Chapter 38

My parents were on their best behavior. It was freaking me out. I'd fully expected my mother to wrinkle her nose at learning Zach was a mechanic. But nada. She was charming and delightful. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

We talked about my job and Zach's three jobs. My father was super interested in what Zach did with the National Guard. My mother asked him if he had a motorcycle, and he showed her a picture of the one he was considering buying. I looked over at Isabella, who seemed just as mystified as I was.

When we finished dinner, everyone got up to help clear the table. I brought out the mousse and the small container of whipped cream Joanna had given me. I spooned the mousse into small bowls for the adults and set the container of whipped cream on the table. Zach dished out ice cream for Cody and Diego. Sofia was still fast asleep.

I saw Isabella and my mother exchange a look, and I sighed. The time had come. I knew I had to talk to them, but I really didn't want to. Isabella came over to Zach and said something quietly in his ear. He frowned and looked over at me. Leaning close, he asked quietly, "Are you okay with me going into the living room? I can stay if you want."

I kissed his cheek. He was so sweet and protective. "I'll be fine. You're not far if I need you."

"Okay." His gaze fell on my parents. "But you call if you need me." He kissed me and then rose, taking his bowl of chocolate mousse with him. Isabella took the ice cream for the boys with her and asked Zach to carry in her bowl of mousse.

Alone with my parents, I waited for them to say something. I'd been on the receiving end of their non-apologies for years, so I knew better than to start the conversation and give them an opening to somehow blame this whole thing on me.

My father cleared his throat. "Your mother and I owe you an apology."

A frisson of shock ran through me. That was not at all what I'd expected. I looked over at my mother and saw that her cheeks were red and her eyes were downcast. I decided honesty was the best course of action. "I'm not sure what to say. I expected you to find a way to make this my fault."

My mother made an inarticulate sound, and my father squeezed her shoulder. "We know that we have been unfair to you in the past.," he continued. "We thought you were going through a phase. We believed you would eventually settle down with a nice woman and give us more grandchildren."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You do realize I can still give you grandchildren, right? Being gay doesn't prevent me from adopting or having a child through a surrogate."

He nodded. "Yes, we both know these things. But it's not the way things are done in our traditions. We let the words of others sway us."

My mother finally raised damp eyes to look at me. "When we last spoke, you told me I should adopt Carlos because he was the son I always wanted. I was very upset with you because I believed that wasn't true at all." She sniffled. "But I was lying to myself. I really did think Carlos was the perfect man for my daughter. Handsome and traditional with a good job that would enable him to support her when she had children." She laughed derisively. "He had us all fooled." Her eyes met mine. "Except you. You saw him for what he was years ago. You tried to warn us, but we didn't listen. Much to my shame."

Zach came over to us and said quietly, "Sorry to interrupt." Turning to me, he continued, "Allie called asking if it was okay for her and Marrisa to go to Kim Marie's pub for a little while to meet up with some friends."

Knowing my conversation with my parents would probably go on a lot longer, I shrugged. "I'm fine with it if you are."

He nodded, kissed my cheek, and returned to the living room. I heard him say, "But not too late."

My mother watched him leave with a sad smile. "He is a good man. He cares for you and wants to protect you. Even from your parents."

My eyes stung with tears. "He's one of the best people I know. I'm lucky to have him in my life."

My father reached across the table to put his hand over mine. "Hijo, we want to start over. This past month, having no contact with you has hurt us. We missed you."

"I missed you too." I pursed my lips. "I have to ask, though, what brought on this change of heart? I've been trying for years to get you to see my point of view. Was it just Carlos's bad behavior that made you change your mind?"

He sighed. "Yes and no. At first, we thought you sent Raphael and Evan over to cause trouble for Carlos and Isabella. Your Uncle Alejandro was very angry when he heard that we thought that. He reminded us that Raphael was a grown man who could make his own decisions. He also let us know how badly Carlos behaved at Raphael and Evan's wedding. We had no idea, or maybe we just chose to ignore it."

I nodded, remembering the sneer of disgust Carlos wore for most of the festivities. He'd barely spoken to Raphael and had ignored Evan completely. He'd also left Isabella to take care of the children alone while he went down to Atlantic City with some friends instead of attending the rehearsal dinner.

