Paulina
Many people think a love story ends when you say "I do" and the first baby arrives. If you ask me, I think a love story never ends.
I believe soulmates keep finding each other in different lives and keep choosing one another over and over. And why do I think that? Because without a doubt, I would keep choosing Shanti in every possible life.
When I married Shanti, I was the happiest person on this planet. The day our first daughter arrived, I felt my heart melt with love. The same happened when our next seven children were born. However, no one warned me that I also had to take care of my wife… because apparently, I married a little girl, even if she was older than me.
"Love, can you please go check if the kids have tidied up the playroom?" I asked.
"Yes, love, I'll go now," she obeyed instantly.
Shanti and I never argued over her refusing any request of mine; we argued because she would forget what I asked or get distracted along the way.
My wife is very absent-minded, like a small child. Sometimes I swear I have nine kids instead of eight.
"Why is she taking so long? I just asked her to check on our kids… what could she be distracted by now?" I thought, slightly annoyed.
I walked halfway to the playroom. The closer I got, the more I could hear our children cheering someone on.
"Come on, Soso!" the twins shouted.
"No, Mommy, you can do it!" the boys responded.
I entered, and I wish I could say I couldn't believe what I saw, but with my wife, that was never a surprise. Our children who weren't playing on the console noticed me. I saw them stand up straight, eyes wide open, then desperately look for something they clearly hadn't lost.
There was Shanti, sitting next to Soleil, both so alike they looked like drops of water, except for our daughter's blonde hair. My wife was holding Ethan in her arms… and still playing.
At that moment, I wondered, "And where is Alex?"
"It's the last turn!" my daughter shouted, completely oblivious to my presence.
I took a deep breath and crossed my arms.
"I sent you to check if our kids had finished tidying the playroom," I said firmly.
Shanti froze. Soleil too. It was like freezing two frightened little deer.
"And you stayed playing with our daughter. Not to mention, Alex isn't here," I scolded.
Shanti put on her typical scared face, eyes wide as saucers, and got up so fast the controller fell to the floor.
"Love, it's not what it looks like…" she started to say.
"Where is Alex?" I interrupted, annoyed.
Shanti swallowed hard before answering.
"He's in his crib because he's still asleep. The only one who woke up was Ethan," she raised our son, who was completely asleep.
I frowned.
"Shanti… our son is asleep."
My wife looked at Ethan and opened her mouth several times before managing to articulate anything.
"He was awake two seconds ago, that's why I brought him… so he wouldn't wake Alex. Oh, by the way, love: when I got here with Ethan, the kids had already finished tidying everything," she excused herself quickly.
"Go put Ethan back in his crib," I ordered. "We'll talk afterward."
"Love, but it's not—"
"I said we'll talk afterward," I interrupted, serious.
"But love—"
"If you continue like this, it will be worse, Shanti," I threatened with the look she knew perfectly.
My wife muttered something incomprehensible and left, wearing that scolded-child expression that always broke my heart a little… though this time I wasn't going to show it.
Moments like this are why I feel like I have nine kids.
It's not that I always wanted to be the strict mother or wife, but my beautiful family sometimes left me no other choice.
At night, Shanti tried to convince me not to punish her. She tried with arguments, hugs, stolen kisses, and even that sweet little voice that always disarms me. But this time I didn't give in. I wasn't going to back down.
She was going to stay without touching me until Alejandra's wedding.
I had to admit, that hurt and tormented my wife.
After two weeks, Alejandra's wedding finally arrived. And apparently, my wife was more excited than my niece… because that meant today, at last, her punishment would end.
"Sister-in-law," Johanna called me.
I turned toward her, adjusting Alex in his stroller with his rattle.
"What's up, sister-in-law?" I replied.
Johanna first approached the strollers to play with my kids, as always, before asking me what she really wanted. Sometimes I think being absent-minded runs in the family.
"Oh, they're so cute! Look at those little cheeks, I want to bite them," she said, melting with love.
"Seriously… her too?" I thought, resigned.
"Just like I told your sister: you won't be biting them," I said firmly.
I didn't understand why everyone wanted to bite my children's cheeks. Yes, they were adorable, but I didn't see the need to nibble them like freshly baked bread.
"At least I tried," she said, pressing my son's cheeks with all the tenderness in the world.
"True, Pau… why does my sister look happier than my niece, the bride?" she finally asked.
"I don't know, really," I lied without guilt.
It was that or give Johanna material to tease us throughout the wedding… and possibly for life.
Johanna squinted at me, suspicious of my answer.
"Suspicious," she raised an eyebrow.
I just smiled, avoiding digging myself in further, and a few minutes later the ceremony was about to begin.
Alejandra's fiancé was waiting at the altar, his mother beside him. He looked nervous, moving his fingers as if rehearsing a speech in his head. The music started to announce the bride's entrance. However, before Alejandra appeared, Danny, my nephew, came tossing flowers with such comical gestures that several guests chuckled.
"I thought Lili and Camila were going to throw the flowers," my wife whispered.
"Yes… they were supposed to, but I don't know what happened," I murmured, searching for my daughters.
