Natalia Takes the Lead

Chapter Thirteen

The whole wedding ceremony, Ruby tries to pull on her leash and collar. Natalia, all prettied up and ready for a wedding, holds tight to her collar as they walk down the aisle. Maybe someday, Natalia could be a professional dog trainer.

When the officiant asks for the rings, Natalia steps up with the dogs, and Mike, the groom, allows Ruby to jump on him in order to get the rings off the dogs collars. The rest of the wedding is a success, too, and a bunch of people ask Natalia’s mom and Aunt Amy for business cards, and they keep exclaiming about how much they loved staying at Seaview House.

That evening, Natalia sits in the kitchen with Zoe next to her, in front of her mom and dad, Aunt Amy, and Abuelita. She explains that she got behind in math when she was too busy to adequately put time into studying, and she was so tired she often forgot her homework. Natalia’s parents respond that if she had come to them sooner, they could’ve helped her manage her time, and could’ve gotten her tutoring before she fell so far behind. Natalia will need to quit The Wizard of Oz in order to take advantage of the tutoring.

Zoe tries to take some of the blame for letting Natalia do so much work with the dogs herself, but Natalia doesn’t let her. Natalia made promises for Zoe and Emma without speaking to them, and that’s her fault. In the future, Zoe and Emma will genuinely help out more with the dogs, and Abuelita even offers to help take the afternoon walks; an afternoon walk is a good idea for aging Abuelita.