And Back Again

Chapter 27

Faithful and true, Angel spent every available moment with his wife and newborn children. He couldn't be there every hour of every day, nor could Zara, but he was there as often as life would allow.

Even within the first week, Reina and Wyatt gained weight and slowly seemed less fragile. Zara held them more often and with much more ease but when EZ and Bishop came by for a visit, one that took longer than Zara expected, she found herself unusually anxious. Neither of them wanted to hold the babies, they were too new and too small, but Zara made it a point to tell Angel they were not going to be allowed.

"Z, it's the guys," Angel huffed. "No ones got baby fever, no one's gonna try to touch em' or even look at them for too long, I promise."

She agreed, embarrassed by her irrational worry. "Yeah, you're right, I'm just," she shook her head.

"A psycho?"

"Let's not call the one week postpartum woman a psycho, okay?"

Angel nodded shamefully. "My bad."

"Okay, Coco," she huffed.

Rolling his eyes, Angel ignored the comment and waited quietly for his brother and Bishop to arrive. Once they did, Angel met them in the hallway and hugged them each enthusiastically.

"I shoulda came down before," Bishop said apologetically.

"Nah," Angel said dismissively. "We didn't wanna do the whole thing until they're gone but I get it, get you wanting to come down, pay your respects and shit."

"And shit," EZ laughed, "Those are your kids."

"Tio EZ," Angel said happily. "Lucky they don't look like you."

Zara watched them from the other side of the glass as the three men chatted and laughed before turning their attention to the babies.

"Reina and Wyatt," Angel said, his chest puffing out with pride as he pointed each one out. "He's a little slow with the weight shit but she's doing really well."

"How are they're lungs?" EZ asked the much more serious question. "They still have the tubes." He added, touching his own nose.

Angel tensed a little. "Not as great as they hoped after the steroids but Doc said with time they'll be good. They just need a little bit of oxygen."

"How's Zara?" Bishop asked as he and Zara finally made eye contact. "Doesn't seem thrilled."

"She's scared," Angel explained. "She wants em' home. Now. I think the longer they're here the better."

Both EZ and Bishop nodded, both opinions on the subject making sense in their own ways.

"Angel," Bishop said quietly, moving away from EZ. "Got a second?"

He nodded and the two of them stepped back from the glass while EZ moved closer, meeting Zara at the door for their own chat.

"You good?" Bishop asked Angel. "Zara good? Really?"

"Yeah," he said too eagerly to be believable. "Why what's up?"

"I need an extra body on this run," he sighed heavily. "I know you've been here a lot with the kids and Zara, it's understandable, but I really need you on this one."

Clicking his tongue, Angel glanced over at Zara and nodded slowly. "Just a couple hours?"

"Yeah, production bumped up and I want someone else with all the added volume."

"I got you, Prez," Angel said dutifully. "I'll be there."

"You gonna run it by Zara, first?" He suggested, knowing the situation was much different than normal.