“Frosted Flakes, Mamí!” Rosalie bounded down the hall into the kitchen with the fervor of…well, of a four year old looking forward to a day at preschool.

“Shhh…Nick’s still sleeping.”

“Nicky’s here? You had a slumber party and I missed it?”

Solana looked up from stirring her coffee and stifled a laugh at her daughter’s chosen outfit for the day. “Uh, you’re quite colorful this morning.”

Before climbing up onto the bar stool, Rosalie spun around, her black, white and pink plaid skirt flipping up and out exposing ruffled baby blue panties. “You like it? You didn’t have clothes out, so I picked myself.”

“Well…” Solana came around from the counter and squatted down to her daughter’s level, tugging at her purple and orange polka-dotted t-shirt. “…I like your shirt…”

“It sparkles!” Rosalie looked down and flicked at a speck of glitter.

“Yes, it does. And I like your skirt.”

“Good. I’m hungry. When does Nick get up?” She climbed up onto the bar stool and grabbed at the newspaper quickly finding the weather page. “Sunny and 75 today. No jacket!”

Solana remained in her squatted position wondering how she’d lost control of the conversation. And of her daughter’s wardrobe. She always laid out clothes before she went to bed, but last night Nick had walked her directly from the back porch to her bedroom. He tucked her into bed and then slowly, tenderly reminded her that she was surrounded by love and honor and strength. She promptly fell asleep and her typical nightly routine had been pleasingly ruined.

Sighing at the memory of Nick’s gentle touch and the reappearance of the concern that lead her to ask him to stay over, she went back to the clothing issue. So much easier to deal with. Maybe.

“Yes, no jacket, but I think you might need a different shirt.”

“Why?” Tired of waiting for her mother, Rosalie hopped back off of the bar stool and grabbed a kitchen chair, dragging it to he cupboard that held the bowls.

“Because…because I wanted to save that for another day. For picture day!” Good save, Mamí.

“Oooh…when’s that?”

“Next week. And since you like it so much, how ‘bout you save it for then? I think you have a nice pink shirt to go with that skirt.” Solana got the milk out of the refrigerator and raised her eyebrows at her daughter who was now determined to fix her breakfast herself. “No. I pour the milk.”

“I can do it.”

“So can I…you put the chair away and I’ll finish.”

With a stomp of disapproval, Rosalie hopped off the chair and drug it back, mumbling something about how Allison was allowed to make her own breakfast and pick out her own clothes. Whoever Allison was.

Solana slid Rosalie’s bowl of cereal to her and poured a glass of juice as she tried to come up with a way to broach the subject of Neron. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t know how far to go with it. She wanted him to go back into the cave he’d so conveniently been hiding in for the past four years.

Leaning her elbows on the counter and getting her face close to her daughter’s milk-smacked lips, she took a deep breath and just started.

“So, you said you want Nick to pick you up from school sometimes, huh?”

“Can he? I liked it yesterday.”

“So did he. He can’t do it every day…he has meetings and traveling and stuff, but maybe the Friday’s he’s home? Would you like that?”

“And I can go to his house ‘til you get home? Just like yesterday?”

“There or here; doesn’t matter. What, um…what do you think about going to the park to play?”

“I like it okay.” Rosalie shrugged and turned her focus back to her cereal.

“Just okay? I thought you loved the park?”

“I do…Nick got…” She shoved another spoonful into her mouth and chewed, forgetting her manners of keeping her mouth closed.

“Mouth shut. I don’t wanna see what’s in your mouth.”

“Then don’t sit so close to me, Mamí.”

“Sorry.” Before Solana knew what she was doing, she was standing upright and then wondering how her daughter gained control again. This kid was good. “What happened with Nick?”

“He got scared.”

“Scared?”

“Yeah…” Back to her cereal she went and this time it didn’t look like it was going to be an easy lure to get her into the conversation again. “I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”

“Do you know what scared him?”

“A man. I gotta go brush my teeth.” With her bowl only half finished, she hopped off the stool and skipped out of the room and down the hall.

That hadn’t gone well at all.

