going to marry my only granddaughter?”
“Abuelita!”
