Daniela was just putting the dishes left over from lunch in the sink when she heard the tell-tale rumble of a motorcycle getting louder as it approached her house. The list of people who it might be was getting shorter and shorter by the day, and at this point she would’ve been shocked if someone besides Angel or EZ showed up on her doorstep. Taking a deep breath, she shut off the faucet, knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to get any cleaning done until whoever it was had come and gone, said whatever it was they had to say to her.

She could tell when they’d rolled into her driveway. She held her breath for a moment, praying that the noise wouldn’t wake up her daughter that she’d finally just gotten down for a nap. Ana was no stranger to the sounds of motorcycles, even though she was hardly a toddler. But that didn’t mean that she was always able to sleep through it. When the engine died and it wasn’t followed by the sound of cries coming down the hall or through the baby monitor, Daniela let out a sigh of relief and finally started making her way towards the front door.

Just as she was about to reach for the doorknob, someone knocked on the other side of it. She didn’t hesitate as she undid the locks and pulled the door open. She also didn’t make any effort to hide the exhaustion and annoyance on her face, because no matter who it was, they were just going to have to deal.

Angel’s eyes widened in surprise, not thinking that she was going to materialize so quickly. “Shit, hey, Dani.”

She took a deep breath, leaning against the doorframe, blocking him from entering in the process. “Hey, Angel.” She paused, and when he didn’t have an immediate response, she shrugged and said, “What’s up?”

He cleared his throat, nerves crossing over his features for a moment as he asked, “You got a minute?”

“Depends.”

He sighed, wanting to be annoyed with how short she was being with him, but he knew that if anyone had the right to be carrying that sort of frustration around, it was her. He didn’t want to admit that, wouldn’t out loud, but underneath it all he knew it was the truth.

“Please.”

Sighing, she shook her head but stepped out of the doorway to let him in. “Fine. But I just put Ana down for a nap, so don’t wake her up.”

“Good. That mean you can’t yell at me?”

She shot him a brief glare. “Why would I be yelling at you, Angel?”

He followed her into the kitchen, spotting the baby monitor that was resting on the table, the high chair that still had a few stray pieces of rice on the tray of it. He already regretted showing up, knowing what he was going to ask of her, but there was no going back now. “Gotta ask a favor.”

She couldn’t hide the look on her face—disappointed but not surprised. “You serious, Angel?” She shook her head. “What kind of favor?” She looked at him expectantly, his silence not providing her with any comfort. Her brows knit together, knot forming in her stomach that was battling it out with the burning anger that was building. “What kind of favor, Angel?”

Scratching at the back of his neck, he couldn’t look her in the eyes as he said, “Coco.”

The laugh she barked out was a cruel one, one that made Angel wish that he hadn’t decided to show up. “Are you kidding me right now? You,” she shook her head, raking her hands back through her hair as she leaned back against the counter, “you can’t be serious.”

“I know, I know, but—”

“No,” she cut him off, using all the self-restraint she had to not raise her voice, “you clearly don’t know if you came here to ask me to do anything for him right now.”

“You think I’d be here if I had another choice?”

She scoffed. “Honestly? Yea, I do.”

He should’ve seen that coming. He deserved that one. Taking a deep breath, he tried to figure out the best way to ask her for what he needed, what Coco needed, in a way that would actually get her to say yes. He didn’t know if there really was any way to do that.

“He’s detoxing,” Angel finally spit out.

Daniela stopped, freezing for a moment. It wasn’t what she had been expecting him to say. It was good news, in a way, but she still wasn’t in a place where she was going to be outwardly excited about it. “Good.”

“Yea, but,” he shook his head, “he’s in rough fuckin’ shape, Dani.”

She shrugged. “I’m sure he fucking is. Coming down off all the shit he’s been doing isn’t going to be pretty.”

“He needs help.”

“He needs help?!” she snapped, just barely managing to rein her tone back in. “I’ve been raising my daughter, his daughter, completely by myself. I haven’t gotten a damn thing from him, haven’t gotten a thing from his fucking club, either,” she spat.

Angel flinched at that. It wasn’t really the club she was mad at, but it was easier to just blame all of them in one fell swoop. “Dani—”

“If you can’t be here for me, the least you could do is go and be there for him. There’s only,” tears stung at her eyes, the sadness underneath all of her anger, “there’s only so much I can fucking do.”

Angel frowned, knowing that he should let it lie, take his loss on the chin and move along. He couldn’t, though. Like a dog with a bone he just couldn’t manage to let it go.

“C'mon, Dani—he needs you.”

“What about all the times I needed him? When Ana needed him? What about that?” she shot back, voice growing heavier with each word.

“He’s not ever gonna be able to be there for you or her if he doesn’t fucking make it through this.”

“Don’t fucking put that on me, Angel.” Her voice was low, harsh. “You have no right. You don’t get to make it seem like I’m just a bitch who doesn’t want to help him through this. I did that. I tried, for months, and I got met with resistance at every turn. While all you motherfuckers were running around ignoring it, he was coming home to me and his kid and I was trying to clean up the mess. I,” she shook her head, “I did my time with that. He had his chance to get his help from me and he didn’t take it. And someone’s gotta worry about our daughter, put her first, and it’s clearly not gonna be him.”

“Daniela—”

“And,” she cut him off, “all that aside, there’s nothing that I bring to the table that you guys can’t do yourselves.”

“You’re a nurse.”

“It’s not gonna take a fucking medical professional to keep him alive, Angel. It’s just gonna take someone who can focus and stay awake—I know that’s a lot to ask of most of you.”

Neither of them said anything after that. Neither of them moved, either. Angel was half-expecting Daniela to kick him out of her house, and he honestly wouldn’t have been able to blame her for it. He was waiting for another scathing monolog from her, all the words that she had been keeping to herself and stuffing down deeper and deeper in her chest because she knew if she allowed herself the time to dwell on them, there wouldn’t be time for anything else.

She shook her head. “This isn’t fair. You know that, right? Coming here and putting this on me? That’s fucked up. You, you know I left because I needed to take care of my fucking kid. How can you ask me for this?”

“’Cause you’re family, and so is he.”

She sniffled, letting her chin drop towards her chest as she looked down at the floor. “When does that stop being enough?”

He gnawed at the inside of his lip as he tried to come up with something new to say. But there was nothing that he could tell her that she wouldn’t have an argument for. He was behind the eight ball before he’d even crossed the threshold into her house.

“He needs someone who can take care of him. Just, just till this shit stops looking like it’s gonna kill him.”

She sniffled, trying to blink back her tears as she lifted her head, gaze finding Angel’s eyes all over again. “And in this scenario you have in your head where I go over there and magically nurse him back to health, fix all the broken shit in him, and between us, who is taking care of my daughter? Because there’s no fucking way I’m bringing Ana around that.”

“I’ll watch her,” Angel answered immediately, feeling like even Daniela talking about it hypothetically was a win.

She scoffed, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “You? Really?”

“Don’t fuckin’ say it like that.”

“How should I say it then, hm? You, you haven’t watched Ana by yourself since…pretty much ever.”

He sucked his teeth. “You never let anyone besides Pops ever—”

“EZ’s watched her a bunch of times when I’ve gotten called into work,” she cut him off, knowing exactly what his argument was going to be. “All the shit you guys say about the club being a family, and the only one who’s showed up for me is your goddamn prospect.”

“This shit isn’t on the club,” Angel said with a shake of his head, knowing it was only partially true. Daniela and Ana may not have been the club’s responsibility, but Coco definitely was.

“No, but it is on you. Besides, do you, do you realize that it’s not like this is just going to be a twenty-four-hour thing? Detox, real detox takes days, weeks. You want me to just pack up my life and move into his spot for this?”

“No, no.” Truthfully, he hadn’t thought about the fact that it was probably going to take so long. “I’m not asking you to stay there forever. Just, just a day or two until he gets through the worst of it.”

“It’s all the worst of it, Angel!” she snapped, tears welling back in her eyes.

Angel shrunk back at that. She didn’t have to explain what she meant by that—he already knew. His shoulders sagged, accepting the defeat that had seemed inevitable going into this entire conversation. “Look, I’m just gonna—”

“Two days.”

“What?”

