Waking up to Veronica is a feeling I’ve gotten so used to that when she doesn’t sleep over, it feels lonely. I want her next to me when I go to sleep and when I wake up. I love having her close.

I love her.

I was almost going to tell here that before I freaked out. I can’t love her already, can I? Do I really love her this soon?

Yes. I do.

I wasn’t only freaking out about my revelatory feelings, but how she might respond. Would she flip out? Where’s her heart at right now? Could she love me already, too? All questions that sped through my mind as I held her in the morning, nearly uttering the words.

Before dropping her off, I tried not to think about it. When is a good time to tell a girl that? I mean, with Lana it was after a couple months, but even then it didn’t feel monumental. She told me one night. I thought about it for a moment and figured that I did love her. We were going out. We’d already had sex. It must’ve been love.

This is nothing like that.

I don’t feel like I should wait and see how it plays out. I don’t know what she’s feeling, but I know what I am. I love her. I just don’t know when I should tell her.

A new freak-out moment comes later in the day. It’s weird to get a call from her since she usually texts me. I went to work, and when I get home, she calls me up.

“Hey, how’s the quinceañera?”

“Uh, it’s good. Fun. Lots of good food.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah …” She trails off, and it sounds different.

“Everything all right?”

“Um … yeah. Yes. Everything’s good.”

“Okay, because you don’t sound like everything’s good.”

“No, no. Everything’s fine. My cousin is having a great time. Cindy’s flirting with some guy. It’s all good.” I don’t reply. There’s something she’s not telling me. “Okay, there is one thing.”

“What’s up?”

“So, uh, my brothers? They … they know about you.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure why she sounds nervous, but finding out her brothers know about me comes as a relief. She knows I’ve wanted to meet her family. And even though I want to meet them, it’s her next words that make me realize why she’s so nervous, and that same feeling transfers over to me.

“Yeah. And Toto wants you to come over to dinner. Tomorrow. It’s not a request.”

“Oh … wow. Okay. I’ve been saying I want to meet them anyway.”

“Micah, you don’t have to though. I don’t care what they say, I’m not going to force you to meet them and get hounded by them just so they can prove they’re my big brothers.”

Her defensive tone over me puts me at ease. “V, it’s all good. I need to meet your dad anyways, right?”

She lets out a nervous laugh. “Trust me, it’s not my dad you have to worry about. My father trusts Toto. Like I said, he’s like a second father figure, and that’s for a reason. He’s helped us all when my dad has worked to support us.”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Seriously, Micah. You could become my dad’s best friend. You could win him over within five minutes of meeting him, but if Toto and Miguel don’t like you—maybe Javi, too, but he’s only two years older—if those two don’t approve of you, then my dad will just treat you as another person. Someone he’s nice to but nothing more. I mean, it’ll be horrible, and they’ll be standoffish, and Miguel will tease you, and Toto—”

“Hey, hey,” I try to quiet her on the phone. “Vero, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. It’ll be great,” I answer, chuckling. “What time am I supposed to go over?”

“Four o’clock. They said they want to barbecue.”

“Okay, great.”

“Are you sure, Micah? Because you don’t have—”

“I’m sure. It’ll be fine. I’ll win over your brothers, and we’ll laugh about this.”

“I wish I was as confident about this as you are.”

“Silly girl,” I laugh, and finally hear her giggle. “Hey … Veronica?”

“Yeah?”

I love you. No, Micah, what are you thinking? You’re not saying that for the first time over the phone. “Um, have fun at the party. I’ll text you before I come over tomorrow.”

I show up at the house about a quarter to four. The regular cars I’ve seen in the past are parked in the driveway, but there are others. A lot of others. There are a few little kids running around, playing in the front yard. I grab the bouquet of flowers I bought, knowing full well as soon as they see these, her brothers are going to make some kind of comment. I don’t care. As much as I’m supposed to get their seal of approval, I still need her parents stamp, too, right?

Checking my hair in the mirror, I see everything looks fine. I’m not dressed up since this is technically a barbecue, but I wore a nicer pair of jeans and a short sleeve button down. My hair spikes up a little, but more like bedhead than punk rock. I take a deep breath. Okay, let’s do this.

I hear a commotion coming from the house and walk up to the front door. Then I start to hear the commotion coming from the backyard. Knocking on the door once, I wait, but no one answers. I look around nervously, as the little kids who were playing are now standing still, watching me. I give them an awkward smile and then ring the doorbell. Still nothing.

“What are you doing?” a little boy who looks like he’s four or five asks.

“Oh, hi.” I wave at him. “I’m here for the barbecue.”

“Why?” He stares at me curiously. “We don’t know you.”