It didn't take long to find them: both raised their little hands, waving at me as if nothing had happened. I didn't understand what had gone on, and amidst my confusion, I didn't notice that two people were rushing toward the couple.
"I object!" shouted a girl.
Dan, who was giving Alejandra's hand to the groom, froze mid-motion.
"I object too!" yelled a boy from the other side.
"What's going on here?" Gina asked, bewildered.
"You can't get married. You know very well who you love, Alejandra," the girl said firmly.
Everyone stifled a gasp of surprise.
"Oh my God…" was all I could say.
"I don't understand why you're doing this," said the other boy, upset.
"In my time, only one person interrupted the wedding, not two," my wife laughed, amused.
I had to nudge her because she was about to burst into loud laughter.
"Alejandra is incredible… look at her, getting two people to interrupt her wedding," Shanti teased. "I wish I had popcorn. This is cinema."
"Shanti, that's enough," I scolded in a whisper.
"Aunt, I have some," Danny whispered, arriving at our side.
Danny handed her a small bag of popcorn.
Where did he even get that popcorn? I wondered.
"Tomás, you love me. Why won't you listen to me?" the boy asked, frustrated. "Instead of talking to me, you're marrying her."
Another silence. Another round of stifled reactions.
"This just keeps getting better," my wife laughed, putting popcorn in her mouth.
"And the best part is yet to come," Danny announced, as if he already knew what was about to happen.
"Danny… you knew about this?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"Of course, Aunt Pau. I knew they were coming, that's why I was the one tossing the flowers," he replied cheekily. "And I asked the chefs for the popcorn."
The girl spoke again, her voice trembling.
"I just wanted you to look for me once, Alejandra. Just once. Because it's always me chasing after you, but instead… you decided to get married."
My wife's eyes widened in recognition.
"Wait… she's not…" she stopped mid-sentence.
"Yes, it's Chloe, Alejandra's so-called rival at the boarding school," Danny teased.
"What a cliché," Shanti laughed.
"And the boy confronting Tomás is her so-called best friend, Noah," Danny continued, like a professional commentator.
Tomás intervened, desperate:
"I have never been unfaithful to you, my love. I never will be. I love you too much. What you saw that time was a misunderstanding, and I have proof I'm telling the truth."
Shanti whistled softly, impressed.
"In my time, only one person confronted you… not two while getting married," she commented, astonished.
I grabbed some popcorn too.
"I saw it coming," I said. "Since I saw that girl at boarding school glaring at anyone approaching Alejandra… I knew something was off in her rivalry."
"And that she showed up last Christmas at Gina's house out of nowhere, in the middle of the night," Shanti recalled.
"I don't know if Mom wants to strangle Alejandra or if she's just still shocked by what's happening," Danny said, looking at Gina.
My wife and I followed his gaze. My sister-in-law was completely frozen, observing the scene as if it were the final chapter of a soap opera she never imagined witnessing. Dan, her husband, was equally paralyzed. And it was no wonder.
"Do you think if I tell Mom now that I have a boyfriend, she'll let it slide?" Sofi asked, coming over to our side with a nervous but hopeful expression.
"Your mother will probably strangle you along with Alejandra," my wife replied without thinking. "And by the way, I'll pretend you didn't just say that… for the sake of that little boy, I hope he leaves the country," she added, clearly annoyed.
"I'll make sure that happens," Danny said with the same protective anger.
"Love," I called softly to my wife, "don't bother Sofi."
"I'm not bothering her. I'm giving that boy a chance… to live," she said in a voice so cold that Sofi swallowed hard.
My wife, believe it or not, was even more jealous than I was. The only difference was that I expressed my jealousy instantly, while she kept hers bottled up… until it exploded. And when it did, it was scary. Very scary. Especially since everyone assumed she had a gentle temperament… until they saw her in "jealous mode."
I remember the first time I heard her speak like that, I thought she was joking. When Sofi was little, Shanti also laughed at jokes about "boyfriends." But when Sofi entered middle school, everything changed. The same happened with my other nephews and nieces.
Later, intrigued, I asked Shanti why she suddenly got so upset when before she found it funny. She just said one sentence that cleared all my doubts:
"It's not funny anymore because she's no longer a child," she replied, annoyed.
And it was true. For the Vegas, when they were kids, joking about "boyfriends" was funny because it was obvious it would never go anywhere. But when they grew up… everything changed. The mere idea of another boy or girl holding the hand of a daughter, sister, or niece turned any family gathering into a potential crime of passion. For them, it was almost enough reason to switch someone from "alive mode" to "deceased mode."
Although Gina was the exception, she was the scariest: she had always been jealous, even as a child. And now with her own kids… even worse.
In that sense, I couldn't deny that I was a little like her. The very thought of some boy or girl holding my daughter's hand made my stomach turn. Soleil, on top of that, was just like her mother: distracted, affectionate, overly kind. She got very close to her friends, made them nervous… and she had no idea. To complete the combo, she inherited the exaggerated kindness of her two aunts. And the most disturbing part was that they were aware of the effect they had, but they claimed it was just their "friendly personality," according to them.
