Chapter 35 _ Te Entrego Las Llaves
The holidays had come and gone and the girls were each midway through their spring Semester. This semester was a bit hectic for Juliana and her classmates with the competition coming up in a few months. Nonetheless she made time for Valentina’s birthday. This semester she had Tuesdays off which fit perfectly with Valentina’s birthday. She had switched shifts with Andrea for that day and she spent the better part of the morning putting the finishing touches on her gift while the boutique was empty. Once her shift was over she wrapped her present and made her way to the university. Valentina’s class was about to end and she wanted to be there waiting for her to take her to lunch.
Hope shot her a text saying class was done and they would be heading downstairs within the next five minutes. After reading the message Juliana took out her bouquet of 20 pink roses and put on her sunglasses as she leaned against her Mustang waiting for the birthday girl.
Once she reached the doors, Valentina’s smile grew. She hugged Hope goodbye and jogged towards her girlfriend. Juliana set the flowers on the roof of her car just in time to catch Valentina in her arms.
“Happy birthday morrita!” Juliana said as she spun the girl around before setting her down. “These are for you.” She said as she reached for the flowers.
“Damn, V! Where can I get me one of those!” A class mate yelled playfully to which Valentina simply raised her middle finger without turning back before leaning in to give her girlfriend a kiss.
“They’re beautiful thank you.” Val said bring the bouquet up to smell it. “I thought you had work this evening.”
“Drea agreed to switch so I could spend the day with you.” Juliana said with a shrug of her shoulders.
Valentina smiled, “good because I was gonna go bug you at work.” She said with a cute wink.
“Let’s get outta here.” Juliana said opening the door for Valentina.
Once inside the car Valentina felt curious as to where they could be going but knew that Juliana wouldn’t tell her so she simply went with the flow. She hadn’t expected to be picked up by Juliana but she was more than glad to spend the day with her.
Upon arriving to a cute French pastry shop Juliana went around and opened the door for Valentina. “M’lady” she said offering a hand to the girl in her car.
Valentina smiled knowing exactly where they were and knowing exactly what she was going to order. “How do you know me so well?” She said holding Juliana’s hand as they made their way to the door.
“I couldn’t let you turn 20 and not let you get 20 macaroons of your choice. Plus this is my excuse to have the delicious macaroon rose. Aaaaaand I might have ordered a few things to go.” Juliana said with an exaggerated playful smile.
Making their way inside the girls went to the pastry counter and order their goodies along with their meals. Juliana paid and they walked to one of the tables with a comfy couch. They had gotten quite a bit of pastries so they decided to get one of the bigger tables to fit everything.
“Thank you for picking me up today, you’ve just made today so much better.” Valentina said earnestly.
“I know birthdays are a bit hard for you sometimes,” Juliana said taking Valentina’s hand in hers across the table. “I wanted to spend a few hours with you before we head over to the loft with your family.” She said bring the girl’s hand close enough to place a kiss on it.
They spent the rest of their lunch talking and poking fun at each other. After their lunch Juliana returned to the counter to pick up her order she had placed for the party later and they headed out. Juliana drove the two of them to her apartment. She told Valentina to go ahead and open the door while she got the pastries down to put them in the fridge.
As Valentina opened the door she found their friends waiting for her! They yelled surprise and ran up to hug her. Valentina was pleasantly surprised to see them.
“Happy birthday Vale.” Hope said as Valentina held her flowers tightly full of happiness to see her friends. She took in the apartment and realized there were balloons everywhere and birthday signs.
Valentina turned to Juliana who was closing the refrigerator door with a questioning look to which Juliana responded with a smile, “Don’t look at me that’s all them.” She said with a shrug of the shoulders.
“Thank you guys this was really sweet.” Valentina said as she handed her flowers to Juliana who offered to put them in water.
They sat down around the living room and spent the next hour playing 4 Bidden Words
“Hey no that’s cheating! No one set the timer!” Josie said as Lizzie finished the deck.
“And that’s my fault why?” Lizzie said with a proud smile as she began counting her cards.
Penelope hugged a bitter Josie from behind as she told the group it was time to give the birthday girl her presents.
