Bernard, who loves his aunts but hates when they kiss him, insists that the kisses must end, and his aunts come up with the perfect way to express their affection.
Mario's romance with and marriage to his divorced Aunt Julia provides the main plot, while his friend, soap opera scriptwriter Pedro Camacho, provides the counterpoint of this comedic tale of Lima in the 50s.
Although initially embarrassed by his colorful Tia Lola when she comes to Vermont from the Dominican Republic to stay with his mother, his sister, and him after his parents' divorce, ten-year-old Miguel soon learns to love her.
When ten-year-old Lindsey worries that she may have to go to live with an aunt in Boston and leave her widowed father alone, her friends from school and ballet class support her in various ways.