"Mia, love," I said. "I think you need to go and speak to him."
She sighed and shifted against me. We were sitting in the living room watching one of the Harry Potter movies. It had been Mia's night to decide.
"I know," she said. "I just don't know what to say to him, Luc."
"Maybe you need to stop thinking about it and start with something."
"He called you sick."
"I've been called worse," I reminded her. Sick was relatively tame. We both knew some of the things I had done and would continue to do.
"You love him, Mia. He's your Dad and you need to sort it out with him. You're going to talk to him this week."
"Luc," Mia whined. She avoided anything that made her uncomfortable, but the longer this went on the more I worried the damage would become irreparable and I knew Mia wouldn’t be able to live with herself if that happened.
"End of discussion," I told her firmly. "One of you needs to start that conversation and it's obviously not going to be him."
She let out another sigh before clapping her hands down at the puppy, who looked up at her. "Come here, Cerb. Come on, boy."
I had let Mia name their new addition and naturally, she had chosen Cerberus. A hellhound. Hades dog. Cerberus hopped up onto her lap and sprawled out across both our legs. Mia scratched between his ears and watched as Cerb's tongue popped out. Dopey mutt was almost as obsessed with her as I was.
"I'll go see him," Mia said quietly.
"You'll feel better once you do."
Later that week, I told Mia that I would be home late, and with her preoccupied with the Moretti twins she didn't ask many questions. I worried less when I knew Mia was in their company. Gabe wasn't an idiot and would be able to protect them if anything happened. That and the fact she had settled in with a family whose name carried a lot of weight had elevated Mia in the opinion of people who had yet to meet her.
Leaving work, I took the route to Hector's house and parked before knocking on the door. Hector answered looking less than impressed that I was standing on his doorstep. After losing my Dad suddenly and seeing what happened with Mom's condition, I was determined to see Hector and Mia back on talking terms. I might have thought he was a waste of space, but Mia adored him.
"What do you want, Foster?" Hector asked. "Payment isn't until the end of the week."
Hector walked back into the house and I stepped inside. Mia hadn't spoken to Hector and I knew it was eating away at her. Especially with the amount of time that she'd been spending with Mom at the hospital and home.
"Hector, I wanted to discuss something with you," I said to the older man.
"Is it to do with Mia?"
"Yes, actually."
Taking a seat, he gestured to the chair opposite him. At least he hadn’t attempted to throw me out of the house. Sobriety had obviously allowed him to engage what was left of his brain.
"Is she okay?" Hector asked me, the worry etched lines into his face.
"She's hurting, Hector."
He made a disgruntled sound and I hadn't realised just how stubborn both of them were.
"She wants to come and talk to you," I told him.
"Then why isn't she here?" Hector asked. "Because you won't let her?"
I let the comment slide. Over the past few weeks with Mia, I had done a lot of thinking that had led me to this moment. "That's my first reason for being here."
"What?"
"I'm wiping your debt clean."
"I'm sorry, what?" Hector asked in disbelief.
