I shake my head. “I’ll just stay until Santiago gets here. Marco will drive me home after.”

“All right.” She hugs me, then leans over to kiss Ivy’s forehead. “See you guys tomorrow.”

I watch the parking lot from Ivy’s window, and like clockwork, Santiago’s car pulls in as soon as the sun’s gone.

“I swear he’s a vampire,” I whisper as I watch him walk, head bowed, to the entrance. “Most people can’t have visitors overnight, but they’ve made an exception for him,” I tell Ivy as I sit back down. “Compulsion probably. I heard vampires can do that.”

“Or charm,” Santiago says from the door.

“See, how’d you get up here so fast?”

He smiles, waggles his eyebrows, and hangs his hat on the hook by the door. When he looks at Ivy lying there, his expression darkens. His face gets so sad it’s almost hard to look at him.

“You should stop with the hat, you know,” I say, shifting my gaze away from him.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to hide your face.”

I feel his eyes on me, but he doesn’t answer. “You should get ready to go. Marco will be here soon and Antonia’s getting dinner ready.”

“Is he bringing the Aston Martin?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” I sigh. I don’t really care about the car. That’s just me trying to keep it light. Marco was the one who told me about my dad on the way home from the fake funeral. If Ivy had come home with me, then she’d know too, and she wouldn’t be in this mess. “The baby’s really active today,” I say before I can cry in front of him. I should have made her come home with me. I should have forced her.

“Did you film it?”

“Of course.”

“Good. She’ll want to see that.”

I look over at him. “I’ll help you, you know.”

“Help me?”

“If the baby comes and she’s still sleeping.”

His jaw tightens, and his eyes are red, but they’re always red these days. “She’ll wake up.” He turns to her. “She has to.”

There’s a knock on the door, and Marco peers into the room. He glances at Ivy, then at Santiago. They have a wordless exchange. I know he’s asking if there’s any change, and Santiago is telling him no. Then Marco turns to me.

“You ready, kid? You’ve got school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I get up and lean in to hug Ivy. “Please wake up,” I tell her, holding on to her just a moment longer until I’m sure I won’t look like I’m about to lose it before I straighten up.