“I’ll give him two days. I’ll keep him alive and get him through this shit because he’s still,” she dragged her hands down her face, “he’s still Ana’s dad. And I don’t want it on my conscience if he—”

“Thank you,” he cut her off, crossing the expanse of her kitchen in two long strides as he pulled her into a hug.

“Don’t thank me yet.”

The next day, Daniela found herself sitting in her car in Coco’s driveway, not feeling at all ready to get out and go inside. It’d been so long since the last time she saw him—she couldn’t even try to fathom how he was going to react to her being there. It crossed her mind in that moment that she had no idea if Angel even told him that she was showing up. The entire situation was a fucking mess. She knew it had to be bad when Angel showed up to her house walking on eggshells just before she left. The man didn’t have a cautious bone in his body, but he managed it with this, as he should’ve.

She looked down at the screen of her phone, looking at the picture of Ana that she had set as her background. She tried to take a deep breath, tried even harder to ignore how shaky it was. The number of times that she’d told Angel to call or text or videochat her if anything happened or if he had any questions was too high to count. Under any other circumstances, he would’ve given her shit for it, but he had no right to now. Underneath it all, there was a part of Daniela that knew Angel would be fine. Ana was still so small, so young. And Angel was better with kids than she was inclined to give him credit for. The entire situation made it tough for her to allow him any kind of praise, though.

After another minute ticked by, she knew that she couldn’t keep putting it off. Cutting the ignition on her car, she grabbed her medical bag, and her bag of clothes, and started to make her way up towards the door.

She let herself in using the key that Angel had given her. She wanted to announce herself on entry, but she couldn’t force the words out. It was the first time she’d been to Coco’s new place, and it was exactly what she had been expecting given how dire the situation apparently was.

She slowly made her way through, trying to get a decent lay of the land. She was just walking through the living room when she heard a shuffling noise coming from another room, followed by Coco’s voice. “Angel, I swear to god,” he sounded like he’d been to hell and back—Daniela knew that he was probably still there, hadn’t made it to the back part yet, “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you if—”

“It’s not Angel,” Daniela managed to force out as she walked towards the sound of his voice, exhausted as it was. She gave the door a light knock before walking in. “But it seems like we both feel the same about him right now.”

Coco’s eyes went wide as she stepped into the room. He coughed, trying to prop himself upright at least a little. “D-Dani?”

She couldn’t even try to force a smile, so she just nodded as she set her medical bag down. “Angel said things were pretty rough.”

Coco shook his head, trying to deny it even though everything about his appearance said otherwise. He looked like he’d been knocking on death’s door for the last few days, eyes bloodshot, a sheen of sweat over his skin and in his hair. His hands were trembling even as he tried to hide them beneath the blanket that he had wrapped around him.

“You don’t gotta stay.”

Daniela laughed but there was no humor in it. “Yea, I do.” Leaning down, she gently pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, lips dipping into a frown as she did. “When was the last time you ate something? Drank some water?”

There was an emotional lilt to his voice as he said, “Dani—”

“Coco,” she cut him off, her voice firm but not quite angry, “Angel said he wanted me here because you needed a nurse or someone with more brainpower than the rest of your club. So that’s what I’m doing—I’m keeping you alive through the next few days of horrendous shit you’re going to be going through. That’s all this is. I’m not,” she shook her head, “I’m not here to talk about us, or Ana, or any of that. It’s not the fucking time, okay?”

“But—”

“Okay?”

He was too exhausted to fight her on it, so he gave a small nod before letting his head rest back against the pillow again. “Alright.”

She nodded. “Good.” Dropping the bag that had her clothes and other items, she made her way back towards the bedroom door. “I’ll get you some water, and try to pull something together for you to eat.”

“I’m sorry,” he said when her hand was on the door, “’bout everything.”

She tilted her head back, looking up at the ceiling as she tried to keep her composure. “I know.”

By the time that she came back, Coco was asleep again.  Daniela took a deep breath as she walked in, setting his water bottle and the soup she’d made off to the side on the nightstand beside his bed. She sat down on the edge of the mattress, careful not to disturb him. She watched him for a couple moments, unable to ignore the tightening sensation in her chest, the sting of her eyes as they filled with tears all over again.

There were too many things to think about when she looked at him. As difficult as his complete absence had been for her, it at least spared her having to look at him and think about every single thing that had ever gone wrong, everything that had ever gone right, and all the things in between. But now here they were, and she was trying her best not to drown underneath it all. It was so much easier when she was staying away from him and staying angry.

Reaching out, she rested her hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. As much as she wanted to let him sleep, she also knew that there was no way that he had been drinking enough water. Catching up on sleep would be easy enough to do over the next couple of days—he wasn’t going to have the energy or the ability to do much else. But there was only so long that he was going to be able to go without drinking water before it made everything worse. Coco, Angel, none of the men in the MC ever took good care of themselves even with things were going right, let alone in situations like this.

“Hey,” she said, her voice having lost the edge it had earlier, “c’mon, Coco. You gotta at least drink some water, okay?”

He grumbled something under his breath as he tried to turn and roll away from her. It would’ve been amusing under any other circumstances.

“Drink this,” she took his hand and put the water bottle in it, “and then you can go back to sleep.”

That’s how it went for the next few hours. Coco faded in and out of sleep, and in his brief moments of lucidity Daniela did her best to feed him and keep him hydrated. She kept wiping the sweat off of his forehead and neck. If he’d had more energy, he would’ve fought her on it, but he just didn’t have it in him. It worked both ways, too—if Daniela hadn’t been so drained by all of it, she would’ve been acting different too.

She’d dragged the chair from the living room into his bedroom, wanting something more comfortable than the flimsy chairs in his kitchen. Plus, all things considered, she didn’t think that he was going to have much of a problem with her moving furniture around for a little bit. Even if he did, Daniela was pretty sure that she’d win almost any fight against him at this point.

She was curled up in the chair, trying to distract herself with the book she’d brought with her, anything to keep her from overthinking her situation with Coco, anything to keep her from compulsively texting Angel to make sure that things were going okay with Ana. It felt like there was so much she was supposed to be doing and yet she couldn’t do any of it. There were only so many times that she could check her phone to see if Angel was going to call before she drove herself insane.

There were so many layers to how out of place she felt. Every time she looked at Coco, watched him as he shuffled back and forth from the bathroom, no energy to make any detours, she felt like she just wanted to melt into the floor beneath her. Everything that they’d been through, and they had somehow managed to end up here. They were finally back in the same room and they couldn’t have felt farther apart.

She listened intently, trying to make out what he was grumbling as he ebbed and flowed from consciousness. Shaking her head, she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, clasping her hands. “What am I gonna do with you, Johnny?”

It was getting later into the evening, and Daniela was fairly certain that Coco was going to be out for most of the night going forward. Grabbing her bag of clothes off the floor, she walked out of Coco’s bedroom to go to the bathroom to change. She was halfway there when she heard the sound of a motorcycle getting closer. There was no way that that was a coincidence.

She checked her phone again, already prepared to curse Angel out for not even being able to last the first twenty-four hours unsupervised with his niece. She was already picturing Angel having dropped Ana off at their father’s house before making his way over to the house. She was on the brink of grinding her teeth in frustration as she walked over to the door. The sadness and exhaustion that had been settled so deeply into her bones just a few minutes before seemed to lessen almost instantly as she geared up for whatever altercation she was about to get into with her brother.

Yanking the door open, bag of clothes still slung over her shoulder, Daniela had already taken a deep breath in, ready to start her tirade aimed at Angel. She nearly stumbled back a step when she found herself face-to-face with EZ instead. It took her a few seconds to get herself right, pick her jaw up off the floor. Once the shock wore off, she felt her nerves start to set in.

“What’s up?”

EZ shrugged, hands gripping the edges of his kutte. “Nothin’.”

“If you need Coco for something,” she said, trying to get a read on her brother’s face and failing, “he’s not gonna be useful for anything for…a while.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“He’s knocked right now but,” she opened the door a little wider, allowing space for him to walk inside, “if you need to talk to him you can wait until he wakes up again.”

EZ stepped inside, watching as Daniela shut and locked the door behind him. He looked around the house, noticing that it was a little more straightened-up than the last time he’d been there. He had no doubt that it was Daniela’s doing.

“I got nothing to say to him,” EZ finally said as he looked back at his sister.

