“Anyhow,” he said after a moment. “I got to know your dad and his family pretty well. And Lorne and his family. And you and your mom. You all took me in, overlooking everything about where I came from and who my family is. I think it’s safe to say that your father helped me survive a shit childhood and shaped me into the man I am today. Even if I have some things in my past I’m not proud of doing, I still can be proud of who I am. I can never repay him for that. So helping you now, it’s a given. You’re family.”

“With that kind of loyalty… You make my dad sound like an amazing person.”

“He is.”

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t remember him at all. All I know is what I see on the news. He’s as much a stranger to me as you are.” A few years ago, this would’ve bothered me more, but I’d found my own family. I had Mom, Roan, the ABQ Crew, and my students. I’d come to a place where I was okay. I was surviving.

Sure I was scared. Every damned day. But I had a plan. I’d been taking flying lessons on any kind of craft I could find on the odd chance that I’d find something I could afford to buy one day. It was slow, and I’d had a few setbacks, but I was going to get there.

But everything was changing again, and it felt like I was caught in some weird alt reality. Now I was here, talking about my father?

“To hear you say that you don’t know him would break your father’s heart.”

“He’s right, mija.” I nearly jumped at the sound of Mom’s voice.

I let go of Declan’s hand and sat up to see her, still sitting on the couch. Tears glistened on her cheeks.

“He hasn’t tried to find us,” I said. “If he really cared, we would’ve been out of here a long time ago.”

“That’s not true,” Declan said. “I’ll let him explain for himself, but not knowing where you were and if you were okay—it wasn’t just me going through that torture. You’re his only child. He loves you more than air, and not being here right now is killing him.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. It felt so surreal to be sitting here talking to a stranger—who wasn’t exactly a stranger—about my father—who was also a stranger… To be thinking about actually leaving this planet soon?

“What’s the plan, Declan? When do we leave?” Mom asked.

“That part is trickier than I anticipated.”