My brothers-in-law were already used to my sisters-in-law's personalities. They were always kind, cheerful, and surrounded everyone with that characteristic warmth… up to a point. There was a very thin line between their excessive kindness and flirting.
Their husbands could recognize it instantly. My wife, however, was different. Shanti didn't want to be overly friendly; she was simply courteous by nature. Distracted, sweet, and completely unaware of the effect she had on others.
Since I realized that Soleil was a dangerous mix of her mother's absent-mindedness and the exaggerated kindness of her aunts, I knew that many… well, many bold kids would approach my baby, and not exactly to make friends. The very thought churned my stomach.
"You do realize Soleil will bring someone home someday, right?" I said to my wife without thinking.
The moment I said it, I regretted it. The image of my little girl holding someone else's hand immediately irritated me. No one could touch my daughter. No one.
My wife furrowed her brow, but seeing my annoyance, she softened her expression. A smile appeared on her face, one of those she used to calm me down.
"I don't think that will happen anytime soon… maybe when Soleil is thirty-five," she teased. "Besides, she has to pass the tests," she reminded me. "Tests that, by the way, Tomás passed… but Chloe hasn't yet," she added thoughtfully.
"I don't think it's necessary, because if you look closely, Chloe is the one begging," I said logically.
And it was true. The one pleading for Alejandra not to get married was Chloe.
The famous "tests" were, according to them, three simple steps.
First, the chase: for three months, someone hired would follow them day and night to make sure they weren't hiding anything. They would also thoroughly investigate their life, past, and family. In this part, Tomás fooled us. We always believed his "best friend" was just that… an innocent best friend. After that, it was very likely that their investigative system would be updated.
Second, they would take him out drinking, and when he was half-drunk, suggest going to a nightclub. If he agreed, the wedding would be canceled and probably some bones would end up broken. When Tomás heard the idea, he called Alejandra in horror, almost begging her to go for him. He passed the test, although we still don't know if the fear was because it was a club with girls, not boys… or both reasons.
I wanted to think it was the first reason.
And lastly, the most disturbing part: they would take the groom to the house and, in a very threatening manner, warn him that if he hurt anyone, was unfaithful, or even showed a hint of sadness in his daughter or niece… they would have to remove a part of his body. Sadistic, yes, but they gave him the option to flee. If he stayed, he was worthy.
Tomás did not run. And that's why he was there, at the altar.
Lost in these memories, we stopped listening to what the bride, groom, and the ones objecting were saying. And without warning, as if perfectly synchronized, the two who opposed grabbed each of the couples' hands and ran away.
Gina only managed to see Alejandra run. It was very strange that she hadn't screamed.
Too strange.
"But where are they going?" my wife shouted. "They know they could get married themselves and have a double wedding!" she continued yelling, while everyone stared at her in disbelief.
"Love, sit down. There's nothing you can do about it," I said, taking her by the arm, trying to make her stop drawing more attention than necessary.
"If they can do it, they do it in novels," she argued.
I could only bring my hand to my forehead, feeling defeated by the illogical argument my wife had given me.
"And what about the dance we practiced?" she complained, almost indignant.
And then I realized that was the real reason behind her shouts. My niece had rehearsed a dance for the evening reception, and my wife was one of the dancers. Seeing the frustrated faces of the other girls who were going to participate made me feel sorry for them. They had practiced intensely for hours over two weeks to make the dance perfect.
A dance that, of course, would no longer happen.
My parents chuckled quietly behind me. Although they tried to hide it, I could hear them. Then I felt my mother lean close to my ear.
"Thank you, daughter, for not listening to me when I said not to take care of Shanti and for making her my daughter-in-law too. Ever since she's with you, I can't stop laughing," she whispered softly, her voice still trembling with laughter.
"I have nine children," I whispered back, laughing a little, more out of habit than calm.
The wedding, evidently, was canceled. Gina and Dan, along with Tomás's parents, apologized to all the guests but assured them that they could enjoy their stay at the hotel where we were staying, since Tomás's father would cover all expenses. It wasn't what we had expected, but we couldn't demand too much: not only did the groom run away, but the bride did as well.
The next three days were strange. Until, in the afternoon, Alejandra appeared. I am almost certain that during those three days she was reconciling with Chloe. What I do know for sure is that Gina scolded her for hours for the "stupidity" of wanting to marry someone she didn't love.
Sofi was the one to tell us everything; she laughed as she remembered how her mother had scolded her sister as if she were still a teenager who came home late.
Two months later, Alejandra married Chloe. And this time, my daughters did throw the flowers. Everyone, jokingly, looked back before the ceremony started to make sure there wasn't anyone ready to interrupt the wedding again. Luckily, there wasn't. And at least my wife was finally able to perform the dance she had wanted so badly.
It was a wonderful wedding along with the reception, although my wife couldn't help but comment:
"I see new faces," she joked.
I just hope there aren't any surprises at Danny's wedding. Because right now, his fiancée has just fainted from the threat… and we don't know whether to take her fainting as a retreat or if, despite the fear she felt before falling, she plans to stay. And frankly, knowing my in-laws… anything can happen.