A week later, Los Angeles, California, Carter Ranch
"Well, what do you think?" Nick asked nervously as he and Gina walked up the long gravel drive towards the huge elegant mansion.
Gina smiled. "Nick, it's wonderful. But you know that I'd be happy living anywhere as long as you were with me." she said happily as she took his hand and ran with him to the door. When they reached the doorstep, Gina stopped and looked up at Nick with worried eyes.
"I know how your family disliked Mandy. I know they didn't hate her, but still they didn't love her either. I know that I am very different from her, but will they think so? Will they like me?" she asked worriedly.
Nick slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Of course they'll like you. Just be your usual friendly dazzling self and they'll love you." he reassured her gently. He looked her over with burning eyes. She was wearing a long black fleece skirt with a slit on the left side up to her knee, and a form fitting matching grayish-black fleecy shirt with embroidered silver stars on the front and an acceptable neckline.
Her black hair was pulled back into a bun with small braids running through it and her eyelids had a sprinkling of light gray eyeshadow on them and her full lips were adorned only by shiny lip gloss. She wore 1/2 inch high black heel sandals which completed her attire. No, she was definitely not Mandy. Mandy had had to wear layers of makeup to look presentable and she had worn sometimes the most inappropriate clothes. Mandy could never have pulled off the stunning simple beauty that Gina could. He knew instinctively that his family would take to her, and he realized just then how much she was like BJ. They would make an interesting team.
They entered the ranch, and Nick yelled loudly "Mom, Dad, Everybody! I'm home!" Immediately four younger children came stampeding down the front staircase. They reminded Gina of a herd of elephants and she smiled at the thought. Nick's siblings certainly made enough noise to qualify as a herd of elephants. Nick took them all into a giant bear hug before greeting each one personally. Gina watched on, looking wistfully at the scene. If only she could have grown up with brothers and sisters.
A pretty blonde girl who looked older than her but younger than Nick peered over the bunch. She came over to Gina and smiled, offering the girl her hand. "Hey, I'm BJ Carter, Nick's little sister. You're his new girlfriend, right?" she asked with a polite smile.
Gina nodded. She bravely took BJ's hand in her's and shook it. "Gina Quintanilla. It's wonderful to finally meet you, BJ. Your brother is turning out to be quite the comedian. He put itching powder in my clothes once. I got him back by slipping a piece of gum that tasted like garlic in his hand when he asked for a Dentyne. The result was quite amusing." she smiled up at the older girl. BJ smiled a genuine smile immediately.
"You're one of us already, honey. You're as sneaky and innocent looking as Angel is. Angel never gets caught when she plays a practical joke on Nick. Aaron on the contrary gets caught all the time." she winked at Gina before embracing her and then leaving her to her younger siblings.
Gina felt a tug at the bottom of her skirt and smiled down at Angel. "You're Nick's new girl, right?" she asked on behalf of herself, Aaron and Leslie. Gina nodded and smiled.
Aaron, Angel and Leslie smiled at Gina. She embraced Leslie warmly and the two exchanged greetings and a few laughs. Then she knelt down and greeted the twins, smiling when Aaron proceeded to clamp himself onto her leg and not let go. She patted the little blond boy's head and returned to Nick. He smiled lovingly at her as she went willingly into his embrace.
"Mo-om!!!" Nick yelled.
Suddenly a beautiful woman with dark hair appeared in the front hall. "Nicky! Oh my baby's home!" Mrs. Carter exclaimed happily as she went and hugged her son. Nick laughed heartily and enveloped his mother in his strong embrace. Gina felt tears come to her eyes. This was what she had missed growing up.
"Th-the way you're treating me... like I'm your own daughter. I haven't been treated like this in years...not since I was twelve and my mom died." Gina said softly, wrapping her arms around herself.
Jane gasped in horror and wordlessly took the sobbing girl into her arms. My God....her mother had died when she was twelve? Where was her father? No girl should have to endure that pain alone...and she obviously had. "Shhhhhh....." she crooned to her son's girlfriend. "I'm here, it's all right. Please tell me if you can, where is your father?" she asked gently.
