“I didn’t know how to tell you…” he breathes, his voice cracking. “But it’s him, Elijah. The guy she left with.”
His hands fall to his lap like dead weight.
“It’s why he looked so goddamn familiar. It just took me a while to place him.”
I hold my breath, leaning in. “Who?” I ask, gently wiping away another tear.
He stills. The fidgeting stops. He looks me straight in the eyes. “Gabriel,” he exhales. “He’s the father of Meera’s child.”
“No!” Teya screams.
But her voice barely touches me. I get to my feet and walk around to the other side of Alex. I drop my hands gently on his shoulders, grounding him. Grounding myself.
His breath shudders, chest rising and falling in uneven rhythm. He won’t look at me. I lower myself until we’re eye to eye. I tilt forward, breath brushing his ear.
“I’m going to kill him.”
Alex flinches, but doesn’t stop me when I pull away and head toward the door.
Teya gasps, finally finding her voice again. “Elijah, wait?—”
But I’m already moving.
36
GABRIEL
“Come on,girls, let’s go! Steven’s waiting downstairs with the car!”
“We’re coming, Papi. Just a minute!” Ana calls back.
“I don’t know what takes so long to choose a pair of shoes. Just throw on some damn sneakers, and let’s boogie.”
Ana cranks her head around the doorway of her bedroom. “Seriously, Papi?Boogie?Is that the gay word of the day?” She glances down at my bare feet and smirks. “Newsflash—gay guys takewaylonger to pick out shoes. Case in point.”
“I’m ready!” Emilee chimes in, a little breathless, sliding up behind my snarky daughter. “Thank goodness my dad isn’tthatgay.” She laughs, brushing past her.
Ana bursts out laughing as the two of them haul their duffel bags toward the elevator.
“Give it time, Em. My dad’s gayness is totally contagious.”
I shake my head, grinning, knowing I’ve lost this round. “Enjoy your week at school, girls.”
They giggle their way onto the elevator, and I can’t help but smile.
Ana is just like me, always ready for the opportunity to slide in a joke. And, also like me, she’s really good at it.
Heaven help us all.
Smiling proudly, I shove my hands into my pockets and stroll over to the windows, just in time to catch a glimpse of the girls piling into the town car. I blink hard—my eyes burn from the lack of sleep, barely two hours if I’m being generous. Granted, I arrived at my boyfriend’s apartment in the middle of the night. But sleep? It was nowhere in sight. Not once I stripped off my clothes and crawled under the sheets beside him, wrapped in his ridiculously cute pajamas. We didn’t even have sex. Not that it mattered. Just being naked and next to him was all the stimulation I needed to keep from getting some shut-eye.
He, on the other hand, slept like an angel.
Still watching my daughter through the windows, I snort as she animatedly chatters away with Steven before sliding into the back seat of the car. Her arms wave wildly in the air; her smile as bright as the sun. I chuckle when I catch Steven bent over in a fit of laughter. It never fails to warm my heart, to see the effect she has on people.
Ana has made Elijah and me so damn proud. The ease with which she embraces everyone—gay, straight, trans—whoever, never ceases to amaze me. No judgment. No hesitation. Just open arms and that signature smile of hers, always ready to meet the world head-on.
I lean my forehead against the cool glass, my thoughts drifting off fifteen years. I remember that day as if it were just yesterday—Elijah and I were about to become parents.