Her brows knit together as she tried to figure out what exactly it was he needed. “Okay? So, what, then?”

He shook his head just enough to be noticeable. “What the fuck are you doing here, Dani?” he asked, an edge to his voice that she could hear him trying to get under control.

She gestured to the bedroom door. “Making sure your friend in there doesn’t aspirate.”

“Yea but why are you the one—”

“Ask your fucking brother,” she snapped.

“I did. That’s the only reason I knew you were here.” He paused, and when he saw the confusion on her face he continued, “I stopped by to check on you and Ana. Hadn’t heard from you in a couple days. When I got there I just saw Angel’s bike outside and knew that that couldn’t mean anything good.”

Daniela let out a sad laugh. “Sad state of things, huh?”

EZ offered a brief, half-hearted smile that went away too quickly. “He ask you to do all this shit?”

She sighed, not wanting to respond but finally giving in with a nod. “Yea.” She heard the deep breath that EZ took, and for as much as she didn’t want to be coming to Angel’s or Coco’s defense at the moment, she couldn’t stop herself as she said, “Angel just didn’t know what to do.”

“He never fucking does,” EZ said, exhaustion heavy in his voice and it wasn’t from a lack of sleep.

“Ezekiel…”

“No, Daniela. He shouldn’t be fuckin’ doing that to you. This shit,” he pointed to Coco’s room, “is not your fucking problem anymore.”

“He’s still my kid’s dad.”

“Yea, but you’re the only one who’s been acting like a parent.”

She sighed. “I know. But once Angel asked me I couldn’t just…leave him…”

“I know.” He tried to tone down his annoyance, his anger, not wanting to take it out on the wrong person. He’d already given Angel enough of an earful. “But go home. I’ll stay here.”

“I can’t ask—”

“You’re not asking. Coco is the club’s problem, not yours. Go home, tell Ana she’s only got one cool tío.”

Daniela managed a weak laugh despite the tears in her eyes. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Positive.” He pulled her into a gentle hug. “I was pre-med, remember? I got this.”

She leaned into him for a moment, thankful that it felt like there was still at least one person in her corner. “Thank you, EZ.” She sniffled, wiping the tears off her cheeks as quickly as she could. “I’m gonna get a fucking earful from Angel when I get home, aren’t I?”

He chuckled, shrugging. “Probably. Tell him to call me about it.”

Her laugh was a tiny bit more genuine. “I’m sure that’ll go over so fucking well.”

EZ nudged her towards the door. “Get outta here, Dani.”

“You’re sure?”

“Stop asking,” he said, flashing her a quick smile for reassurance, “and go home.”

Taking a deep breath, she finally nodded. “Alright. I’ll leave my med bag for you, just in case. Hopefully you won’t need it. And, um,” she pulled the key to Coco’s house out of her pocket and handed it over to him, “house key. I don’t…I don’t want this. Give it to Angel next time you see him.”

EZ nodded as he slipped it into the pocket of his kutte. “Will do.”

She stepped in and hugged him again, tighter this time. “Thank you. And, you know, call me if shit goes down, okay? I’ll come and—”

“I’m not calling you for anything having to do with this,” he cut her off, gently as he could. He kissed the side of her head. “Love you.”

She nodded as she pulled away from him and went towards the door. “Love you too.”

EZ lingered by the door until he heard the sound of her car driving away. Once it was silent again, he made his way towards Coco’s bedroom. He pushed the door open and let himself in, instantly seeing the way that Daniela had gotten herself as comfortable as she really could have in the given scenario.

When he looked over at the bed, EZ saw that Coco was awake, sitting half-upright and staring at him. Even through his exhaustion and sickness, and the myriad of other things he was feeling, it was impossible to miss the fear that was written across Coco’s face. EZ could tell by the look in the man’s eyes that he’d heard the conversation between EZ and Daniela. EZ wasn’t going to be the one to bring that up, though.

Coco tried to clear his throat, only landing himself in a small coughing fit before saying, “What’s up, Boy Scout?”

EZ shrugged, feigning nonchalance over the resentment that was bubbling inside of him. “Stopped by to send Daniela home.”

Coco nodded once. “She good?”

“Yea. She’s got a kid to take care of.”

He flinched at the reply, but he knew better then to dig himself deeper than he already had. “Right.” If he had the energy, he would’ve been much more tense than he was. “Thanks, EZ.”

He shook his head. “Don’t thank me.”

“Nah, I mean—”

“Don’t thank me,” EZ reiterated, “because I’m not doing this for you.” He saw the way Coco shrunk back as he continued, “None of this should’ve been put on her. That’s the only reason I’m here. If it weren’t for her, I’d let you dry out on your own, ship you off to Gracie’s, whatever means you aren’t Daniela’s fucking problem anymore.”

Coco was silent for the longest few seconds of his life before he finally said, “Sorry.”

EZ shook his head as he sat down where Daniela had been only a few minutes before. “I’m not the one who needs an apology.”

There had been a time when EZ would’ve been more positive about all of it. He would’ve given pep talks, done whatever it was that he thought would be the best thing for Coco. He was past all of that now, though. EZ had watched his little sister get put through too much pain to have any sympathy left for the man lying in the bed in front of him. He’d do enough to keep Coco in one piece, help Daniela not lose her entire mind, but that was where it started and ended for him. Whatever friendship, whatever bonds that he and Coco had had before were damaged beyond all recognition now.

Settling back into the chair a little more, EZ said, “Get some rest, man.”

Despite the days that had gone by, and the fact that the worst of the physical pain was over, Juice had barely set foot outside his house. The few times he had, it was to go and get things that he needed—groceries, alcohol, cigarettes, weed. He had yet to set foot back at the clubhouse again. The mere thought of it made him shake, so he couldn’t imagine what his brain and body would put him through if he actually went and showed up.

He was lying on his back on his couch in the living room, staring up at the ceiling. His mind was wandering and taking him nowhere good as it went. The lights were off, but there was enough sunlight coming through the windows to keep the room from being too dark. This was where he had spent most of the last couple of weeks. Even when it was time for him to try and sleep, he hardly ever went and laid in his bed. That was one thing he wouldn’t have been able to explain even if he tried.

The sound of someone knocking at his front door caused him to snap his head immediately in that direction. His heart began thudding quickly in his chest as he stared at the door, with all of its locks firmly secure because he’d checked them each three times. He laid still, partially waiting but also partially unable to try and make himself move. Logically he knew it was most likely someone from the club, or maybe even the nurse that they’d sent over to check on him.

After the first couple of days, when they were all reassured enough that he wasn’t going to eat his gun, they didn’t have club members camped out at his place around the clock anymore. Someone always checked in once a day, usually Marcus, either with a phone call or an in-person visit. Juice still hadn’t figured out if the club had been asking Daniela to keep coming and checking on his injuries and his overall state, or if she was just the type of person who cared that much. She had brothers in the club, after all, so maybe it was just a sense of duty.

He must’ve been replaying the days in his head for longer than he thought, because there was another set of knocks. Juice was trying to will his body to move, but it was slow-going. His feet had hardly hit the floor when he heard Marcus’s voice from the other side of the door.

“It’s me.”

Juice forced himself to pry the words from the back of his throat, a herculean effort when it shouldn’t have been one. “Coming.”

One slow step in front of the other, he made his way over to the door. Even though he knew it was Marcus, and even though he knew that if something was wrong Marcus would’ve warned him somehow, Juice still had his gun clutched tightly in one hand as he reached to start undoing the locks with the other.

When he finally pulled the door open, Marcus was standing patiently on the other side, his facial expression not giving away any particular emotion. That was something Juice had noticed he was good at—keeping things close to the vest. Marcus, to the extent of Juice’s knowledge at least, had never lied to him. He was always honest. But when it came to what he was feeling about something at any given moment, it was rare that Marcus wore his opinion on his face. Juice was trying to figure out if he found that to be a comforting thing or not.

Stepping to the side so that Marcus could walk through, Juice nervously drummed his fingers on his side of the door. Pushing it shut, he immediately set about redoing all of his locks. He tried to make his voice sound as normal as possible as he spoke to Marcus, even though the frantic movements of his fingers instantly negated his efforts. “All good?”

Marcus watched him, his expression still not giving anything away. He waited for Juice to turn and look at him before he finally nodded. “All good.”

