Page 127 of No Merciful Corruption

I hug her back and when she pulls away I reach for my phone. Lyss is crying too but her red face and teary eyes aren’t as well-lit as ours.

“I wish I was there with you,” she sniffles quietly.

“You are,” I tell her. “You are always with me.”

Not even Lettie is immune to the emotion of the moment. She smiles and presses her hands against her wet cheeks, discreetly hiding her tears.

“I’ve never been so excited in my entire life,” she says.

I turn the test over in my hands a few times just to feel how real it is.

I can’t wait to tell Alejandro.

LOVE IS A COLOR AND A FEELING

Alejandro

Dahlia and Lettie have been acting strange all week.

Almost every day this week they’ve gone out shopping and when they get home, they lock themselves in Lettie’s room and won’t let anyone inside. Not even Allegra. They whisper and they conspire and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were plotting something. Only question is what.

When the secret glances at dinner become too much I say, “The two of you look like you’re up to no good.”

Lettie’s jaw drops and Dahlia sits up straighter in her seat as their voices overlap.

“I am not!” My sister proclaims indignantly while my wife opts for a more demure, “You are imagining things.”

I cut them both a look of suspicion before turning to Diego and Karina for back up. Karina couldn’t care less about what’s happening on the other side of the table and focuses on eating her steamed broccoli while Diego pours himself his third glass of wine for the evening. Allegra sits on my lap and every once in a while I look down to see her depositing one vegetable after the other on my plate. She’s already starting to grow out of the desire to be held and carried everywhere and now insists on having her own big girl seat at the dinner table. Except on nights like tonight when one of her least favorite dishes is being served.

Then it’s “Tio this” and “Tio that” and “Tio I want to sit with you” and this Tio is the idiot who lets her. I’m terrible with children; I used to do this with Lettie all the time. It’s why she grew up to be a spoiled, undisciplined brat. I indulged her in whatever she pleased and it seems Allegra has inherited her aunt’s skill of eyelash batting and pretty pleading. And I’m the fool who continues to fall for it.

“I was thinking,” Dahlia takes a sip of her water. “We should go on a date.”

“A date?”

“Yes, a date.”

Allegra’s head pops up at that. “Me too!”

Dahlia smiles and reaches across the table for her hand to kiss it. “This is a grown up, date Lela.”

“Grown up?” I tease. “How grown up?”

“Alex.”

I cover Allegra’s ears. “Rated R?”

Dahlia laughs.

“PG-13? Either way, I’m delighted.”

“Do you mind?” Diego says. “My child is at the dinner table.”

Dahlia removes my hands from Allegra’s ears. Her head swings back and forth between the two of us, particularly vexed at having been excluded from the conversation. “Me too!” she insists.

“Lela, want to go get gelato later?” Lettie suggests.

She gasps and nods, previous complaints forgotten.