Episode 5


“Dina always put the angel on top of the tree.” Claire told the boys.

“What’s angel in Japanese, Grandpa?” Kazu asked.

“Tenshi,” Claire said before Mitsuo could say answer.

“Hey, your grandma speaks good Japanese!” Mitsuo winked at the boys.

“Are you gonna have a tenshi,” Kazu took his time enunciating the word, “this year?”

“Sure, sure, every year we have tenshi.” Mitsuo said. “You never noticed?”

“I never noticed,” Julio answered.

Dina rolled her eyes, though Julio didn’t seem to notice that either. Kazu turned to his parents and asked,

“Why don’t we have an angel on top of our tree?”

Julio looked to Dina, but she turned to her sons. “
On our first Christmas together your Daddy brought home a star.”

“But Mama likes angels,” Kazu protested.

“Yeah, I’m just learning that,” Julio muttered.

Dina stared at her husband, trying to hide her hurt, not so much from him, but from her sons. An awkward silence settled at the table, until Mitsuo broke it, standing up suddenly and taking his grandsons’ hands.

“Hey, you wanna walk around the block and see the Christmas decorations?” He asked.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Claire said as the boys shouted in agreement.

As soon as they left, Julio leaned in to hug his wife. “Honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you wanted an angel on top of the tree.”

Dina felt embarrassed at the tears that began to well up. She felt childish and couldn’t trust herself to talk without crying.

“So why is this such a big deal?” Julio asked, getting frustrated at her silence.

“What’s a big deal is that you never even knew I liked angels,” Dina snapped.

Julio pulled back and paced the room. “If it’s that important to you, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because when you chose the star we’d just gotten married and I thought you wanted to carry on a tradition!” Dina shouted.

“What tradition!” Julio yelled back. “I just got the star because I thought you’d like it. I don’t even remember what we put on our tree when I was a kid, except for the stupid gato always trying to climb it!” Julio frowned recalling how the family cat had even taken the Christmas tree down one year.

Dina stared at him, tears now rolling down her cheeks. He came to her and kneeled down by her chair so they were face to face. “We can have an angel on top of the tree, Dina.”

Dina wiped away a tear. “It’s not so much the angel, Julio. I just wish you weren’t so cynical! I know Christmas has gotten way too commercial, but its’ still magical to me and the boys. It’s hard to enjoy the holidays with you always complaining.”

Julio bowed his head in thought. Just then, Dina saw a glimmer of gold light over his shoulders, though when she blinked, it was gone. Julio lifted his head then and nodded. “You’re right,” he said with a smile.


To be continued December 6...