A white panther climbed up the miracle city volcano to meet a puma. Once they were sure no one was around, the puma changed into an old man and the panther changed into a man in his early forties.

"Son." The old man spoke.

"Father." The other man replied.

"A spirit gave El Oso a nasty beating yesterday." The old man said.

"Really? I'm not surprised."

"Neither was I until he told me that it was half human."

"You think it was my son?"

"Rodolfo he's the only half human in existence not to mention it was El Oso one of your enemies."

"Must've been out of defense."

"Or to prove himself."

"You're accusing my son of doing it for my pride? I haven't seen him since he was a baby. He doesn't know me and he thinks I don't give a damn about him or his mother! He hates me!"

"It's you're fault for fooling around with that human. I told you it would only cause trouble."

"Oh father you're basically the cause of all trouble. Floods, fires, crime raids all the work of Jorge the great puma demon, a.k.a my father."

"Yes but I wasn't stupid enough to get involved with a human."

"I fell in love."

"Spirits and demons don't feel love. Love is a distraction and it causes us to do foolish things. Exhibit A, you."

"If you called me here because you want me to apologize for falling in love with a human and fathering a half human child then I shall leave because that is the one thing I shall never regret. My only regret was leaving Maria and Manny to protect them."

"From who? Me? Rodolfo I may not approve of what you did but he's still my grandson. I won't hurt him."

"Perhaps not but I can think of lot of demons who would. If I go anywhere near him they'll pick up his scent."

"I called you here to see if you would let me train him. "

"So you can turn him into a monster like you? From the moment he was born you've tried to corrupt him but because he lived in the church you weren't able to touch him. For that I'm grateful to God everyday of my life."

"That's not the point. Rodolfo as he gets older his powers are going to increase and become dangerous."

"I will find a way to handle that but you are not going anywhere near him. You'll only corrupt him and try to turn him into a demon like you."

"Well are you at least going to remove his human half when he turns eighteen?"

"I...I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure if he wants to be all spirit."

"You're not considering making him all human are you?"

"I am actually."

"Have you lost your mind!"

"Maria and I agreed that when the time was right we'd let him choose."

"You can't have a human son that's a mockery and I won't stand for it!"

"Father he is my son! I left him with Maria because I knew you would try to control him if he stayed with me! I wanted him to have something you never gave me. A choice. You wanted me to be a demon, you wouldn't allow me to be anything else my entire childhood was dictated by you. I wasn't going to let the same thing happen to Manny. Stay away from him and if you ever hurt him, I'll kill you even if you are my father."

He turned back into a panther and disappeared into the night.

...

"Come on Manny! Get in there!"

"No!"

It was Saturday and Frida was going to take Manny shopping for new clothes but before going she decided he needed a little grooming.

"It's just a bath Manny! You stink! You need to be clean!"

She was trying to push Manny who was wearing nothing but her father's boxer shorts into the tub which was filled with soap.

"No! I hate water!"

"Look if you're gonna live with me there are certain things you will have to do. Staying out of sight, keeping quiet when my family is around, and TAKING A BATH!"

She then kicked him to the tub, put on some rubber gloves, pulled down her goggles, and grabbed a washcloth.

"Now hold still and keep those boxers on til I'm done."

Manny struggled as she scrubbed him.

"Ow! That hurts!"

"If you'd keep still it wouldn't!"

"This is worse than the ones Mom gave me! Stop! Please!"

"Oh quit being such a baby! Now time to rinse."

She turned on the water.

"Ah! It's boiling!" Manny shouted. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

"Shut up! Or my folks will hear you!"

"Oh God this feels so wrong."

"Hey I'm not enjoying this either and I wouldn't have to do this if you would have just taken a bath when I asked you. Seriously do spirits not bathe?"

"Considering that they're connected to nature and animals sure or maybe they just don't get dirty."

"Well you get dirty and you're half human and you live with me so you'll have to bathe regularly or I'll scrub you myself."

"Fine! I'll bathe."

"Thank you precious." She teased.

"You're welcome cupcake." He said sarcastically. "Give me the wash cloth I can take it from here."

She gave him the washcloth went to pull out some of her father's clothes for him to wear. Later Manny dried off and got dressed.

"You're kidding right?" He said looking down at the over sized police uniform.

"It's all I could find."

"I feel ridiculous and I look ridiculous."

"You'll live. Now when we go downstairs to leave turn invisible okay?"

"Gotcha."

She went downstairs to eat breakfast with her parents and sisters.

"Frida did you see anything strange when you came home yesterday?" Carmela asked.

"No why?"