“Oo okay I’ll go first!” Lizzie said as she reached behind the couch to get her present. She handed Valentina the bag and sat on her knees excited for Valentina to open her present.
Valentina grew silent as she pulled out a small wooden statue of the 6 of them.
“Do you like it?” Lizzie asked worried by the silence.
“It’s beautiful, Lizzie, did you make this?” Valentina said still inspecting the item in her hand.
Lizzie nodded her head with a bright smile, “I took a wood carving class when I was younger, it’s been a secret hobby of mine.”
“It’s so detailed, I love it thank you.” Valentina said bringing the blonde girl into a hug still shocked by the gift.
Hope smiled, happy that Valentina and Lizzie had gotten much closer over the course of the last year. “My turn, cutie.” She said handing Valentina her gift.
Looking from Hope to the box and back to Hope Valentina gasped and asked, “is this what I think it is?”
Flashing her best friend a smile Hope simply nodded causing a gasp to erupt from Lizzie leaving the other girls confused. “I wanted you to be the first one to have a physical copy.”
Valentina smiled as she opened the box to find Hope’s first published book. “Holy shit you did it… I’m so proud of you!” Valentina said looking over the book and feeling the hard cover.
“Where’s our copy?” Lizzie said with a playful smile. She knew how long Hope had worked on the book and she knew how important giving Valentina the first copy was to her.
“I actually have a copy for all of you but I needed Val to be the first one to have it because she’s the reason I wrote it. The reason I pursued writing. Val this is mine but it’s because of you and you need to know how grateful I am that you’ve been there through thick and thin.” Hope said as Valentina pulled her into a hug.
“You guys are gonna make me cry.” Valentina said as she brushed a rogue tear from her face.
After the girls congratulated Hope they continued with their gifts.
“Well mine isn’t as emotional but I needed to get it as soon as I saw it because it’s literally you.” Josie said with a cute giggle handing Valentina her bag.
Valentina opened it to find two things, the first was a camera money bank and the second was a doll of herself. “It’s literally me! Where did you even find these!” Valentina said letting out a loud laugh as she inspected the doll.
“Okay in Josie’s defense I pointed it out.” Penelope said trying to fight her own laughter.
“We were at Denios and Penelope wanted to stop by a toy stand and we found it there. It was the funniest thing and I needed to get it.” Josie said through her laughter. “The camera money bank I had it made. It has your name on it actually.”
“Thanks Jo, I love these so much.” Valentina responded genuinely as she brought Josie into a tight hug.
The next person to give Valentina her gift was Penelope, she had 3 boxes stacked and wrapped together.
“Okay this looks like a lot but it’s really not.” Penelope said as she handed the boxes over. The first box contained a piece of jewelry, a necklace. It was a glass pendent that had a picture of Juliana and Valentina. “I made that in our jewelry class.” The second box had a framed piece of paper art. Penelope had folded paper together in the form of one of Valentina’s pictures from their Italy trip. Finally the last box contained a shirt with Juliana’s confused face stitched into it with the word “que?” in a bubble.
“Why would you do that to me?” Juliana said cracking up at the image on the shirt.
“Shhhh, I love it. I’m gonna wear this tomorrow! Thank you Penny!” Valentina said laughing as she brought the girl into a hug. “Guys all of these gifts were so good, I love each and every one of them, thank you!” Valentina added as she pulled back.
“Hey loser what about your girl, she hasn’t given you her gift!” Hope acknowledged sarcastically.
Confused, Valentina said, “she gave me roses and took me out to eat.” Causing everyone to burst into laughter.
“You didn’t really think that was it, right Val?” Juliana asked as she got up and walked to her room. Grabbing a round box with a blue bow and a huge see through balloon attached to it.
“What’s this?” Valentina asked with a wide smile.
Sending back an even wider smile Juliana told her to open it. Being very cautious to not mess up the bow, Valentina removed it and began opening the box. She pulled out a notecard that read, “The only star that guides me is you.” She brought the card to her heart as she made eye contact with Juliana who simply formed a heart with her hands. Setting the card down she proceeded to remove the black tissue paper to reveal a beautiful dark blue tuxedo velvet blazer. The buttons had small stars engraved into them. She had also made and included matching pants.
