Asleep

75 Mom, Dad, and This Guy

Nora~~

I raise my hand and knock against my own door, something I've hardly ever needed to do in my life. There isn't any time to gather my thoughts before the door is thrown open by mother, and she's wrapped me in a hug, breaking my grip on Charlie.

I lock my arms around her as the tears finally come. "Mom."

"Your father . . . he called . . . he said what happened."

"Is he here?"

She shakes her head against my neck. "I had been waiting out here, but Keagan said if I kept watching for you, you would never come."

The smell of cooked chicken wafts toward me from the kitchen. "Is that—"

"Your favorite."

Chicken and noodles and crackers. I haven't had it since before I fell asleep.

I squeeze my eyes shut to fight the tears.

Two new sets of arms wrap around me, one higher up than the other.

I lose to the tears but gain the prize.

I pull away from my mom to see Kandice and Keagan. My arms encircle them both. Keagan's never been a hugger, but right now he is the best.

"Who's this?" My mom looks at Charlie who's been standing off to the side silently.

"I'm Charlie, ma'am."

Mom might not have noticed that he neglected to mention his last name. I don't know how much she knows about Richard Pace, but just hearing his last name could be enough for her to refuse to let Charlie inside.

"He shut down the dream. I wouldn't be here without him."

            A light blush colors his cheeks. "Your daughter asked me to help. She was already planning to do it with or without me.

Keagan eyes him up and down. "Are you two a thing?"

Now it's me who blushes. We never spoke about what we were. "Something like that." I arch an eyebrow at Charlie. A smile tugs at his lips.

Kandice wraps her arms around my leg, and I bend down to pick her up. "You left," she says, poking my nose.

I brush my hand through her blonde hair, my fingers tangling in her ringlets. "I didn't mean to." This is the girl who appeared on Radia's couch. Before we left the facility earlier, Radia was reunited with her dad.

Sighing and burying her face in my shoulder, she loops her arms around my neck. "Don't leave again."

I pat her head. "I won't." I swallow the lump in my throat and angle toward the sidewalk where Kiernan lingers. "Mom, there's someone who wants to see you."

I track her gaze across the lawn. She blinks as if she hasn't noticed the man before now and maybe that's true. Maybe Charlie's and my appearance distracted her enough that she didn't need to look elsewhere, and if she did, she probably didn't recognize him. I wonder if his hair was that long before, what he was like before I was born. Before he was trapped in a sixteen-year sleep.

"Who . . ." Her brows furrow. Kiernan seems to realize he's the center of attention now and walks straight through the grass. Usually Mom would scold anyone who did that.

"Heather."

She takes a shaky step forward.

Kiernan stops a couple feet away from her, at the edge of the grass and the cement pathway.

"Kiernan?" Her face looks as if it's drained of blood as if she's the ghost and not the person seeing one.

His throat bobs as he nods.