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Mom looked as beautiful as ever, her makeup sparse, her short blond hair artfully messy. She wore a summer dress, black thatfaded into the same charcoal gray as Dad’s suit. They made a striking couple, and Nick thought of leaning on a railing overlooking the ocean, a lighthouse in the distance, something that came out of nowhere and made his throat constrict. He didn’t know why. That had been a happy day. He had the photographic evidence sitting on his desk to prove it.
As they got closer, there was something on Dad’s face that Nick didn’t like, the set to his jaw, a tightness around his eyes. Mom was smiling, but it wasn’t as bright as it normally was.
“Hey, kid,” Dad said as Mom reached out and straightened Nick’s collar. “Sorry we’re late.”
“What happened?” Nick asked as he accepted a side hug from Dad once Mom had finished fussing over him. “Work stuff?”
“I had to drag him home,” Mom said. “You know how it is.”
Dad chuckled, but it didn’t seem like he found anything humorous. “Always something that needs attention.” He looked around, waving at those in attendance, shouting happy birthday at Jazz, who grinned and thanked him.
“Everything all right?” Cap asked, and Nick didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse. Cap had noticed something off, too, which meant it wasn’t Nick overreacting.
Dad said, “Well, I think we need to—”
“Focus on the reason we’re here,” Mom said firmly, and she and Dad glanced at each other for a beat or two, having one of those silent conversations long-term couples seemed to have. “Tonight is for celebrating.” She squeezed Mary’s arm in greeting before leading Dad away toward Jazz.
“You caught that, right?” Nick said, staring at his parents. “It’s not just me?”
Mary said, “I don’t think that—”
“Yeah,” Cap said, and Mary bit her bottom lip. “I caught that.” He frowned, his mustache twitching. “Probably nothing, but with everything that’s been going on as of late, I don’t think they’d keep something from us.” He looked at Nick. “Fromyou.They learned their lesson after the whole… you know.” He shuffled awkwardly as Mary sighed.
“Lying to me about what I could do and making me take medication that hid a major part of my life?” Nick suggested.
“That,” Mary agreed. “And you won’t hear either of us defending that decision.”
“They love you,” Cap said. “That’s not something you should ever question. They did what they thought was right. We’re not your parents, Nick, so I’m not sure how much we should get involved, but you’re allowed to be angry at what happened.”
“I don’t know how to fix it,” Nick admitted. “I think I’m getting past it, and then I’m reminded of what happened, and it starts all over again.”
“Have you thought about therapy?” Mary asked. “It seems to be helping with your father.” Jazz said something that caused both Mom and Dad to laugh loudly. “He seems happier, no?”
“Kind of hard to go to therapy and talk about anything real when people are trying to kill you and you can’t tell them that part. Makes it difficult to trust anyone. And I can’t take the chance that I’d let something slip.”
Mary frowned, brow furrowed. “That shouldn’t stop you, Nick. Doctor-patient confidentiality exists. It may take a bit of research to find a good therapist, but if that’s something you think you need, I would hope you’d bring it up. Cap goes.”
Nick glanced at Cap. “I didn’t know that.”
“Didn’t like it at first,” Cap said gruffly. “Felt weird talking to a stranger about things. It’s gotten easier. I needed it, I think. As much as I try and tell myself I’m all right with how things played out with the NCPD, that’s not exactly true. There’s a lot of anger and betrayal to work through. Haven’t said a thing about you kids,” he added quickly, “in case you were wondering.”
“I know you wouldn’t, Cap.”
“It’s helping,” Cap said quietly. “I think the same could be said about your dad. He’s keeping up with it, just like he promised you and your mom. I know you three had a rough go of it, but never doubt the love they have for you.” Cap held up his hand before Nick could interject. “Yes, I know they went about it in a terrible way, but I will always believe it came from a good place.”
Nick nodded. “So he’s happy, because he’s in therapy, and that explains everything.”
“What else could there be?” Mary asked.
To that, Nick had no answer.
The rest of the party went off without a hitch. No one crashed the Kensington home, no villain tried to destroy them while cackling manically. It was just that: a party with people who cared for each other. They laughed, they danced, they ate until they could barely move. Mateo took a break, pulling Chris onto the dance floor, much to the surprise of Nick and his friends, but apparently not to anyone else. “We do have eyes,” Aysha told Nick when he asked why she wasn’t freaking out like he was. “It’s pretty obvious. They’re smitten with each other.”
“I don’t understand anything,” Seth said faintly as Mateo dipped Chris so low his back almost touched the ground.
Jazz was the center of attention, and rightly so. The cake her parents brought out was massive, three tiers of thick white frosting over red velvet. They sang to her once again, and when they’d finished, she scrunched up her face for a moment before blowing out all the candles in one go.
He was on the makeshift dance floor—just a thick carpet on top of the stone patio—swaying side to side, holding Seth close, neither of them speaking. Nick was trying to keep track of his feet to make sure he didn’t step on Seth, but he soon gave up, letting the music wash over them. Seth barely even winced when Nick messed up, and never complained.