“Stranger! Stranger!” a little girl next to him starts shouting. Not in a panicked way, but it starts to put me on edge.

I ring the doorbell again.

“What are you guys doing out here? Mom told you not to—” A girl walks around the corner, scolding the kids, and then stops in her tracks when she sees me. She looks like she’s fifteen or sixteen. “Oh, hello.”

“Um, hi. I’m here for the barbecue. I’m Micah.”

Her eyes go wide, and a huge grin spreads across her face. “Oh, Micah! Come this way. Vero is in the back with everyone else.”

Everyone else?

I follow her along, and the little kids start running ahead.

“Micah’s here! Micah’s here! Vero, your boyfriend’s here!” the little boy starts shouting. I really hope my face isn’t as red as it feels.

There’s mariachi music playing, with lots of men and women standing around. Some are older, some are younger. There are a few who look like they are still in high school, and then a large group of little kids the boy runs over to. With the music still playing, the words of everyone die down, and everyone turns and stares at me.

I scan the crowd looking for Veronica but don’t see her. Swallowing a lump of nerves, the girl I followed stands next to me, and I hear a small giggle come from her. Then I hear loud whispers.

“This guy, he brought flowers.”

“It’s gonna take more than that.”

“Maybe we should throw the hose on him and be done with it. He looks preppy.”

“You guys!” I hear her voice and turn around. She scowls at three guys, who I can only assume are her brothers. None of them acknowledge her scolding, keeping their eyes locked on me.

She reaches me and smiles, instantly putting me at ease. “Hey, there.”

“Hey.” I give her a hug, but keep my eyes floating around. “I didn’t know it was an entire family thing.”

Keeping her hand locked with mine, she turns around and glares at her brothers. “It wasn’t supposed to be, but Miguel had the bright idea to invite everyone.”

“I’m Mariana.” The girl who I met up front waves at me. Then she giggles and bashfully looks away, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Oh no,” Veronica says, pointing at her. “You just turned fifteen yesterday. Don’t you dare get any ideas, Mari. This one’s mine.”

Mariana gives Veronica a playful roll of the eyes.

“Yesterday? Oh, so you’re the birthday girl.”

“That’s me.” She smiles.

“Well, happy birthday.”

“Thank you.”

I don’t know if her eyes linger on me or not, but they must because Veronica snaps at her again. “Hey, what’d I just say?”

“I’m just looking, Vero.” She giggles.

I hear the words, but my eyes roam. Her brothers are still staring at me, and I see other people whispering to one another, eyeing me carefully.

“Where are your parents?” I ask.

“Oh, right here.” She turns around, and I see an older couple, standing near the barbecue. The man just stares at me, but the woman smiles.

“Can I meet them?”

“Yeah, let me introduce you to them, and then everyone else. I have like six aunts, five uncles, and probably a dozen cousins running around.”

As we approach her parents, Cindy comes into view, stepping out from a doorway to the house. “Oh, Micah. You made it.”

I let loose a chuckle, looking over at Veronica. “Really? Cindy, too?”

Before she can reply, Cindy jumps in. “Yeah, like I was going to miss this. When I found out, I canceled all plans to make sure I was here.”

“Nice.”

“Flowers? Were those for someone special?” Cindy teasingly bats her eyes at me.

“Oh, right.” I pull out a long rose from the bouquet of flowers and hand it to Veronica. “This is for you.”

She smiles before looking at the rest. “Just the one?”

“Greedy much?” I give her hand a playful squeeze. “The rest are for your mom.”

“Nice!” Cindy grins. “He gets points for that one.”

“Mamá, Papá, this is Micah,” Veronica says, and her mom smiles at me.

When I extend my hand to shake hers, she laughs. Pushing my hand away, she steps toward me, embracing me for a hug. Veronica looks elated. Stepping back, I raise my hand to her father. “Mr. Rodriguez, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Her mom reminds me of Veronica. Same dark, curly hair, but hers is shorter. Slight crinkles when she smiles, but it’s that smile I pay most attention to. It’s the same as Veronica’s. Honest and good.

Her father is another story. My height, maybe an inch shorter. His graying hair is still full on top, which matches his salt and pepper goatee. If I had to pick a single word to describe him, it’d be substantial. My father has a slimmer build, while Veronica’s is stout. His broad shoulders, combined with the stare he never breaks, keeps me on edge.

His handshake is probably firmer than it needs to be, but he is meeting his daughter’s boyfriend, so that’s expected. He shakes my hand quickly, before releasing it, and gives me a curt nod. That’s it. That’s all he does. He doesn’t reply. He doesn’t whisper something to his wife. He just stands there, staring at me. Thankfully, Veronica takes my hand and turns me around.

