“That depends,” she said carefully. “Which one?”
“The one where I ask you what you want to do with your life and how I can help you get there. I know you don’t need handouts, Dinora. Please don’t take it that way. I’m not asking you how I can wave a magic wand and fix your life, because I don’t think for a second that your life needs fixing. You and Mia are incredible women. You’re both wicked smart, insanely strong, and you’re raising five of the most well-behaved, well-adjusted kids I’ve ever met in my life. I’d be an asshole if I ever suggested that what you were doing wasn’t working, so if your answer to my question is that you want to keep your life exactly the way it is, you’ll never hear me say another word about it.”
“And if my answer is something different?”
“Then I’d offer my assistance however I could. I know a lot of people, Nora, and a lot of those people owe me favors. There’s no doubt in my mind that one phone call from me could get your foot in the door somewhere, and then you’d kick the fucker down.”
She exhaled hard through her nose and sucked her teeth. “If you were anybody else, Oliver Bishop, I’d tell you to fuck off. But you’re you, and I know this is coming from a good place. The truth is, I’m not happy with my life. I love my kids, and I love my sister and my little Rio. What we have is simple. But it’s hard. I don’t need your help getting my foot in the door somewhere. I don’t need your money, either. What I need is the same thing my sister needs. Time. We need time to better our own lives, which is something we haven’t had since my husband passed away.”
I reached out to take her hands. “I don’t expect any of this to happen overnight. But I talked to my brother and worked some things out, and I’m planning on taking some time off from the workforce. If you and Mia use that time to follow your dreams, then all the better. But I’ve got you guys, Dinora. All of you.”
She stared at my hand until I wondered if I should pull it back, but then she squeezed it. “Then you’ve got me too, Oliver. You just have to convince the boys. The sooner we get somewhere that Anthony can’t find my sister, the better.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’ll be too hard,” I said, smiling widely. “It was you I was worried about.”
“Good,” she laughed. “Maybe you’re smarter than you look after all.”
I drew back my hand like she burned me and gasped dramatically, but she was right, and I wasn’t about to fight her on it. “Tonight, then. I’ll talk to them all tonight.”
~
“So what do you think?” I asked, staring at the five boys with a hopeful expression. “Do you want to move into my place?”
“No,” Jago said simply. “I don’t want to move.”
“I do!” Rio argued. “You loved his house too, and we’d get to see Ollie every day. I wanna go!” He launched himself into my arms and I caught him quickly, then sat down so he could sit on my leg.
“It’ll be an easy move, Jago,” I said gently. “And you’ll have more room.”
“Can I go in the attic?” Alex asked quickly. “It was cool up there.” Carlo hastily agreed, but both of them seemed nervous to upset Jago by going against what he wanted.
Valentino was the quietest one, but he must have felt it was time to speak up. “I don’t hate the idea, and we could bring all our stuff, right?”
“You’re just cool because we’re moving closer to Luna!” Jago crossed his arms, looking slightly caged from no one having his back.
The last thing I wanted was for him to agree because he felt like he had to. “Yeah, Val. You can bring all your stuff, and if we all agree to do this, I’ll take you over there this weekend to pick your rooms. In the meantime, why don’t you guys go help your mom clean up from dinner? I’d like to talk to Jago, just us.”
They all piled out one after the other, leaving Jago and I staring at each other in silence, but the silence didn’t last long. “What happens when you don’t want us anymore?”
Pain lanced through my chest at the thought, and not just because the prospect of leaving them hurt me. I hated thinking about the things Jago must’ve gone through to even ask a question like that. “Jago, I can’t promise the future. None of us knows what will happen tonight, let alone in five or ten years. But what I do know is that I love your aunt, and all of you, too. So even if something happens with me and Titi and our relationship doesn’t work out, I’ll never stop wanting any of you. I’m the odd man out here, bud. I’m a little worried that you guys won’t want me.”
He frowned like I was crazy, then completely surprised me when he responded. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to us in years, Ollie. We all love when you’re around, I just don’t want that to ever change. I don’t like change.”
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand, but I didn’t want to bog him down with what-ifs or promises I couldn’t possibly know I could keep. Instead, I used that as a jumping off point to switch tactics. “Not all change is bad. My house has a pretty good view, for example.”
“You live in a cul-de-sac,” he deadpanned, but I could see the amusement behind his scowl.
“Not that kind of view.” I glanced around to make sure everyone else was occupied, then pulled the picture of Tanner and his dad that I’d stolen off the poor kid’s Facebook. I wasn’t the type to come unarmed. “Here.” I handed the phone over and dropped my voice. “Meet Tanner Castillo. One year above you at the school you’d be transferring to. He’s a football player, openly gay, and single. Is that view a little better than a cul-de-sac?”
He stared at the photo for a few seconds longer and then met my eyes with a smirk. “You think you can bribe me with hot dudes?” He shook his head as he stood up and tossed me my phone, then walked out the room. I scrambled after him, and when we walked into the living room everyone turned to look at him like they’d been waiting on his answer. “You guys win, we’re moving. Oh, and I’m gay.”
My jaw about hit the floor, but no one else’s did.
Valentino waved him off like it was old news as he shoved a piece of tortilla in his mouth, Alex and Carlo exchanged confused looks, and Dinora snorted.
“And the sky is blue and it snows in the north,” she said. “Tell me something I don’t know, mijo.”
He blushed, especially when Rio asked what it meant, but I could tell Jago felt a million times lighter. “I don’t think you want me to go there, Mamá.”