mateo gets a playhouse pt. 1
“Wow.”
The word breathed in a hush through Jane’s lips as she stepped outside into the backyard. It had been a few months since the day she’d taken Mateo with her and tried to visit Rose and Luisa, not that she’d ever told Rafael about it. (Mateo had started to bring it up, but Rafael guessed he’d just been dreaming and Jane had done nothing to dissuade him from that thought. They’d had to have a nice conversation later about things they don’t tell Daddy. Mateo hadn’t seemed too happy about that.) She’d just gotten back from another part of her book tour – she’d been gone for almost a week, a few days of which she hadn’t tried to skype or facetime with Raf or Mateo. This was a point in her favor; on her first tour, she’d demanded they both come with her, and on the second one, she’d made sure to keep in contact with them multiple times a day. It had taken many, many tours before Rafael insisted that he was just fine and even more before she actually believed him. It had taken Rafael adamantly refusing to answer her and insisting that she take some time for herself – to relax – before she gave in. The first time she’d been terrified, but as time wore on, she’d grown accustomed to it.
She hadn’t expected Rafael to make an impromptu tree fort jungle gym massive thing while she was gone. Jane hadn’t even known he was capable of such a thing. He’d probably called someone in to do it while she was gone. She was sure Mateo loved it.
Jane’s heart swelled with warmth and light as she pulled out her phone and called her husband. “Rafael, this is amazing,” she said as soon as he picked up. “I can’t believe you made such a mammoth fort! How long did that take you?”
There was silence on the other end before Rafael said, finally, “I didn’t make anything.”
Jane blinked. Then she laughed. “Of course not. You had someone else make it. But, seriously, how long have you been planning this? Months?”
“Jane, I didn’t do anything. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Jane stared at the tree fort in front of her. Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know anything about the fort in the backyard?”
“No?” There was silence. “Should I?”
“Rafael,” Jane began, crossing her arms and staring up at the fort, trying to see just how high it went. “Someone built a fort in our backyard. If you’ve been here while I was gone, how do you not know about that?”
There was an even longer silence this time. Then, finally, “Look, Jane, something came up at the firm—”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Jane turned on one heel and stormed back into their living room, not that it mattered because there was no one around to see her. Mateo was at school – or, more likely, on the bus on the way back – and she assumed Rafael was at work. “Who took care of Mateo?”
“I left him with Petra and JR and the twins. I figured that would be fine—”
“That is fine, but Rafael, you have to tell me!” Jane opened her mouth to say something else and then turned to look at the fort again. She shook her head. “Look, I’ll talk to you later. I need to call Petra.”
“Jane—”
But she hung up before she could hear him say anything else. She stared at the tree fort, trying to recapture the sheer joy she’d had at seeing it in front of her, as she called Petra. The phone rang and rang – of course Petra was busy; managing a hotel like the Marbella wasn’t an easy thing to do – but she finally heard her pick up on the last ring. Jane relaxed as much as she could while still mad at her husband. “Petra, hey, I just wanted to thank you for the tree fort.” She smiled, and she could almost capture the feeling she’d had when she first saw it. It was impressive, after all. “You must have gotten some professionals in – I know there’s no way you could have made all of this – and it must have been short notice since you wouldn’t have known that Raf would be gone and—”
“Look, Jane, I’m a little busy.”
Jane blinked. She switched the phone to her other hand. “Too busy to hear how grateful I am to you?” she asked. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
All of a sudden, the front door slammed shut, and something – a backpack, Jane knew without seeing it that it was a backpack – dropped with a harsh thud to the floor. She turned and saw Mateo running towards the backyard. He froze as soon as he saw her, but he grinned at her. “Did you see what Auntia Rose and I made this weekend?” he asked, his eyes bright and excited.
Jane stared at him.
Mateo’s face fell. “Wait. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”
“Petra,” Jane said through gritted teeth, “did you let Rose around my son without my—”
“Look, Jane, I said I was busy. I have to go.”
And with that, Petra hung up on her just as abruptly as she’d hung up on Rafael.
Jane could feel her entire self growing tense, and she shoved the phone back into her purse before she could break it. Of course, she wouldn’t have actually broken it. She wasn’t Rose, after all. Her temper wasn’t that bad.
Mateo tried to grin again. “It looks cool, right?”
“Mateo, you are not playing on that thing, and as soon as your daddy gets home, we are going to have a serious discussion about who you are allowed to spend your time with when I’m not here.” Jane took a deep breath and looked back at the fort, which now seemed like more of a dungeon than anything. Now that she was paying more attention, it seemed rough and ragged. It probably wasn’t well supported at all, and she was certain that at the very least it was covered with splinters. She was certain that the very next time Mateo stepped onto it, the whole thing would fall apart.
“Aw, Mom.” Mateo pouted. “We spent all weekend making it and we made sure it was super safe. Auntia Luisa and Auntia Rose both checked it out before I even got on it! They made super sure it could hold and everything! And look!” He held up his hands, which she could now see were rough and had a few more nicks than they’d had before she left. “They let me help with the sanding and the nails and everything! It was so cool!”
Jane could feel the anger bubbling up inside her, and before there was anything to be done, it overflowed. “Mateo, you are not playing on that thing! I’m sure something in it is wrong, and it’ll hurt you! Now go to your room!”
Mateo glared at her. He took a deep breath – they’d made him take some anger management classes since his last tantrums, and she could see him mentally counting to ten – but he still had his father’s anger in him. Emilio’s anger, if Rafael was to be believed, even if they weren’t biologically related. “You never trust me with anything!” Mateo finally yelled, and he stormed off to his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
Jane turned to stare at the tree fort behind her. If she had anything to say about it, that thing was going to come down as soon as Rafael got back. She would try and tear it down now with her bare hands, but she didn’t want to get splinters all in her hands. She’d have to wait until he got back, and then they could go get gloves and leave Mateo with—
Well, obviously they couldn’t leave him alone with Petra and JR anymore. Not if they were going to take him over to Rose. Definitely not. She would have to get Abuela and….
Well, she’d figure something out. She had to. There wasn’t anyone in this family she could trust anymore!