They walk back into the house, laughing and I know I did the right thing. I smirk, washing the last dish and check the pot on the stove. They systematically put away the food and reusable bags where they belong, Josh kissing my cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, mami," he replies, leaning on the counter closest to the fridge with his palms on the counter top. "Leilani wants to call me her dad."

"Are you comfortable with her calling you that?"

"I'm fine with it as long as you are."

I smile, glancing at him and place the last plate in the strainer. "Josh, if she sees you as her dad, who am I to tell her otherwise? She looks at you like her dad and you treat her like she's your own daughter. She confides in you, trusts you and loves you."

He nods, understanding. "Did you know Claryssia died in a car wreck last week?"

She's dead? Car wreck? Where? Why wasn't I informed? Does Doogie know? When is the wake? The funeral? The burial? The pot begins to boil over, the liquid portion of the contents spilling onto the burner bringing me back to reality. I rapidly stride over to it, turning down the heat and stirring it. "I just heard the food boiling over," Doog comments, justifying his hurried movement into the kitchen from the computer room. I feel his eyes on me, wondering why the air is so heavy in here. "Another fight?"

"No," I reply, not really explaining anything.

"Disagreement?"

"No."

"Boog, tell me why it seems so depressing in here."

"Clary died in a car wreck."

I hear his feet rapidly stalk to the bottom of the steps. "Olyvia!"

"What, Nick?" she yells from Leilani's room.

"Come down and talk to me in the computer room, NOW," he demands, being stern so she knows it's a serious matter. I hear her footsteps quickly descend the steps, closing the computer room door.

"I understand why you got quiet as fast as you did, she's one of your best friends and nobody will ever take her place," he tells me, slowly approaching from behind and holds me by the waist, placing his head onto my right shoulder.

"Do you really understand what she is to me?"

"All I know is that she's been one of your best friends since forever and is an irreplaceable person. She will always be the mother of my daughter, but I don't know how I really feel about this whole thing."

"You wanna know how you should feel?" I demand, spinning in his loose grasp to face him with anger flowing through me. "You should feel sad or bad or upset. You should want to comfort your girlfriend over the loss of one of her closest friends, knowing that we will never get her back regardless of what we try to do."

Damn it all to hell! Here come the water works. He pulls me close, one hand quickly stirring the contents of the pot and kisses my forehead. "I do feel bad about it, but I'm just as helpless as you are about it. I'm trying to comfort you and you're so hurt that you're mad at me. You're an emotional wreck and don't know how to direct it or control it, so you need to lash out. That's fine by me and it might be how you deal with it, but I'm not walking away because you're obviously heartbroken over the loss of your best friend."