OH BABY! (Mario Martinez - On My Block)

Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

we gotta hold on to what we got
________________________________________

MARIA FRANTICALLY REACHED for another paper bag. Amber and Mario held back their disgust as Maria threw up again. Sure—they all knew the intensity of morning sickness and nausea Maria would start to feel, but it took a toll on everyone. Maria sat back up, wiping her mouth with one of the spare tissues she had and she sighed. She glanced at Mario who reached up to the intercom button. A moment later a flight attendant had passed by, collecting their garbage and handing the poor woman another set of bags.

"If you two ever speak of this, I'll kill you both." Maria said taking a few deep breaths. She really wished they landed—as the combination of motion and morning sickness was frightening. She ran a hand over her face, ignoring how sweaty she was. Mario passed her a ginger ale, the flight attendant had dropped off for her specifically. Maria was grateful Amber and Mario had accompanied her during Thanksgiving break.

She was sure that staying with her parents was going to be hell—especially since she was pregnant. Maria wasn't showing as she was only a few weeks in still, but she definitely noticed the weight change.

Maybe if her family noticed it, she could brush it off as the "freshmen 15"—although she knew Mario and Amber wouldn't let her get away with not telling her parents anymore.

The cross country flight had unfortunately had a layover, which only made the experience worst. Her legs felt cramped up, her feet ached, and her head was pounding—but it'll all be over in a few more short hours.

MARIO LOVED AIRPORTS, just the whole aesthetic of them were cool. He also loved airport food (despite how insanely pricey they were)—so this trip was already going well. He leaned down towards the conveyer-belt to pull off the last suitcase. Despite their trip only being a few days, Amber packed heavy.

He groaned hauling the heavy bag over his shoulder. Mario walked towards the two girls, who were gratefully ordering drinks from a coffee stand. Maria smiled seeing him stack all their bags up on a cart and push it towards them.

"Oh finally!" Amber chimed searching the front part of her suitcase for a few things.

"So—uh how are we getting to your parents house?" Mario asked Maria, aside from all the madness Amber was causing. It was safe to say Mario was nervous about meeting Maria's family. He heard a few stories about them and they seemed like reasonable people—but the circumstances they were no under were special.

Maria held out her phone, flashing Mario a clear shot of her families group chat and all their messages arguing about who was going to pick them up. He was glad that they were at least as excited as Maria was.

Mario swears he hasn't seen her so giddy before Until know (although that may have been her eagerness to step off the plane). Maria took back her phone, dialing (presumably) one of her family members. She walked off to the side to handle the call. Mario nervously bounced on his heels, he wasn't sure what to expect from Maria's family.

His own family were short, and short-tempered—but grew on you.

He glanced at Maria who now was looking around frantically while holding the phone tightly to her ear. She was a petite, quiet girl—it would make sense if her family was the same.