(ALT TEXT: Please call me)

I stare at the text message for the millionth time this morning as Mariluz pulls into the mansion's driveway. It came at around seven o'clock from my mother, after she tried to call me twice to no avail. I can't imagine what it's about, but I don't want to find out either. I have important work to do today, I can't be worried about whatever it is my mother wants to burden me with right now.

When we get to the front door, Chris isn't there like he has been every morning. We hesitate for a moment before Mariluz reaches out and rings the doorbell. It rings for about ten seconds before the door rips open to Chris, standing there panting.

"Sorry, I forgot what time it was," he explains breathlessly.

"Don't worry about it, we just got here," Kyle reassures him.

"Mi vida, dime que sí!" Rigo calls out from inside as he comes down the stairs.

He's got a straight-haired, green-eyed giggly toddler on his hip—that one's Río, I've learned—and Ximena is just a few steps behind him with Noé on hers. Chris turns to look at Rigo with obvious exasperation as we come in.

"Later," Chris tells him.

"No," Rigo refuses, shaking his head. His eyes lock onto Kyle with purpose and light up. "Don't you think we should say something about the picture now?"

Kyle's stunned momentarily as he looks around to ensure he's the target. "Uh, yeah, I think now's as good a time as any," he agrees.

Rigo grins smugly at Chris. "See? It's time."

"Yeah!" Río chirps brightly. Noé giggles in agreement.

"What are we doing the series for, then?" Chris counters weakly, already having been broken down before our arrival.

"To tell the full story," Kyle jumps in, now recovered. "We could do something to let people know the series is coming, though."

"Something like what?" Chris inquires cautiously.

"Something like... an Instagram post," Kyle suggests. "It's Valentine's Day anyway, so it's kind of perfect."

"It could be a mix of confirming that you are together and a promo for the series," Mariluz adds in growing excitement.

"Like, just reposting the picture...?" Chris trails off in confusion.

"Even better," Ximena interjects, her eyes narrowed as she thinks, "since this is kind of all-exposing, you could kiss again." She looks up and her eyes bounce between Chris and Rigo as she grins. "In HD."

Chris shakes his head as he stares at Ximena. "That's insane, why would we do that?"

She chuckles brightly. "Because it's been almost a month already and people are getting antsy. If you don't want them following you home and breaking your doors down for the answers, you've got to assure them that they're coming."

"Mi vida, please," Rigo begs.

"Please," Río echos him.

Chris's determination crumbles at Río's tiny, uninformed plea, and he sighs. "Maybe. It depends on what exactly you guys are planning," he relents.

"Should we do this upstairs?" Ximena suggests, gesturing to the twin boys who still need tending to while we work.

"Vamos," Rigo agrees, hurrying up the stairs ahead of her without waiting for the input of anyone else.

There's a couch in the playroom that Mariluz and I sit on, while everyone else sits on the floor. Ximena disappears momentarily and returns with her laptop and a notebook, dropping an armful of writing utensils as she sits cross-legged. Chris watches her warily, idly rolling a block back and forth on the floor in front of him as Río and Noé play with the rest of the set. Rigo grins slyly with his eyes on the boys as he says something in Spanish, piquing the interest of all but Kyle and me.

"I think that's a great idea!" Ximena lilts excitedly.

"What's the idea?" Kyle interjects curiously.

"Including the kids somehow, to confirm it all," she explains, grinning the same way as her brother.

"I don't see why the kids need to be involved," Chris protests. "Besides, Mía's at school, so it wouldn't even be all of them."

"We can wait to film her part until she gets home," Ximena dismisses him, already scribbling in her notebook. "The kiss might need a few takes anyway. I'm sure you don't want an extra set of eyes watching that."

"Why can't we just talk about the series or something?" he pushes back. "Why do we have to kiss again?"

Her shoulders drop with a heavy, exasperated sigh. "You act like the two of you don't already spend almost every waking moment with your lips locked."

"We don't," he disagrees uncomfortably as Rigo snickers.

"What was it Mía said to me the first time I went to talk to you guys and you were busy sucking face?" Ximena wonders rhetorically. "Oh yeah, it was, 'you're better off setting a timer and coming back to check later.'"

Rigo purses his lips and nods. "Tiene razón."

"It's amazing you guys weren't exposed sooner," Ximena continues, shaking her head with disbelief.

"Okay, whatever, we'll kiss," Chris huffs, looking down at the block he's been playing with.

While we work on a quick storyboard for what we're going to shoot, I finally get my answer about that Columbia College Chicago hoodie that Chris was wearing on the first day. Ximena's a junior there, in the process of completing a semester internship in LA. She's working on the set of a late night television show right now, so she's available to help with the twins for most of the day before leaving them with their dads—and us, as she has been for the time being.

We move to the living room and it takes a while for her to set up all the equipment she's going to use. She's going all out, excited to have her name on something that will inevitably be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. Rigo is visibly excited for her too, asking her about every little gadget and its function as she goes. He adores his baby sister, and for some reason, it makes my chest ache again. It's just that happy family dynamic; I've never had that.