“What’s, uh,” he tucked his gun into the back of his waistband, like that would somehow make it seem more casual, “what’s going on?”

“Just came to update you.”

Juice’s eyes widened. “Update me? About…about what?”

Marcus could hear the panic edging its way into Juice’s voice, and he kept his as steady and as neutral as possible. “Templo tomorrow.” He paused, seeing how Juice’s expression didn’t relax any. “We need you there.”

That wasn’t the answer Juice had been expecting. He’d spent day after day pacing around his house waiting for the worst. Truth be told, he was half expecting one of the guys, or Marcus, to stop by and ask for his kutte. It felt like all the trouble Juice had been drowning in when he was in Charming, just took on a new form and followed him right to Santo Padre. He was wondering when the Mayans would get sick of the constant clean-up like the Sons did.

“Why,” he sniffled and shrugged as he crossed his arms over his chest, “why do you need me there?”

Marcus’s brows came together for a brief moment before he recovered and answered, “Because you’re part of the fuckin’ club.”

From almost anyone else, that response would’ve sounded annoyed, or even angry. But not from Marcus. The way he said it was so matter-of-fact. A large part of that was because he wasn’t annoyed or angry with Juice. He wondered when that fact was finally going to sink in with the young man that was standing in front of him.

It wasn’t that Juice didn’t want to be at Templo, or that he didn’t want to be part of the club. He did. He wanted all of that more than almost anything. But after all that had happened, the thought of just going about his life like it was business as usual was impossible to wrap his head around. For years he had just gone from one mishap to the next, and they seemed to keep getting worse as the years went along. He’d always been able to rally, though, always been able to move onto the next thing.

Now, standing in front of Marcus with trembling hands and flashbacks that made beads of sweat gather along the edge of his forehead, it was all finally starting to catch up to him at once.

Taking a breath, Marcus asked, “What is it?”

Juice’s eyes that had previously been glued to the floor snapped up so that he was looking at Marcus. “What is what?”

“What’s keeping you in here?” He made a small gesture to the house.

Juice shook his head, eyes dropping back to the floorboards beneath his feet as he tried to string together an answer. He didn’t even know where to begin. It felt so obvious and yet so complicated all at once. Because, yes, danger was a part of what they did. There was no way to be an outlaw and do it safely. However, it wasn’t just the feeling of danger. It was something deeper than that, something internal and far less tangible than the threats lurking outside his door.

He still didn’t look up as he started to speak. “Everywhere I go…bad things happen. To, to me. To the people around me. No matter what. Queens…Charming…” he hesitated like he didn’t want to spit the words out, “Santo Padre. Bad shit. Every, every fucking time.”

“And it was all on you, huh? Every time?”

Juice knew what Marcus was doing. It wasn’t the first time that he’d had a conversation like this. And he knew that in a way, Marcus was right. It wasn’t very often that the man was wrong about much anyway. This, however, this Juice knew that if one of them was approaching the situation rationally, it was Marcus. All of that and he still found it so hard to believe him.

“I know,” Juice finally said. “I know there’s more to it but I just,” he ran his hands back over his head, hating that he could feel tears stinging at the edges of his eyes, “I can’t shake the feeling. Bad luck has followed me across the country and down the border. How long was I here before…?” his voice trailed off.

“I told you,” Marcus said firmly, “what they did was about the club—it wasn’t about you.”

“But it happened to me!” Juice finally broke, emotion cracking his voice. He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes for a moment as he tried to get the shake in his voice under control and failed. “Because it always happens to me.”

Marcus didn’t say anything for a moment. Side-stepping Juice, he made his way deeper into the living room and took a seat on the couch that Juice had been all but glued to for the last few weeks. Leaning forward, Marcus braced his forearms against the tops of his thighs. He finally looked over at Juice and waited for him to come and sit.

It took a few moments, but Juice finally picked up on the cue. Walking over, he put his gun back on the table before sitting down next to Marcus. He could feel Marcus staring at him but he didn’t look over at him. He knew that wherever this conversation was going, he wasn’t going to be able to hide from it. He’d hidden from a lot, locked up in his house the way he had been, but now Marcus was here and it didn’t seem like he was going to leave until he got whatever answers he was looking for.

Juice gnawed at the inside of his bottom lip before saying, “I don’t know if I’m worth the trouble that follows me.”

Marcus nodded, not in agreement, but in thought. He looked down at his interlocked hands for a moment, at the Mayan ring that rested on his finger. He felt the weight of the kutte that hung on his shoulders.

“Are you going to turn in your kutte, then?” Marcus finally asked after a bout of silence.

The knot in Juice’s stomach tightened, his eyes widening as he looked over at Marcus. The lack of emotion on the man’s face left Juice wondering if it was a question or a request. “N—I…I don’t…do you…do you want me to?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yea, but—”

“If I didn’t want you in my club, you wouldn’t be.” He paused, twisting the ring on his finger. “This isn’t about that. This is about whether or not you still want this. If you can still do this.”

It had been a long time since decisions with this much gravity really felt like they were Juice’s to make. He’s been a “Yes Man” for a long time, and he was pretty good at that. For years he’d listened to the decisions being made and contented himself just following the directions that he’d been given. But now he was the one who had to make the choice, and it was one that was going to decide whether taking off to Santo Padre was worth any of the stress it had caused.

Juice knew that he still wanted this. For all of the pain and the mess that it had caused, he still wanted it. For years now it had been all he ever wanted. Belonging somewhere had been the only thing he wanted for as long as he could remember. For the first time in a long time it felt like an attainable goal—he just had to get out of his own fucking way.

“I, uh,” he sniffled, trying to force his bubbling emotions down, “I don’t know if I can, Marcus.” The pause that ensued felt a few seconds too long. “I want to, but I don’t know…”

“If you want to do this, you gotta show up.” His tone wasn’t harsh, but it didn’t leave much room for argument either. It was the plain reality of it all.

And Juice knew that he was right. Marcus was understanding, he was fair in a way the men he’d worked with in the past never had the capacity to be. But he still had a club to run. He still had messes to clean up. The question now was whether or not Juice was going to be one of those.

Juice shook his head slightly, fear once again rearing its ugly head as he thought about all of the worst-case scenarios. “Why…why do you even care so much? Why are you doing all of this? It’s not,” he shook his head, “it’s not like you owe me anything. All I’ve fucking done is—”

He was cut off by the feeling of Marcus’s hand landing on his shoulder. Juice flinched at the contact, instinctively going to pull away before he realized what was happening, that he was safe, that the gesture was one of comfort and not aggression.

Juice got his tone back under control taking a staggered breath as he repeated his question, “Why are you doing this?” The familiar sting of tears in his eyes came back as he asked, “Do you even trust me? Can…can you even trust me?”

There was a pause, but it wasn’t hesitation. There was no trace of guesswork on Marcus’s face as he sat there looking at Juice. The silence was more to make Juice sit with his own line of questioning than anything else.

Marcus took a deep breath. “Trust is all we’ve got.”

The statement hung alone in the air. After a few seconds, Marcus removed his hand from Juice’s shoulder.  Juice thought that his body would relax at that, but none of the tension dissolved out of him. His leg began to bounce as the two of them sat there. He knew that it was his turn to say something, that Marcus would be more than content to sit there and wait until Juice finally forced himself to give some kind of answer to the original question that spurred this conversation in the first place.

Even though Juice cleared his throat, his voice still came out as a whisper, like he was on the brink of losing his voice. “I’ll be there.”

Marcus’s expression didn’t shift at all as he nodded. “Good.” He paused, giving Juice the opportunity to say anything else that he needed to get off his chest. When silence ensued, he asked, “Nothing else?”

Juice gave a small shake of his head, still not looking directly at Marcus. “No.”

Standing up, Marcus brushed his hands on his jeans before starting to head back towards the door again. “Tomorrow, then.”

Juice nodded, forcing himself up off the couch so that he could follow Marcus and lock the door behind him once he’d left. “Tomorrow.”

When Marcus pulled the front door open, he immediately came face-to-face with Daniela, who was still in her scrubs from work. She took a small step back, a surprised laugh slipping out of her as she looked back and forth between Marcus and Juice.

“Hi, sorry.” She adjusted the small medical bag that was slung over her shoulder. “I was just, you know, um,” she patted her bag, “checking in.”

