When the stealth cycle pulls up in front of Taylor's house, she realizes she made a fatal error. There's a shiny black Ford SUV that she's never seen before sitting in the driveway, far too fancy and far too expensive to belong to her tía, tío, or papá.

"Someone's got money," Raphael mutters.

Taylor yanks her helmet off and hops out of the cycle, tossing it into the back as Raphael follows her out. She paces on the sidewalk, staring at the house, dreading what waits inside. Her mamá is probably right behind them. They have only minutes.

"You have to go," Taylor says.

Raphael snorts, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not a chance."

She groans. "Raph, you don't have to. Please, I'll...I'll introduce you to my parents another day. Or never. What if your patch runs out?"

"I'll keep an eye on it."

She looks back at the house, hands flexing, and he reaches out to hold hers. She closes her eyes, wishing more than anything that his hand was the wide, three-fingered grip she's become so used to.

"Tay, I'm not leaving you to deal with this alone," he says firmly. "So deal with it."

She looks back at him and, once again, wishes he was looking like himself. Sure, he's handsome like this, all tanned and muscled with his spiky auburn hair, far more palpable for meeting the parents, but...she wants him to be him. He's comforting that way, far more real to her.

Behind them, a cherry red Ferrari Spider drives up, parking itself behind the stealth cycle. Taylor grips Raphael's hand tight and tugs him after her, heading up to the door before she runs into her mother again.

"Dios me dé fuerza," she mutters to herself.

Raphael squeezes her hand in silent reassurance.

----------

Taylor throws the door open to find that Carmela is already there, her brow pinched in deep-rooted annoyance. Already, Taylor can hear that the house is noisier than usual.

"I'm guessing..." Carmela starts.

"She's right behind us," Taylor cuts her off. She casts a quick glance at Raphael. "And he's here."

"You're a welcome sight, Raphael," Carmela sighs. "Can't say the same for the others..."

The teens follow Carmela into the living room, immediately finding five strangers lounging on the furniture. It's like looking at a runway set-up, the models waiting for their cue. Muttering to herself, Carmela moves to the kitchen to join Jack and Héctor in hiding out, but Taylor finds that she can't get herself to move, just staring at the stupidly gorgeous family spread out before her.

There's two boys and two girls—the older boy looks like he could be Taylor's age, possibly older, and he has tanned skin and perfectly combed and styled brown hair. Diamond studs glitter in his earlobes, catching the light every time he shifts in place, gazing down at his phone. The two girls look almost identical—they have the same dark almond skin and rich brown hair as their brother, but one has a high ponytail and the other has a half-up do. They're seated on the floor, playing with the other little boy: Taylor assumes it's a boy, as he's wearing a blue-striped sailor shirt, but truthfully, he can't be more than a year old and babies at that age can be hard to tell at a glance.

Then, the man, the unfamiliar adult. He talks on the phone, pacing a little with one hand resting on his pressed khaki pants. He somehow looks important and professional even when wearing a button-up shirt and leather sandals, sunglasses nestled in his gelled hair. He nods and speaks rapidly in Spanish to the person on the other side of the line, stroking his goatee and nodding.

The step-family, Taylor realizes. Here and in the flesh. And there's a baby. Her mom has a new baby. What the actual fuck?

She snaps back to reality as the front door opens. Immediately, the two girls look up, eyes bright, and the baby lets out a squeal.

"Mamá!" the girls cry out.

The two of them rocket to their feet and race past Taylor to the front door, eager to greet their mother. The man puts his phone away and moves to the baby, now struggling to stand up by himself, and scoops him into his arms.

"My, my," Bianca says, returning to the living room. She grins at Taylor. "Everyone, did you say hi to Taylor?"

"Nope," the teen boy says, not looking up from his phone. He has a Spanish accent even when speaking English.

Bianca huffs a little as she rolls her eyes, although she's still smiling. Taylor startles as her mother swoops to her side, bumping Raphael aside and gripping her shoulders tight. Taylor realizes that the two little girls have come back and are staring up at her expectantly.

"Taylor, this is my husband, Alessandro Montero," she says. He nods. "He's holding our sweet little angel, Luz." She grins and Taylor just stares, her mouth far too dry. "Girls, introduce yourself!"

"I'm Isabel!" the one with the ponytail says. She lifts her chin and puts her fists on her hips in a superhero pose. "I'm six!"

The other girl fiddles with her hands. "I'm Lola. I'm..." She looks at her sister, then at her hands. She holds up one of them, fingers spread out. "I'm five."

"And Mr. Grumpypants over there is Diego," Bianca says. Diego keeps scrolling through his phone. "Well done, girls! You were so good!"

