Hi Amity,

Thanks for sending us your report about your time in the human realm yesterday. I don't mean to criticize you, but maybe you should spend more time discussing the differences of the human realm to ours and less time talking about Luz? This is for posterity after all!

Anyways, again, super grateful for your help!

Your friend,

Gus

Look, Gus, I'll run this report my way, and you'll like it, because I'm doing this out of the abundant goodness of my heart, and for free. Besides, I provided you with plenty of useful information, and today's report is going to have even more. Okay, maybe that was too harsh. But still, Gus, I'm trying to have fun, not do work. [Message received loud and clear!]

I've found I don't sleep very well in the human realm. Luz suggests that it could be down to physiological disruptions generated by interdimensional teletransportation. I told her that I don't know what that means. She said that it's kind of like my soul has jet lag. I don't know what that means either, but at that point, I decided to just roll with it.

Anyway, so I spent Monday night mostly tossing and turning. The hotel room that I'm staying in is so quiet compared to the Owl House, or even Blight Manor on the rare occasions that I stay overnight there. There's no Hooty trying to bring horror into my life, no siblings playing pranks. There's just me and my thoughts. I've barely gotten used to the idea of liking me. My thoughts? Forget it. I'm not there yet.

There's still a part of my mind that worries incessantly about what my parents would think about all this. The fact that they're in jail and have no more authority over me hasn't quieted that part of me yet. I'm alone, without anyone to tell me what to do, in the human realm on a vacation with my human girlfriend. And as much as I love it, I'm constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So when there was a knock on my door and a chirpy voice announced "Room service!" I thought to myself, Well, this is it, Amity. Time to pie the payer. [I think it's pay the piper, actually.] I hadn't ordered any room service, and I immediately leaped to the conclusion that it was a trap, that my parents had escaped from prison and hired someone to drag me home and punish me for my so-called depravity.

But I wasn't going down without a fight. Summoning as much power as I could, I created an abomination with viciously sharp teeth and razor claws. If my parents wanted me back, they'd have to take me back over my dead body.

I used a spell to telekinetically open the door and Luz was on the other side. She shrieked at the sight of my abomination, and then promptly fainted. The tray full of human breakfast foods that she'd been holding fell to the ground. Orange blood spilled on the carpet. I couldn't do anything but laugh, Gus! My girlfriend was unconscious on the ground, and I was just laughing my head off. Maybe I'm just crazy.

[Hey, I probably wouldn't have reacted any better in your shoes. I can't tell you how many hits go down in the human world like that. At least, they do according to these spy novels that Luz got me for my birthday.]

I dispelled the abomination, and gently put Luz in my bed. Oh, Titan, I had just realized it. Luz was in my hotel room. My hotel room with no adult chaperon. My hotel room with a bed. The bed that she was in. Somebody was letting out a high pitched squeak and it took me a few moments to realize that said person was me.

"Okay, Amity, don't panic," I said to myself, as if that would actually stop me from panicking. "The important thing to do is make sure that she's safe. Does she have a concussion?"

I paused. How in the Isles would I know if she had a concussion? Camila would know, of course, but that was definitely not a conversation I wanted to have. "Hello, Mrs. Noceda. Just out of idle curiosity, how do you know when you have a concussion? Because your daughter totally didn't faint when I almost killed her with an abomination in my hotel room!" Yeah, that'd end well.

My panicking only came to an end when Luz sat up groggily in my bed, rubbing her forehead. "Amity?" she said. "What happened?" Her eyes widened. "Why am I in your bed? Did we do anything last night?!"

My face was so red that it made the meeting room at the Seattle Central Library look blue. "NO! Not that I would mind doing things like that…when we're older! And married! Not that I'm asking for your hand in marriage! Or that I would say no if you offered!" I took a few deep breaths. The last thing I needed to do was to pass out and get a concussion myself. "Um, you took me by surprise, and I nearly killed you with an abomination, and you fainted, and…well, that's all.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Yeah, sorry, I guess I should have called ahead. But I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed!" I tilted my head quizzically. "It's a special treat that you do for people you love. You bring them a tray of breakfast foods and they eat it in bed. So…that didn't really work out." She got out of the bed, looking none the worse for wear.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah…I guess the food's gotten all dirty." I looked over at the food, which was still scattered on the floor. The orange blood had gotten into the carpet. "Hey, it's the thought that counts, right? Look, let's get breakfast somewhere else. I don't think it's appropriate for the two of us to be here together right now."

