Page 178 of Just This Once

I sighed and shook my head. “No, I never got a dog. Chauncy’s allergic. Besides”—I shrugged—“I kind of didn’t want one anymore after what happened.”

“Fuck that,” Mom cried in outrage, making me smile and remember just where I’d picked up my potty mouth. “If you want a dog, baby, get a damn dog. Live your life. Enjoy it. Love your people and don’t let anything that ever happened between us prohibit you from being happy. You hear me?”

“We’re proud of you, kiddo,” Dad added, smiling as he looped an arm over Mom’s shoulders and started to grow unfocused. “And we love you. Always.”

“Congratulations on falling in love,” Mom added as they started to drift further away from me, even though none of us moved. “Appreciate the good and forgive what needs forgiving.”

I shook my head. “What—what’s happening? Where’re you guys going?”

“They’re not going anywhere.You’rethe one who’s waking up,” Raina told me and gripped my arm in support.

“What? No.” I panicked.

“It’s okay. We’ll see you again,” Mom shouted from what sounded like a great distance. “Someday.”

“Bye, kiddo,” Dad added. “You’ve got this.”

“I love you,” I called, lifting my hand to wave back, only to bump it into a solid shoulder.

“Hey,” Thane’s voice persuaded. “Parker, wake up.”

I blinked my eyes open and gasped, lurching upright. “The fuck?”

I glanced around the waiting room. Pretty much all of the Union family was gone, except for Foster, who was sitting with a sleeping Raina cradled in his lap.

Alec and his mom were missing too.

“Shit. How long did I sleep?”

Not answering, Thane patted my arm. “You needed the rest. But Hope’s out of surgery now.”

“What?!” I surged to my feet, suddenly wide awake. “When? What the fuck time is it? Is she okay?”

He only laughed. “She’s good. They said she did great. Younger and his mom already went back to her recovery room, and I can take you there now, if you want?”

“What the hell kind of question is that?” I sputtered, motioning him to move. “Yes! Let’s go.”

He laughed and shook his head. After taking me down about four different halls, he paused in front of one room with the doors opened.

Tipping his head, he said, “In here.”

He patted me on the arm as I started to pass by, but I stopped and turned to give him a full hug. “Thanks,” I rasped. “For everything.”

“I got you, brother,” he assured, stepping back to send me a serious nod. “Always.”

After we exchanged a significant look, I turned and stepped into the room to find Alec and Nina standing on either side of a bed with a sleeping Hope on it.

“There he is,” Alec said, motioning me forward. “You’re just in time. She’s been starting to stir for the past few minutes.

I stepped to his side and looked down at the love of my life. When her eyelids flickered, I took her pale hand and squeezed her fingers.

“Hey, Trouble,” I said softly. “You going to wake up anytime today or keep us waiting all night?”

Her lips spread into a smile. “Always such a grump,” she slurred and finally blinked open bleary eyes. When she focused on me, she added, “So I didn’t turn into a ghost?”

Pulling my ghost detector from my pocket, I held it over her and started to smile when absolutely nothing happened inside the vial. “Hell, you’re not even dying anymore, darlin’.”

She sniffed a small laugh. “I guess you’re stuck with me for a while longer.”

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