Armando Returns (Barboza Brothers) (8 page)

Isaac glanced across the dinner table at Ramon, then looked down at his lap, shyly. His voice was soft.
“Wuh-moan...Wuh…”

Ramon smiled.
“Hey Isaac. Try this. Put your teeth against your lips when you say it. Rrrr...Ruh…”

Isaac let out a determined sigh, gnashing his teeth in frustration.
“Wuh...Wuh…”

Sensing Isaac had probably had enough of this, Victor stood and walked around the large table to take the empty seat beside him.
“It’s okay, buddy. You’re doin’ good.” He patted Isaac’s shoulder.

Isaac exhaled with great relief.

And then an idea occurred to Victor. It was a perfect time to sneak outside with Isaac for a little talk. “Hey, I know what’ll make you feel better. There’s a pond I’ll bet you haven’t seen yet.”

“
A pond?” Isaac asked.

“
Uh…” Ramon winced. “It’s been really dry lately. It’s more like a big mud puddle right now. I need to get someone out here to take care of it.”

“
That’s okay,” Victor said. “I think he’ll like it. Come on, let’s go.” He glanced at Cara, lifting one eyebrow as if asking her permission; she quickly nodded.

Victor was thrilled when nobody offered to tag along.

Isaac smiled and immediately followed him outside.

As they walked along through the field next to the house, Victor asked,
“So, you like it here in Texas?”

“
Yes,” Isaac answered, matter-of-fact.

“
Are you sure it’s not too hot for you?”

Isaac shrugged.
“I don’t know. It’s weawy hot but it’s okay. I wike the animaws.”

“
I like the animals too.”

They walked on as Isaac began a story about a cow named Becky he met today when he was
“helping” Silas again.

What Isaac didn
’t know was that Mommy was always watching him as he “helped” on the ranch. Sometimes she would hang back out of sight, ducking into a corner just far enough away to be unnoticed. Other times, she was in the house, watching him over a surveillance monitor. She and Victor had already talked about how much Isaac was enjoying himself here. And Victor knew it was a long shot, but he had just begun to wonder if maybe he could talk her into moving. Even though he hadn’t lived here in years, this ranch was home to Victor. And if he were to retire early as a bachelor, that was definitely the place he wanted to move to spend the majority of his time. But hopefully he wouldn’t be a bachelor for long. The decision to retire and move was one he hoped to make with his wife in the not-too-distant future.

When they arrived at the pond, Victor took a seat on a big rock and said,
“You and I need to have a talk.”

Isaac scowled at the pond.
“I don’t think that’s a pond.”

“
Well, it used to be.”

“
Wed the pond go?”

Victor chuckled.
“It evaporated. Ramon will probably get it filled with water again soon. He’ll put some ducks out here—”

“
No! Ducks aw scawy. I got chased by a duck at the zoo.” Fear clouded Isaac’s eyes. “I had some food in my hand to feed him and he stawted wunning at me and—”

“
Okay, no ducks. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that happened to you. It sounds terrible.” Victor would usually love to listen to one of Isaac’s stories but today he had his own agenda, and he wanted to make sure they got down to business, quickly. “Listen, buddy. We need to have a talk.” He gave Isaac a stern look. “Man to man.”

Isaac smiled and sat beside Victor on a smaller rock.
“Okay. Man to man.”

Victor took a deep breath and looked in his eyes, now realizing he had no idea how to broach this subject with a small child. But he had to try.
“First, this is a secret. You can’t tell anyone about this, okay? Especially not Mommy.”

“
Hmm.” Isaac’s lips pressed together, thoughtfully. “I’m not s’posed to have secwets. That’s what Mommy and Gwammah say.”

“
It’s only for a couple days. Then you can tell Mommy. It’s a good secret, I promise.”

“
I don’t know…”

“
No, really. You can tell Mommy soon.” Victor hesitated as he thought of a way to change his terminology and ease the situation.  “Actually, it’s not really a secret. It’s a surprise. A big surprise. For Mommy.”

“
Oh! Wike a buthday pawty? With cake?”

Victor nodded.
“Something like that.” He hesitated.
This seemed like a much better idea in my head
. Still, he pressed on. He wouldn’t feel right proposing to Cara without first talking it over with the most important guy in her life, even if it put his surprise proposal at risk. He placed a gentle hand on Isaac’s back. “I want to marry your Mommy. Do you know what that means?”

Isaac
’s eyebrows knitted tightly. “Huh?”

Victor sighed. He could already imagine Isaac asking Cara all about it when they went back to the house. He took a deep breath.
“Okay. Let me think. You remember last month when Grandma married Tom?”

“
Yes. I had to walk in fwont of people. I don’t wike that.”

“
That’s fine. You don’t have to do that again.” Victor paused to think of a way to rephrase his request once again. “Okay, forget I said that. How would you feel if I was with you and Mommy for a long, long time? Like, for the rest of our lives. Would that be okay with you?”

“
Oh!” He gasped with a sudden realization. “Okay. You mean I could have a baby bwothow?”

Stunned by the question, Victor stared in Isaac
’s eyes before answering. “Yeah. Maybe. If that’s what your mom wants. Or maybe a sister—”

“
No!” Isaac’s head shook. “A bwothow!”

“
Why a brother?”

“
Because
you
have a bwothow. You cawed him ‘baby bwothow.’” Isaac’s face set smugly. “So I need a baby bwothow, too.”

Victor laughed.
“Yes. I have two brothers.”

“
Two?”

“
Uh-huh. You already know Ramon who lives here at the ranch. But I have another brother named Armando and you haven’t met him yet.”

