How Tía Lola Came to (Visit) Stay by Julia Álvarez

me, nearby!’
    “Titanium white?” Juanita guesses in a little voice from her end.
    “Sí, mi amor”
Papi says. His voice is as small as hers.
    But to Miguel, Papi’s promise sounds silly. Kid stuff. Like wishing on stars. He is now the captain of a baseball team. He has helped plan a whole surprise party that his mother doesn’t know about. He is too grown-up to believe wishes have their own way of coming true.
    That night, they tell Tía Lola how sad it makes them feel every time there’s a family occasion and their papi—or mami—isn’t there.
    “You don’t ever have to lose anyone you really love,” she tells them, “They stay with you in your heart,”
    That might be so, but it still hurts not to have Papi around.
    To brighten things up, Tía Lola brings up the party tomorrow, “I just invited number seventy-eight today,”
    “Tía Lola!” both Miguel and Juanita cry out.
    “But this could not be avoided,” Tía Lola explains. “El Rudy’s son—”
    “No, Tía Lola!” Miguel and Juanita insist.
    “This son has a business,” Tía Lola continues. “He puts up tents for weddings and parties.”
    Miguel and Juanita are still shaking their heads when they hear the first raindrops falling on the leaves of the locust trees outside the window.
    Early the next morning, Miguel sits up in bed and looks out. The rain is coming down hard as if the leaves all need a good scrubbing before they take on their fall colors. After so much planning, Mami’s party will be ruined! Perhaps Papi’s hand slipped when he tried to paint only one brush stroke in the sky?
    When Miguel goes down to the kitchen, Tía Lola is busy preparing Mami’s birthday breakfast. Juanita stands just inside the door, gazing out at the curtain of rain. Two teardrops join the trillion raindrops falling on the ground.
    “Don’t worry,” Tía Lola reassures them. “Everything will be fine.”
    Just then, their mother enters the room.
    “What is going to be fine?” she asks, looking from one to the other.
    “Your birthday breakfast,” Tía Lola says quickly in Spanish. She sets down a plate of Mami’s favorite, fried onions over mashed plantains, which Rudy speciaLordeied from his distributor in Boston.
“Feliz cumpleaños,”
she sings. Miguel and Juanita join in.
    “What a wonderful surprise!” their mother cries. Miguel and Juanita look at each other, thinking of the much bigger
sorpresa
that awaits her.
    “Our special present comes later,” Tía Lola explains, nodding at Miguel and Juanita. They have decided that after the surprise party, they will drive up to their mother’s favorite spot in the Green Mountains.
    “I don’t need another present,” their mother says, blinking back happy tears. “This is already so special!”
    “The only thing is the rain,” Miguel notes. “We ordered a nice day for your birthday.” He tries to sound lighthearted, but he can’t hide his disappointment.
    “I got exactly the day I wanted,” his mother replies. “I love rainy days. I wished for one for my birthday.”
    Miguel and Juanita look at each other, surprised-Then they both glance at Tía Lola, who winks as if she already knew that along with onions and plantains, their mother wanted a rainy day on her birthday.
    A little while later, Stargazer stops by. She needs Linda’s advice on a display she is setting up in her store for a new line of incense. Behind Mami’s back as they go out the door, Stargazer gives Miguel and Juanita the V for Victory sign. Their plan is working out.
    As soon as they drive away, the house goes into full gear. Plates are set out. Forks and spoons are laid in baskets. Napkins are stacked in leaning towers. Where are the balloons?
    At about ten o’clock, a van pulls in at the purple house on Charlebois Lane. The driver dashes toward the front door in the driving rain. He has a vaguely familiar wide smile and rumpled hair. He wears sneakers and a red bow tie that makes his whole face look like a