Gina's eyes clouded over. "My mama was raped when she was really young. She didn't know the man who raped her, so I have no father. All I have is my mother's widowed husband, but he's married again now, so I'm on my own I guess." she said softly. Although Gina knew she was related to Abraham, Suzette and Abie and Marcela, to her they weren't really her family, but she made it seem like she thought so only for decorum's sake. Outwardly, everything was fine for her. But inside she had been screaming. Until she had met Nick. Nick. The thought of him alone calmed her down.
Mrs. Carter looked the girl up and down and tears were coming from her own eyes, too. This girl was far different from Mandy. She felt sad that she had reminded poor Gina of her dead mother.....My God. She had no idea how she would have survived without a mother or a father. Then an idea suddenly hit her. She would be a mother to this fragile dark haired beauty. She had always wanted a fourth daughter, and now she had the chance to experience having a sixteen year old all over again. The thought warmed Jane's big heart.
Suddenly Gina looked up at Jane and smiled brightly. And Jane could see one of the reasons why her son loved her. When she was happy, she sure showed it. Jane smiled back and asked her why she'd suddenly changed moods. The startling response she'd received was "Well you kind of remind me of my mother. She was so big-hearted and open-minded I mean she was always looking out for others before herself and that's the vibe I get from you. Thank you so much!" she exclaimed and embraced her love's mother. Maybe this woman could be her second chance at having a mother. Hope blossomed within Gina's heart.
Suddenly Nick's bellow resounded through the entire house. "Mo-om, Gi-na!! Supper's ready!" with a grin of girlish delight and love Gina made a mad dash for the kitchen. Upon seeing Nick, she catapulted herself into his arms and sighed happily. He grinned down at her. "Comfortable?" he teased her, raising an eyebrow. She nodded enthusiastically, eliciting hysterical laughter from him. "Well Ginny come on, you don't wanna miss a good steak and mashed potatoes, do ya?" he asked. She grinned impishly and slid out of his arms and into an awaiting chair.
The supper went marvelously. The Carters and Gina chatted non-stop. They all found the girl to be a real delight, even Bob Carter had to admit that he thought that his son would be way better off with her than he would have been with Mandy. Only Jane knew that the girl had sorrows buried deep within her soul. She hoped that the girl would be able to find some way to extinguish them for good. She could only hope and pray. That night, long after everyone else had gone to bed, Nick sat in the living room with his mother. He was quiet, watching the starts blink and twinkle in the sky from out the window.
Jane suddenly turned to her eldest son and asked him the question that might lead to her being able to know the entire story of Gina. "Nick, about Gina. She told me her mother died. Do you know how she died or at least what her name was?"
Nick's gaze snapped to his mother's and he found her eyes pleading with his, desperate for an answer. Nick sighed heavily and gazed out the window again. "This is only what Ginny told me, and I believe her when she says it's the whole story.”
Jane nodded. "Go on," she implored.
Nick sighed again. "Gina's mother was Selena, the famous Spanish singer. Her mother had been murdered, shot in the back. And Gina had been hiding under the bed in the same hotel room when it happened. She knows it was Yolanda, she knows she pulled the gun. After Yolanda had taken off, Gina had gone to her mother's side. Selena had opened her eyes and seen her. She heard Ginny call her 'mama' and knew immediately that Ginny was the child she's had in 1983...she'd been told that Ginny had been a stillborn. Selena had smiled at Gina and told her that she was proud to have such a beautiful, talented and smart little girl for a daughter....and then she died. I hope this answers your question for this is all I know...and that she has very tedious relations with her late mother's family...she doesn't think of them as family at all and I can't blame her. Gina had wanted to distance herself from anything to do with Selena. And then while she and I were first starting to date her mother's widower showed up. Apparently he's married again and has a little daughter named Cala. I only wish there was something I could've done to save my Ginny from all that pain." he said sadly.
Jane Carter blanched when her son had finished his tale. My God it had been worse than she'd initially thought. The poor child had been traumatized by being the soul witness to her mother's death. The whole tale had been shocking. But most of all was that they'd told Selena that Gina had been a stillbirth. All those wonderful years they could've had together wasted. Jane knew that somewhere within her Gina must have a burning anger against her grandfather for lying to her mama.