Luz gave me two thumbs up and started cleaning up the food. "The maid will deal with it," I told her.

She gave me a disapproving look. "They have a tough enough job as it is, Amity. I don't want to make it any tougher. I made this mess, I'll clean it up."

I cringed. Sometimes, as much as I tried otherwise, my privilege seeped through. I'd grown up in the lap of luxury; Luz had grown up…well, not poor by human standards, per se, but certainly not in a position where they could afford to be wasteful. A part of me worried that she'd always see me as a bratty rich girl, but I was beginning to realize that that part of me was silly and should be ignored. That's not to say that I could always ignore that part of me, but the fact that I knew that I should be doing it was an important first step, in my opinion.

"I'll help," I offered. By the smile on her face, I knew that was the right thing to say. Between the two of us, we had the mess cleaned up in no time.

We went to a store called Starbucks. There are many of these Starbucks across the human realm, but Seattle has the most because the chain started there. The food we got there wasn't as impressive as the grand spread that Luz had gotten from the hotel restaurant, but I was with the most amazing human ever, so it didn't matter. I could be eating dirt with her, and I'm sure it would be an amazing experience.

While Starbucks does sell food, what it is most famous for is selling coffee. Coffee is sort of the human equivalent of an energy potion. It makes you more awake and alert in the morning. Many humans swear by it and find that it helps them function at a much more effective level. But I tried some, and honestly, Gus, it tastes disgusting. It's total swill! I guess my tastebuds just aren't calibrated for it.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" I asked Luz.

She leaned back in her chair, a cocky smile on her face. "Well, hold onto your hat…" I didn't understand what she meant by that. I wasn't wearing a hat. "…because this girl is taking you to….drumroll, please!"

I was in near panic at this point. What is a drumroll and why does Luz want it?!

"The Museum of Flight!" Luz finished with a flourish. "That's right, it's an entire museum dedicated to your favorite thing in the human realm! Well, favorite thing that isn't me."

"You don't mean…?" She couldn't mean that! Could she?

"That's right. AIRPLANES!"

I swear that I could feel tiny hearts forming in my eyes. Airplanes are the coolest thing about the human realm, second to none. They're these huge metal tubes that can fit hundreds of people and travel around the world. Before they were invented, the only way to travel across the world was by sea, and that could take months if not years. Now you can go on a plane and go the same distance in hours.

For Valentine's Day (which, as you know from the occasional mention I might have made of it [By occasional, you mean constant, right?], is a holiday where humans celebrate love, especially romantic love), Luz got me a book about transportation in the human realm, and I saw a picture of a plane, and I fell in love at first sight. One day, Luz and I will travel on one, but today, I get to go to a museum chock full of them, and that's enough for me right now.

"Excuse me, but is your friend okay?" a waitress asked Luz. "She's been making that high pitched squeaking sound for…quite some time now, and it's starting to, well, freak me out a little?"

I cleared my throat. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

"Amity's just a little shellshocked at my awesome date planning skills!" Luz said, holding up a hand to the waitress to give her a high five. Surprisingly, she got one.

"Yeah…I'm totally fine," I said, sounding more confident than I felt. "Thanks for checking up on me." I grinned at Luz. "You sure you don't mind people knowing that I'm your girlfriend?"

In the Boiling Isles, as you know, there isn't much stigma about being in a same sex relationship, unless you're a [REDACTED] like my parents. [Honestly, Amity, while I personally agree with you that your parents are indeed [REDACTED], could you try to keep the swearing to a minimum, please? This is an academic account, after all.] Here's it's different. Until fairly recently, such a thing was completely anathema. That's changed as of late, but there are still enough homophobes (people who hate people who are part of the LGBT community) around to make things awkward. People like me still have a long way to go until they're fully accepted.

"Are you kidding me?" Luz said, matching and surpassing my grin. "Right now, I just want to scream from the rooftops that my girlfriend is the brightest and prettiest witch in any dimension. If anyone doesn't like it, well, that's their problem." She stood up and offered me her arm. "Shall we, Miss Blight?"

I stood up and bowed to her. "We shall, Miss Noceda." I took her arm and we walked hand in hand out of the coffee shop.

