We make it almost to Davenport, close to where Iowa meets Illinois, before we stop again. Last night, the kids were comfortable and tired, so Mick and I took turns driving. He drove while I slept, and I drove while he slept. Now it’s almost ten pm, and the kids are asleep, except for Chase. He had a late nap in the car, and now that we’re at the hotel, he thinks it’s time to party. I’m holding him in my lap, counting his fingers and toes, and he laughs at me when I yawn.

“You think that’s funny. You think everything is funny.” But then his face scrunches up. “Except for me telling you you’re funny, apparently,” I mutter. He didn’t want his bottle a few minutes ago, but he happily accepts it now. As his eyes begin to close, my phone starts to buzz quietly from across the room. I don’t want to move Chase to go get it. They’ll call back.

Mick has gone out to get groceries for tomorrow, so we can make some sandwiches and some snacks. He should be back any minute.

My phone buzzes again, and Mick comes through the door at the same time. He has shopping bags looped over one arm, while he holds a rolled bundle of magazines under the other. He talks into his phone. “She’s fine. She’s right here. I just got back to the hotel and I’m looking at her.” He rolls his eyes. “I promise that she’s fine. She’s holding a sleeping baby in her lap.” He walks to me and holds out the phone. “It’s Emilio.”

I take it and put it on speaker. “You people don’t give up, do you?” I ask. If they don’t get me immediately on my phone, they just call Mick’s.

“I’m sending two security guys to you. They should be there before you wake up.”

I sit up a little, careful of Chase sleeping in my lap. “Why?”

Mick unrolls a few of the magazines that were stuck under his arm. The headlines on the gossip magazines are stark and glaring.

FALLEN FROM ZERO BAND MEMBER HAS FALLEN TOO FAR

IS WREN VASQUEZ LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE?

SHE STOLE HER MAN, AND NOW SHE’S RAISING HER KIDS

“Oh, good grief.” I get up and put Chase in his portable crib. “When did all this start?” I ask, as I sit back down.

Mick leans into me, laughing silently as he sees a headline that says STAY-AT-HOME DAD REVEALS WREN VASQUEZ IS A SEX ADDICT. THAT’S WHY THEY HAVE SO MANY KIDS. He wipes a pretend tear from his eye.

“It started today,” Emilio says. “I don’t like it. I’m sending two guys, whether you like it or not.”

I flip open one of the magazines and see a picture of me and Mick standing beside the van, along with the four children, in front of the last hotel we stayed at. “Okay,” I say quietly.

“What?” Emilio barks. “Did you just say okay?”

“Yes, I said okay. They’re taking pictures of the kids. And I didn’t even see them.”

Since Mick and I were going to be in the car most of the time, I’d thought I could go incognito and I didn’t bring security with me. Apparently, that was a mistake. They even took pictures of us sitting at a local fast food restaurant as we ate burgers. The photos are grainy, and you can’t see the kids well, but still… They’re innocent in all this.

“Do you want to just fly them the rest of the way? You could get them there in a few hours.”

Mick shakes his head.

“No, their mother wanted them to be driven. She has enough going on right now without someone betraying her trust,” I tell Emilio.

He sighs heavily. “Well, look for two dapper dudes with mirrored sunglasses and high-dollar shoes. They’ll rent a bigger van, too, and I’ll just have someone else drive mine back.”

“Oh, can they do the driving?” I ask, suddenly excited.

“I think they’ll insist on it,” Emilio says.

Mick gives me a thumbs-up, and his eyes sparkle with excitement. Who knew driving across the country would be so tiring?

“Okay,” I say. “We’ll be on the lookout for them.”

“So, how’s the trip going?” Emilio asks.

I take the phone off speaker and Mick goes to put the groceries away in the cooler and in the fridge. “It’s going fine. The kids are great. They’re amazing, really.”

“How’s it going with Mick?” he asks.

“Fine.” I smile against the phone.

“Jesus,” he mutters. “Do I seriously have to ask?”

“Ask what?”

“Are you in love with him yet? Marta wants to know.”

“Yeah, sure, it’s just Marta who wants to know.”

“Well, I need to know if I should start saving up for a wedding.”

Saving up? Emilio could buy and sell half of New York with the money he has put back from his days playing music. “I don’t think so.”

“Is he standing right there?”

“No, he’s about ten feet from me in the kitchen.”

“He’s being nice to you, right? He treats you like he should?”

Mick comes around the corner carrying a small tub of my favorite ice cream and two spoons. “He does,” I admit.

Mick pops the top on the container and sits back against the couch with his arm touching mine. I suddenly want to get off the phone really bad. “Thanks for setting up the security, Melio,” I say.

“Anything for you, kiddo,” he says. I imagine him pulling the elastic band from his long silver hair so he can adjust his low ponytail, like he always does when he gets sentimental. It’s one of his tells.

“I love you, Melio,” I say.

“I love you too,” he says quietly. “I guess I better go. I got invited to play cards with the Reeds.”

“Did Marta say you could go play cards?”

He laughs. “You know, I might have left my balls in her purse a few times through the years, but she doesn’t care if I go play cards. So, I didn’t even ask.”

“Way to keep hold of your balls,” I say.

Mick gives me a questioning glance. I wave my hand to tell him it’s nothing. Just silliness.

“Besides, someone has to take Henry’s place.”

“Where is Henry?” I ask, suddenly concerned.

“He’s not feeling well.”

“I’ll call and check on him tomorrow.”

“Well, stay safe. And text your old man sometimes, would you? I don’t want to find out where you are from the tabloids.”

“Yes, sir,” I reply. He hangs up without saying anything else. “You heard? He’s sending security to us. They’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Glorified drivers,” Mick says.

“With weapons and kick-ass martial arts skills.”

“I’ll never get another moment alone with you, will I?” he asks, as he hands me a spoon. I stick it into the ice cream and lift it toward my mouth, but just before it gets there, Mick grabs my arm and takes it for himself.

“You ate my ice cream,” I say, pretending to be indignant.

He scoops some up with his own spoon and holds it out to me. I grab his arm so he can’t pull back, and then I eat it. “This is good stuff,” he says as he shovels another spoon of it into his mouth.

“I wouldn’t know,” I say drolly.

“Oh, quit pouting,” he teases as he gives me another bite.

I take the container from him and then crawl across his lap so that I’m sitting with my legs facing the other end. He grabs my hip and pulls me closer. “You always smell so good,” he says as he nuzzles the side of my neck with his nose.

“You do too,” I admit.

“I do?” He lifts his shirt and sniffs it.

“What do you wear?”

“Deodorant,” he says on a laugh. He lifts his arm. “Which I sorely need to use again. I should go shower.”

“Devon was the last one in there, so it might be a mess,” I warn.

“Boys,” he says. Just that one word. It needs no more explanation.

“Do you want kids?” I ask casually.

He rocks his head back and forth like he’s trying to decide. “Maybe.”

I freeze. “What does that mean?”

“It means if the time is right and the woman is right and the finances are right and everything else is right with the world, I probably would.”

I shove his shoulder. “You love kids.” Why would he put so many stipulations on it?

“I do.”

“Where did you learn to do all the things you do with kids?” I ask, knowing I’m prying but hoping he won’t care.

“I had an old girlfriend who had two kids when I met her.” He lifts my legs and sets me off his lap.

“Oh,” I say. “What happened?”

“We broke up.” He goes into the bathroom and closes the door.

Something tells me the woman in question was Nicky. She was probably the love of his life, the woman he’d hoped to spend forever with. And suddenly I can’t taste the ice cream anymore.