Heather's been dreaming of El Salvador lately, of Guatemala, Nicaragua & Colombia, dreaming of her father and the places where they'd lived, the places she still considers her true home, no matter how long she lives in L.A. Some of the dreams are just beautiful memories, but some of them are nightmares & she wakes up crying out for her Papi. But he's gone, forever. She doesn't like waking up alone in the middle of the night, counting the hours before Ulises gets off work & returns to her, she doesn't like cryng to herself & worrying about him. She thinks she having these nightmares because of that, worrying about him & his dangerous job, afraid he'll disappear the way her father did, gone without even a goodbye. So his promotion to lieutenant, just days before their wedding is a great relief to her. His job is still a dangerous job, but he'll be working during the day, he'll be with her at night & she won't have to wake up alone anymore.

Heather didn't think marriage changes anything, but as the wedding day approaches, she's starting to understand the subtle differences. He wants to change her house, to clear the underbrush because he says it is a firetrap..of course, she understands that, they need more room & the wildfire issue is very important here in Topanga, but it's the way he imposes order over her chaos, the discipline he expects in the household, it makes her a little panicky inside, like he's going to tame her & once tamed, she'll never be herself again. But these little fears & panics come & go, and whenever Ulises takes her in his arms, when he kisses her & calls her sweet names, they disappear altogether. And there is something to be said for discipline, she reminds herself, every time he gets Amber to bed on time, gets her to finish her homework before playing, brush her teeth before bedtime, all things Heather could never quite manage, being so unruly herself.

When her wedding day comes, Heather has finally made peace within herself about it. Of course it will change her, she decides, but it will be a good thing, because Ulises is good, good for her & good to her. And she is thrilled to meet his family, his abuela especially, because she reminds Heather so much of the women she grew up around.

Of course Heather insisted on exhanging their vows in Spanish. She'd trained herself over the years to think & speak in English since moving to L.A., but lately, because of her dreams, & because she loves a man comfortable with both tongues, she's been allowing herself to speak Spanish again.

She could not be happier than she is today.

NEXT