The Museum of Flight is on the southern edges of the city, quite away from the bustling city center. When you walk into the lobby, you're immediately greeted by replicas of attempts to build airplanes throughout the centuries. It should be noted that most of these attempts ended in failure and often the death of the inventors, but humans are persistent, and they kept trying. Finally, in 1903, they finally succeeded. It just went a few miles above the ground, but above the ground it went. The dream of flight became reality, just as my dream of seeing planes in real life was about to become reality.

I ran, totally entranced, towards the main part of the collection. It was really happening! It wasn't just some dream! I was going to see real planes!

"HEY!" I turned around and saw a security guard glaring at me. "Where do you think you're going? No one gets into the museum without a ticket, and I did not see you get one!"

I laughed nervously, and then trotted out a line that Luz told me worked perfectly in any awkward situation. "NONSPECIFIC EXCUSE!" I shouted at him, as I ran back towards the admission line. Definitely not one of my finer moments, especially since I was already familiar with the concept of paying to get into museums from yesterday.

"You're lucky you're so cute," Luz said when I joined her in the line. She pinched my cheek and winked at me, then dragged me along with her to make sure I didn't fall behind. She knows me so well, Gus!

The instant I got the tickets, I charged into the main part of the museum and I just stopped in my tracks, my jaw agape in astonishment.

The Great Gallery, as they call the main part of the museum, is a thing of beauty, an architectural marvel. In fairness, I may be exaggerating somewhat, but true art is subjective, is it not? [I guess…?] It's a huge room, with planes of all kinds hanging from the ceiling, both on the floors and hanging from the ceiling. It has floor to ceiling glass windows, and a glass ceiling as well, filling the place with natural light. There are small planes, big planes, military planes, civilian planes, planes from Luz's lifetime, and planes from long before. You name it and they had it.

"Well?" Luz asked eagerly. "What do you think?"

I said the only thing that I could possibly think of at that moment. "Oh, wow. Planes."

I must have looked like I was in a daze as I walked through the Great Gallery. I'm glad that no one paid attention to me like our waitress had. Luz held me throughout, and I'm pretty certain she was doing so because she was worried I was going to fall. I wouldn't have, of course. I'm a Blight. I have poise, I have dignity, I have decorum.

"IS THAT A FLYING CAR?!" I shrieked so loud that I'm surprised the ceiling glass didn't break and fall on my head. "Luz, you didn't tell me that you had flying cars!"

Luz shrugged. "That's cause we don't. This thing is just a prototype. They never actually built them. You could say that they never got off the ground!" She sniggered at her absolutely horrendous pun. She's lucky that I love her so much.

"I'm going to ignore that," I said haughtily. I pointed at what looked like a large plane that was cut in half. "Is that one of those planes that you can travel across oceans in?"

"Yeah, it's just a mockup, but they let you go inside and see what it looks like! Come on!" She ran up the stairs to the second floor of the museum (parallel to the lobby – you know what, I'm just going to put a floor plan in one of the appendixes and you can go from there). Before we could get inside the mockup, my attention was caught by what I presumed was a photorealistic drawing on the wall of a manmade object floating in space. "Is this more of your science fiction?"

"Nah, that's a satellite," Luz said offhandedly. "Come on, Blight! I want us to be able to get a window seat."

I put up a hand. "But, Luz, that's in space. You actually launched objects into space? How did you do that without any magic?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh, wow, you don't know anything about the space program, do you? Never mind about the jet, this is more important. Come on!"

We ran back into the lobby. Well, Luz ran. I sort of jogged in a futile effort to keep up the pace with her. I suddenly realized that getting coffee into the already overactive Luz had been a really bad idea. "You weren't allowed to have coffee, were you?"

Luz scowled. "Mom says it stunts my growth. Like, what's the point of being tall anyway? But never mind that! Behold!" She gestured grandly at a sign that read "Space! Exploring the new frontier!" in front of an exhibit that I had somehow missed in my mad desire for planes.

"Space?!" I said, not caring how squeaky my voice sounded. "But I thought that humans couldn't survive in space!"

"Yeah, we can't, but we got around that," she said casually, as if she wasn't saying something utterly, utterly miraculous. "With spacesuits and stuff that provide oxygen."

