Angel stared at the doorway for a while before laying down in the bed and passing out. The alcohol and weed created a barrier to keep what had happened at bay while he slept a total of ten hours.
When he opened his eyes again he felt instantly sad, and sick for obvious reasons, but he wasn't sure why there was such intense heartache in his chest. Lazily, Angel showered and got dressed before heading downstairs to find EZ on the couch looking much worse than he did.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, adding, "You look like shit," with a grin on his face.
"Zara left, Angel," EZ said sternly. "She's taking a few days, needed space and you need to step up."
"Shit," he hissed, realizing why he felt so sullen. "The fight."
"Yeah," huffed, standing up. "They slept well, I gave them some oatmeal and yogurt at 8, they've been napping since 10."
"Wait," Angel urgently called after EZ as he moved toward the door. "Where you going?"
"Home, man," he stifled a yawn. "I'm fucking exhausted."
"I need your help," Angel didn't hesitate to admit it. "She left me, little brother, I can't do this."
EZ sucked his teeth. "This is your fucking problem, Angel. I took care of them for twelve hours and they're not even my kids. Zara was right, you gotta grow up."
"EZ," Angel whimpered as his brother stepped onto the porch, "Ezekiel."
"Good luck, Angel, you're gonna need it."
—
While Angel was in full panic mode, Zara was much calmer albeit still distraught over the state of her marriage. There were two sharp knocks before the hotel room door opened.
"Nestor," she sighed, standing to greet him. "I appreciate this."
He smiled, greeting her with a hug, as Emily walked into the room. Nestor placed her suitcase by the door and with a nod stepped back out.
"Hi," Zara said shyly.
"Zara," Emily sighed as she opened her arms for a hug. "Are you okay?"
"Uh," she chuckled. "I'm okay. I'm sorry it came to this, I don't know what EZ told you about this but it's not like I needed support and tricked you or something like that."
Emily smiled a bit. "Nestor mentioned you wanted to talk when he ran it by me. He said it was less personal, more business related, but EZ did tell me what happened last night. I'm happy to be here for both reasons."
"Thank you," Zara chuckled, clearly relieved.
"How are you?" Emily asked with genuine concern.
"Fucking tired," she whimpered. "Angel is MIA all the time, I'm trying to raise these kids and be a good wife to a husband who is never there. I'm trying to appease Bastian while also trying to undermine what I can and get as far away from him as possible," she shook her head. "Can I ask you something?"
Emily nodded. "Of course."
"How did you make the jump from Emily to Mrs. Galindo?" Zara knew her question was incredibly vague but she also knew Emily understood.
"It wasn't a jump," she said, remembering the moments she didn't even know were changing her until it was too late. "It was a series of small steps, lots of bullshit justifications and blind eyes."
"And now?" Zara prodded. "Do you regret it? Do you...like who you've become?"
Emily frowned but gave a firm answer. "Yes. I've become who I had to be for my son and my husband. I can see on your face it's not the same for you."
Nodding in agreement, she whimpered. "Lately I've been afraid of myself," Zara admitted. She looked at her hands, out in front of her, and shook her head. "Angel has blood on him, literally, but it's on me too, isn't it? I let it happen, I cover for him with people, I would lie to cops for him. This isn't me. This isn't who I am. I'm not a bad person."
Emily looked at Zara, knowing all too well the battle raging internally. "Do you think Angel is a bad person?"
Her lips formed the word no but she didn't speak it, realizing despite her feelings for him, Angel was a bad man.
"You need to look that truth in the eye before you can work through this," Emily said with compassion. "I've been where you are and I made my decisions. I can't make them for you but I can get you where you need to be to make yours."
—
Angel was given a one hour reprieve from duty but once the twins woke up it was full throttle. Reina was first to open her eyes, a smile on her face when she saw Angel but Teddy didn't wake up quite as happy. He was like his father, no matter how long he'd been sleeping he was never happy to wake up.
"Alright," Angel huffed, scooping Teddy up and holding him close. "Chill out, kid. You don't have to freak out. It's just me."
With the twins on his hips, Angel carefully balanced his way down the steps and sat them in their play yard. He stood over the gate and looked at them, sitting side by side playing but not together, and shrugged.