Taylor spares a wave at the girls and they giggle, hurrying over to the couch and hopping up next to Diego. Luz starts to fuss a bit and Alessandro bounces him.

"How was graduation?" he asks.

"Oh, babe, you'll never believe this. I was a year off. I totally thought she was Diego's age! Silly me!" Bianca says before Taylor can even think of talking.

"Ah." He nods. He adjusts Luz on his hip, checking his phone. "Hotel check-in opens soon. I thought I'd take the kids there. We can hit the pool while you..." He eyes Taylor. "Catch up?"

"Good idea!"

"You're not staying here?" Taylor asks. Her voice sounds far away, foreign.

Diego snorts. "Stay here?" he reiterates. "You couldn't pay me to—"

"Diego, cállate!" Bianca snaps. He rolls his eyes.

"Alright," Alessandro says.

He speaks in Spanish again as he directs his children to get their things and go out to the car. Diego gets up and leaves immediately while the girls scramble to grab their tiny backpacks. Bianca pauses to kiss Luz all over his tiny, pudgy face, then plant a long one on Alessandro.

The second they're gone, Bianca seems to remember that Taylor isn't the only person around. She zeroes in on Raphael and Taylor prays for the universe to put her out of her misery.

----------

Raphael has never felt so intimidated by a group of humans before. He's also never met a group of people who look like they stepped straight off a Spanish vacation catalogue.

I mean, he could've guessed that Taylor's mom would look like a supermodel. After all, her daughter is gorgeous, but holy shell, he wasn't ready for everything else. This woman looks like she could be Sofía Vergara's Mexican sister.

The moment the step-family's gone, the rest of the family leaves the kitchen. Jack's also giving Raphael a scrutinizing glare, looking him over almost as intently as his ex-wife is.

"Now you're a very handsome young man, aren't you?" Bianca murmurs, reaching out to pinch Raphael's cheek. He flinches away from her touch, fighting back the urge to growl at her. "Taylor, don't be rude, introduce me to your fine, fine friend!"

"His name is Raphael and he's my boyfriend," Taylor says, rather robotically. "And maybe don't touch him unless you ask?"

"Oh, but he's just so cute, I can't help it!"

She cups his face, squishing his cheeks up as she coos at him, and Raphael realizes that setting boundaries with this woman is going to be like fighting an uphill battle. He pushes her hands off of his face, faintly aware of the lingering coconut smell of her hand lotion left on his skin.

"Mamá!" Taylor snaps.

She backs up, pouting. "I'm just excited! It's been so long!" she half-whines.

"And whose fault is that?" Carmela pipes up, arms crossed.

Bianca turns to the rest of the family: Carmela with her scowl and folded arms, Jack looking increasingly uncomfortable, Héctor with his hands on his hips looking far more annoyed than Raphael has ever seen the good-natured man look.

"Oh, don't be so uptight. Life got busy!" Bianca says, waving her hand at them. "I would have come sooner, but I was healing from my tummy tuck after having Luz. You know how it is."

Héctor gently elbows his wife and, when she looks at him, he signs, "No, we don't," and shakes his head, nose crinkling.

Bianca smiles, not understanding a word. "We were going to stop after Lola but I just desperately wanted a boy. I'm just too good at making girls, apparently. I—"

"So," Jack cuts in. He clasps his hands together. "Exactly how long are you going to be in New York?"

"Oh, not long, not long. Alessandro took a few weeks off from work and we still want to make it to Disneyland before we have to fly back," she says. "In the meantime, I'm gonna soak up all the time I can with my sweet little princesita—"

Taylor backs up as, again, her mother reaches for a hug. "I...I can't. I have..."

"Oh, darling, it's summer vacation now! You should have all the time in the world!" she insists. She gasps, clasping her hands together. "Tell you what. Let's all go to Cooper's Beach tomorrow! You remember Cooper's Beach, right? Jack and I took you there once when you were only a baby."

"No, I don't remember. Shocker," Taylor deadpans.

"We have jobs," Carmela says. "We can't just drop everything on a day's notice." Héctor nods in affirmation.

"Jack, what about you?" Bianca asks, batting her eyelashes. "I'm sure you haven't lined up employment yet, hm?"

Jack's cheeks darken a little. "I...uh, well, no. The hunt hasn't been—"

"Perfect!" she squeals. "Tomorrow, then. We'll pick you and Taylor up here bright and early. Raphael, you're free to come too. I desperately want to know more about you."

Raphael looks at her, at Jack, then at Taylor.

"Sure," Taylor mumbles. "We'll be here."

"Ohhh, I'm so excited! This will be so fun!"

Raphael has his doubts, and he's sure Taylor's are even bigger.