His eyes widened and then filled with tears. “We are?”
“Yep. Is that okay?”
He sniffled. “Yes.”
Miguel came over and handed me a tissue. I kissed his cheek. “Thanks, baby.” I wiped Cody’s eyes and had him blow his nose.
Cody wriggled in my arms. “I want to get Daddy’s picture.”
I set him down, and he ran toward his bedroom. I took the opportunity to take Miguel in my arms and kiss my man more thoroughly. It was all we’d been able to do for the past five days because Cody inevitably ended up in our bed pretty early in the evening. Neither of us had the heart to send him back to his room when he was so upset. Another reason to find a therapist for him.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Good so far,” I replied. “I’m not looking forward to telling Nico about Allie.”
“I get it,” he said.
My phone vibrated with a text. It was Tino.
Tino
OMW. Be there in ten.
Me
We’re ready to go.
“Tino will be here in ten minutes. Are you planning to go to work?”
He nodded. “I have some paperwork that has to be done before Albert’s show next week. And I’ll be checking on the special cake for Cody while I’m there.”
I kissed him again. “Thank you.” I held him tight and sighed. “I just want to hold you for the rest of the day.”
He hummed in contentment. “I like that idea.”
“Uncle Zach, I got a picture of Mommy too!” He was carrying two framed pictures and waving them around.
I reluctantly let Miguel go. “That’s great, Cody. Let’s get your jacket and get ready.”
“Okay!”
I gave Miguel one last kiss. “See you later.”
I got Cody to put the pictures in his Batman backpack. I wasn’t sure the prison would let him bring them in at all. Fingers crossed, we didn’t have any meltdowns. I already had pictures printed to give Nico that were not in frames, so, hopefully, they would do.
Tino was waiting for us when we got downstairs. “I just have to get Cody’s car seat out of my car,” I told him.
Tino got out of his Cadillac Escalade and came around to keep an eye on Cody while I wrestled his seat out of my car and into the SUV. I was struck by his resemblance to Marco. He didn’t have Marco’s bulk, but he was the same height and build but with a liberal sprinkling of gray in his short dark hair.
Cody was delighted when he found out there was a small video screen in the vehicle, and he could watch his favorite movie on the hour-long drive to Trenton. I had mixed feelings about that. Tino smirked at me. “How many times has he watchedEncanto?”
“I lost count after a million,” I replied.
The other man chuckled. “That’s kids for you.” He handed me a cell phone. “My brother, Michael, fixed your sister’s cell phone. He was able to rescue all the data and the pictures.”
I took the device from him. “That’s great. Please tell him I said thank you.”
“You can tell him yourself. He’ll be down here for the wake and the funeral.”
