Love Through Pain by Ancelli

something came up.”
    “No worries.”
    “Carlitos .” He kissed his head. He sat next to his brother, and gave him a hug. “Nice to see you here.”
    “Nice to be here. You look good.” Jose pushed back his chair . “Vanessa, this is my brother, Javier.”
    Javier extended his hand and shook hers. “Nice to meet you.”
    “Where’s Mom?” Javier searched the room.
    “In the kitchen, grabbing some more napkins ,” Lucy answered.
    “This celebration is for you , and you’re late,” his dad said in a stern voice, staring at him and Monica.
    He stared at his dad. “Celebration for what?”
    “Your son.” His dad was excited.
    Monica’s family all stared at her.
    “You’re pregnant,” her dad asked, his nose flaring.
    “Papa , no,” Monica raised her voice. “He’s adopting some black chick’s baby.”
    Here goes , he thought. His father stared at him. “A what!”
    Monica smirked , she knew what she was doing.
    “I’m adopting a baby,” Javier grabbed the spoon, serving himself some food.
    His brother patted his back. “Congratulations! You’re finally going to be a dad.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Is she a black Hispanic?” His dad eyebrows met.
    “Nope, she’s a beautiful African-American ,” Lucy chimed in, putting down her fork.
    Javier winked at his sister. “Does the race of the baby’s mother matter ? I’m raising him.”
    “No fucking son of mine will be raising a black baby.”
    Javier clenched his jaw, pushing his plate away before eating a bite, losing his appetite. “I think you forget something, dad. I’m a grown man who doesn’t need your permission for shit.” He shot his dad a dirty look.
    “It’s about damn time ,” Jose mumbled.
    “Now you’re disrespecting me.” His father stood. “What do you know about raising a black baby?”
    Javier stared up at him. “What’s the different in raising any race?”
    Everyone was quiet, listening to the conversation. He could see Monica smiling from the corner of his eye.
    “There are a lot of Hispanic children waiting to get adopted, and you pick a African-American.”
    “Ya…” His mother entered the room, and everyone watched her. “Don’t you dare talk about my unborn grandson that way.”
    “You didn’t tell me the baby was black.” His dad frowned at his mother.
    “It shouldn’t matter. I raised them to treat everyone equal,” she said, coming into the room with napkins in her hands.
    “Why don’t you go and get someone fucking pregnant like your brother did?”
    Jose’s mouth opened to say something, but he must’ve decided against it and continued eating. Jose had gotten the neighbor’s daughter, Olga, pregnant, and they disowned her. She was away at college and came to see Carlitos whenever she could. Olga was moving back home in a couple of months, and his nephew would be moving in with her.
    Javier smirked, and then glared at his father. “What if I married a black girl, and then get her pregnant?”
    “Are you in love with this girl?” his dad asked. Monica stopped smiling and waited for his answer.
    “Does it matter? ” his mom asked. “That has nothing to do with my grandson.”
    “It matters , she’ll break his heart,” his father responded.
    Javier stared at hi s parents. “You didn’t answer my question. What if he was biologically mine?”
    “Then that baby won’t be my grandchild either.”
    “So, what you’re telling me is, you’d disown your own grandchild?” The vein in Javier’s neck began to throb he was so angry.
    His dad was about to answer.
    “Enough, Papo.” His mom threw the napkins on the table. “We’ll talk about this later.”
    “We are not talking about shit later.” His dad slammed his fist on the table. “He is not my grandson!”
    Javier stood. “You don’t have to worry about being in my son’s life. He doesn’t need you; ‘cause one thing is for sure, I’ll be a better father than you.” He walked over to his mother and kissed her cheek.