Chapter Text
Izzy’s Family Tree Presentation
“My name is Isabella Carmen Claremont-Diaz-Fox and I’m seven years old. I had Papi help me with our family tree.”
Izzy looks up nervously from the piece of paper she’s holding. Her parents are nodding at her in encouragement from the big brown couch. She’d rather be there than across from the coffee table, standing awkwardly in front of the tv.
David is no help either, snoring with his head on Dad’s lap.
With a shaky inhale she continues, “Papi’s name is Alex Claremont-Diaz and my dad’s is Henry Fox. Actually, Papi says Dad has a lot more names, but there are so many that it sounds funny.”
“Perhaps leave that bit out?” Dad suggests.
“But that’s the best part!” Papi grins.
Papi did tell her all the names, but it was so long and Izzy had no idea how to spell them all, so she gladly left them out.
“Of course you would say that,” Dad sighs, but his mouth is curling up in that tiny smile he does when he doesn’t want Papi to know how amused he is. It feels like a secret between her and Dad, especially when their eyes meet and he winks at her.
“Fine,” Papi says with a big roll of his eyes, “we’ll talk about it later. Please continue, Iz.”
He motions for her to go on and Izzy’s eyes search the page to find where she’d left off.
“Papi is a lawyer, and my dad is a writer and the boss at a shelter. He used to be a Prince. Papi says he still is but not really? We also have a dog named David. Dad named him and swears it’s a cool name. I agree, but Papi doesn’t. He’s gonna name our next pet, he says.”
“Are you now?” Dad asks, slowly turning towards Papi.
“Sure am, sweetheart,” Papi nods earnestly. “I was thinking Zorro.”
“You’re a menace.”
Dad doesn’t bother trying to hide his smile this time and leans over to kiss Papi on the cheek.
“Stop distracting our daughter,” Papi tells him off.
“I’m sorry, little love,” Dad says, turning back towards her. “What’s next?”
“Well,” Izzy says slowly, reading back the last line, “next is: I have three Grandfathers and three Grandmothers. Papi’s mom is called Ellen. I call her Grandma and she’s the President of the United States. She’s married to Leo. I call him Gramps. Abuelo Oscar is Papi’s dad. He’s a Senator of California.”
“Perhaps we should have asked the teacher for an exemption,” Dad groans. “It’s a bit ridiculous, isn’t it? We wouldn’t want anyone to treat you differently for who you are related to, Izzy, love.”
“Baby, they know who we are,” Alex tells him, squeezing his leg lightly.
“I’m aware,” Dad says with a pained face, “but it’s all a bit on the nose, isn’t it?”
“It’s the truth, though,” Papi shrugs. “Besides, it’s just an elementary school project. It’s not gonna hit the news or anything. I bet you the kids won’t care.”
“Perhaps you’re correct,” Dad sighs. “Surely they’ll be more impressed with a firefighter for a parent. Or a vet.”
“Leonards dad is a vet!” Izzy says, perking up at that. “He brought an iguana to show and tell!”
“See?” Papi says, motioning towards Izzy with a victorious smirk.
“Fine, I concede. Continue.”
Izzy goes on with a little smile, the vivid memory of the iguana fresh in her mind now.
“Granny Catherine is a Princess and she’s going to be a Queen. She lives in London. That’s very far away, so I don’t see her a lot. We talk on FaceTime, though! She’s my dad’s mum and Aunt Bea is his sister. She lives in London as well. She came to visit last month and we went to the zoo! There was a baby giraffe! It was all wobbly and it couldn’t even reach the leaves!”
“Getting off track there, Mija,” Papi laughs.
“It was cute!” Izzy defends herself, before staring back at her paper, ignoring her Papi. “Uncle Philip and Aunt Martha live in England. Papi says London is in England. My cousins Oliver and Theo are three years old. We’re gonna visit them when they turn four.”
She looks up with a big smile, already excited for their upcoming trip. Dad gives her a contented smile back, while Papi squeezes his leg again. Dad looks at him with a soft gaze, which is probably why Papi leans in to kiss him on the mouth. He does that a lot.
“Papi has a sister too and her name is Aunt June,” she continues, regaining both of their attention. “She’s the best at painting my nails and having girl’s nights. She’s a journalist and she won a big price last year.”
“Yeah, she did!” Papi hollers, like he always does when someone mentions Aunt June’s price. The one with the name Izzy can’t remember.
