Page 57 of 300 New Year's Eves

“Eight!”

“No. Not after today.”

“Seven!”

“There is hope for me yet?”

“Six!”

“Oh, there’s definitely hope for you.”

“Five!”

“Hope for me to get another kiss?”

“Four!”

“Come back with me tonight, and I’ll give you more.”

Three!”

“Is that a promise?”

“Two!”

“It’s a guarantee.”

“One! Happy …”

“Uncle Sergio! Wake up!”

“Oof … morning, buddy.”

“Hiss…”

“Dad said to come get you. Breakfast is almost ready.”

Sergio rubs at his eyes and sighs. The memory of Jeremy promising him more than just a kiss lingers in the forefront of his mind. Jeremy can promise that all he wants, but if Sergio can’t make it past midnight, there will never be a chance for any follow-through. Frowning, he begins to sit up in bed, situating himself to sit across from Henry.

“You’re a smart kid, right?”

“Dad says I’m the smartest!” Henry says with pride.

“And what about Mom? What does she say?”

“She says I’m the sweetest.”

Sergio nods his head. “They’re both right. Do you know what I think you are?”

Henry tilts his head to the side. “Smartest?”

“For sure,” Sergio says, and ruffles his hair. “But I also think you are the sneakiest.”

Henry frowns. “Mommy says it’s not good to be sneaky.”

“Mommy is only half right,” Sergio says, hoping that today isn’t the day he finds a way to free himself from this loop, as he’s about to manipulate a five-year-old in a way that he doesn’t want to have any lasting effects on his attitude towards his mother. But Sergio is in desperate need of an ally if he’s going to garner any new and vital intel. Besides, Henry has been snitching on him for months now. Sergio may as well squeeze him like a lemon for anything useful.

He leans in close to Henry and gives him a playful, mysterious smile. “Let’s talk secrets,” he says. Henry’s face lights up. “Tell me, what did Jeremy say when he found out I was coming?”