“Okay, and these are my brothers.” She leans closer, whispering, but it’s loud enough for them to hear, “I apologize in advance.”

She starts with Javier.

He’s a little shorter than me by a few inches. He’s got a wiry frame and is wearing glasses and a Call of Duty T-shirt. He gives me a head nod and a slight grin.

Miguel is next and the same height as Javier. He’s got a stockier frame, more like his father, and looks like he played football back in high school. From what Veronica’s told me, I know he works in an office, doing data input. He also gives me a head nod, but no grin.

“And this is Toto.” He eyes Veronica, before looking back at me. “Sorry. Tomás. He’s our oldest brother,” she says and starts to snicker. “He’s the old guy.”

His eyes don’t break from mine. No grin. No head nod. Same posture as his dad. He’s the same height as me. Short hair, too. It might be curly if it was longer, but with the length, it’s just wavy. And like his father, he doesn’t say a word.

I feel like I’m being challenged. Like I’m a lone deer out on the plane, and three lions are just waiting for me to make a mistake. I know they’re looking out for their baby sister, but I care about her, too. I might not have told her yet, but I love her. I’m not going to be threatened by her big brothers, two of which I’m bigger than.

“Uh, you guys?” Veronica waves her hand between us.

I don’t want to come off as aggressive, so I’m not eyeballing them or trying to stare them down. I just nod, hold my ground, and look between all of them, refusing to give in to whatever kind of intimidation tactic they’re trying to pull.

“Seriously?” I hear a girl’s voice. Walking over to us, standing next to Tomás, is a lady a little taller than Veronica, light brown hair, and dark eyes. She slaps Tomás in the chest. “Stop it.” She looks over at me and offers me a handshake. “Micah, right? I’m Yesenia. The main grumpy one’s wife.”

I finally break my eye contact with all three of them, turning to her to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

She pulls at Tomás’ hand. “Tomás, Pedro needs your help moving the table.”

He starts to follow her but keeps his eyes on me. “Sure.”

“Are you guys done staring at each other, or should I leave you alone for a few more minutes?” Veronica asks, looking at her other two brothers and me. “Do you guys want to make out? I can tell you from experience, he’s a good kisser.”

“Ew!” Miguel finally comes to life, scowling at his sister. “Vero, don’t tell me who you kiss and how good it is.”

She laughs, and he takes a step to me.

“All right, first warning of the night. If you break her heart, I slash your tires. And that’s just to start.”

“Again with the tires.” Veronica slaps her forehead.

I can’t help but think of a stupid counter. “Okay. What if she breaks my heart?”

Veronica’s head snaps to me, and her jaw drops. “Seriously, Micah?”

Miguel chuckles. “Then you probably deserved it, Preppy.”

“Fair enough.”

Miguel starts to walk away, but motions with his fingers that he’s watching me. Javier begins to chuckle. “You know what? I’m good.” I wait a moment, and then he starts laughing. “Yup, you seem cool enough. And it looks like Miguel and Tomás already got the menacing big brother bases covered. You play video games?”

“Yeah.”

“First-person shooters or open-world?”

“Both.”

He gives me a smile that matches Veronica’s and raises two thumbs up. “Don’t be a dick.” Then he walks away.

Leaning closer to Veronica, I finally smile. “One down. Two to go.”

She lets out a small laugh. “Dumb boy.”

Mingling throughout the barbecue, Veronica introduces me to more of her family. A few of her cousins I can tell are trying to flirt with me. I laugh as Veronica shoos them away. I talk with a couple of her uncles, and they seem nice. Her father runs a family carpentry business, where they work on custom cabinetry. One of her aunts does secretarial work for them, while Tomás helps with the business side of things.

The later it gets, some people start to leave, and the crowd is dwindling down. I haven’t spoken with Tomás since our initial meeting, but Miguel’s stopped by a few more times, still motioning to me that he’s watching me. I know he thinks it’s intimidating, but it comes off as comedic. After the last of their family leaves, he walks over to me with a beer in hand and stands quietly to my side.

“So, Veronica said you work at Timmons and Lowell?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“Cool. Just data entry stuff, right?” He nods again. “Do you like it?”

“I mean, it’s a job.” He pauses as if he’s mulling it over, taking a sip of his drink. “I didn’t want to work for my brother. As you can tell he likes to hold his older brother status above everyone, so I found this one. It pays okay.”

I could just drop it. It might be the safest thing to do, but I want to get to know him. If I plan on being with Veronica for a while—and I do—I should be at least friendly with her brothers, so they aren’t threatening me all of the time. “You ever think about doing anything else?”

