Kai shrugged, ever aloof.
I rolled my eyes and pulled them both into a hug.
Kai stiffened momentarily before relaxing into it. “Thanks for showing up,” they muttered in my ear.
“It’s the only place I want to be,” I whispered to them.
“We made phoenix feathers,” Diego said happily as he pulled away. “We’re all going to wear them. You too, okay?”
“Sounds perfect. Why don’t you all show me what you’ve been working on? Marina said you’d finished the float, but she wouldn’t send me pictures of it.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Marina said. “You’re going to flip.”
THEY LED me back outside and around to the back of the center to a small parking lot. I saw a truck with a trailer attached and a large, bulky tarp covering it. It was bigger than I expected, and I wondered what the hell they’d managed to pull off. I hoped it looked okay, but even if it didn’t, I was going to stand on it with all the others.
I shouldn’t have worried.
“Ready?” Marina asked me.
I nodded, holding my breath.
“Okay, everyone!” she shouted. “Let’s do it!”
The kids carefully pulled off the tarp, obviously not wanting to damage anything underneath. As it was slowly revealed, I took a moment to take it all in. I saw bright colors and motherfucking wings and—
The tarp fell to the ground.
“Holy fucking shit,” I breathed.
The float wasn’t perfect. Parts of it looked like they would probably break off by the end of the day, but my god, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
The side of the trailer facing me featured a large banner with the words PHOENIX HOUSE painted on it in red and orange. The front half of the trailer where we’d all be standing was empty. But sitting on the back of the trailer was a phoenix.
An actual fucking phoenix.
It was about ten feet high, and though I could see parts of the wire frame sticking out from underneath, they were barely noticeable unless you were really looking for them. The phoenix’s wings curled toward the front of the trailer, and the head of the bird towered overhead, its eyes narrowed fiercely, its beak pointed down. The feathers were red and orange, but the tips were rainbow colored, bright in the sunlight.
“How the hell did you do all this?” I demanded in awe.
Marina laughed. “A sizeable donation from Stephen and Adam Morgan, a lot of luck, and Diego here. He designed the whole thing. And then everyone pitched in.”
Diego blushed brightly as he looked down at his feet. “Kai helped too.”
“You did all this?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “I mean, yeah? I guess.” He frowned, though he didn’t raise his head. “I like drawing and making things.”
“And he’s the best at it,” Kai said, glaring at me as if they thought I was going to contradict them.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever seen,” I told Diego quietly. “You should be proud.” I raised my voice. “All of you should be proud. I can’t believe… no, you know what? I can believe you all did this. Because I know you and what you’re capable of. This is wonderful.”
Diego looked up at me. “Really?”
I nodded. “Really.”
Kai bumped his shoulder. “I told you Corey would like it.” They rolled their eyes. “He was worried you wouldn’t.”
“I was not.”