Abel (5th Street 4)

“I found it,” Caro held up the box to show Abel. “I forgot I slipped it in my apron pocket.

Abel eyed the box suspiciously then looked back at Nellie, who took one big satisfying spoonful of the sopa and grinned.

“That’s right.” Caro said as she began out the door.” Eat up so you can get all your strength back. I have to go get dinner started now.”

Abel lay down next to Nellie again, careful not to spill her fideo. “I told you she’d be taking over.”

“If the rest of her food is as good as this,” Nellie said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, “I’m not complaining.”

“Oh, no!” Abel’s head fell back. “I should’ve known her cooking would win you over. That woman knows exactly what she’s doing. That’s how she got Charlee too.” Abel lifted his hands and made a buzzing sound as held them up in front of Nellie. “Tractor beam. She’s already sucking you in.”

Nellie laughed. He didn’t know the half of it. But she’d keep her conversation with his mom to herself for now. He’d notice the pendant eventually, and then she’d tell him. Right now, she was still feeling all warm fuzzy about what his mom had said to him. She didn’t want him making light of it and taking anything from it. Nellie had seen the look in his mother’s eyes—heard the emotion in her voice. This was no ploy to get on Nellie’s good side or “suck her in.” She’d meant every word she said, and so had Nellie.

“But I do need to eat,” she smirked, dipping her spoon into the fideo. “You want me to get all my strength back, right?”

That wiped the silly smile off Abel’s face, and his eyes widened. “I don’t think that’s why she said it,” he said, already scooting closer and kissing her softly, “but I like how your thinking. Eat up, baby.”

Nellie did just as she was told because she was already having visions of breaking in her new bed.

***

By the end of the week, Nellie insisted that she felt one-hundred percent better from her asthma, but the morning sickness had kicked in pretty bad. Abel wasn’t letting her go anywhere.

Abel had been right about Hector being lucky to get two shots in on Andy before the guy went down. It was two shots exactly, one for each eye. Luckily for Andy, both Noah and Gio had been there to tear Hector off him. At first, Abel had laughed at the picture Noah texted him of Andy’s eyes swollen shut. But later, he worried Andy would press charges because, even though technically it’d happened in a boxing gym, neither of them had been in the ring and Hector hadn’t been wearing gloves.

Andy was going to press charges, but ended up dropping them when Felix threatened to drop him as his agent if he didn’t. Felix told Abel that his contract with Andy would be up after his fight anyway. He didn’t want to deal with a new agent with such a big fight coming, but once it was over he’d be cutting Andy off and finding another agent. For now, he’d make him think everything between the two of them was still business as usual.

Since Felix was in town, Nellie had assured Abel she’d be fine if he left her side for an hour or so to go have lunch with the guy. Her parents would be over anyway, and she knew that was the only reason he’d agreed to go. Her parents had hung out for a bit but had to go pick up Courtney at the airport. She’d gotten out of rehab today and was moving in with them.

Nellie was surprised to hear from her sister so soon, and she almost didn’t answer her call, afraid of what to expect. She hadn’t heard from Courtney in months, so she gave in and answered.

“Hey. How are you?”

“Eh, the asthma is better, but now I’m dealing with morning sickness. So, okay, I guess.” She sat up on the bed, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. “And you? How are you doing?”

“Oh my God, so much better.” Courtney sounded so upbeat that it surprised her. “You know how they say that it takes you hitting rock bottom to really get you to open your eyes about how f**ked up you really are? Well, that was definitely the case with me. Being in rehab opened up my eyes to so much. But forget about me, Nellie. Congrats. I hear you’re in love and that now you two have a baby on the way. And holy crap, you and Abel Ayala? Oh my God, you are so lucky. I can’t tell you how happy I am for you, but Nellie . . . I know right now is not the best time. You’re still recovering and you’re dealing with morning sickness. So once you’re feeling better, we really need to talk. There is a lot I need to say to you.”

Curious, but at the same time a bit nervous, Nellie chewed her bottom lip. “I can talk now.”

“I don’t want to get too heavy on you, and it’s a lot to dump on you all at once. Part of it I think you already know. I have major issues, Nell. Stuff I’m not proud of. I’ve been so jealous of you my whole life.”

They both went silent for a moment. Nellie was speechless. She’d always known her sister was spoiled and, yes, selfish. But she just thought she was one of those people who were never happy no matter how much they had. This was news to her.

“It’s true. You were always so complacent and sweet, and I was always such a brat, so deep inside I knew Mom and Dad loved you best.”

“Don’t say that,” Nellie gasped. “That’s not true.”

“No, it’s okay, Nell. I get it. Shit,” she laughed suddenly. “If I had two daughters like you and me, I’d love you more too. I was awful. But I’m really working on it. The old me would’ve been seething with jealousy right now that you’re with such a gorgeous, rich, and famous man. But, Nellie, I really truly am happy for you. There’s a lot more I wanna share with you about what I’ve learned about myself during this rehab stint, but not now. I know you need to rest, and you do sound a little tired, so I’ll let you go now.” She paused, and for a moment, there was an odd silence. “Nellie?” her sister’s voice squeaked, choking Nellie up again.