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has to wait until his row is called. “One, uno , two, dos  …” He practices being patient.
    Finally, Miguel is saying goodbye to Mrs. Stevens at the front entrance. “Feliz fin de semana, Miguel,” she says, showing off her Spanish.
    “Happy weekend, Mrs. Stevens,” Miguel replies.
    Out in the parking lot, Miguel scans the cars for out-of-state license plates. None in sight. But here’s hislittle sister racing to join him, full of happy chatter about the weekend. Miguel will have to wait some more to reach the top of his palm tree: seeing Papi.
    At long last, the bus drops them off at their mailbox. And there it is—a car with New York plates sitting in their driveway. But instead of racing ahead to be the first to hug his father, Miguel slows his steps. That sense of dread is descending again, like a great big collapsed palm tree on his head.
    “Hey, Papi’s here!” Juanita has just now noticed the car. But before she can run off, Miguel stops her.
    “Nita, I need to tell you something,” he begins patiently, wanting to prepare his little sister. “It’s about … well …” But Miguel can’t think of a way to say it more gently, and he ends up blurting it out: “I’m almost sure Papi’s going to marry Carmen.”
    But his sister shrugs as if she still doesn’t seem to understand that Papi’s remarriage means they will be getting a stepmother. Now, Miguel’s not a big reader like Juanita. But anyone who has read even a handful of fairy tales knows stepmothers can be pretty evil.
    “Carmen’ll be our stepmother,” he reminds her.
    “Is that bad?” Juanita asks. The look on her face, as well as her question, sends a pang through Miguel’s heart. He’s been in such a hurry to grow up, but now he wishes he were still as sweet and innocent as his little sister. “I like Carmen, don’t you?” she adds.
    Miguel hates to admit it, but his annoying, not-as-creative-as-a-fifth-grader baby sister has just made himstop in his tracks. Slowed down, with patience and calm, Miguel realizes that he doesn’t dislike Carmen. What’s more, his father is a lot happier now than when he was all by himself. But it’s Mami that Miguel worries about. Even though she has never said so, Miguel senses that his liking Carmen would upset his mother. After all, unlike Papi, Mami hasn’t found someone new to love.
    “Carmen’s okay,” Miguel admits to his little sister. “I just want to wait awhile before we get new families.”
    “Miguel Ángel Guzmán!” His little sister cocks her head, hands on her hips, just like Mami when she is confronting him. “I thought you were the one always in a big huge hurry.” Word for word what Mami says!
    “I am!” Miguel hollers, and starts racing down the driveway, his little sister at his heels. Whether or not he’s ready for a stepmother, Miguel is impatient about one thing: seeing his father.

lesson five

    Los tropezones hacen levantar los pies
Stumbling makes you pick up your feet
    It’s Saturday evening, almost time for Rudy’s surprise birthday party. While they wait for Papi and Carmen to arrive from the bed-and-breakfast down the road so they can all drive over to the restaurant, Juanita and Miguel go up to Tía Lola’s attic bedroom to visit with her. Miguel has a pressing question he can’t ask Mami.
    “Papi said he wanted to come up because he had something to tell us, but he hasn’t told us anything,” Miguel begins. On the bed beside him is Tía Lola’s piñata, a flamingo with long, skinny legs and a droopy neck that makes it look like an ostrich wanting to hideits head in the sand. But there is no mistaking its pink flamingo color.
    “Knowing your papi , he’s probably waiting for the right moment,” Tía Lola suggests. “And today’s been so busy. First, going to your ballet class, Juanita, and then over to the slopes to watch you snowboard, Miguel. It has been a wonderful day, don’t you think?” But Tía Lola doesn’t wait for their