01. welcome to the family Hermoza

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"(Y/n), your brother is taking his sweet time in the bathroom again."

You look over your shoulder to find your Tía Lucía leaning against the kitchen wall, arms crossed over her chest and trying her best to give you an annoyed glare. You chuckle at her bed hair, making her sigh and drop her 'adult' attitude.

"Ah, I swear this kid is driving me crazy ! Please, mi hija, tell him to get out so I can get ready !"

You laugh as your Tía hugs your waist, whining like a child. She was always acting childish around you, calling you 'mi hija' to annoy your mother at first, and then out of habit. You liked to think it was because you were her favorite human being, as she sometimes told you so as a joke, but you knew she was like this to all of her friends. 

"Alright, alright." you drop the plate you were cleaning in the sink and wiggle out of your tia's grip with success. "I'll tell him to hurry, but you know how upset he gets when his hair isn't perfect."

You walk up the stairs, bumping into the multitude of books pilled up against the wall once again. You and your mother often asked your dad to find another place to put them, but he always answered there was no other place in this house that wasn't filled with books already.

He was right.

You muttered a curse and put the books back in their place before walking to the bathroom door.

"Jorge, hermano ! You gotta get out of here now, or I'll call Luisa to break down the door. You don't wanna bother her, right ?"

"One minute, I'm having an existential crisis here !"

"I'll do your hair for you."

The door opened to reveal your little brother, one half of his hair perfectly done while the other was a literal bush. You could have sworn you saw a leaf in there, but your aunt rushing into the bathroom and slaming the door in your faces with a big 'thank you !' distracted you, and when you turned back to Jorge, he was trying to flatten his mess of a hair. You make him protest by ruffling it, but he imediately gets quiet when you grab his shoulder to lead him to your room.

"Sit down, peque. It won't take long."

He cringes at the nicknames, still obeying nevertheless. "Don't baby me. I'm 13."

"Ah !" you dramatically put a hand to your forehead. "Mi corazon is all grown up ! He doesn't love his poor sister anymore. What will I do when I am all alone and old, and that he no longer visits me ?"

He nudges you as you start fixing his hair the way he likes it. "I said stop with the surnames ! And you're talking like I'm your son or something. Focus on getting a family first, then we'll see if you end up all alone."

You gently push his head backward so he can see your dead serious face. "You're my favorite family." you speak in a deep, solemn voice. "And since when are you mature at all, you child ! Go back to playing hide and seek with your little friends !"

He snorts, making you smile. He really did grow mature at a young age.

"My little friends, as you say, are almost as tall as you now."

"But they ain't."

"Almost."

"They ain't. And I'm sure you wish you were as tall as them, so I could stop calling you pequino." you boop his nose, making him roll his eyes, careful not to move his head so you don't accidentally stab his eye with the brush.

"Yeah, sometimes I wish I was taller, but my height makes me, like, super cute."

"That's the spirit, mi hermano. I raised you well."

"Mom raised me. You bullied me."

"Good job ! You now know how to recognize toxic people and how to stay away from them. My job was hard, but it is done. I am proud of you."

"That's another kind of gaslighting."

"I love you, Jorge." you smile as you sneak in the final touch to your brother's hair, a flower you picked from your potted plant. You wonder how much time it would take him to notice it, but above all if he'll like it.

"I love you too, hermana, but don't think I didn't see you sneak that flower in my hair."

"Do you like it ?" you smile innocently.

He gets up and walks to your mirror, admiring both his face and haircut. "I love it."

You refrain from ruffling his hair, instead pushing him out of your room so you can dress up. You decide to go from something that isn't too fancy, but still classy : a white shirt with little flowers embroidered on the collar and the sleeves, and your favorite long skirt, which was your favorite color, and had a bunch of your favorite flowers embroidered as well. You did your hair as usual, but adding a flower similar to your brother's, before heading downstairs to finish washing the dishes.

"Dad ?" you say entering the kitchen, seeing that your father was finishing washing the dishes while humming to a song he liked when he was younger. "I was doing it already, there's no need to-"

"It's fine, (Y/n)." he smiled softly. Your Tía told me you were helping Jorge, so I thought I might as well do it. Nice flower." he pointed to your hair, making you wink at him.

"Yeah, it's a new trend."

"Really ? I didn't know."

"Stop believing everything she says !" Jorge passes through the room, collecting his stuff before heading out. "This isn't a trend at all."

"Not yet." you argue, clicking your tongue. "Everything the Hermoza siblings do is fashionable and will become trendy."

"You're damn right." Jorge answers, earning a 'language !' from your father, before exiting the house.

"Where's the kid going ?" your Tía asks, all dressed up and looking beautiful as always.

"Out with friends. It's the first week of vacation, he'll get the most of it before mom asks him to help at the store." you answer, helping your father dry the plates he just washed.

"By the way, (Y/n)-" your mom enters the room, carrying a basket of fresh fruits for Lucía. She loved them.

"Oh, hi mom ! You look lovely, and look, Tía, she brought you fruits !" you don't let her finish, knowing all-too-well she was going to ask to help with the boutique again, but you had plans. You rid your mother of the heavy fruit basket and drop it on the table. "You know, Dad helped me with the dishes and that was very kind of him, but- Oh ! Look, it's Dolores !" you point to the window, where Dolores wasn't, and before anyone could move you were at the door. "Yeah, I planned to hang out with Dolores today and she's already waiting for me, so I'll get going, bye, have fun !"

And you were gone.

"She played you." Lucía states, biting in a fresh apple and sighing in contentment.

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words : 1189

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