Free Double Tap by Lani Lynn Vale

holding the door open for all of us to walk inside.
    His parents were both frozen, staring at us in shock.
    I was frozen, too. Though, only because I couldn’t seem to make my legs work.
    Nico chuckled and pulled my arm.
    I became freed, mostly because I didn’t want to fall on my face. Although, he wouldn’t have let me fall.
    He never had and never would.
    I heard both of Nico’s parents speaking ninety miles an hour to each other in Spanish, and I couldn’t interpret what they were saying. I was fairly good at the language when they went slow, but at the pace they were setting, only the most fluent could understand.
    Which obviously Nico was, because he had a killer smile on his face.
    “What are they saying?” I asked.
    It came out huskily. Breathily.
    “They’re saying something about babies in the future,” Nico grinned.
    My mouth opened and shut like a guppy searching for food on the top of a pond.
    “W-wh-what?” I asked.
    He didn’t answer, but I distinctly heard the word percado . Mainly because Lolita had shrieked it, and I’d heard it all the way into the kitchen.
    And I knew what percado meant. Sin.
    Oh, dear.
    We entered the kitchen, and every one of the Pena children, adults and teenagers alike, were all staring rapturously out the window speaking a million miles an hour to each other.
    This, at least, I could understand.
    They used English.
    Nikki was sitting on top of the counter, trying valiantly to see outside.
    Nikki looked like a younger version of her mother.
    Her hair was shorter, though, cut right above her chin in a stylish bob. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and had what I suspected was a flour handprint on her ass.
    There were six kids in the Pena bunch. Nicolas, Nikki, Natalie, Noel, Nova, and Nina. Nina was the youngest at a little over sixteen. Nicolas the oldest at thirty one.
    Sol liked to say he was lucky that he got his boy first, because if the girls had come first, he’d have been too crazy to raise Nico to be a real man.
    “What are y’all doing?” Nico asked loudly.
    All five girls shrieked in surprise.
    Nico grinned.
    Then I was pulled into a hug that was both humbling and perfect.
    I’d missed these ladies.
    Like crazy.
    “Oh, my God, Nina! You’re taller than me!” I squealed.
    Nina laughed, reminding me of Nikki at that age. She was beautiful, and I bet her big brother wasn’t too happy with how she’d attract the eye of any man. He’d have to be gay not to see these ladies’ beauty.
    “Oh, you’re exactly the same,” Nina replied.
    Our little huddle was pushed over, and we all tippy-toed walked to the side as Nico pushed by us so he could get to the refrigerator.
    He reached inside and withdrew a beer, walking over to the bar stools to the side of the kitchen and sat down. He’d grabbed the TV remote off the counter and turned on what looked to be Sports Center.
    What a surprise!
    Not.
    It was either that or a soccer game. I guess we were lucky.
    “I can’t believe he kissed you. What the hell, hoe?” Nikki whispered quietly.
    Well, whispered was a relative term. She more said it in a normal voice, but the high-pitch tone of it brought everyone’s attention in the room.
    Nico and his parents alike.
    Lolita joined our hug, fitting herself in between the counter and the fridge door. “Oh, niña . I’m glad you’ve finally come home.”
    “Me too, Lolita,” I whispered fervently, laying my head down until it rested on Nova’s shoulder.
    Nova laid her cheek against my head, and we all shed a few tears.
    It felt good to be home.
    “Did you and my brother have any hot sex yet? I always knew you liked him, you know,” Nikki whispered in my ear.
    Jesus, the girl always spoke what was on her mind. I swear she didn’t have any filter.
    “Nikki,” I said, looking into her beautiful brown eyes. “Do you remember that time when you told that huge man at the corner store that he needed to take a shower because he smelled like ass?”
    Her eyes