As if to pour a little more salt into my exposed wounds, my phone starts buzzing. It's my mom. Again. I reject her call and shove the phone back in my pocket, fighting back the sudden urge to cry. I hate the burning guilt in my chest when I ignore her, but I can't handle the extra stress right now. I just can't.

"Buenos días, Lolita," Jazmin purrs as she leans against the wall beside me.

I look up at her and her grin is enough to stop my heart right there. Her soft, pink lips are parted just slightly as her teeth sink softly into the bottom one, her curls hang in damp ringlets above her ears, and her skin is so supple I can imagine myself getting lost in it. She smells like violets and sunshine, and it's probably the only reason I haven't stopped breathing yet.

"Hey Jaz," I manage after a moment.

"What are you thinking about, over here all by yourself?" she inquires softly.

"Um, nothing," I lie, clearing my face of any negative emotions that may have slipped out. "Just watching and waiting for them to need me."

"Missing my fuckhead brother too?" Jazmin teases. She watches me close, like she's looking for any sign that maybe, I'm not.

I lean in just a bit and smile. "No."

She snickers quietly with apparent relief and leans in too. "You're gonna break that poor kid's heart," she tells me, as quietly as she can manage. "I'm pretty sure he's in love with you."

"Shut up, no he's not," I reject dismissively, playfully pushing her shoulder. "We hung out once." And as nice as last night was, it certainly wasn't anything close to love.

Her eyebrows rise mischievously. "Yeah, and you know where he is right now?"

"In bed?"

She shakes her head, pursing her lips to hold back more laughter. "He went out to get you something for Valentine's Day."

The humor drains from my body in an instant and I gape at her in disbelief. "No he didn't."

"Yep," she assures me with a grimace. "I tried to tell him to give it more time, but he was pretty insistent that you guys are already there."

Oh Xavi, we could not be further from there. At some point, I've really got to tell him the truth about my sexuality and what that night was.

"Any chance you could still talk him out of it?" I ask hopefully.

"Not a chance. When Xavi meets a girl he wants, she's his everything," she laments pitifully. Her lips purse as she loses herself in thought. "He's kinda toxic, now that I think about it. Be careful with him, nena," she snickers.

I sigh and it turns into an exhausted groan. "I knew I shouldn't have sent him my address last night."

"Oh, give him a chance," she relents with a heavy exhale. "He really likes you and he's not a heart-breaker, despite how he comes off. The kid's a hopeless romantic with a pretty shit eye for women, so Ximena and I have had to comfort him through more breakups than most people his age. You're the first good one he's pulled."

That's certainly going to make telling him the truth a lot harder. I grimly meet Jazmin's gaze and force my expression to go neutral.

"Fine, but I'm doing this for you. Remember that." I shoot her a hopeful smile that I have no right to give with what's growing in my abdomen, but she's worth the risk.

Her warm chestnut eyes sparkle with happiness and a hint of something I haven't seen before. "I won't forget it. Just do me a favor and play nice tonight."

"I will," I promise.

Filming for the short promo begins not long after. Chris's face is bright red with embarrassment from the moment Ximena announces she's ready. She ushers everyone out so Chris doesn't get cold feet, and it takes well past lunch time for them to pep-talk him enough to do it.

My mom calls two more times, but finally stops after I ignore the third one.

The shots with the kids are filmed when Mía gets home, and Ximena spends the next hour cutting it all together just right. The result for our day of work is a forty-second clip to be posted on both Chris's and Rigo's Instagram pages, officially breaking their silence.

It begins with Mía—already known to the public as Rigo's daughter—settling in at her desk after a long day at school with her laptop to unwind. Moments after beginning to browse, she pauses in curiosity and cocks her head to the side before abruptly standing. We follow her to the living room, where Noé is using Rigo like a jungle gym and Río is building the world's most unstable block tower with Chris. This scene immediately confirms two things: that there's more to the story than just the hotel kiss, and that their family is bigger than anyone thought up to now.

"Hey, Dad! Pa! Have you seen this?" she calls out as she enters the room.

Rigo sits up curiously, carefully shuffling Noé off him, and scoots closer to Chris as Mía approaches with her laptop open. She passes it off to them and the two lean in to scrutinize it, before the very image that started all of this appears on the screen.

"Seriously?" Chris scoffs.

"It's not close enough to see anything," Rigo comments as he squints at it.

"Not to mention the angle," Chris agrees. "Did they take this from a helicopter or something?"

Rigo turns to Chris with a suggestive smirk. "We can do better than that, mi vida."

Chris reciprocates the grin and leans in, locking lips with Rigo on camera—on purpose—for the first time ever. Five seconds, up-close, in perfect 4K high definition resolution. It ends with a message: Coming This Fall.

"So... what do you guys think?" Ximena asks nervously as everyone digests it.

"I—LOVE—it!" Kyle gushes. "It's literally perfect! It's everything!"

"Too much kissing, not enough me," Mía complains.

Rigo snickers as he pulls Mía close to him. "Es perfecto, Ximena."

Chris nods with a pursed-lip smile, still nervous about it all. "It's good."