“You offering me a job, Preppy? That won’t make me like you any better.”

“No.” I shake my head and laugh. “I’m just, I don’t know, making conversation.”

“Whatever.” He takes another drink of his beer. I’m not sure what else to say or if I even should. Then he speaks up again. “Vero says you’re an artist.”

“Yeah. Well, kind of. I want to eventually work in comics, but it’s been put off for a while since I’m working and going to school.”

He nods and then goes quiet again. Figuring that’s the end of it, I’m about to excuse myself to find Veronica when he starts again. “You know, I always liked video games. Like, creating them, you know? I was going to school for that.”

“Did you get your degree?”

“No.” He takes another sip of his drink. “I was working on it with a few guys. One of them stole everything and sold our code and graphics to this small start-up. They went belly-up a few months later, but we were all torn up about it. It sucked, you know? Getting backstabbed like that. I had two semesters left to get my degree, but didn’t go back to school.”

“That sucks. Sorry.”

“Yeah.” He takes a final drink of his beer and then sets it on the table in front of us. “I meant what I said earlier.” He looks over at me. “Not about the slashing your tires, but about her. You have any siblings?” I look back at him and shake my head. “It’s cliché or whatever, but she’s the baby. She’s our little sister. She was nervous today, but I could tell she was happy. Don’t hurt her, Micah.”

“I won’t.”

He nods, gazing at me as if he’s deciding whether to believe me or not. After slapping me on the shoulder, he heads inside, leaving me to think that he does.

“There you are,” Veronica says, walking out to me as Miguel leaves. “Cindy just left.” She turns and sees Miguel walk inside of the house. “Everything okay?”

Taking hold of her hand, I give it a squeeze, before smiling. “Yeah. Everything’s great. I should probably get going myself.”

“Okay.” She gives me a disappointed smile.

“I would stay, but I don’t think Tomás would appreciate me sleeping in your room. And yes, that’s exactly where I’d sleep.”

She lets out a soft giggle, wrapping her arm around me. “No, probably not.”

I say my good-byes to her family. Her mom smiles once more, hugging me. Javier gives me a high five, and Miguel gives me a slight nod. I take that as a friendly good-bye. Shaking her dad’s hand once again, he does the same thing he did before. Nods without a word. I want to be polite and say good-bye to Tomás, but I don’t see him anywhere.

We walk out to my truck, and I pull her close. “Okay, I was saving this for right now, because I didn’t want to freak you out any more than I figured you would be.” She looks at me nervously. “I talked to my parents earlier today. Told them I’m meeting your family.”

“Oh.”

“They were happy. But they also said it’s their turn to meet you now.”

“Oh, okay.” She bites her lips nervously.

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Micah, please tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not. I know it’s a lot, and if you really don’t want to, that’s fine. But I just figured, we might as well make a weekend out of it and get it all out of the way.”

She chews on her lip, her eyes darting around on the ground, searching for answers that may be down there.

“I can tell them no, V. I can say you can’t do it and make something up. You can wait a little longer if you want.”

“No. No, don’t do that. Okay. You’re right, yeah, let’s just get it over with.”

Leaning against my truck, I pull her close. “Are you sure?”

She puts her hands on my chest, still biting her lip, but gives me a slight nod. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do that. I mean, it can’t be any worse than today, right?”

She smiles up at me, and the moonlight sparkles off her eyes. I just met her family, and I think it went well, for the most part. She’s meeting my mom and dad tomorrow. I’m in love with this girl. I want to tell her.

“Vero! It’s getting late.”

I look up and see Tomás standing in the doorway.

“Unbelievable,” she scoffs quietly, shaking her head.

“He’s just being a big brother.”

“No. He’s being an annoying brother.”

I laugh and look up again to see him still watching us. “V, I have to do it.”

“No, Micah. He’ll kill me. Not you, me.”

“I have to,” I whisper, chuckling. “I think I’ve got two of your brothers on my side and it doesn’t look like Tomás is coming over tonight. I have to do it.”

“No, Micah.” She taps my chest, imploring me to stay quiet, but she’s smiling. “No one calls him that except me. Not even Yesenia, and she’s his wife.”

“It has to be done.”

“No, Mic—”

“Have a good night, Toto!”

His face drops. Crossing his arms, his face twists in disgust and I do my damnedest to hold a grin and not just break into hysterics. It makes it a lot more challenging to do because Veronica’s face is pressed against my shirt, muffling her laugh against my chest.

“I can’t believe you,” she says, finally lifting up her face. “If I don’t make it to dinner tomorrow night, it’s because I’m dead. Kiss me good-bye now because he’s going to kill me.”

“Silly girl.”