Just a Kiss (31 page)

“G
racias,
Bertha.” Celina took the stairs and headed for the baby’s room. Pancho adored
Esmi
. He enjoyed feeding her in the mornings before leaving for work and tried to make it on time to feed her in the afternoon. She opened the door, and there he was on the recliner, holding
Esmi
on his chest. She smiled and paused to watch both of them take a nap for a few minutes.
Esmi
looked very much like her daddy. She had his split chin, big, dark, round, brown eyes and hair, but she had Celina’s nose. She bent down to take the baby from his hold, when Pancho grabbed her arm and squeezed tight.

“
Papi
it’s me! Please let me go.” She exclaimed, panicking.

He took a deep breath, opened his eyes wide and released his hold on her.
“Oh my God, Celina.
I’m so sorry.” His chest heaved.

She pulled her arm toward her chest and rubbed it with her hand. “I’m sorry to have snuck up on you. I was scared you would drop the baby, with you sleeping. I guess I was wrong.” She smiled at him.

“We are trained to sleep holding on to our weapons, so me letting go of
Esmi
would never happen. Please--let me see your arm.” He reached for her. She extended her arm, and he took it and kissed it several times. “Does it hurt?” He frowned.

She bent down and kissed his forehead. “I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry. Please know that I didn’t do it on purpose.” His brow was crumpled.

At eye level, she looked directly at him. “Of course you didn’t.” She then bent down and gave the baby a kiss on her head and inhaled her scent.

“You look tired,
mi
vida
.” He caressed her beautiful face.

She straightened up and said, “Yes,
papi
,
I am. I didn’t get much sleep with
Esmi’s
tummy ache last night. I’m so happy Bertha thought of giving her chamomile tea.”

“You didn’t wake me.” He frowned.

“
Papi
,
I knew you had to get up early, and I wanted you rested for your big day ahead.” She ran her fingers over his hair. “There was no need for the both of us to lose sleep.”

“So that tea helped her.”
He looked down to look at his three-month-old daughter.

Celina nodded her head. “Yes. She drank the entire bottle, and at last she fell asleep. I can’t tell you what a relief it was. I was very worried that I almost woke you.”

He kissed the baby’s head and closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Do you want to take a nap before we go for dinner? I know I’d love to take a nap with you.” He flashed
her a
big grin.

“Yes.” She bent over to kiss him once on his lips, then pulling away, she gave him a seductive smile. “Shall I lay the baby down, or will you?” She arched her eyebrows.

He licked his lips savoring her kiss. “I will put her to sleep, so you go ahead, and I’ll be there shortly.”

“Okay.” She gave the baby one more kiss on her soft, dark brown hair and kissed each foot and then whispered, “I love you,
Esmi
.”

She walked away and when she reached the doorway, she turned around to look at Pancho holding their precious baby girl. He was an amazing father, and it was obvious how much he loved that little girl.

When she walked in their oversized bedroom, she wasted no time undressing, and leaving a trail of clothing leading to the bed. She slipped underneath the bed sheets and got comfortable in their king-sized bed. She closed her eyes and thought how a year had passed so quickly. Her thoughts went back to when they had driven off the zoo parking lot, headed to Pancho’s apartment
. There she finally modeled every piece of lingerie from the
Victoria's Secret bag for Pancho
.
 
How she had rested there for two days under Pancho’s care before going to his parent’s house. There she met his parents, his older brother, and two younger brothers. From there, Pancho drove her to Laredo, where he met Valeria and the other girls at the hair salon.

A few days later, she had asked Pancho to please accompany her to the house of
Elia’s
parents, to keep the promise she made to the poor, unfortunate, soul of
Elia
, the lost ghost of a young girl she befriended in the depths of the underworld of the cartel. It was difficult for her, but with Pancho’s support, she built up the courage to go and talk to her parents. Xavier, who was now divorced, helped Celina find their address. He had also made arrangements to have all the bodies exhumed from the sidewalk, back at Rafael’s compound. The police were grateful and were trying to identify the bodies of missing girls and possible men. The project was underway but would take some time. Xavier had been rewarded for his help in the missing person’s cases as well.

Pancho moved in right away with Celina, into her condo, but they immediately got to traveling when Pancho received his reward of two million dollars for the capture of Rafael, even though he was dead. The first thing they did before leaving the U.S. was get married, barefooted, on the beach, in Hawaii. It was beautiful, and so romantic. There was only Celina and Pancho, and the priest who married them. After that, Pancho took her
to
many different places around the globe. Her passport had so many stamps on it, too many to count.

They traveled for two months nonstop, from destination to destination, until
she begged to go home, due to early stages of her pregnancy--the dreaded morning sickness. Their last destination had been to the Philippines, to the island of Palawan. It was a tropical paradise of sugar-white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters and rocky coves. Pancho felt right at home in his natural water element, diving from cliffs as Celina waited for him on the beach, praying to all the saints for his safety. Snorkeling was an activity that Celina did enjoy without hesitation. She found it to be utterly breathtaking and called it a natural underwater zoo, filled with tropical fish galore. In the evenings, they would eat their dinner by candlelight and slept listening to the gentle crashing waves.

Her mind drifted to the present with her eyes fluttering when she felt Pancho’s nude warm body press against her backside. He flooded her shoulder with tender kisses, and wasted no time sliding his hand slowly over her shoulder blade and over her breast. He cupped her heavy breast and rotated his thumb over her nipple repeatedly, until it hardened.

His lips brushed over her ear as he whispered, “Hey, sexy mama.” He then wedged his muscular thigh between her legs.
“Have I told you today, how
much I love you?”

She turned on her back and with a big smile said, “Only once this morning, when you left for work.” She placed her hand on his cheek and stroked it.

He looked deep into her eyes. “Well, I want you to know that I am one happy and lucky man to have found myself a beautiful wife and loving mother who gave me a beautiful baby. I have been blessed beyond words, and I am very grateful to the big man upstairs.” He pecked at her bottom lip. “This year together with you, has been precious to me, and I hope God grants us many more years like this with you, Celina.”

Her eyes welled with the tender words that escaped from his mouth. “You and
Esmi
are my most treasured possessions in this world,” she said, “and I’m so blessed to finally have someone who loves me, because when my daddy died, I felt like a homeless person... so alone I felt.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“
Ay mi
vida
, I didn’t know you felt that way.” He kissed her tears away. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. You’ll see how our lives will continue to be blessed.”

“I love you Pancho, with all my heart.”

“And I love you too, Celina. You are my life, and I live and breathe for you and
Esmi
.” He lowered his mouth over hers and sealed it with a passionate kiss.

THE END
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