“Auntie Pezza lives everywhere. Sometimes he’s in New York and we go out to a restaurant or a museum, and sometimes he lives in Nigeria, and sometimes in London. But he also stays in hotels a lot. Auntie Pez isn’t related to us, but he is family, just like Auntie Nora, Papi says. He says anyone can become your family if you love them enough.”
“That’s lovely, dear,” Dad points out. “I think that’s very important to remember.”
“That’s how we became family,” Izzy nods enthusiastically. “Because I loved you so much and you loved me so much.”
“That’s right,” Dad says, looking as if he’s about to cry. Izzy knows they’re happy tears. She has them too sometimes.
“Do you want me to go on?” she asks him quietly and Dad nods. “So, I haven’t told you about Grampapa Thomas and Abuela Luiza yet. They’re my mum’s parents. My mummy died when I was born. Her name was Carmen and I was named after her. When I miss her, my dad takes me out on the balcony so we can watch the stars to look for her and for my dad’s dad. Even if there are clouds or it’s too light out to see the stars, we know they’re there and then I don’t miss her that much.”
Dad wipes away a tear from his eye, still smiling at her, encouraging her to go on. Papi’s eyes are wet as well.
“Can we go look at the stars later?” she asks them, all of a sudden missing her mum.
“After dinner,” Papi nods. “We’ll bring thermos’s with hot chocolate, how’s that?”
“Yes!” Izzy beams. Sounds like an excellent idea. Dad seems to agree.
“There’s just a bit left, isn’t there?” Papi asks.
“Just a little bit,” Izzy nods, once again trying to find out where she left off. “I want to tell them about mummy, and Grampapa and Abuela.”
“Alright,” Papi says, leaning back into the couch and pulling Dad with him.
“So, my mummy was born in England and Grampapa and Abuela Luiza live there as well. Sometimes they live here, though. I like it when they live here, because Grampapa takes me to the aquarium and Abuela helps me paint and make bracelets. They miss mummy too, so sometimes we watch videos of her together. There’s one where she won a race because she was really, really fast. I want to be just as fast as her. I’m practising a lot.”
“You’re getting really quick, too,” Papi smirks. “Can hardly keep up anymore!”
“You’re definitely running circles around your Papi,” Dad adds proudly.
“I’m faster than Aram and Gina,” Izzy beams.
“They like running too?” Papi asks.
“Yeah, we do races all the time.”
“Maybe the three of you can join a run club at school?”
“Perhaps we should look into that later,” Dad tells them. “Let’s focus on the family tree assignment for now. Is there anything else you’d like to share?”
“Only that this is my family and that I love them all very much,” Izzy shrugs, after checking her paper.
“That’s a wonderful way to end your presentation, dear.”
“They whole thing is good, Iz,” Papi adds. “Well done, kiddo.”
“Didn’t you help her?” Dad teases. “Are you singing your own praises here?”
“Nah, it was all Izzy,” Papi says, stretching her arm to Izzy as an invitation. Izzy jumps in anticipation and hurries around the table. “I just guided her a bit and helped with the spelling.”
Izzy jumps on Papi’s lap, and is immediately pulled into a hug, receiving kisses from both her dad’s.
They don’t stop until she giggles uncontrollably and wriggles her way to freedom.
“Would you like to practise one more time?” Dad asks. “Without us interrupting every few seconds, that is?”
“Maybe later,” Izzy ponders. She doesn’t really feel like going through the whole thing again. It’s long and it’s a lot to read. She’d rather go play for a bit. “Can David and I go into the garden?”
David, who had left the couch earlier when the hugging and kissing got a bit too much for him, perks up. He knows exactly what the word ‘garden’ means and comes into action, strutting towards the backdoor in anticipation.
“The three of you go,” Papi tells them. “I’ll get started on dinner.”
“Sure, love?” Dad asks him.
“Absolutely. Just gonna need one more hug before you go.” Papi wraps his arms around both of them and squeezes them tightly to his chest. “Love you both so much.”
“So, so much,” Izzy mumbles against his shirt.
She loves Papi’s hugs and Dad’s kisses to the top of her head, like the one he’s giving her right now.
“Loves of my life,” Dad whispers.
“You’re all saps!” Papi laughs, playfully shoving them off. “Go, play, have fun!”
With one kiss on Papi’s lips, Dad reaches out his hand for Izzy.
“Come on, little love, let’s celebrate your wonderful presentation by running after a ball for a bit.”
“Love you!” Papi yells after them one more time, when they go fetch their shoes.
Izzy loves him too. And Dad. And David. And her family that isn’t here right now.
She loves them all the most in the entire world. Just as much as there are stars, probably.
That’s a lot, right?