"If you need to talk, don't be afraid to come to me," Conrad quietly informs Sabrina, not looking up from her magazine.
"Whatever," Sabrina mumbles sulkily.
"Sabrina, you're allowed to have big feelings, but you're not allowed to be rude," Carlos warns her sharply, looking across the aisle at them.
They're flying to Conrad's pack, and Sabrina is still barely speaking to them.
Conrad was worried about her, but Carlos mainly was just annoyed. Sabrina had yelled at him for two days in a row, and he had grounded her. She couldn't use her tablet for a week, and he warned her that it would increase if she continued to be rude to them.
"Yes, I am. I didn't want to come here, and if I have to, I don't know why I have to act excited," Sabrina snarls.
Conrad silently passes Sabrina one of the books she slipped into her bag before they left the house.
Sabrina reluctantly takes it, pulling the blanket over her legs and curling up in her seat.
Don't try to reason with her; she's still angry. It's like raising a teenager already, Conrad exclaims over their link.
At this rate, she'll kill me before she hits thirteen, Carlos chuckles.
He's terrible at staying annoyed with his daughter, but she doesn't know that, so he'll happily ease up when she isn't acting up.
After a few minutes of silence, Conrad feels Sabrina's head lean against her shoulder, and a quick glance at the girl tells her she's fast asleep.
She's asleep, Conrad informs Carlos, not moving from her spot.
Good. I think she needs it. She hasn't been sleeping too well since I told her about Lauren wanting to meet her. She really doesn't want to meet her, Carlos sighs.
I know that; I think everybody knows that. My mom has loads of presents for her for when we land, so hopefully, the bribes will at least put her in a good mood, Conrad shrugs, tapping her foot.
Are you going to the funeral home tonight or tomorrow?, Carlos asks, glancing at his fiancee quickly.
He sees her face scrunch up briefly, but then it returns to normal.
Tonight. I have to organise the funeral, Conrad sadly responds.
Does her mother know yet?, Carlos queries.
She was told about it. Whether or not she knows that it's real or not, is another matter, Conrad murmurs, closing her magazine.
She hasn't seen Charlotte's body. She doesn't want to, because she knows that she won't be able to handle it.
Well, I can go with you, if you want. Sabrina will stay with your parents; she loves them, Carlos suggests hesitantly.
Conrad doesn't look over at him, because she's trying to focus on not crying.
Do you want me to get you some water?, he offers.
She shakes her head, inhaling deeply.
Charlotte wouldn't want us grovelling over her death. Who am I kidding, yes she would. She'd just love this constant upset, Jane whines, she would be delighted to know how many people are mourning her.
Conrad ignores her wolf, letting her eyes focus on her magazine again.
Carlos watches her in concern.
He doesn't know what she's going through, and hasn't tried to act like he does; he never had a friendship like hers and Charlotte's. He never had anyone particularly close to him, never mind a friendship.
I think Laurie is the closest thing I have to a best friend, he muses, and that isn't a good thing.
Laurie, while extremely loyal, was a gossip. Carlos told her the bare essentials, because she couldn't keep her mouth shut about anything. He didn't trust her enough to give her knowledge of substance, even though he did appreciate her.
He supposes it was his own fault he didn't have many friends, even as a child. He was always too busy working and minding his mother to be engaged in many extracurriculars. He never had time to go on any dates or to any parties like his classmates always had. This was without considering how awkward he got around people, so Carlos thinks his absence may have been to the benefit of his school colleagues.
The circumstances of his birth had added to his isolation, but Carlos knows that if he had tried, he probably could have broken away from that identity.
He reluctantly makes up his mind to try to make more friends, if only for Conrad, so that they could socialise together and possibly get her mind off work.
She thinks about work too much. She'll probably go into labour still thinking about some project she had to do, or an email she never got back to, he chuckles to himself.
With the decision made that he was going to make friends, Carlos settles into his seat with his phone, opening the book he had downloaded. Conrad had warned both of them to have distractions, because she didn't want to listen to them arguing for three hours.
The flight attendant passes them all a bottle of water, Carlos passing one along to the man beside him, offering him a toothy smile.
The man looks slightly alarmed, and Carlos quickly turns back to his phone.
Less teeth next time, maybe. I know I look scary, Carlos critiques himself, my therapist will die of laughter when she finds out I'm trying to make friends.
He slowly dozes off, only to be woken by Conrad cursing.
"What's wrong?" He mumbles, slowly opening his eyes. He immediately shuts them again the second the light hits his corneas, groaning quietly.
"We're here. I need help with the bags," Conrad informs him in a clipped tone, tugging at the strap of Sabrina's backpack.
Carlos quickly stands up, lifting the bag down and passing it to his daughter. He eases Conrad's weekender tote out from under someone else's bag, and then grabs the sports bag he had brought with them.
With all of the stuff gathered, Conrad lets Sabrina lead them down the aisle, the little girl secretly proud to have been given the responsibility.
Conrad rubs her face, sighing as she follows.
What's wrong?, Carlos asks, glancing at her as he walks by her side.
I feel like shit, and I look like shit, she grumbles, glancing down at her tracksuit bottoms.
You look gorgeous, Carlos admonishes, frowning down at her.
I look like I have the plague, she replies, raising an eyebrow.