Here's how mankind's ascent into space went down. Bear with me, because there's actually a lot of politics, of all things, here. Luz's country, the United States, was mortal enemies with a country on the other side of the world called the Soviet Union. But remember those nuclear bombs I mentioned? Well, both countries had tons of them, so they couldn't go to war with each other, or the bombs would get dropped on everyone's cities and all life would end. So they were forced to fight against each other in more indirect ways. This was called the Cold War. They had other countries fight each other to give them a tactical advantage, they spied on each other, and – here's the important part – they sought to outdo each other technologically.

Thus, the Space Race began. The Soviet Union fired the first metaphorical shot of the Space Race when they launched a satellite into orbit. By today's standards, it was quite primitive, actually, but back in 1957, it was on a completely different level than anything seen before. From then on, the race was on. Only four years later, the Soviets sent the first man into space.

That's right, Gus. In less than sixty years, humanity went from being a few miles off the ground to being in space. And they did all this without any magic whatsoever. You see what I mean about them being exceptional?

There are many species, I'm sure, that would have just rested on their laurels at this point. Not humanity. The leader of the United States vowed that they would top the Soviet achievement by putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

"No way," I said to Luz. "You can't be serious. In space is one thing, but the moon is thousands of miles away."

"238,900 miles, to be exact," Luz recited from memory. "And, yeah, they did. Want to see what they used to land there?"

"Do I ever!" I said dreamily.

"Okay, so it's not the actual one they landed on the moon; this one never actually made it into space, but it looks just like them." I completely ignored her and charged towards a surprisingly small, almost triangular object. It looked like it'd be hard pressed to fit one person, not more than one. Compared to some of the spaceships that are in science fiction films, it's almost unimpressive looking.

But it's real, Gus. It's REAL. People went on the moon with the lunar module. The moon!

"Did…did you go any farther than this?" I asked Luz. "Has humanity been on other planets?!"

"No," she admitted, sounding very sad. "We should be. We should be doing a lot of things that we're not. After the Apollo program was over, people lost interest on sending more people to the moon, or going farther. There's been talk about sending humans to Mars…but for now, that's all it is. Just talk."

I squeezed her hand. Humanity was so impressive to me that I forgot how much it can disappoint Luz sometimes. "You'll be there one day. Give it time."

"But we have sent robots to Mars. Spirit. Opportunity. Curiosity." She said the names like someone speaking the name of a celebrity that they had a crush on. "And we've sent unmanned ships into the outer edges of the Solar System. Even beyond!"

After a lot more geeking out over just about every space related artifact that the museum possesses (THEY HAVE A MOON ROCK. A ROCK FROM THE MOON, GUS.), I was getting hungry, so we went over to the museum's café and had lunch. It wasn't exactly the tastiest food I'd ever had, but it was edible enough, and after I had expended so much energy geeking out, it was nice to sit down and get some rest.

"You doing all right?" Luz asked, with some concern. "I just want to make sure I'm not overloading you."

I smiled at her, not caring how dorky my grin looked. "Gracias, Luz. Siempre mi valiente defensora," I told her, reveling in the blush that caused Luz's cheeks to look like they were about to catch fire. "I think I've got enough energy in me for one more exhibit."

Luz looked at a brochure containing a floor plan that she had snagged from the front desk. "Okay, let's see here. We've got the Red Barn – no, that'd be too boring. So it's a choice between the Personal Courage Wing, and the Aviation Pavilion. The Personal Courage Wing is filled of planes from both the world wars." She winced, looking uncomfortable for some reason. "The Aviation Pavilion is outside, across the street; it's where they keep the jets that they can't fit inside the building."

I'm not sure exactly why I chose the Personal Courage Wing. (Do they call it a wing because a plane has wings, or is that a coincidence?) [How should I know?] After all, seeing huge planes sounded super appealing. I was really eager to get to see these jumbo jets up close. Yet…there was some instinct that told me that seeing the Personal Courage Wing would help me understand humans better. And while, despite your opinions to the contrary, understanding humanity was not the primary purpose of this voyage, it was still something I wanted to do.

We've all heard stories of how brutal and savage humanity can be. Belos' propaganda portrayed them as bloodthirsty monsters, who would sell out their own mothers for a scrap of food. Like all the best lies, there is an element of truth to them. Humans have perpetuated the worst atrocities that you can possibly imagine, and quite a few that I deeply hope that you cannot. Without any natural predators remaining that pose a threat to them, they have turned against each other with a viciousness that no creature in the Boiling Isles can match.

