Chapter 37

I stopped by Miguel's office after my shift, and we came up with a plan for how to feed everyone with minimal hassle. He would get premade food from the restaurant kitchen to bring home and reheat. I would swing by the supermarket to get chicken nuggets, bagel bites, and mozzarella sticks for the kids. And juice boxes. Lots of juice boxes. Oh, and ice cream. Luckily, we had a Disney Plus subscription to entertain them.

I could tell Miguel was anxious about his upcoming conversation with his parents. I couldn't blame him. They hadn't been very understanding so far. I hoped Miguel having a boyfriend wouldn't be a problem for them.

I got through the food shopping as quickly as possible so I could get home and clean. We'd definitely left clothes all over the place last night and had been too zombified to pick them up this morning.

By the time Allie dropped off Cody at six, I had picked up clothes, washed the dishes, and cleaned the bathroom. I met her downstairs so I could get Cody's car seat from her car and put it in mine for when I had to pick up Miguel from work.

"Do you want to come up?" I asked after I got the car seat installed in my back seat. I picked up Cody so he wouldn't wander off while we chatted.

Allie shook her head. "I'm meeting Marissa there early so we can get good seats." She looked up at the old Victorian mansion that now housed four apartments, including ours. "You have such a nice place." She sighed. "I wish Nico hadn't been so stupid. Then maybe I would have a nice place and someone to share it with."

She looked so sad I pulled her into a one-armed hug. "I know it's been hard for you. And you know I'll help you out as much as I can. My new job pays better, and I have some extra money I got for moving out early."

She shook her head vehemently. "No more, Zach. You have paid for so much for me and Cody. I don't want to take anything else from you. I'm tired of being a burden instead of a sister."

"Never." I kissed her forehead. "You're never a burden to me. I love you. I love Cody. We are family."

"What little is functional," she muttered.

I shrugged. "We might be a little broken, but we're still okay."

She gave me a watery smile. "Yeah, I guess we are."

"I'm hungry, Uncle Zach," Cody whined.

"All right, little man," I said. "Say goodbye to Mommy, and then we'll go upstairs and make some chicken nuggets."

"Yay, nuggets!" He leaned down from my arms and gave Allie a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Mommy."

She kissed his cheek back. "Bye, sweet boy. I'll see you later."

We waited on the sidewalk so Cody could wave at Allie while she drove away. Then I took him up to our apartment and got the chicken nuggets cooking. I sat Cody at the table with his food and looked at the time. It was closing in on six-thirty, and Cody was just starting to eat. Damn it. I was going to be late picking up Miguel.

I pulled out my phone and called him. He answered with a happy, "Hey, baby. What's up?"

I huffed a sigh. "I'm going to be late picking you up. Cody just started eating."

"That's funny," he replied. "I was just about to call you. Liam and Marco stopped by. They're going to meet some friends at Kim Marie's pub later and invited us to join them. I told them what we had going on tonight, and they offered to drop me off at our place to save you time and trouble."

"Wow, that's really nice of them. Tell them I said thank you."

"Will do. I'm about to pick up the food from Chef Joanna, and then I'll be out of here. See you soon."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Cody was not a fast eater, and I hadn't looked forward to trying to rush him. Once he was finished, I cleaned him up and settled him in front of the TV to watch Encanto for the millionth time. I cleaned up the mess from Cody's dinner and double-checked to make sure everything was as clean as it could be.

I heard Miguel come in just a little after seven, and he wasn't alone. Marco and Liam came in behind him, carrying to-go bags from the hotel restaurant. I hurried to help carry some of it in. "Wow, she gave you a lot."

"Yes, she did," Miguel answered breathlessly as he set his bags on the counter. "She wanted me to make a good impression." He held up another bag. "She even gave me wine to go with the meal."

I took the bags Marco and Liam were holding. "Thank you for helping get Miguel home." I tilted my head toward my nephew in the living room. "As you can see, he's already mesmerized by Disney."

Liam wandered over and exclaimed, "I love this movie."

"Try watching it ten thousand times and see how much you like it," I grumbled.

Marco chuckled. "That's kids for you. My nieces and nephews all have their favorites that they watch on repeat."

Cody turned at the sound of strange voices and his eyes went comically wide. He pointed at Marco and said, "He's a giant."