Marcus nodded in approval. “Thank you.”

She gave a warm smile. “It’s not a problem,” her eyes drifted over to Juice, her expression softening a little, “really.”

Marcus gently rested his hand on the outside of her arm as she slipped past him, allowing them to swap places so she was inside the house and he was out on the front step. He and Juice exchanged one more brief look, each trying to figure each other out just a little bit more, before saying one more quick goodbye.

Daniela waited and watched as Juice shut the door behind Marcus and did all the locks. Her sympathetic smile lost a little bit of its curve as she watched him go back and check the locks, and recheck them again.

“If it’s not a good time,” she offered, “I can always come back later.”

Turning around and facing her, Juice shook his head. He was trying to look less rattled than he really was, which was difficult with everything that had happened within the span of the last half hour. Still, she already showed up, so he wasn’t going to turn her away.

“It’s fine,” he forced out.

She didn’t want to turn it into a debate, so she just nodded. “Okay.” She gestured to the couch, and as they both stepped towards it, she asked, “You wanna talk about it?”

He shook his head as he sat down. “I’m good.”

She nodded again. Some days he talked a little bit, other days the two of them sat there in near-silence as she checked him over. It looked like it was going to be the latter. “Okay.”

Juice watched her as she pulled her medical bag onto her lap and opened it to look inside. He wished he had better things to say to her, anything, really, but he was coming up empty. She never seemed fazed by it.

“Thanks,” he said softly as she pulled her stethoscope out.

She gave him a tiny smile. “Of course.”

Daniela had texted her brothers the second she went on break at the hospital. They were no strangers to baby-sitting their niece, and nothing had ever gone wrong while they were watching her. Still, Daniela couldn’t stop herself from texting to check in and make sure that everything was going alright.

She no sooner set her phone down on the table and picked up her water bottle when her phone started to vibrate in the tabletop. Flipping it over, she couldn’t help but to be a little nervous when she saw Angel's name flashing across the screen, his contact photo that was a picture of him and niece staring Daniela in the face as she hit the accept button.

“Hey, all good?” she asked immediately.

“Yea,” he chuckled, “Why you always gotta assume something’s wrong?”

She sighed, “Self-preservation. Also, in my defense, I just texted to check in and you immediately called me. Sorry if that made me a little nervous.”

“Alright, alright,” she could picture the way Angel was probably rolling his eyes at her, “I wanted to ask you somethin’, but I didn’t wanna call you while you’re working.”

“What’s up?”

He hesitated, like he already knew that the question already wasn’t going to go over well, “I was just wondering if EZ and I could bring Ana to the clubhouse today.”

Daniela let out a long, exasperated sigh, “Angel…”

“C'mon, Dani. The guys miss her. Plus Creep's kids are gonna be there for a little while so she’ll have kids to play with. It’ll get her out of the house.”

“You reading all these reasons off a list in front of you?” she joked.

He laughed, “Nah, but I’ve been brainstorming all morning.”

She took a moment to really think about her answer to the question, “Is Coco gonna be there?”

“Dani—”

“Answer the fucking question, Angel,” she wasn’t yelling, just tired of the stress of the situation.

“Yea,” he said after a beat, “he's gonna be there,” he heard her taking a deep breath, most likely gearing up to argue, so he started up again before she could, “But EZ and I are gonna be there. And the rest of the guys, like I said. C'mon, ‘mana, just for a couple hours.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Daniela mulled it over. She knew that realistically there was only so long she could go handling things the way that she had been. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, even if she didn’t want to admit that to herself.

“Fine,” she huffed, “But I’m picking her up from the clubhouse. And if I hear any sort of sideways shit—”

Angel didn’t let her finish the sentence, “You got it. Thank you, Dani. Seriously,” it was the most earnest he’d sounded with her in a long time.

“Love you,” she meant it, despite the exhaustion in her voice.

“Love you too.”

When she hung up the phone with Angel, she immediately sent another text, this one just to EZ outside of their sibling group chat, “keep a close eye on Ana at the clubhouse today please. I don’t wanna regret saying yes to this.”

She knew that she could trust EZ with the situation in a way that she couldn’t quite trust Angel. Angel loved her, and Ana, and he would take a thousand bullets for either of them. Daniela didn’t doubt any of that. But she also knew how torn Angel had been as the entire situation between his sister and his MC brother crumbled in the worst of ways. He wasn’t going to turn his back on family, but he also couldn’t pretend that he didn’t still have his love for Coco. That was his best friend, he couldn’t just bail on him either. He never blamed Daniela for how she was handling the situation, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he struggled with it a lot, being put between the two of them.

EZ didn’t share that same sense of inner turmoil. His lines in the sand were firm and impossible to miss. He didn’t have many positive feelings left for Coco, not after what the man had put his sister and his niece through. They still shared the club, and EZ was thankful that he was so good at compartmentalizing, otherwise the tension would’ve caused it all to start unraveling. Outside of Templo, or other explicit club business, the two of them didn’t talk. Coco used to try and mend that bridge, but he quickly realized how futile it was. EZ would come around when EZ was ready to, if he was ever ready to.

Daniela knew all of that. Which was why she knew that if anything happened that was even borderline not okay, EZ would step in to stop it, or at the very least tell her about it when she came to pick Ana up.

“I got you. Love you"

She sighed in relief at his text, sending back a quick, “love you too" before finally allowing herself to take a bite of her lunch.

When her shift was over, the drive from the hospital to the clubhouse felt like it took way longer than it used to. Maybe this time it was because deep down she was dreading it. The only times she’d set foot on club turf over the last year or so was when someone needed to get patched up, and even then she was in and out as quickly as possible. It wasn’t a social place for her anymore.

She rolled into the lot and parked her car, taking a deep breath as she fought the urge to rest her head against the steering wheel. It couldn’t be that bad, she reassured herself, there was no way it was going to be as bad as some of the scenarios that her brain was conjuring up. She took a moment to redo her ponytail, and it hit her that maybe she should’ve changed out of her scrubs before driving over, but it was too late now. Grabbing her phone and taking her keys out of the ignition, she opened the door and stepped out of the car.

Small puffs of dust kicked up around her sneakers when they hit the ground. She wondered how many deep breaths it would take to get herself to actually calm down. Looking around, she noticed how quiet the yard seemed, which wasn’t at all what she remembered it being like. She wondered if some of the guys were out of town.

When she got a little closer to the clubhouse, that’s when she started to hear the laughter and the conversations. She could pick Ana’s laugh out of a crowd with no effort at all, and the sound brought her a small sense of peace. If nothing else, her little girl was at least having a good time. She glanced up at the deck, trying to get a good look at everyone who was there. She spotted Ana immediately as she ran up and down the length of the deck, along with Angel and EZ. Bishop was there too, and Gilly. Her steps faltered slightly when her eyes landed on Coco, who hadn’t seen her yet. The few seconds between her noticing him and him noticing her were going to be some of the longest seconds of her life.

Ana skidded to a stop when she saw Daniela walking over, her already bright smile growing even brighter, “Mommy!” she took off down the steps and ran to her mother.

Daniela laughed, feeling a little more at-ease as she crouched down to catch the running hug her daughter was bringing her way, scooping her up and swinging her around before settling the little girl on her hip. Daniela kissed the side of her head, “Hey, chiquita!” she kissed her again, “You have a good day with your tíos?”

“Yea!” she squirmed in her mother’s arms for a moment before hopping back down to the ground, doing her best to take Daniela’s hand in her won and pulling her back towards the step, “Tío EZ got a bubble gun!”

Daniela laughed as the two of them walked up the steps together, “Oh, did he?” she looked over at her brother, “Something tells me he might’ve already had that on-hand.”

EZ chuckled, smiling as he shook his head, “Nah, but I wasn’t going to say no to a reason to go and grab one,” he stepped in to hug her, “Hey, Dani.”

She hugged him tightly with the arm that her daughter wasn’t pulling on, “Thank you, Ezekiel,” her voice was soft enough that no one else could hear it.

She greeted Angel too, or she tried to as best she could between Ana’s excited rambles about everything that they had been up to that day. She talked about the kids who had been there earlier, how much fun they’d had running around playing tag and catch. She talked about how Chucky had made cookies to share with everyone, that she even got to have one before lunch. She casually peppered in, “Daddy let me sit on his motorcycle!” before diverting right off to the next point, already shifting her excitement to the aforementioned bubble gun that EZ had gotten.