"Because the dogs were barking at something outside last night and I found the trash can turned over this morning."

"Must be the raccoons again." Emiliano said. "I'll set the traps."

Frida rolled her eyes, she had a good feeling that it wasn't a raccoon.

Knock-knock!

"I'll get it." Anita went to open the door. "Grandmami!"

"Hello Anita." The old woman said hugging her. Nikita and Frida went to hug her as well. "How are you girls? You all look so beautiful. Anita, Nikita, you two must almost be grown women, still trying to be on the force?"

"Yes." Nikita said.

"Wonderful and Frida you look more and more like your mother every time I see you."

"Hello Mother." Carmela said. "How was your flight?"

"Just horrible dear those passengers drove me nuts."

"You're later than we expected you." Emiliano said. "I guess you're still having trouble with time."

"Yeah and you're still fat. You need to lay off the churros."

"Oh Sandra you're so funny." Emiliano said sarcastically.

"Now don't you two start." Carmela said. "I want this to be a nice visit. So please no insults or bickering. Now let's eat, Mother would you like some tea?"

"Of course." Sandra turned to her youngest granddaughter. "Frida who's your friend?"

"Friend? What friend? Who?" She said nervously as she looked to see Manny sitting next to her. "There's no one here. Just me."

"Oh...Oh silly me! My old eyes must be playing tricks on me. I better go look for my glasses."

Frida sighed in relief. After breakfast she left with Manny.

"Okay you really need to stop eating out of the trash. It's a giveaway and it's gross." Frida said.

"Sorry force of a habit."

They went into the department store and looked through the boys section of clothes. After looking around they found a suitable outfit for him, a t-shirt, leather jacket, jeans, belt, and brown shoes.

"This is just like what I used to wear." Manny said admiring himself in the mirror.

Once that was done they decided to get some lunch at a restaurant. Unfortunately Manny's eating habits didn't exactly blend in with the crowd. All eyes were on the boy eating his food like a wild animal.

"What are you looking at?!" He asked the people staring. "Nothing to see here! Go on! Mind your own business!"

They quickly turned away.

"Uh Manny, you can't eat like that? Didn't they teach you table manners in that church?"

"Yes but when I started staying in my spirit form I guess I became more animal."

"Well you need start to acting like a human. Eat with a knife and fork, chew with your mouth close, and please don't snarl and grunt when you eat."

"Yes Mother." He mocked.

"I can throw you out of my house you know."

"Whatever just give me the fork."

When it got late they went to the park and climbed up a tree to talk. It was the one thing they could agree on. Apparently they both loved climbing trees as children.

"So did you ever go to school?" She asked.

"No I was home schooled, church schooled actually. Mom couldn't risk letting me go to public places it might attract attention."

"What was your mother like?"

"That's a touchy subject. But I haven't really mentioned her in awhile." He looked up at the night sky as he thought of her. "She was always afraid something would happen to me. She never let me go outside til I was eight and I wasn't allowed to stay out after dark. Making friends wasn't much of an option considering some people believed I was a devil child."

"Harsh."

"Tell me about it. Being my mother was never easy for her but she said I was worth it."

"What happened to her?"

"She had to leave me."

"What do you mean?"

"I was thirteen when my powers kicked in and that's when El Mal Verde destroyed the church. He picked up my scent and tried to kill me but he ended up ruining my home. The council of the supernatural decided I was too dangerous to be kept around humans so they separated me and my mother and sent me to live in the woods. I never saw her again."

"I'm sorry." She put her hand over his comfortingly. "It must've been really hard for you. Do know where she is?"

"They told me she was somewhere safe. That's it. If they told me exactly where she was they knew I would try to find her."

"How could they do that to you? You were just a kid."

"They don't really understand family."

"That's really sad. Not sure what I would do if I never saw my mother again."

"She's still out there and I know she thinks about me all the time. She's probably terrified that I might get killed or something but I can take care of myself."

"Are you kidding? Before you met me you ate out of the garbage, wore no clothes, and didn't bathe."

"Okay you have a point. Which reminds me why did you let me stay?"

"I don't know. I felt sorry for you but just so we're clear this is temporary right?"

"Yes. Don't worry Princesa-"

"I have a name!"

"And I have a foot, what's your point?"

"I prefer to be called by my name thank you."

"Well don't worry Fer-ree-da I won't be here too long."

"Good."

"Though one thing bothers me. How come when I turn invisible you can still see me."

"I don't know. I guess I'm just lucky."

"Maybe."

However none of them were aware that watching them from a distance was Sandra.

"Oh Frida." She chuckled. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."