“Oof! What the…” Nick tried to roll onto his back, but couldn’t move because of the immediate and immovable weight that had woken him from an early morning dream. A very pleasant early morning dream at that.

“I gotsta go to school, Nicky. I wanted to say adios!” Rosalie slid off of Nick’s side and curled up behind him, kissing his bare back. “You sleep too long.”

“You wake up too happy…my god, child.”

“Rosalinda Maria Romero! I told you not to wake him up. Get out of there right now!” Lani stood in the doorway ignoring how adorable the two of them looked curled up like two bugs in a rug.

“It’s okay, Lani. What time is it anyway?” Nick was finally able to nudge his way to his back, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the morning light streaming through the slight slits in the blinds.

“7:30.”

“Is God up yet?”

“No, we get Him up at 8. Rosalie…you are in big trouble. Get out here now.”

“She’s fine, Lani…she’s keeping me warm.” He hiked up to lean on the headboard and pulled Rosalie up into the crook of his arm. “You look very pretty today.”

“Pth. Mamí made me change my shirt. No me gusta.”

“We’re giving me raspberries now for my taste in pretty girls? Are you always this grumpy in the mornings?”

“No…”

“Good, because I’m not gonna spend the night anymore if you spit at me.”

“Lo siento, Nicky. I’m just…grumpy. Will you be here after school?”

Nick looked to Lani for the answer to that and still seeing fear hiding behind her Mommy mask he gave Rosalie the first answer she liked of the day. “Yep. You stay with Mrs. Burns today, but we’ll have dinner and…how ‘bout a movie tonight?”

“Yay! Movie night! Popcorn, too?”

“Of course.”

Rosalie pulled away from Nick’s embrace and bounced off the bed, her mood back to the happy one he was more accustomed to. “Now I’m ready for school. Nicky made it better.”

Ruffling her daughter’s hair as she walked by, Lani looked up to her love in her bed, hair mussed, bags under his eyes and one nipple ring standing on edge while the other one was in place. The smile that spread across her face started at her heart, slipped down to her big toe and back up filling her with a joy and peace she had forgotten anyone was allowed to have. “Nicky’s good at making things better, isn’t he?”

Warmth spread through his body in her words, the love in her eyes, in the memory of the love they had made just hours before in the bed he now rested. No sound came from his lips, but the message was clear as he mouthed the words. “I love you.”

“I love you, too…”

“Oh come ON! We gonna be late, Mamí!”

“José, just don’t even start with me, dude.” Ben grabbed the basketball out from under the fence around the center’s basketball court and slowly dribbled it back into play, keeping his eye on the thorn-in-his-side-du-jour.

“Aw, whatsa matter, Benny? Did Erin cut you off or something?”

Ben shot the basketball, cussing under his breath when he not only missed, but horribly missed. “Just shut up and play.”

“That’s it! She cut you off, didn’t she? No more nookie for Benny…”

Ben charged at José, stealing the ball from his hands in a terribly illegal but easy play with this sad version of a pick-up game. “Erin did not cut me off, dick. Can’t you just…” He ran in for a lay-up and made it this time, feeling stronger already. This kid was going to be the death of him. “…play and not talk?”

“No, man. It’s more fun to piss you off.” José got the rebound and took a shot, standing under the basket as he and Ben waited for it to roll around the rim before falling off the side. “Damn.”

“At least you got it to the basket this time.”

“You think you’re the shit, don’t you, Casey? Why don’t you come down to the creek and show us what a man you are, huh? Or you just too pussy whipped to hang with the guys anymore?”

Ben grabbed the ball and shoved it under his arm, looking incredulously at his nemesis. “You think that creek is where manhood comes out? God, you’re dumber than I thought.”

“Are you gonna play or preach?”

Ben let the ball slip from under his arm and stood still dribbling it in place, eyeing José down, trying to prove to José that he was in charge of this situation. If only he could convince himself. “I thought you hated basketball.”

“Not as much as I hate Miss Romero…so shoot so I don’t have to go in and deal with that bitch.”