She fought to tune into the rest of the things that Ana was saying as her own thoughts began to spin out. Turning, she looked back over her shoulder to see Coco standing there watching the two of them talk and interact. She could see all of the different emotions that were swirling around in his mind. The two of them hadn’t said a single word to each other but Daniela still felt herself getting choked up.

EZ clocked the entire thing. And, as much as he didn’t really want to leave his sister and Coco by themselves, he knew that their first real conversation in well over a year probably shouldn’t take place within earshot of their daughter. So, in an attempt to distract Ana, he crouched down, loudly whispering to her that the two of them should try to run down Angel and get him with the bubble gun. It was an idea that she little girl was all too excited to take EZ up on. She managed to get out an, “I’ll be right back,” between giggles as she let go of Daniela’s hand and ran with EZ after her other uncle. Daniela watched them for a moment, a soft smile on her face before she returned her attention to the other matters at hand.

Taking in a deep breath to try and give herself an extra boost of confidence, she crossed the deck so that she was standing in front of Coco. He could see the conflicting emotions on her face and it broke his heart. It’d been so long and yet here they still were, still struggling to figure it all out. Daniela wanted to be the first one to say something, but she couldn’t force the words out.

“Thanks,” Coco nervously fussed with the pack of cigarettes in his hand, “’Preciate you lettin’ Angel bring her over.”

She nodded, “Yea. N-no problem.”

He wanted to make a joke about how he knew it was probably a little bit of a problem, but he knew it wouldn’t land. They weren’t there yet—they probably wouldn’t be there for a really long time. So, instead, he kept his mouth shut.

Daniela had to admit that he looked like a completely different man from the last time that she’d seen him. It had been a long time, and despite her anger and her hurt she did truly always hope that Coco was getting his act together. She just couldn’t afford to keep herself and her daughter around him while he did. But he looked good. Nervous, because of the specific circumstances of the day, but he looked healthy. It brought her some relief, even if it didn’t wipe away the years of damage done.

“She looks like you,” Coco commented as he nodded towards Ana, “Thankfully,” he added with a laugh.

It got Daniela to chuckle a little bit too. She shrugged, “Yea. Sometimes she makes faces that are very much you, though,” she raked her fingers along her scalp, “I know I’m gonna be in for it when she’s older.”

Coco watched her watch their daughter, and he wished that he knew what to say to her. He wished he knew how the conversations were supposed to go now. He knew that they couldn’t just start over, but he didn’t want to dig into everything else on the front steps of the fucking clubhouse, either.

“You look good, Dani,” he said.

She looked back over at him, a weak smile on her face, “Thank you, Coco. You too,” she motioned towards his hair, “The braids look good,” she sucked in a breath before leaning back against the railing, crossing her arms over her chest as she continued to look at him, “Today was okay?”

There was only one right answer to the question. But Coco knew that he wasn’t the only person that she was going to be asking about it. And he couldn’t blame her at all, even if he wanted to. He nodded, finally stuffing his cigarettes back into the pocket of his kutte, “It was good. She’s,” his lips twitched into a smile, “she’s a funny fuckin’ kid, you know?”

She had a soft smile on her face, “I do.”

Even though the two of them were running around with Ana to keep her busy any away from the conversation unfolding between her parents, both Angel and EZ were trying their best to sneak looks over at them to get a feel for how the conversation was going. There were none of the usual tell-tale signs of Daniela’s anger. There was no yelling from either of them, no angry gesturing. Angel hoped that that was a good sign.

He saw EZ watching the same way he was. He shrugged, “Looks alright.”

EZ didn’t look quite as convinced, “We’ll see,” he looked back at Angel and saw the way he wanted to argue, “Quiet doesn’t always mean good.”

Angel sucked his teeth, “C’mon, why you always gotta,” he gestured vaguely at nothing, “What if it’s a good thing?”

EZ rolled his eyes before blasting a slew of bubbles at his brother, causing Ana to break out into laughter, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Coco caught the fact that both of Daniela’s brothers were watching them intently. He also knew that they were watching for very different reasons, “I gotta,” he nodded towards the area where the bikes were parked, “I gotta run. But thank you. Seriously. I know it’s not…you know.”

Daniela nodded, knowing all too well, “You’re welcome. Stay well, Coco, okay?”

He was surprised at how genuine she sounded. He had been ready for more anger, more venom, which again he wouldn’t have blamed her for, “Okay.”

He walked away, leaving her leaning against the railing as he made his way towards the stairs. She turned so that her arms were folded and braced on the top of the rail, watching as Coco went over to Ana to hug and kiss her goodbye. It looked so natural, Daniela though, even in spite of everything. But one afternoon going well didn’t mean that everything was alright. Still, there was an ache in her chest at the sight of her daughter excitedly waving to her father as he strode over towards his bike.

Once he was gone, the two girls didn’t linger too much longer. Daniela gathered up her daughter’s things and brought them to the car while she finished playing with her tíos. The sounds of the three of them laughing eased the knot that was in her gut after seeing Coco for the first time in so long.

EZ was buckling Ana into the car as Angel walked over to say goodbye to his sister. He pulled her into a hug, “You good?”

She sighed, not wanting to lie but not wanting to get into it all with him when she was so close to finally being able to go home, “I’ll be fine, Angel.”

He stepped back, “It meant a lot to him, you know.”

A sarcastic comment was on the tip of her tongue but she managed to stop it just in time. Instead, she side-stepped his comment completely, “Get home safe, alright? Love you.”

He couldn’t stop the frown on his face, but he still returned the sentiment, “Love you too.”

Angel said goodbye to his niece and made his way back towards the clubhouse while Daniela waited for EZ to finish saying goodbye to her. She smiled at the sight of the two of them interacting, always laughing together.

He kissed Ana on the forehead, “Be good, alright?” he ruffled her hair, “Love you.”

She giggled, “Love you!”

EZ carefully shut the car door before heading over to his sister. He could see the exhaustion on her face, and he knew that it wasn’t just from a long day at work. He knew better than to ask, because it wasn’t like she was going to get into any of it with him in that moment.

“I love you,” he ran his hand up and down her back.

She gave him a squeeze before pulling away, “I love you too.”

It was fairly late when Daniela heard the knock at her door. She put Ana to bed a few hours before, the little girl falling asleep almost instantly when her head hit the pillow. It’d been a long, exciting day for her. Daniela was happy for her, but she was also exhausted by everything it had dredged up.

She was expecting the worst when she walked over to see who was standing outside her front door. She was relieved to see that it was EZ, though. Unlocking and pulling the door open, she did her best to give a smile, “Hey, you good?”

He nodded, his smile coming to him a little more easily, “Yea. Just,” he held up the bubble gun, “Ana forgot her weapon of mass destruction at the clubhouse.”

Daniela chuckled softly, shaking her head as she pulled the door open a little more and motioned for her brother to come inside, “Figured you kept it on purpose.”

He laughed, setting it down on the table as they walked into the kitchen, “I can’t be trusted with that kind of firepower.”

“Hm,” Daniela hummed in amusement as she grabbed them both beers from the fridge, “That’s true,” she sat down at the table, motioning for EZ to do the same once she handed him his beer, “What’s on your mind, Ezekiel?”

He shook his head before lifting the bottle to his lips, “Just wanted to check in on you. Today wasn’t exactly what you had planned.”

Her laugh was hollow, “No,” she took a long drink out of the beer bottle, “it wasn’t. He was…he was okay, though? With her?”

He nodded, not hesitating because there was nothing to hesitate about, “He was good, yea. He missed her.” EZ saw that Daniela was biting back a comment, “What?”

Glancing over at him, she remembered who it was that she was talking to. She didn’t have to pretend, “He fucking should.”

“I know,” EZ nodded.

“I’m not,” she took an unsteady breath as she toyed with the bottle in her hands, “I’m not ready for that to become a regular thing, EZ. I saw him for about five fucking minutes and I’m so tired.”

His expression hardened, “What’d he say?”

She shook her head, “Nothing, that’s just it. He was perfectly,” she took another swig of her beer, “perfectly fucking cordial. And I don’t, I don’t mean to sound like a horrible person. I’m glad he’s doing better. I am, really. But all of the, all of the damage? It’s hard to look at him and not see that.”

