“Miss McCutcheon, you’re a singer? I never heard of you,”

“Ah…..I’m afraid I’m not very famous,” Shane shot a glance at Carmen, who was suppressing a smile. “Mama….she’s busy,” Carmen’s mother swatted Carmen’s hand away. “Carmen…she is like me….stubborn, too straightforward. If she makes you angry, don’t blame her,” Shane smiled reassuringly at Carmen’s mother and patted her hand. “She’s a very fast learner. I like her very much,” There was a proud beam on the woman’s face as she heard Shane’s sincere comment. “Stay for dinner…I cooked a lot of food..Miss McCutcheon.”

“I’m afraid not. I need to make a trip to the recording studio….Mrs Morales nice to meet you….enjoy your dinner. I’m off.”

When Shane was driving away, she saw the image of Carmen in the rearview window, smiling and holding baby Katia high up in her arms. This was how a family should be and in that few minutes when she was there, she had experienced the warmth and affection. She finally understood why Carmen was so headstrong and determined in her convictions, because she had grown up in a family of abundant love. There was no need to be afraid of failure, because at the end of the day, her family would be behind her, supporting her all the way. Shane smiled sadly to herself. She might be at a position where lots of people would envy, but it was during times like this, when she would have traded everything she had just to be ordinary. 

Chapter 20

Carmen looked around the table which seated about ten people. There was the squalling cry of baby Katia, the sarcastic humour of Elena and the laughter of Pedro. Her mother was piling food onto her plate, despite her insistence that she was already full. Dinner at the Morales family was always a big affair. It was a family gathering where everyone would regale each other with tales of what happened during their week. It could be the bad, the uneventful and most of the time, the humorous situations they found themselves in. They were a tight-knit family and Carmen missed them. She just didn’t realise how much until she saw her mother lauging joyously and hear her niece plying her with details of what happened at school.