Brian and I had a long talk about the future and what our plans were for the next five years. His father had been impatiently waiting for him to take over the business. Brian was torn between teaching and running the dealership. His mom was split between him and Liz. And I was on the outside of this family dynamic looking in. Brian wanted me to tell him to choose teaching. But I didn't. It was his decision to make. When I met Brian, he seemed passionate about kids. But that doesn't necessarily translate that teaching is your calling. Maybe he just liked kids. 

I could see why he was so upset over Liz's lie about being pregnant. It was typical. Women do pull out the stops. I would never do that. Parenting is hard. It is meant for two. But not always can two parents do the job under the same household. Brian, I knew would have likely married Liz on the notion that she was carrying their child. Mrs. Santi would have been ok with that. She seemed to take pride in all things Liz.

Mr. Santi was so different. As men usually are the spectators to the drama, Brian took great comfort in knowing his father simply wanted him to be happy. If Liz was the one, he was ok with that. When Brian described to his dad the "Liz pre-review Edition" of his future, he said he was better off alone than to be with a woman that he didn't love or be in a marriage he felt trapped into. On that, we both agreed. 

Brian and I were growing even closer and I wanted him to meet mi mamá. She was beyond excited to meet this guy her daughter had been dating for the past several months. I wanted to meet for breakfast. She insisted that we have Brian and his family over for dinner. I had to explain that this was for her to meet Brian. But of course mi mamá is fierce when she wants to be. So I asked Brian to invite his parents. Mrs. Santi was conveniently at another engagement but took a rain check. Brian told me that his father had to work, but would try to make it. Mi mamá cooked a traditional Cuban comida (meal) for us that included: criollo, made from rice, beans, eggs, tomatoes, lettuce, chicken, beef and pork. Frituras de maíz tierno(fresh corn fritters), and flan de calabaza (pumpkin flan). 

Needless to say, Brian adored mi mamá and she constantly inquired about his family. I wasn't surprised. This was expected. She had more to say, but she was holding back you could tell. The Santi's were invited and surprisingly didn't appear. Notwithstanding the embarrassment of showing Brian the álbum de foto de familia with pictures of me, the evening went well. We came across pictures of mi mamá and mi papá. 

"This must be your dad holding you?" Brian asked.

"How can you tell?

"You look like your dad." Brian observed and mi mamá said I favored them both. 

Brian was nervous, you could tell. He warbled back and forth between calling out LaDoña, mi mamá's first name, and Mrs. Mendes. By the end of the evening, mamá let him off the hook and asked that he call her 'ma'.

I had noticed that throughout the evening Brian didn't take any of his phone calls. A few times he looked at the Caller ID and ignored them. Then finally he turned it off. This was normal for him as far as I could tell. When he didn't want to be bothered with the ringing, he would eventually turn off the phone. This was one time I really wished he hadn't.    

Nicole's mom LaDoña Maridel Lopes-Mendes