"Cool," he turned and went to make himself some coffee. Moving about the kitchen he saw, even in her anger, that Zara left a few tips and pertinent information on the fridge. He read it carefully while the coffee brewed but, before the pot even finished, Reina was wailing from the other room. He burst out of the kitchen to see she was fine, a little red mark on her face the only evidence that something had happened.
"You're good," he said softly, giving her a big smile. "You're fine. It's okay." Angel tried again to get her to smile, wiping a fat tear from her eye, but only Teddy managed to help by inadvertently turning on one of the singing toys beside her.
With the note and mug in hand, Angel sat on the edge of the coffee table feeling trapped and uneasy. He didn't know what to do or what he could do. He was afraid to leave them for too long but wasn't sure what to do with them. So he sat and watched them play but after a few minutes he was bored and his mind wandered to Zara.
He wrestled with texting her but eventually did while doubting she'd reply.
"The kids are good. I hope you're okay. We gotta talk about this."
He was still angry, firm in his belief that she was wrong about everything, but he knew approaching her that way would only push her further. When she didn't immediately reply he grew uneasy so he sent out texts to Coco and Gilly, both of them replied supportively but when he asked if they'd come by they declined.
"Guys, what does Mom do with you all day?" Angel asked, tossing his phone on the couch behind him.
Teddy looked at his dad and began to cry having been reminded that his mother was not there. A flash of panic hit him, his chest suddenly hot, forcing Angel to call his dad.
"Angel?" Felipe answered, sounding somewhat concerned. "What's wrong, son?"
"My kid hates me," he said, chuckling to hide the emotion in his voice. "Z's gone and I'm alone with the kids, Pop. I don't know what to do. I'm just sitting here staring at them and Teddy won't stop crying."
Felipe sighed, feeling deeply for his son, but he knew more than Angel realized and agreed this was necessary.
"Have you tried picking him up? Comforting him?"
"I think he wants Z," Angel admitted, putting his father on speaker, "But I'll try."
Walking to the gate, Angel extended his arms out only to be met with increasingly desperate wails from Teddy.
"You know, Riz was so chill, kid," Angel complained, picking his son up. "Shhh, I know you miss mom, mano. She's pissed, that's on me, so go ahead, make me fucking pay."
"Maybe less swearing," Felipe laughed, "But you got the idea."
"Pop, this ain't me, I can't do this," Angel said over Teddy's waning cries. "I'm not a good dad."
"You haven't even tried," Felipe reminded him. "You're barely trying now but listen to your son, Angel, he's already calming down."
"I don't think I ever missed Mom as much as I do now," he said sadly.
Felipe laughed. "Your mother would kick your ass from here to the border if she saw you now but she'd love those two," he said wistfully.
"I know," Angel sniffled.
"Whatever this is with you and Zara," Felipe said sagely, "Do not let it go too far that you can't bring it back."
His eyes darted to the kitchen and Angel, with Teddy still in his arms, went through the door. When he saw the damage from the night before, the hole in the wall and dented drywall, he felt his heart sink. Disgusted, he took Teddy back into the living room.
"I was out of control, Pop," Angel admitted, "But the shit she did."
"I don't know what she did but I know Zara," he said. "She strikes me as a person who would do what she had to, anything she felt she had to, for those kids."
Angel clicked his tongue. "Even go behind their father's back?"
"Maybe," Felipe grumbled, unable to comment without knowledge of exactly what happened. "After those babies, I'm willing to bet you're next on her list though, son."
"You ever doubt Mom? Sharing with all those secrets?"
"Never." Felipe could imagine the heartbreak Angel was feeling. "I wanted to, I wanted to blame her for my mistakes but I knew deep down they were my own," he explained.
"Alright, Pop," Angel sniffled. "I gotta go."
"You okay?" Felipe asked quickly. "I didn't mean to make it any harder, I'm just being honest.
"Nah, I know," Angel groaned, a wet spot growling on his shirt. "Teddy pissed through his goddamn diaper. I forgot to change it."
"Better than shit," Felipe laughed as he ended the call.
"Thanks," Angel said with a huff. "Mama's boy gotta piss on your Pops, huh? Hate me that much?" Teddy laughed in response. "You just hate wet diapers, I know. It's my fault this time, hombrecito."