“
Aw!” Isaac’s lifted his hands dramatically. “I heawd of him. Okay. So I need
two
bwothows.”

Victor put his elbow
s on his knees and hung his head in his hands, chuckling. “You don’t
need
two brothers.”

“
Yes. I need two.” He put a hand on Victor’s arm. “Pwease?”

Victor tried his best to rein in his surprise as he gazed at Isaac
’s pleading face. “Well, buddy, I need to talk to your mommy about it first but—”

“
Can I have one bwothow for my buthday?”

“
Your birthday? Six weeks from now?”

Isaac nodded frantically, his eyes wide.

“Uh...” Victor stammered as a flurry of thoughts ran through his mind.
How in the world do I answer this question?
Then he had an idea. “Isaac, I wish I could help you but it’s gonna take more time to give you a brother. But how about next year for your fifth birthday instead?”

“
I don’t know. I want—”

Victor interrupted Isaac, fearing the young boy would ask too many questions. The last thing he wanted was to turn this into a discussion of where babies come from.
“For your birthday next month I’ll get you a race car instead, okay? One small enough for you to drive, with big wheels. And we can come here to the ranch sometime and you can drive it all through the fields. Just don’t take it around back to the animals because they’ll get scared.”

Isaac gasped.
“Can I have a wace caw
and
a baby bwothow?”

“
No.” Victor ruffled the hair on the back of Isaac’s head. “I’m sorry. You can have a race car this year and maybe a baby brother next year. That’s the best I can do.”
Oh shit, how am I going to explain either of these requests to Cara?

Sadly, Isaac sighed and looked out at the muddy hole where the pond once was. Then his face suddenly lit up.
“A wace caw, huh?”

“
Yep. A car of your very own.” Victor winced as he thought a little more about how wrong it was to make this promise before discussing it with Cara. And how stupid he was to try to have this conversation with Isaac in the first place. “Now, you have to promise me you won’t go back to the house tonight and tell Mommy what we talked about. But you can tell her all about it in a few days, okay?”

“
It’s a supwise fuh Mommy.” Isaac grinned. “Wight?”

“
Yes. A surprise for Mommy.” Victor let out a long, quiet sigh, doubtful that Isaac would keep anything secret for long. But at least Victor hadn’t mentioned any of his specific plans. “Come on, let’s go back to the house. It’s time for dessert.”

“
Ooh
!” Isaac hopped up and started toward the house as Victor followed along.

On the way there, Victor asked Isaac more about his day at the ranch and all the animals he had met. Hopefully he could distract Isaac enough to make him forget all about their talk.

For the rest of the evening, Victor was able to successfully divert Isaac
’s attention. All he had to do was get the boy talking about something else, or walking around the ranch with him and Ramon while Cara stayed inside and made some phone calls. The next day, Victor knew he would have to distract Isaac during breakfast, but after that, Isaac would be running around the ranch most of the day. And at dinner time, Victor’s plans were to whisk Cara away for a romantic evening alone.

All things considered, Victor felt like the secret of his proposal was intact. That night he lay in bed with the covers turned down, waiting for Cara to come upstairs after tucking Isaac in for the night.

Victor smiled and propped himself up on his arm when Cara entered the room.
“What happened? Was he already asleep, like last night? He really wears himself out during the day.”

“
No.” Cara squinted in confusion as she took off her robe and draped it over the back of a chair. Wearing only a short, silky nightgown, she slipped under the covers beside Victor. “He was really sleepy but he was still awake. And he said the strangest thing.”

Oh no
, Victor thought. “What was it?”

“
He said he’s gonna name his baby brother ‘Texas,’ and call him ‘Tex’ for short.” Cara chuckled. “I guess he really likes it here in Texas.” She sat up, giving Victor a serious stare. “Do you know where he got the idea that he has a baby brother in his future? When I asked him about it, he just yawned and said, ‘it’s a surprise,’ and then he said ‘good night.’”

Victor laughed as he reached over to the night stand to turn off the light.
“A baby named ‘Tex.’ Sounds like the star of one of those old western movies. Where’s he come up with this stuff?”

“
I don’t know. He never said anything to me about a brother before. It must have to do with meeting Ramon. Maybe he thinks he needs a brother because
you
have a brother.”

“
Yeah, that’s probably it.” Victor put one arm around her shoulders and drew her to his side. “So, what about you?” Victor thought back to that day months earlier when he asked her if she thought about having more children. Her response had been hesitant. He decided not to ask again for a while. But now that he was about to present her with an engagement ring, he hoped it would be a good time to bring it up again. “What do you think about giving him a baby brother?”

Cara sighed.
“Why not a sister? It’s not like there’s a way to choose which one you get.”

“
Ah.” He kissed her cheek. “So you
have
thought about it.”

She let out a shy giggle.
“Maybe just a little. I told you before. It all depends on...you know...the future...”

“
Yeah. I know. And I want you to make no mistake about my feelings. I’m in love with you,
querida
.” He kissed her cheek again, then her ear, where he stopped to whisper, “And maybe we should take our chances tonight and see what happens.”

Before Cara could process what he said, his mouth went down to her neck, nibbling her in that spot he knew would drive her wild.
“Oh...Victor...yes...” She let him ease her onto her back, enjoying the sensation of his lips and tongue as his hand went up the bottom of her nightgown.

“
I love you so much, Cara.” He whispered in between kisses.

“
I love you too.”

Cara turned toward him, kissing him, her hands wandering all over him. Stopping at his underwear, tugging them down.