“I get it.”

She looked down at the bottle, “Ana loves him.”

“She does.”

Tears started welling up in Daniela’s eyes after an entire afternoon and evening of trying to keep her emotions pushed down. She leaned back in her chair, letting her head drop back for a moment as the tears spilled over onto her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away before looking back at her brother.

“I don’t want her to go her whole life without him. I don’t. But just, fuck, how am I supposed to know when he’s ready? How do I know he’s not going to do the same thing he did last time? I can’t go through that again. I sure as hell can’t put her through that now that she’s old enough to really see what’s going on. How do I…” her voice trailed off.

“You’ll feel it,” EZ nodded, “You knew when it was time to go. You’ll know when it’s time to let him come back.”

She let out a dry chuckle, “I waited too long to leave.”

“But you did. You’ll know when it’s right,” he brought the bottle to his lips.

“But Coco—”

“Fuck ‘em,” EZ’s voice was quiet, but firm. He saw the look on his sister’s face, “I’m serious, Dani. This is about Ana. If you don’t think he’s ready to show up for her, then fuck ‘em. He cost himself this.”

It was more nuanced than that, but also, it really wasn’t. She knew that EZ was right, that at the end of the day it was about what was best for Ana. Everything would’ve been different if Daniela only had to think about herself. She could put up with a lot, put a lot of work and struggle into something, but she couldn’t ask the same of her daughter.

“Thank you, EZ,” she said with a nod.

“You need anything?”

She chuckled, “You got a time machine?”

“I’m working on it,” he joked before finishing off his beer and standing up out of his seat, “I just wanted to stop and check in on you. Go get some sleep—you look like shit,” he chuckled.

Daniela laughed as she stood up, walking over and hugging him, “You’re lucky that gun isn’t loaded,” she leaned against him for a moment, “Drive safe.”

“Always,” he started making his way back towards the door, “Call me if you need anything.”

“Will do,” she sighed, running her fingers through her hair, “Lock the door behind you, yea?”

“Got it.”

She lingered in the kitchen, listening for the sound of EZ’s pickup truck starting and driving away. Once it was silent again, she tossed their beer bottles into the recycling bin. Grabbing the plastic toy off the table, she quietly made her way upstairs towards Ana’s room. She quietly walked inside, placing the toy on top of her daughter’s dresser.

Daniela knocked on the front door of their house as she pushed it open, Ana barreling past her and right into the house. The little girl immediately dropped her bag and called out for her uncles as she ran through the house. Daniela couldn’t help but to laugh as she lingered by the doorway, watching her daughter run down the hallway. In a matter of seconds, Angel popped out of the living room and easily scooped Ana up off the flood, slinging her over his shoulder as she squealed with laughter.

“I heard that a little monster was getting dropped off for a sleepover,” Angel laughed as he walked back down the hallway towards his sister, Ana still slung over his shoulder.

Daniela laughed, shaking her head as he set her back down on the floor, “I think the monsters are the boys who already live here,” she stepped in and hugged Angel, “Thank you for this. Sorry it’s so last-minute.”

Angel shrugged, “You know it’s fine,” he playfully tugged at the sleeve of her scrubs, “Lookin’ like you actually know what you’re doing or something.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t pin back her smile, “Yea, or something,” she diverted her attention back to her daughter as she crouched down to her level, “I’ll be here to pick you up in the morning after breakfast, okay?”

Ana was happily leaning against Angel’s side as she nodded, “Okay!”

Daniela leaned in, kissing her on the tip of her nose and then her forehead, “Your tíos are in charge,” she leaned in, whispering extra loud so Angel would definitely hear, “Mostly Tío EZ, though.”

Her comment was rewarded with a giggle from Ana and Angel scooping the little girl off the ground and propping her on his hip, “Alright, alright. Looks like it’s time for Mom to go.”

Daniela stood up, hands resting on her hips, “Don’t worry, I’m going,” she paused, looking around what she could see of the house, “Where is EZ, anyway?”

Angel nodded towards the door, “Ran to the store to pick up some food and shi—” he stopped himself when he saw Daniela’s face harden into a glare, “and stuff for the little monster here.”

“Gotcha. Alright, I gotta run. Thank you again,” she stepped in and hugged Angel before giving Ana another kiss, “I’ll see you tomorrow, chiquita. I love you.”

Her smile was blinding as she waved to her mother, “I love you too!”

Daniela slipped out the door and quickly made her way to her car, digging her keys out of her purse as she did. Not that she minded her brothers watching Ana, but the last-minute calls from the hospital had been more and more frequent lately, and she hated feeling like she was constantly leaving Ana with Angel and EZ, or Felipe. None of the three men ever complained, but that wasn’t the point. She huffed out a sigh as she unlocked her car. Just as she was pulling the door open, EZ whipped into the driveway next to her, a smile on his face as he threw the car in park.

“Taking off already?” he joked as he stepped down out of the truck, grabbing the couple bags of groceries he’d gotten.

She laughed, running her fingers back through her hair, “Wish I could stay longer, believe me.”

He shook his head, seeing the conflict in her eyes, “Don’t sweat it. If you want us to call you with a fake emergency to get you out of work, just say the word,” he smiled at the sound of her laughing, “Angel’s pretty good at coming up with shit on the fly.”

“You both are way too good at it,” she hugged him, “Thank you. Seriously.”

“Don’t make it weird,” he laughed as he hugged her back.

“You’re so annoying,” she chuckled, rolling her eyes as she pulled away from him.

“Get to work. I gotta get inside before the ice cream melts.”

“Damn,” she shook her head, smiling, “Maybe I should just skip work and stay with you guys.”

“No way,” he nudged her towards her car, “Tíos-Only Zone here right now. Beat it,” the smug grin on his face was enough to get anyone to laugh as Daniela plopped down in the driver’s seat, “Love you!”

She gave him the finger as she turned the key in the ignition, “Love you too.”

EZ made his way up the steps and into the house, shutting the door behind him just as Daniela’s car pulled out of the driveway. Even though he couldn’t see them, he could hear Ana’s laughter coming from the living room. He smiled and shook his head as he made his way into the kitchen to start putting the groceries away.

EZ had gone undetected by both of them in the living room until Ana heard the sound of the freezer sliding shut. It was a matter of seconds before EZ heard her heavy little footsteps as she booked it towards the kitchen. He was ready, hands free as he turned around to catch her as she ran right into him.

“Hey, pipsqueak,” he kissed the side of her head before setting her back down on the ground, “You keeping Angel outta trouble?”

“I’m trying,” she let out a dramatic sigh.

EZ laughed, unable to hide the surprise that was intertwined with his amusement. Looking over her head at his brother he shook his head, “Sounds just like someone else we know.”

“Bro, I know,” Angel laughed, shaking his head as he walked into the kitchen as well.

Ana took advantage of the two of them talking to start snooping through the rest of the groceries that EZ had brought home. She was digging through one of the bags as she asked, “What’s for dinner?”

“Get outta there,” EZ joked as he lifted her up and set her on the counter. He playfully tapped the tip of her nose, “I got it under control. I’ll cook if you keep an eye on that guy over there,” he nodded towards Angel, “He’s been up to no good all week.”

Ana swung her legs as she sat on the counter, “That’s what Mommy said.”

Angel scoffed as he opened the fridge and grabbed a can of soda for himself, “Oh yea? Mommy also say what happens to snitches?”

EZ shot him an exasperated look, “Dude, come on.”

“My bad,” Angel held his hands up in surrender.

The three of them were all camped out in the living room after dinner. EZ and Angel were sitting on opposite ends of the couch with Ana sprawled out between them. For such a small girl she certainly knew how to take up most of the couch. Her head was resting on Angel’s leg as the three of them got through another episode of Spongebob. Which, they had to admit, out of all the kid’s shows that she could be into, it was one of the best ones.

EZ was just about to mention dessert when all of the lights in the house shut off. The television cut out and the three of them were thrown into complete darkness. Angel and EZ’s eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly—they were used to it. But Ana wasn’t. She immediately scrambled onto Angel’s lap, and he could feel the way that she was trembling.

“Hey, hey,” he kissed the side of her head, “we’re all good. Here,” he pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and turned the flashlight on, setting it on the coffee table in front of them to cast some light into the room. It wasn’t much, but it was something, “See? Lights just went out. We’re gonna be fine.”