Then you're the most beautiful plague victim that I've ever seen, he chuckles, gently steering Sabrina towards the exit.
"Oh, there's Barbara and Silas," Sabrina exclaims, throwing her bag onto the floor and running towards the couple.
"Hello!" Barbara chirps with equal excitement, accepting the young girl's tight hug.
"Hi!" Sabrina grins, hugging Silas next, who pats her back.
"Hello," Silas nods to Carlos gruffly, hugging his daughter tightly.
"Do we need to make any stops?" Barbara asks, leading them out to the parking lot.
"No," Conrad states firmly, ready to give evil eyes to any of the other three who disagree.
She wants her bed, and she wants lunch.
"What time are you guys gonna go for your meeting?" Barbara asks, opening the car door for Conrad.
"Uh, we're meeting them tomorrow. We decided to come down early so Conrad could see Marcy before the burial," Carlos informs Barbara quietly, getting into the car once the girls are in.
Barbara climbs into the passenger seat silently, her heart heavy.
"Can we see the rest of your pack later?" Sabrina asks, craning her neck to look out the window from her car seat.
"Of coursed you can, sweet pea. I got Conrad's truck all fixed up, so you'll be able to go anywhere you want," Silas states, glancing in the mirror. Conrad's face breaks into a small smile when she hears about her truck, making eye contact with her dad.
He looks back at the road, but Conrad continues to examine his face in the mirror.
He looks older than he did when she last saw him, and she bites her lip. She knows that she's probably the cause, her and all of the drama following her.
"Are we going to go out for dinner later?" Sabrina asks, leaning forward.
"Don't be rude!" Carlos whispers, pursing his lips.
"No, no. It's not rude. We were thinking we might just order food for the house so that we can all spend some time together. We haven't spent much time as a family, as I don't know if Conrad told you, but we spend a lot of time together usually," Barbara explains.
Sabrina looks slightly bored by this, but she nods along, kicking her legs.
She hits the back of Barbara's seat until Carlos reaches over and places a firm hand on her knees, shaking his head.
Sabrina reluctantly stops, opening the book on her lap again.
As soon as they arrived at Conrad's childhood home, she went to bed.
She didn't wait for anyone to tell her it was okay; she simply went and burrowed underneath the duvet and sheets to get some sleep.
Carlos was left with Sabrina, and her parents in the kitchen, where Barbara was heating up some soup and Silas was slicing bread.
"Sabrina, are you fast at running?" Silas asks, and Sabrina nods.
"Yeah, I'm really fast. I'm one of the best in my grade. I'm good at gymnastics, too, but I'm awful at football," she answers, peering at the chopping board.
He hands her a slice of bread, which she takes, a grin on her face as she skips back to the table.
"You and Connie should go for a drive later, Carlos. We can take care of Sabrina; I'm sure she'd love to have some peace and quiet away from the two of you," Barbara teases, putting the soup into bowls.
The decision to go for a drive was made easily.
Sabrina had practically shoved them out of the door as soon as Conrad had woken up, a few hours later. She was thrilled to be getting attention from Barbara and Silas; she had never had grandparents before, and she was relishing in a new experience.
They had pulled into a field that was sometimes used for training drills during the summer, and they had thought about sitting on the grass to look at the stars. It was dusk, and Conrad knew it would get dark pretty fast.
The grass being damp changed their plans, and they had settled on the bonnet of Conrad's truck.
"I want our kids to be happy. I want them to be fair and to be smart. I'd love if they could be a part of the human world; I think it's so beneficial," Carlos muses, looking at the scattered stars.
Conrad's back is getting a little sore against the hard metal of the car, but she turns her head to look at him.
"The human world is so different. I think they do better schooling, but it's such a change. I'd want our kids to be safe, and safety seems to be on packland," she sighs.
Carlos gently takes her hand, kissing the back of it.
"I just know that the world will be safer when our baby is born. I'll make sure of it, for you, Sabrina, and the baby," he states lazily, letting his head lean against the window.
"The baby. Our baby. Baby Grace," Conrad murmurs, her free hand on her small bump.
"Grace? No way. Baby Sage, Daphne, Fiadh, Seraphine... Even Carla, but not Grace, I hate that name," he grumbles, shaking his head.
"Baby Sage? It won't be green," Conrad snorts, sitting up.
"That's my favourite name. We could use it for a boy, or a girl, and it begins with 'S', like Sabrina does. They could have that little connection; it could make her feel involved," he points out.
"I'm thawing to that name now, but I'm not saying yes," Conrad rolls her eyes, curling up beside him.
He notices her eyes slowly closing, and he can't help the smile that breaks out onto his face.
"Will we head home?" He asks softly, and Conrad nods.
"Yeah, let's go home. We have a grim day tomorrow," she mumbles, sliding off the bonnet reluctantly.
Carlos makes sure she lands on the ground, opening the drivers door for her.
Her truck is a stick, and he never learned how to drive stick, so while he wishes he could give her a break, she had warned him before they had gotten in that she would do the driving for a change.
Here we go, closer to the end!! I have this book finished and I think I'll upload the final few chapters tomorrow!
I just had a crap milkshake. It was not worth the €5. Never again.
Currently obsessed with Eleanor Neale's crime videos on YouTube. Big lover of true crime here.
Lots of love!!
- Aoife :) xx