Chapter 149

Aria’s POV

I hated to break up the scene, wanting Lucian and the kids to spend as much time together as possible, so I watched from a distance for a while, before tracking down one of the nurses to discuss Cathy’s condition.

I checked on her a few separate times before deciding that she was healthy enough for me to leave alone for the rest of the day. By then, the kids were tired, so, my suggestions of going home for a while were met without much argument.

“Say goodbye to Uncle Lucian,” I told them. Immediately they went in for hugs.

“Will we see you again, Uncle Lucian?” Jean asked.

“We aren’t leaving yet,” I assured her, and Luke too, who seemed just as worried.

“See?” Lucian said, smiling. “Nothing to worry over.”

How many more times they would see each other, that I couldn’t say. But for now, there would be at least once more I was sure before we left again for Moonglow.

When the kids seemed satisfied, coming to hold my hand so we could leave together, I made one last bout of eye contact with Lucian. Looking at him, I found he was already staring back at me.

I still felt as connect to him as I did when we were kissing, and thinking about it made some heat rise within me. But, even with that affection between us, we had more problems than could be solved by kissing, as pleasant as that was.

With how well Cathy is doing, I didn’t envision us in this pack for much longer. A few days, at most, to make sure Cathy recovered okay. I could practically hear the ocean waves and feel the sand between my toes already.

“Goodbye, Lucian,” I said.

“Dr. Aria,” he replied.

With that, we went our separate ways.

It was a nice day, so we decided to walk some of the way back to Cathy’s place. There was a nice park nearby that I wanted to take the kids to.

We didn’t get far away from the hospital before Luke tugged on my hand.

“Do we really have to go back to Moonglow, Mom?” he asked.

“Don’t you miss home?” I asked him.

“I do, but… There’s stuff here too.”

“Can we live both places?” Jean asked.

I might have been able to swing that financially, at least I could rent a place here for a few months of the year, but I didn’t know how that would work with my schedule at the clinic.

I’d made commitments to Moonglow, determined to see their healthcare improve. I couldn’t just turn my back on them now, no matter how tempted I too might have been.

That kiss with Lucian had been more than just that. We had connected for a moment, our hearts intertwined. It had been brief, a flash in the pan, but it had also been a hint of how things could be. How they truly could be, without all of our old problems getting in the way.

But who was to say, that if we decided to stay, that those problems wouldn’t turn their ugly heads again?

Did Lucian still expect me to give up my life’s work? Would I have to be a housewife again? Would he slowly grow colder to me, eventually treating me as he had in the past?

I didn’t want to find out. I had to stick with my convictions here.

No matter how torn I felt in the moment, I had worked hard to make Moonglow the home for me and my children. I couldn’t turn my back on that now, no matter how kind Lucian was being or how much of a good kisser he was.

“We should enjoy our time here,” I said. “We can always visit in the future.”

For now, that seemed to calm them, and we were able to enjoy the park together.

Lucian’s POV

I knocked on my parents’ door and hugged my mom after she answered. She squeezed me somewhat tighter than usual.

“One of my friends told me she saw you working at the hospital,” Mom said as she led me inside.

“I’ve been helping Aria,” I told her. “Her friend Cathy was very sick, and Aria was determined to come up with a cure.”

“Did she have much luck?” Mom asked, her brows raising.

“Yes, actually. Just today, we came up with a cure. It’s my understanding that her friend is on the mend.”

“That’s wonderful!” Mom said, and hurriedly shared the news with Dad. I followed her into the living room.

I could agree that finding the cure itself and implementing it was an amazing feat and worthy of praise. I was also relieved that Cathy would soon be well again, and not hindered by such a terrible disease.

But, at the same time, a growing sense of trepidation rose inside of me. Now that Aria had found her cure, she could be headed back to Moonglow any time now. She’d promised that the kids would see me again, so I hoped she wouldn’t just disappear like last time.

But… I didn’t want to say goodbye yet.

“We should celebrate,” Dad said from the couch. “Our own son, helping to cure incurable diseases. We’re proud, son.”

“I didn’t do anything more than an assistant would do,” I said.

“But Aria needed that. She needed you. Who knows? Maybe it was your presence that helped give her what she needed to find the answer?” Mom said.

I didn’t know if I believed that. I had no idea what I was doing most of the time I’d been Aria’s assistant, though she had been patient with me and helped guide me. By the end, I had picked up a few things.

I hated to think that was over now.

Mom and Dad must have picked up on my sadness, because they shared a look of concern.

“What is it, dear?” Mom asked. Approaching me, she placed her hand on my shoulder. “You seem troubled.”

“Aria will leave soon,” I said. “Her and the kids…” I sighed a little. “I’m not sure what I’ll do without them.”

“You don’t think you can convince her to stay?” Dad asked.

“No,” I said. “And I’m not sure if I should even try. She’s out there living her dreams. Who am I to hold her back?”

Mom and Dad shared another look. I didn’t even try to read it this time.

“I’m going to miss her. And the kids too. They are so great, I love them already.” A thought made my brightness, thinking of the kids, sour. “I don’t understand how anyone could just abandon them. They are such good kids. And Aria? Whoever those kids’ father is must be out of his mind.”

Mom and Dad went very quiet. Too quiet, really, for a pair of people that liked to talk so much.

I looked at Mom, the weakest link of the two, and her gaze flitted away as if she was afraid to hold mine.

“You agree, right?” I asked.

“Honey,” Mom said gently. “You know now that Dr. A and Aria are the same person.”

“Yes.”

“And you knew Dr. A was pregnant before she left the pack.”

“So the sleeze is part of my pack?”

“Not to be crass, but… think back,” Mom said. “When was the last time you and Aria were together?”

“I just saw her.”

“No, I mean –”

“When did you and Aria last sleep together?” Dad said bluntly. “That’s what she’s trying to ask.”

“Why would that…?” I asked, then paused.

No, it couldn’t be.

Aria and I hadn’t been together in years.

Yet there was one night…

No, that had been a dream.