EZ turned on his phone’s flashlight as well as he stood up from the couch, “I’ll go grab the big flashlights and the candles.”

“Lucky for you,” he spoke to Ana as he shifted to get a little more comfortable, “I might not have EZ’s memory, but I know almost every episode of Spongebob. So here’s what happens next…”

Meanwhile, EZ was rummaging through the spare room, which had turned into a bit of a glorified storage closet, looking for flashlights and candles. He was just about to pull open the closet door when his phone started going off. Before he even looked at it, he had a pretty good idea of who it was going to be. Looking down at the screen, he gave a knowing smile and shook his head as he accepted the call.

“Hey, Dani.”

“You guys alright?” she didn’t sound too freaked out, but he could still hear the worry in her voice.

“We’re all good. Hospital lose power too?”

“For a minute, but we’ve got generators. I know you guys definitely don’t.”

He chuckled, “It’s on the very long to-do list.”

“How’s Ana? She hates the dark.”

“Angel’s got her right now,” EZ pinned the phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could keep scouring the room, even though that sent it into darkness by blocking the flashlight, “I’m getting flashlights and candles.”

Daniela laughed, “You guys have candles?”

“The ones you gave us,” he chuckled.

“When you guys moved in years ago?” she laughed in disbelief.

“How often do you see us lighting candles here?”

“Fair,” she sighed, “Alright, I just wanted to check in and make sure that you guys were alright. Give me a call if you need anything, or if you need me to come by and pick her up.”

“We got it under control. Go save lives and whatever else you do.”

He could hear the smile in her voice, “Love you, EZ.”

“Love you too,” he hung up the phone and gathered up everything that he’d found.

Waking back into the living room, the first thing he heard was Angel doing his best imitation of Patrick Star. Angel was trying not to laugh as he said, “Who you callin’ Pinhead?”

Ana immediately broke into a fit of giggles, and both brothers couldn’t hide their relief at the sound. As long as they could keep her amused and keep her mind off the lack of electricity, they should be alright.

“I got flashlights,” EZ said as he tossed one to Angel, “and candles,” he set them down on the coffee table and pulled a lighter out of the drawer to light them, “so I think we just might be alright for the night.”

“You know what I was thinkin’?” Angel asked as he scooped his niece into his lap, tickling her and making her laugh and squirm.

“You were thinking?” EZ shot back with a smirk as he lit the candles.

Angel sucked his teeth, “Funny. Anyway, I was thinking that Ana here should help us make a fort.”

“A fort?” she repeated as she took the flashlight from Angel, turning it on and shining it around the room.

“Yea. Was thinking we could grab some extra blankets and pillows and make a fort out here.”

“Yea!” the excitement was palpable in her voice.

“Cool,” Angel nodded as he watched her waving the flashlight around, getting more entertainment than he should’ve each time she accidentally shined it in EZ’s eyes.

A minute passed and neither brother moved from where they were sitting. EZ was camped by the coffee table and Angel on the couch, both of them waiting for the other to go and grab the pillows and blankets for their construction project. Clearly Ana wasn’t going to be the one who was going to go deeper into the house in the pitch black.

“I got the candles,” EZ finally said, “Your turn.”

Angel rolled his eyes but he didn’t argue about it. He gently picked Ana up and passed her off to EZ, tossing her just slightly to get a laugh out of her before EZ caught her. EZ kept her busy with picking out places to put the candles while Angel went and got everything that they needed for their fort.

Just like with groceries, Angel was determined to get everything done in one trip. Going into his own room, since he most likely wouldn’t be sleeping there for the night anyway, he grabbed the comforter and top sheet off his bed, along with the pillows by the headboard. Draping the blanket and sheet around his shoulders, he tucked the pillows under one arm before heading to the dining room to grab a couple chairs to bring with him. He looked like a character out of one of Ana’s shows as he carefully waddled back into the living room, trying not to drop anything or bump into anything.

EZ laughed, shaking his head at the sight of his brother, “The chairs really necessary?”

“Want the fort to be tall enough to not give you back problems?” he paused and when EZ didn’t have an immediate response, he nodded, “That’s what I thought,” he turned his attention to Ana, who was curled up in EZ lap with a flashlight, “Alright, Anita, I know your mom tells me all the time you’re a doctor. You’re a contractor tonight, girl,” he tossed a pillow to her with a laugh, “Get up and help me with this.”

It was a wholesome scene, truly. The three of them working together to put the fort together. Angel and EZ were constantly throwing pillows at each other, getting a good amount of laughter out of their niece in the process. Despite the fact that they were working in the dim glow of candlelight and a few scattered flashlights, they managed to get it done. Fort construction felt much more difficult for the Reyes brothers now than it had when they were kids, but they finally got back into the groove of it. Soon enough, the three of them were sprawled out underneath the roof of a blanket and sheet, surrounded by pillows and another blanket that EZ had gone and gotten.

Ana was half laying down, blanket draped over her legs as she leaned against EZ’s side. Both the Reyes brothers were sitting cross-legged underneath the cover of the blanket roof, Angel with a pillow in his lap that he promptly tossed back on the floor before tipping over and letting his head rest on it.

“Nap time now, right?” he said with a smile.

Ana giggled, pushing against his chest with her blanket-covered feet, “No way!”

“You know what I was thinking?” EZ said, toying with Ana’s ponytail. He waited until both of them were looking at him before he continued, “Since the power is out, I was thinking that maybe we should dig into the ice cream I bought before it melts,” he gave her ponytail a playful tug, “Can’t let it go to waste.”

Ana’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, “Yes!”

EZ chuckled, “Alright. You stay here and guard the fort,” he handed her the flashlight that was on the other side of him, “As always, keep an eye on Angel. I’ll be right back.”

Karma for laughing at EZ when he was getting the light shined in his eyes was coming back for Angel quickly when Ana started doing the same exact thing to him. Angel would never be able to tell for sure if EZ did it on purpose, but he had his suspicions. Luckily it didn’t last long, because soon enough EZ reappeared with three large bowls of ice cream, carefully handing them off as he crawled back into the fort.

Ana might’ve been the youngest, but EZ and Angel were the ones who looked the most like children as they tucked into their dessert in their blanket fort. The whole idea may have been to help keep Ana busy and distracted so she wouldn’t get freaked out from the power outage, but somewhere along the way the two of them definitely forgot that that was the original mission.

Surprisingly enough, Ana didn’t get hit with any kind of insane sugar high after her dessert. It didn’t take long after setting her bowl aside for her to pass out between her uncles, blanket up over her chin and face nearly hidden in the puffy pillow she’d chosen. Once he was sure that she was out, EZ carefully left the fort to blow out the candles that were scattered around the living room before coming back to his rightful place inside their in-home castle. Both Angel and EZ were starting to get hit with a bit of exhaustion too as they managed to squeeze themselves into laying positions around their niece.

“This wasn’t the type of blackout I was planning on a Friday night,” Angel said, trying to keep his laughter quiet so as not to wake up his niece.

EZ chuckled, shaking his head as he stared up at the blanket above them, “You’ll still be just as tired tomorrow. Don’t worry.”

Angel was about to say something in response, but just as he opened his mouth, Ana twitched in her sleep and accidentally kicked him in the stomach. He winced, shaking his head as he tried to keep his voice at a harsh whisper, “Motherfucker.”

EZ laughed quietly, “I don’t think you’re supposed to be calling your niece a motherfucker.”

“I am if she’s bein’ one,” he shot back, carefully maneuvering her legs to try and keep that from happening again.

“Dani used to do the same shit,” he smiled at the memory.

“Oh, god,” Angel laughed, running his hands down his face, “I fuckin’ know. My legs used to get all bruised up from her.”

“Yea,” EZ lifted his head to get a better look at his brother, “Now she just bruises up your face.”

“If there wasn’t a kid between us, I’d bruise up your face right now.”

“No chance,” EZ let his head drop back on the pillow with a laugh.

“Motherfucker,” Angel mumbled, shaking his head.

“What was that?”

“I called you a motherfucker,” Angel laughed, “and I ain’t sorry about it.”

EZ chuckled, “Go to sleep. You get grumpy like Ana when you’re tired.”