Tesoro Mio

“That’s not fair!” I signed

Father looked at me, no emotions behind his eyes as he decided my fate. There was no arguing with him about this one, but I wouldn’t let it go. He promised I didn’t have to do it, but he couldn’t keep his word. I moved my hands up to sign again, but my stepmother stopped me, shaking her head.

I placed my hand on my lap, gripping my skirt. For the rest of the dinner, I didn’t say anything. Everyone else continued with their conversations while I replayed what happened in my mind. I never thought that father would marry me off just like that. He promised me that I wouldn’t have to do it. He said this family tradition would stop with me, but he has decided otherwise. To which family he was marrying me off, I have no clue who they are.

“Rubí, dear, can you come to the garden with me?” my stepmother Rene said. I got up from my seat and followed her outside. Once outside, she said nothing to me and handed me gardening gloves. I took the gloves from her and put them on. For the next few minutes, we worked in silence. Before I knew it, I was relaxing myself.

“Have you calmed down?” She asked me.

I looked at her and nodded. We continued to plant some roses until one of the maids interrupted us. “Ma’am, the master asked if you could come into his office,” she said. My stepmother sighed and removed her gloves. She smiled at me and quickly hurried to my father’s office. I removed the gloves and placed them near one of the pots before heading back inside. Everyone had now cleared out of the dining area. “Rubí!” someone yelled my name as I reached the top of the stairs.

My little brother Ruben came running down the hallway toward me. I extended my arms as he ran into me. He looked at me with the biggest smile on his face. Bending down a bit, I kissed him on the forehead. He pulled away from me and said, while signing, “Show them to me, please!”

Ruben grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway toward my room. He tried to sign something but couldn’t do it correctly. Of course, I didn’t blame him since he was only ten years old. “Sit over there, and I will show you,” I signed. He did as I told him and quickly jumped on my bed. I went over to my desk and grabbed the big-white box on top.

I then went over to him and placed the box on his lap. “My mom gave this to me when I was a tiny baby,” I signed to him.

Even though I’ve told him this story many times, he still insisted that I tell him every time. He looked at me, waiting for me to permit him to open the box. I nodded, and he quickly opened it. Inside the box were a bunch of red and blue gems. “Will Mother give some to me one day?” he asked. Even though I knew he was talking about my stepmother instead of my mother, I still nodded.

A knock came to the door, interrupting our conversation. “Little master, the ma’am said that it’s bedtime,” the maid said to him. Ruben gave us a sad look, making our hearts melt.

“He’ll sleep in my room,” I signed.

“I will go get his clothes, young miss,” she told me.

Ruben put the box on the nightstand and jumped, making me fall back on the bed. The maid returned and placed Ruben’s clothes at the end of the bed. “Little master, you should shower now,” she told him. He got up from the bed and ran towards my bathroom. I bit my lips, trying to hold back a laugh.

The maid started to head towards the bathroom, but I put my hand up, stopping her from going any farther. “It’s fine. I got it from here,” I signed.

She looked at me, a bit confused, before understanding what I meant. She nodded and left my room. “Rue-Rue! Can you hand me my clothes?” Ruben yelled at me. I grabbed his stuff from the bed and headed towards the bathroom. I gently knocked, letting him know I was coming in, and placed the clothes on the table. Ruben yelled a loud thank you, which I’m sure everyone in the house could hear.

Once he finished getting ready, I went to the bathroom to perform my routine. By the time I did my routine, Ruben was cuddled up in my bed, asleep. It wasn’t a surprise that he would fall asleep so fast. I grabbed the box he left on the bed and placed it back on the desk. Ruben moved around on the bed but didn’t wake up. I turned off all the lights and got into bed. He moved closer, nudging into my side as if he could sense where I was.

━━━━༺❀༻━━━━

The feeling of the sun hitting my face woke me up from my sleep. I rubbed my eyes, yawning as I sat up from my bed. Ruben had an arm around my waist, still snuggled up to me. I ran my finger through his hand, careful not to wake him. After a few minutes, I slipped away from his grasp and headed into the bathroom.

“Rue-Rue!” Ruben called out to me. I could hear the worry in his voice. With my foot, I pushed the door wide open.

“I’m right here,” I signed. He quickly got out of bed and ran over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I rubbed his back, waiting for him to calm down a bit. He probably had a nightmare. Ruben took in a deep breath and looked up at me. “Feeling better?” I signed.

He nodded but didn’t let go of me. I let him stay like that for a few minutes until one of the maids came into my bedroom. The door opening made the both of us jump. I looked at her, confused about why she didn’t knock before entering. “You are supposed to knock before entering!” I signed.

She looked at me, not understanding what I was signing. Was she new? “Rue says you’re supposed to knock before entering!” Ruben said to her. You could hear the venom in his voice as he talked to her.

“How was I supposed to know,” she said with a scoff.

“What is your name?” Ruben asked her.

“Sophia!” she answered, proud and confident. Ruben let go of me and walked over to her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room. “Well, you no longer work here,” he told her.

I started walking over to them, but our older brother, Elías, walked down the hall toward us before I could intervene. “What is going on?” he asked.

Sophia opened her mouth to say something, but Ruben beat her to it, “She was being rude to Rue-Rue!”

Elías glared over at her, making her look everywhere but at him. “It’s fine. She didn’t understand what I was signing.” I signed.

“Don’t let this happen again,” Elías told her. She nodded and quickly walked off.

“Now, you two, get ready because we are having some people over,” he said, ruffling our hair. Ruben let out a laugh and headed down the hallway towards his room. Elías smiled at me and walked away. I wonder who the guest is today?

Pushing those thoughts aside, I returned to my room to get ready. These people are important guests if Father is having them come so early in the morning. I quickly did my morning routine. Putting on a light blue dress and its sheer jacket, I looked at myself in the mirror. This dress is formal enough to meet these guests. I then grabbed my white flats and put them on. “Rubí! Are you done?” My little sister Ada walked into my room.

I looked at her and let out a sigh. “How often have I told you to knock before entering someone’s room?” I signed.

She gave me a pout and crossed her arms. “Now, what is it that you want?” I signed.

Ada pointed to my vanity desk, and I knew she wanted to do my hair. I sat on the chair in front of the mirror and handed her the hairbrush. I closed my eyes as Ada started humming a song and doing my hair. She had a thing for it, and I let her use my hair as an experiment. There has never been a time when she did a hairstyle that I didn’t like.

“Done!” She yelled out.

I opened my eyes to see what she had done. Ada put my hair in a messy bun and curled the tips to make them stand out even more. “Thank you!” I signed. She gave me the biggest smile as I complimented her. I grabbed her hand, and we left my room and went downstairs. Ada talked about what she would do to my hair next time while I listened.

“Welcome Mr. Calvano!′ I heard my father say as we reached the stairs.

I looked down to see a pair of green eyes staring back at me.