“Wow.” Valentina said as she lifted the garments and ran her hands across the details. “How are you so talented?”
“Dude that’s beautiful…” Penelope said in a whisper.
Under the clothes was a wooden canvas with a painting of two silhouettes sitting on a playground looking up at the stars giving Valentina the impression that it was the two of them at FC Park. “Did you paint this?” Valentina asked impressed receiving a nod from Juliana. “Wow, babe… again, how are you so talented?” Leaning in to give her girlfriend a kiss. “Gracias amor. I’m obsessed with this suit, and I need to create an occasion to wear this ASAP.”
After taking a few selfies to commemorate the day the couple’s friends left in order to give the girls some time alone before they made their way to the Carvajal dinner party. Once at the party Valentina couldn’t believe how united her family was. Her sister had changed so much since her last birthday party and it truly felt strange to not have her fighting everyone. She had even come around to accepting Juliana’s family. Their fathers had become great friends and they often spent time together as one big family.
When the dinner came to an end Leon asked Valentina to accompany him to the office so they could pick up her gift. She didn’t see why she would need to go but since it was only down the street she agreed. Leon asked Juliana to head home with the promise of dropping off Valentina once his surprise was done. They had spoke ahead of time and he knew Valentina would want to spend the night with her girlfriend.
Once they arrived at the office Leon guided Valentina to a wing of the company she hadn’t quite explored yet. She wondered what they were doing there thinking this must be the location for their storage rooms.
“I brought you here because I wanted to give you this.” Leon said as he handed his daughter a small box. As Valentina opened the box she saw a golden colored key.
“What’s this key for?” Valentina asked with a confused smile.
“Open that door and find out, princess.” Leon said motioning to the main door.
As she brought the key to the door she looked over her shoulder to her father only to have him usher her to continue. Turning back she took the entire room in. There was a tripod stand with the words “Valentina’s Magazine” written on a poster board.
Noticing his daughter’s continued confusion Leon proceeded. “Princesa, I know we spoke about doing this after graduation but I think you’ve more than earned it. I wanted to give this to you today because you’ve proven that you’re serious about your photography and I think this can help you as you go forward with your career. I think it’s the perfect timing because I also think it’s time I retire, you and your siblings are more than ready to take over. Eva has been running the show for nearly a year and things have been going smoothly and with Guillermo keeping everything in check they’ve proven they no longer need me ahead of the company. I want to begin enjoying life full-time with Lucia. I want to give her all my attention now that I know you are all ready to continue without me.”
It came as a great shock to Valentina, not only was she getting full control of her own magazine to do whatever she could dream up but her father was retiring from his empire and passing it down to her and her siblings. “Papi, you are the wisest man I know and I trust you wholeheartedly. If you think it’s time, I promise to do my best to not let you down. Thank you for not only believing in me but for believing in my siblings as well to continue your legacy. I’m so happy you want to give yourself completely to Lucia, she deserves that and so much more.” She said bringing the man into a tight hug.
Before letting go she playfully told her father, “and please give me a little brother or sister, Lucia deserves to be a mother and Renata’s baby is going to need a friend.”
After showing his daughter around the entire wing Leon brought the tour to a close telling his daughter, “This is all officially yours, you now hold the keys and you decide what to do with it. I couldn’t be prouder.” He said as they locked it all up once again.
Once they were back in his SUV he opened the glove compartment for Valentina’s final gift of the night. “Baby girl, I know today has been quite the day and I know regardless of how happy you are, you still need your mother here. I don’t want to dim your mood but this is something she asked me to give you today as the day come to a close and I’d like to honor that.” He said as he handed Valentina a letter from her mother.
Hesitantly Valentina opened the letter and began to read it. She hadn’t seen her mother’s handwriting or doodles in years. The last letter she opened was for her 15th birthday and she hadn’t touched it in years. She began to silently cry as she read her mother’s words.
“God, I miss you so much.” Valentina whispered closing her eyes and bringing the letter to her chest. By now the tears were falling freely and she refused to fight them.
After a few minutes of letting his daughter absorb her mother’s words Leon brought her into a comforting hug. He had never read the letters left for their children but he knew how much they meant to each of them. He was instructed to give them out and read his own every few years. He wasn’t meant to read his next one till his 50th birthday which was approaching soon and he, like his children, felt the words deep within his soul every single time.
