TRAPPED

2

Celine

The woman grins brightly when we make eye contact, and the man beside her allows a small smile to show on his lips.

She walks over to me, and the man follows, Mateo behind them, but he walks back over to his seat.

She sits down beside me and suddenly takes my face in her wrinkled, ringed hands, her eyes shining brightly with tears. "Hi, miel."
(T—Honey.)

Then she pulls back, only to lean back and wrap me in a bone-breaking hug. I glance over her shoulder, at Scarlett—the most welcoming and social of them all—and plead with my eyes for her to help me. She smiles and stands, walking over to sit by Nic and Elias. I notice her nudge the former.

"Nona, you're gonna crush her." Nicolas laughs.

She ignores him, turning to the man. "N'est-elle pas adorable, Jacques?"
(T—Isn't she adorable, Jacques?)

"Très."
(T—Very.)

     "You're gorgeous, honey!" The woman exclaims, her voice more accented than my fathers. She moves a strand of hair back from my face as a small tear rolls down her cheek.

     "What wrong?" Elias asks, crawling over. He looks up at the woman.

     "I'm just so happy my grand baby is back." She replies, her voice taking on a softer tone as she wipes away the salty tear from her cheek.

Elias giggles and claps his hands.

The shouts from before get louder, making Elias frown again. He crawls back over to Nic, who wraps his muscular arms around his son.

"Who's yelling like that?" The man asks. My grandfather, I think—they're my grandparents.

     "Nos parents." Mateo says.
(T—Our parents.)

     My grandma sighs. "L'un de vous va les faire taire. Je peux déjà dire que ça va rendre ta soeur nerveuse."
(T—One of you shut them up. I can already tell it's making your sister nervous.)

Scarlett stands, "j'y vais."
(T—I'll go.)

I furrow my eyebrows. What're they saying?

"Je viendrai. Cela devient gênant." Julien says.
(T—I'll come. This is getting awkward.)

     Scarlett sends him a disapproving look. "Reste avec ta petite sœur."
(T—Stay with your baby sister.)

     Julien sighs, sends me an awkward smile, and sits back down.

Scarlett leaves the room. I wrap my arms around my stomach as Nicolas whispers something to Elias.

A second later, the nephew I never expected to have climbs onto my lap, stands on my things and kisses my cheek. "You pretty."

     My heart softens as he plops down to sit on my knee. I smile. "Thank you."

     "How come you didn't bring Diya?" My grandma asks Mateo.

     "The baby has chicken pox. She's staying home with him." Mateo responds.

I look over at him. "You have a kid too?"

He smiles. "Yeah, his name is Zavian."

"How old is he?"

     "Eleven months." He says, something like pride shining in his eyes. "You wanna see a picture?" He asks.

"Sure." I say. His lips tilt up, and he stands, walking over and sitting in the empty spot beside me. Elias claps again when he gets his phone out, clicking on Photos before scrolling up. He turns his phone to me.