Ben tossed the ball right into José’s gut, using his fury from the previous week as an extra push. His mother, her boyfriend, the move, everything. He hadn’t spoken to his mom in days and he really had no intention to start again until she assured him that Darren was gone from the picture. It was an ugly battle of wills but he was determined to win.

José let out a gasp of air and tried to grab the ball to throw it back, but it was swiped out from under him as he stumbled for breath.

“Who you callin’ a bitch, dawg?”

Ben stepped back and grabbed another ball, taking his practice to a the other half-court, letting the visitor take things from there.

José looked up to the new voice and smirked, not recognizing him or giving two cents that he towered over him. Size intimidated him not. “Miss Romero…dawg. Who the hell are you?”

“Your worst nightmare if you don’t stop talkin’ shit about the best thing to come into your life.” Nick dribbled the ball and took an easy shot, never even lifting his feet from the pavement. “You must be José.”

“Yeah…what’s it to you?”

Seeing that Ben had found something else to do, Nick wrapped his arm around the younger boy’s shoulders and walked him back into the center, leaving their ball to bounce into the grass. “Not much, ‘til you start talkin’ junk on Miss Romero. Then we have some issues.”

“What are you, her body guard or something?”

“You could say that.” When they reached the door, Nick grabbed the back of José’s neck and gently pushed him inside, following closely behind. When his eyes landed on the wavy, chocolate mane of Solana’s hair as she bent over the computer helping another child, he had smile and regroup. “Señorita Romero?”

Her gaze began professionally, but as soon as her dark eyes met Nick’s shining blue, she couldn’t hide the sparkle in her own. Seeing who he had by the neck, however, she quickly changed back into the pro she needed to be.

“Yes, Señor Carter.”

“I’ve got someone here who would love to help you clean up before everyone goes home.”

“José? You came in to help?”

“Not real-“ José felt the hand tighten around his neck and jerked away from it, but changed his tune. “Sure. Whatever.”

Solana pointed over to the craft table and smiled. “We just finished and I haven’t gotten to it yet. The glue will need a warm, wet rag.”

Nick took hold of José’s arm and leaned into his ear, reminding him that he’d crossed an unforgivable line. “I’ll be over to check your work in 10 minutes.”

José turned to Nick and glared, venom seeping from between his already evil words. “Fuck. Off.”

Nick smiled sweetly at the brat and turned to head back outside to Ben. “Un momento, Señor Carter…”

He stopped on a dime and smiled, his back still to her. “Sí, Señorita Romero?”

He heard her whispering to the student she was working with and felt her come up behind him, his breath quickening just at her presence. He’d spent the entire week at her home and it was just one step shy of heaven, he was convinced. No woman had ever had this effect on him. He couldn’t decide if he loved it, or if it scared him. When her hand touched his back, he went with his first choice. He loved it. “What business brought you here today…Mr. Carter?”

He couldn’t maintain the professional stance anymore and let his smile deteriorate hers as well. “I thought I’d get Rosalie today again…save you the trip.”

“Ah. That’d be great. I’ll call and tell them to expect you.”

“Okay.” He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to shoo the kids out of the center and throw her on her back on one of the work tables…hell, even the glue stickied one José was miserably cleaning…and have his way with her. She still had an ounce of fear in her eyes that had never dissipated from the first night he stayed, but he was determined to do everything in his power to help remove that fear. But, he knew it was really up to her. His job for now was normalcy. “Can I bring Ben?”

“Yeah…I’m worried about him.”

“Me too. I’ve got something to tell him I’m not sure is going to go over very well.”

She asked with but a questioning glance and a welcome shift in roles. It was her turn to be concerned for him. “What is it?”

“Aaron called. He needs m-…he’s…” Nick stopped fumbling and ran a hand through his hair. The occasion was a happy one. The reason was not. “He’s going to be joining all of us for Thanksgiving.”

As soon as Nick finished his sentence, the screen door to the basketball court slammed shut and Nick and Lani broke from one another’s gaze to see who had come in.

Or gone out.

“Aw, Jesus…” Nick took a run for the door waving a quick good-bye to Lani. “It was Ben. I’ll go get him.”