"Okay!" Ximena chirps excitedly, grinning big as she returns to her computer. "I'll send you guys the video right now so you can post it."

"What video?"

Xavi's voice sends a jolt through my system, and I look around for where it came from just as he comes into the living room.

"She filmed my dads kissing," Mía answers him humorlessly.

"I didn't realize it was gonna be that kinda show," he snickers, gliding over to Ximena to peep over her shoulder.

"It's not!" Ximena dismisses with a laugh, hitting play so he can see it too.

It's already well past five o'clock, and Xavi doesn't know that I know what he's been out doing all day. There's no better chance to escape him than right now, while he's preoccupied and we still haven't spoken.

I lean in close to Kyle and whisper, "we're done, right?"

His eyebrows pull together and he gives me puppy dog eyes. "But I wanna be here when they post it!" he whispers back.

"We can go if you want," Mariluz interjects in a whisper. "I'm sure it's fine."

I nod once and we start packing up our things quietly, although Kyle continues to protest. We nearly make it out unnoticed, too, but the sudden absence of three people isn't exactly subtle. It was worth a shot, anyway.

"Lola! Wait up!" Xavi calls after us.

Kyle and Mariluz pause at that front door, and I wave them on ahead so I can deal with Xavi alone. He's bubbly as he comes over, completely oblivious of my intentions to escape.

"What are you doing tonight?" he asks eagerly.

"Uh, just planning to watch TV until I crash. The usual," I tell him with a shrug. "But I'm pretty tired tonight, actually, so I'll probably sleep early."

"Can I drive you home?" he offers hopefully.

If I tell him no, Jazmin will be mad. I promised her I'd play nice tonight.

"Sure, why not," I sigh with a shrug.

"Don't sound so excited," he snickers sarcastically as he takes my hand and heads for the door.

Mariluz and Kyle watch us get into his Camaro together with wide eyes. I shoot them an apologetic grimace and wave to them one last time through the window as we pull away. The first thing I do in there is scan for some kind of Valentine's Day gift, but I don't see anything. I admit, it does pique my curiosity about what he did all day.

"So, I imagine you're not taking me straight home..." I begin cautiously.

"Paciencia, Lolita," he chuckles softly.

"Pacienca," I scoff quietly.

"It means patience."

"I figured."

"Have some."

"I'm not a patient person."

"It'll be worth it, trust me."

I relax into my seat with a defeated sigh as we pass through the gates. Xavi drives for a while, maybe half an hour, and pulls off onto a dirt road in a quiet area. He jumps out quickly when he parks and runs around the car to open my door with a small grin.

"So, what's this about?" I ask hesitantly as he leads me to the edge.

He drops down onto the ground and pats the grass beside him, and I slowly follow his example. If we were any closer to the edge, our feet would be hanging over. It's a beautiful view though, with a perfectly clear sky showing thousands of stars and a big, bright moon reflecting on the rippling ocean below. Nature is all I hear; the water, the wind, the crickets and small creatures scurrying through the leaves. Gazing at it as I breathe deeply, all I feel is peace.

"This is incredible," I breathe.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it," he agrees.

I laugh to myself quietly. "I was a little scared when Jazmin told me what you were doing today," I admit.

"Pinche Jaz," he mutters through a laugh. "What were you scared of?"

"Everything," I giggle, shaking my head. "Balloons, flowers, a serenade. I was sure there was going to be a puppy in the car or something."

Xavi laughs too, and for the first time ever, it makes my heart flutter just a little. "I thought about all of that, honestly," he professes with a grimace. "But it just... didn't feel like you. You're not that kinda girl." Our eyes meet and he smirks. "Even though you pretended to be the first night we met."

My cheeks burn up instantly with embarrassment and I look back at the water, fighting to suppress a grin.

"I was drunk that night," I say defensively. "You knew that."

"I did," he sighs. "I'm glad we met, though."

I can't fight the smile anymore, but I keep my eyes ahead. "Me too," I say, barely above a whisper.

The buzzing of my phone cuts through our peaceful moment, and my insides instantly tense up. I pull it out quickly, surprised to see a text from Chris.

(ALT TEXT: Hey, Lola. Alex called me earlier but I didn't hear it. They said you need to call your mom. Let me know when you see this.)

"Sorry, I have to make a quick call," I tell Xavi as I send my confirmation to Chris.

"Sure, go ahead," he replies curiously.

It only rings once, and she picks up. Sniffles are the first thing I hear, and my whole body goes numb.

"Oh, Lola!" she wails through sobs.

"What's going on?" I inquire gravely.

"It's your dad!"

"What's wrong with Dad?"

She sobs some more, lighting every nerve-ending in my body on fire with panic. The sound of her cries feels so completely wrong on every level, because she's strong. I'm the one who cries, not her. If she can't face this, neither can I. I know I can't.

"Mom?" I press, feeling myself on the verge of sobs.

She sniffles hard, gathering her strength to speak through her pain, and I brace for it.

"Your dad passed away last night, Lola."

The world seems to go silent and her words echo through my skull incomprehensibly. I was ready for almost anything, but I was never going to be ready for that.