The World Wars were a prime example of this. To be honest with you, I'm not really all that clear what World War I was about. Luz tried to explain it to me, but her explanation didn't make all that much sense. There was something about an archduke getting shot? And then suddenly all the major powers were at war? I really don't get it. World War I happened from 1914-1918, eleven years after airplanes were invented. It was the first war that airplanes were used for battle. At this point, they were mostly used for reconnaissance, but they also dropped bombs from them.

After World War I, one of the countries that lost, Germany, fell under the control of Adolf Hitler and his minions, the Nazis. In Luz's words, Hitler made Belos look as fluffy and harmless as King by comparison. He was the most evil man in human history. He started taking over parts of Europe, and eventually, with the help of Germany's allies Italy and Japan, tried to take over the whole world. The United States was reluctant to get involved at first, but after Japan bombed one of their military bases using planes, they jumped into the war.

By this point, planes had evolved considerably. They could travel farther, faster. They were used to bomb both civilians and military targets by both sides. A great many people were killed from these bombings. It had to be done. The Nazis had to be stopped. But I can scarcely comprehend the devastation left behind – there's really no such parallel in our world. You can't imagine what it's like to see photographs of buildings just mangled. And that's just scratching the surface of the carnage that the war left. It was the darkest time in human history, no question.

It's probably fitting that just as the war, at least for the United States, began with an aerial bombing, so did it end that way. The United States had developed nuclear bombs in secret, and in order to force Japan's surrender (Germany and Italy had already lost by this point), they dropped two of them on Japanese cities, and they dropped them from planes.

After Luz was done explaining all of this, I just shook my head in astonishment. "I don't understand how a species that is capable of all this could contain someone like you."

Luz sighed. "Yeah. I don't understand that either. I'd like to think we're better now, that we won't make the same mistakes. But are we? Some days I think so, some days I don't. But we can be, and I think that matters." She gestured at the fighter planes around her. "People risked their lives to fight evil. Without them, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't even have been born."

There was a somber silence for a while. "Maybe I shouldn't have brought you here," Luz admitted. "I wanted to give you a good impression of humanity. But, well, this…isn't."

"I already have a good impression of humanity," I assured her. "Its best member is my girlfriend, after all!" I squeezed her hand. "Humans aren't just one thing, just like witches aren't. You're complex beings. This just proves that. Now, come on, I want to see it all!"

And so I did. Luz showed me all around the place, showing off the planes as if she was a tour guide. "Over here we have one of the planes that the Night Witches used," she said, pointing to a plane that looked like it was more advanced than the World War I planes, but less advanced than the World War II planes.

"Wait a second. I thought that you didn't have witches in your world."

"Oh, that's just the name the Nazis called them," Luz explained. "They were an all women unit of Soviet bombers." (The Soviets were allied with the United States during World War II. How they became mortal enemies later, I'm not sure.) "They called them that because they were so silent, the Germans thought they were using witchcraft to get to their targets undetected."

She looked like she had a healthy respect for these Night Witches, but at the same time, I knew that she wouldn't have wanted to be in their shoes. Luz is not the type of person with the capacity to kill people, even for a worthy cause.

After we'd finished both floors of the Personal Courage Wing, Luz and I got back on the bus. This time, we transferred busses in Seattle and went back to her home in [REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE] [Seriously, Amity?!]. Señora Noceda was waiting for both of us. I really hoped that she didn't know that Luz had visited my hotel room that morning. Thankfully, judging by the expression on her face, that didn't seem to be the case.

Señora Noceda greeted me with a hug, which felt both comfortable and uncomfortable simultaneously. I have mixed feelings about Señora Noceda's affection and like a lot of things in my life, it comes back to my parents and how they treated me. My parents would never do anything as "uncouth" as hugging their daughter. To them, that was a sign of weakness.

Señora Noceda doesn't know all the details of how my parents treated me, but she knows enough to feel that she has to be extra kind and affectionate to make up for it. And some part of me really likes that! And another part of me thinks that it's wrong, that it shouldn't be happening. A tiny part of me actually thinks less of her for being so open. I'm trying to smash that part of me to bits, but it's not as easy as it sounds.

