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“Perfect. Now, on to other things. I have a lot of things on my mind, which forced me out of the house before I drove my wife insane with my pacing. Are you done being that team’s mascot?”

“I don’t know actually,” I admit. It’s almost two-thirty in the afternoon, and Rachelle should be home soon. “I think that’s a Rachelle question.”

“I’m home!” she yells from the front door, making me huff out a small laugh.

“¡Yo también!” Emil calls out, signaling his presence. “Come talk with us.”

“I thought I saw your car,” she says, dropping her things at the entrance to the living room and kicking off her heels. She’s wearing a pair of high waisted black pants with an off the shoulder tan sweater that has a black bow on it and looks amazing.

Rachelle’s outfits always show me that you can be professional and still have fun.

“Long day?” I ask as she walks over and dramatically falls into the couch.

“Drama queen,” Emil chuckles.

“No, it was really good, but it’s very nice to be home,” she admits. “Are you staying for dinner, Emil?”

“Possibly,” he says. “Your mom has decided to volunteer at a children’s hospital this afternoon holding babies. She wants to get out more, but nursing isn’t for her anymore.”

“She was always run off her feet,” Rachelle sighs. “It paid the bills and did what we needed, but I’m glad she isn’t working anymore.”

“So am I,” he admits. “I was just telling Noor that I think we should renovate your den.”

“Oh?” she asks, intrigued. “Tell me more.”

Somehow, based on her excitement, I don’t think she’ll say no.

“Do I have to go to the hockey games?” I ask later at dinner.

Emil did stay, and we’re all sitting at the dinner table. Ariyah and Adelina are eating in their high chairs, cheerfully singing as they do their happy dance, and it’s the cutest thing. I enjoy being home, and after a month of being here, I can finally admit that’s what it feels like.

Home.

Rachelle rolls her neck back and forth to release some of the stress, and I know it’s going to be bad.

“Principal Keer was completely fine with virtual learning with the agreement that attending at campus was no longer safe,” she begins. “I just got a call before dinner where he stated that due to the previous stipulation for an extra curricular activity everyone has to adhere to, you need to fulfill your obligations as the mascot.

“Now, I think this is bullshit. I think Alastair, Draven, and that other asshole want to be able to see you. It’s not bad enough that they hacked into your therapist’s files, they also think they need to pull you back into their web of toxicity.”

“Preach,” Liliana crows, making my lips twitch.

“They have away games now, right? Ugh, I really don’t want to do this,” I grouse, pushing my mostly eaten dinner away.

“Yes, they have away games for two more weeks,” Rachelle replies. “That’ll give us a much needed break from them. I still want one of us to go with you to the games, and then you can come straight out in your costume. There’s no way I want you changing in their locker room. I don’t fucking trust them.”

“Draven seemed as if he wasn’t in on the flyer bullshit,” Liliana muses. “Do I trust it? Absolutely not. He also warned us that someone had urinated in your water bottle.”

“Ugh, gross,” I say, shuddering. Calvin tried to save it but deemed it disgusting and in need of replacing. “There were condoms in my backpack too with notes about how I shouldn’t have been born. I think the entire school lost their minds. I don’t know how the Devils managed to mobilize everyone.”

“Giving them a name like that makes them seem larger than life,” Jared says, making a face. “It’s also giving me flashbacks to when I was an asshole.”

“Hate to break this to you, but you’re still one,” Liliana says, blowing him a kiss.

They’re so odd. Sometimes, I think the only ones she likes are Ignacio and Rachelle. Hell, maybe that’s exactly how it works.

“Thanks, love you too,” he grumbles.

“Is it too soon to suggest getting my GED?” I ask with fake brightness.