Liam burst out laughing. Marco rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. He went over to my nephew and crouched. "Hey, Cody. I'm Marco."

Miguel leaned to me and murmured, "That's pretty funny because Marco's not that much taller than you."

"Yeah, but he's got thirty pounds of muscle on me," I retorted.

We watched as Cody stood and traced his fingers over the bone frog tattoo on Marco's arm, chattering away about my dragon tattoo. The kid had never met a stranger. Liam joined them and asked which song was Cody's favorite, which led to a very loud rendition of "We Don't Talk About Bruno." For the billionth time. Liam and Marco finally left after promising Cody they would come see him again.

Miguel put the food trays in the oven to keep warm and the wine in the freezer to chill faster. He held up a smaller bag and said, "She sent chocolate mousse for dessert."

I rubbed my belly. "Yum." I looked at our four-person dinette table. "We don't have enough room for everybody."

Miguel held up one finger. "Ah, but we do. This table has a leaf we can put in, and we have extra chairs, one of which is in front of your keyboard."

"All right. You go change, and I'll get started setting the table."

We'd just put the last dish on the table when the downstairs buzzer sounded. We looked at each other. Miguel blew out a slow breath. "Show time."

I kissed him lightly. "You'll be fine. I'm right here with you."

"And that makes all the difference," he said with a smile.

He hurried downstairs to let his family in while I went over to Cody. "Hey, Cody. Your friend Diego is coming to visit."

He jumped up and down, clapping. "Diego! Yay!"

I heard Diego's excited chatter all the way up the stairs and down the hallway. Miguel was first through the door, carrying his nephew. He held the door open for Isabella, who had Sofia on her hip. His parents followed close behind.

I blinked when I saw his father. It was like seeing a middle-aged, bearded version of Miguel. His father's dark hair was liberally sprinkled with gray, and his closely trimmed beard was almost entirely gray. But he held himself with the same poise I always saw in Miguel.

Miguel's mother was a beautiful woman. Her thick, black hair, shot with strands of silver, hung just below her shoulders and framed her face perfectly. She carried herself with such grace that it made me stand up straighter. No wonder Miguel was always so put together. How could he not be?

Miguel set Diego down, and he immediately ran for Cody. The boys hugged each other with great enthusiasm, and then Cody dragged Diego into the living room to watch Encanto…from the beginning. I hurried into the room to help Cody before he could get frustrated because he didn't actually know how to do that yet.

When I returned to the kitchen, Miguel threaded his arm through mine. "Mama. Papa. This is my boyfriend, Zach Kelley. Zach, these are my parents, Josefina and Eduardo."

I held out my hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez."

"It's nice to meet you, Zach," Mr. Ramirez replied, shaking my hand. "Miguel told us you met working at the hotel."

"Yes. I work as a bartender on Saturdays. The rest of the week, I'm a mechanic at a Harley Davidson shop."

"Zach is also a staff sergeant in the Army National Guard," Miguel added.

"My goodness," his mother said as she took my hand in hers. "You're a very busy man." She tilted her head to look into the living room. "And who is that delightful little boy?"

I smiled. "That's my nephew, Cody. I'm watching him for my sister tonight."

Isabella came over to us. "Sofia is asleep," she said quietly. "Is there somewhere I can lay her down?"

"You can put her on our bed," Miguel said. He glanced at me and blushed. "I mean, my bed. We'll leave the door open so we can hear her if she cries."

I put my arm around his shoulders and leaned over to say in his ear, "I'm okay with calling it our room." Miguel's smile was radiant. I kissed his cheek and went to get dinner out of the oven.

While Miguel showed his sister to our bedroom, I said, "Please sit. Miguel brought home a whole meal from the hotel restaurant."

"It smells delicious," Josefina said. "What is it?"

"Pan-seared chicken breast in a mushroom sauce with mushroom risotto," Miguel said as he walked back into the room. "We have sides of grilled asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes." He went to the freezer to get the wine. "And pinot grigio to go with it."

"Don't forget the chocolate mousse for dessert," I added.

Isabella rubbed her hands together. "Let's skip dinner and go right to dessert."

I sat down and Miguel took the seat next to mine. I leaned over and took his hand under the table. "How are you holding up?" I asked quietly.

"So far, so good," he replied with a squeeze of my hand.