"So how was your day today?" she asked us. A simple question, but it left me tongue-tied. If Mother had asked me that question, she would have been interested solely in how I bettered myself academically and socially. Señora Noceda asked that question because she wanted us to have had a good day.

"It was great, mami!" Luz answered for me. "I think that Amity wants to be an astronaut now!" (An astronaut is what one calls a human who goes to space.)

Señora Noceda chuckled. "Well, I wish her good luck with that. Amity, are you sure you don't want to stay here? You can take my room, and I'll sleep on the couch. I truly don't mind."

I goggled at her. She would sacrifice her comfort, not even for her own daughter, but for her daughter's girlfriend? Then I cleared my throat. If there was one thing I was good at it, it was reacting well under pressure. "That's very kind of you, Señora Noceda, but I like to have my own space."

Señora Noceda looked like she respected that answer. "Well, if you change your mind, the offer will still be on the table. And I told you, call me Camila." I tried to make my lips form the words, but a lifetime of social expectations prevented them from coming out. "It's okay, cariño. One step at a time." She snapped her fingers. "Oh, right! Before I forget, Luz, your friend Caroline called. She and Sean wanted you to come over to her house tomorrow."

Luz's eyes lit up. "Oh, cool! Amity, I think that you'll really enjoy meeting them."

Señora Noceda took a deep breath, looking as if she was about to say something difficult. "Actually, mija, I think it might be best if you went alone. It's not good for you to be around Amity 24/7."

Luz looked aghast. "You're…separating us?"

"Oh, Luz, I'm just saying you can spend a few hours with just your friends, that's all. Don't be melodramatic."

I kissed Luz on the cheek. "Luz, it's fine. Your mother is right. I'll still be around when we get back, and we've got Thursday and Friday to ourselves. You hang out with Gus and Willow without me all the time. It's the same idea."

"Okay," she conceded reluctantly. "I guess you're right. We'll still see them at ECCC when we go." I didn't know what ECCC was, but I didn't bother asking. I've liked Luz's surprises so far, and I'm sure that whatever ECCC was, I'd enjoy it.

Señora Noceda looked relieved. She must have expected a bigger argument from Luz. "Okay, well, why don't you go up and let them know you'll be there? I wanted to have a one on one chat with Amity." I went so pale that I'm surprised I wasn't invisible.

She sat down on the sofa, and only then appeared to see the expression on my face. "Goodness me, Amity, it's nothing bad! I'm sorry, I should have thought that through a bit more." I relaxed and took a seat in an armchair.

"How are you settling in, dear?" Señora Noceda asked me. "You're not having any trouble adjusting to the new environment? And, please, I insist that you be honest with me. You don't have to worry about me getting angry with you."

"It's very…different, but not in a bad way," I answered. "I'm not sure I'd want to live here, if given the choice."

Señora Noceda sighed. "Yeah, but you won't be, am I right?" she asked, with an almost bitter tone to her voice. Strangely enough, I felt that the tone was more directed against herself than anything else. "Luz has told me that she wants to move to the Isles when she's an adult."

"If she wants to do that, it's her decision, isn't it?" I pointed out.

"It's a hard thing to hear that your daughter wants to abandon her world," Señora Noceda explained. "I know that I'm really the only thing that she's got going for her here."

"I don't know about that," I said. "Maybe that was the case, but she's got friends now, and she's…more at peace with this world than before. And if Luz wants to live here…I suppose I'd be willing to do that too. But four years is a long time, Señora Noceda. Who knows what'll happen between now and then?"

She nodded, looking distant. "You're a good mother," I went on. "You don't know how important that is. If I'd had a mother that was half as good as you, maybe I wouldn't be as screwed up as I am now."

"You're not screwed up, cariño," Señora Noceda said firmly. "You were abused. It was not your fault. Surviving that took strength that I can barely envision." She looked me straight in the eyes. Unlike Luz, I didn't have any issues with eye contact. "If you were as screwed up as you think you are, then why would I be so happy that you're dating my daughter?"

I tried my best not to cry at that, but it was an exercise in futility. "You really mean that? You're happy about the two of us?"

"Amity, I'm through the roof about it," she said. What did roofs have to do with her happiness? But the context suggested that she was happy.

"I love her so much," I managed to get out through my tears.

"She loves you too."

I took a deep breath. I could get the words out. I knew I could.

"Thank you, Camila."