“Thank you, papi, I needed that. I needed to have another piece of her. I miss her so much.” Valentina said nonchalantly as she snuggled into his hug.
“I know baby, we all do.” Leon said as he kissed his daughters forehead, “what do you say I take you to Juliana’s now?” He said knowingly to which Valentina nodded knowing Juliana’s arms were the one place she wanted to be at.
Before getting off the car Valentina thanked her father for the trust to run her own magazine. She gave him a tight hug as a silent thank you for honoring her mother’s wishes every time even if it’s difficult.
Reaching the door she didn’t even have to knock, Juliana stood their in her pajamas waiting for her with open arms. Arms that Valentina gladly stepped into. “How did you know I was here?”
Placing a kiss upon Valentina head Juliana responded, “I’ve been opening the door every five minutes for the past hour,” very relaxed.
Valentina pulled back shocked before she relaxed seeing the goofy smile on Juliana’s face. “No, your dad text me that you were here.”
“Sneaky man. Wait so did you know?” Valentina asked half hopeful that she didn’t.
Juliana nodded no adding, “All he said was to have hot chocolate ready and be ready to snuggle you because you might need it. Do you?”
The birthday girl’s eyes welled up with tears and she nodded as she walked through the door pulling Juliana’s right hand by the pinky.
“Do you want me to serve you some hot chocolate and we can snuggle on the couch for a while?” Juliana asked as she hugged Valentina from behind and rested her head on the girl’s shoulder.
Turning around in Juliana’s arms Valentina kissed the younger girl deeply as tears streamed down her cheeks. She was overwhelmed with emotions, here she was with someone who always put their best effort to make her life easier because they wanted to, not because they needed to.
The couple’s kiss was cut short as Valentina let out a sob. “It’s okay baby, let it out.” Juliana said comfortingly, pulling Valentina into a tight embrace.
They stood there in silence as Juliana rubbed Valentina’s back gently in different sized circles. Once Valentina’s body relaxed a bit Juliana asked her if she wanted to go to bed to which Valentina silently agreed to.
As they made their way to bed, Juliana gave Valentina some pajamas she could change into. They made themselves comfortable under the covers and Juliana held Valentina while she played with her hair. That always seemed to sooth the older girl.
“Thank you for today, it was very emotional but so lovely.” Valentina said nuzzling into Juliana’s chest.
“Oh yeah?” Juliana kissed Valentina’s head as she rubbed the girl’s back. “I’m glad it was a good one regardless.”
Valentina lifted her body up in such a way that she was leaning her forearms on Juliana’s chest in order to make eye contact.
“He gave me the keys… he gave me free rein to do whatever I want with the magazine with no oversight much sooner than I anticipated.” The birthday girl said still with disbelief. “He said the entire department is mine and that he’ll be retiring this year leaving Eva, Guille, and I the entire company.”
Juliana looked at Valentina speechless at the news that Leon would be retiring.
“I know, it was a shock to me too, apparently he’s telling the employees sometime this month and then holding a press conference about it.” Valentina responded knowingly to Juliana’s reaction.
“I’m sure your magazine will be super successful though, babe, congrats!” Bringing Valentina down into a hug Juliana continued, “have you thought of what you want do with it yet?”
Valentina smiled because though she thought it was still years away she had thought about her plans repeatedly crafting her business plan for when the day finally arrived.
“Yeah, I have, actually… If I can get everyone I need by July we can start production and printing by August and I think I know the perfect person for the first cover photo.” The girl said having everything planned out.
Curious as ever Juliana smiled remembering the day they met and how focused the other girl was knowing that same focus would be applied to this new project. “Should I even bother asking who you’re thinking of or is it a surprise?” She said half jokingly.
“It’ll be a surprise until I can confirm it, just so I don’t jinx it. When it comes together I promise you’ll be the first to know.” Valentina said snuggling further into the girl.
Juliana nodded knowingly. She reached over to turn off her light and the girls snuggled closer as they began to fall asleep.
A/N: I don't remember if I specified birthdays but Val's is March 10th and Juls' is October 24th. In case any of you were curious.