"Isabella has also been very vocal about us always forgiving Carlos and condemning you for things out of your control," my mother said. Tears came to her eyes. "After he put his hands on her and Diego, we couldn't ignore his behavior anymore." A single tear traced down her cheek. "I just didn't know what to say to you. I didn't know how to fix it."

Damn it. I hated to see my mother cry. But I couldn't just let it all go. We all had work to do, and nothing would get accomplished if I caved and said everything was okay. "I want to make things better between us. I miss having my family, especially now that I've found a man as wonderful as Zach. I want to show him off to you."

My father smiled. "We've seen how good he is to you and how he takes such good care of his nephew. We'd love to get to know him better."

"Isabella told me you were planning to move back down here," I began. "Maybe you could come down on the weekends and spend time with us. Meet our friends. Albert is doing a drag show at the Moonlight Inn in a couple of weeks." You should come see it."

They asked me more detailed questions about my job and congratulated me on my promotion. They told me about the houses they were looking at down here now that they had decided to move back near the beach. We'd been chatting for about an hour when I heard Zach shout, "What? No!"

The panic in his voice sent me to my feet and into the living room. Zach was standing in the middle of the room with his phone to his ear and his hand clutching his hair. I could hear a man's voice coming from the other end of the phone. Cody and Diego were staring at him wide-eyed and frightened. I hurried over to Zach and carefully put my arm around his waist, gently steering him toward what used to be his bedroom. I wasn't sure he even noticed. As I closed the door, he asked, "Did they take her to Jersey Shore?"

The man on the other end said, "Yes."

I knew that voice. "Is that Marco?"

Zach nodded. I gently took the phone from him. "Hey, Marco, it's Miguel. What's going on?"

"Zach's sister was run down by her ex-boyfriend," he answered tersely. My breath left my lungs, and I dropped onto the bed.

"Oh my god," I breathed. I looked up at Zach, who was pacing the floor now. "How? What happened?"

He gentled his voice somewhat. "They got into some kind of argument near Kim Marie's pub, and she ran away from him. He chased her with his car, hit her, and then left the scene. The police are looking for him. They got a partial plate, and they're asking the people in the nearby apartments if they have door cameras that might have caught something."

I heard a shuffle and then Liam's voice. "Miguel, Marissa said Zach has to bring a power of attorney to the hospital because the police called your parents since they're technically next of kin."

"So we need to get there as soon as possible," I guessed.

"That would be best," he replied. "We'll meet you there. We're bringing Marissa with us."

"Okay." I ended the call and put Zach's phone in my pocket. I got up and went to stand in front of Zach, stopping his pacing. "Zach, look at me." His eyes were glazed and distant when they finally met mine. I blew out a breath and firmed my voice. "Okay, I hate to be an asshole, but you can't check out right now. Allie needs you. You need to go get that power of attorney and we need to get to the hospital. Now."

He blinked and focused on me. Tears welled in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. His voice was a plaintive cry. "Miguel. My baby sister."

"I know. We need to get to her. Okay?"

Zach nodded, went into his closet, and pulled out the box with his important papers. He found the blue folder where we'd put Allie's will and pulled out a set of power of attorney documents. "Let's go," he said.

"Do you have your wallet?" I asked.

He checked his pockets and shook his head. He looked around. "On the dresser." He grabbed it and slipped it into his back pocket. He stopped and stared at me wide-eyed. "What about Cody?"

"I'm going to ask Isabella to stay with him until we can make other arrangements. Is that okay?"

He nodded. "Yes."

My family was gathered in the living room waiting for us. I pulled my sister and parents aside and explained the situation as quickly and quietly as possible. Isabella immediately volunteered to stay before I could even ask her.

Cody made a beeline for Zach. "Uncle Zach, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Zach swallowed hard. "Hey, little man," he said hoarsely. "Miguel and I need to go out for a while to help…a friend." Zach looked over at me, and I nodded. "Diego and his mama and sister are going to stay here with you until we get back. Okay?"

"I want to go with you," he whined.

Zach shook his head. "Not this time, buddy. It's only for grownups." Cody started to cry, so Zach picked him up. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Okay?"

"Okay," he sniffled into Zach's shirt.

My mother took him from Zach. "Hello, bebé. Let's see if we can find another movie to watch." She sat on the sofa and called Diego to sit next to her.

I got our jackets and my car keys. I held out my hand to him. "Ready?"

He put his hand in mine. "Miguel, I'm scared."

"Me too."