“Good, good,” Ollie said. “And how’s he feeling?”
“Fine.”
“I assumed as much,” Ollie said. “And your massive crush on him? How’s that coming along?”
“Fi—I don’t have a crush on him!”
Ollie cackled. “Ha! You so do. Every time someone even mentions his name, you get this dopey expression on your face. I recognize the look because it’s the same one I get every time I think about Bayu.”
Ben groaned. “Ollie?—”
“Fine,” Ollie teased. “Pretend otherwise. You know I’ll just get Nyx to tell me everything that happened if you don’t.”
The last thing Ben wanted was Nyx and Ollie getting together to discuss…anything.
“He agreed to therapy,” Ben said.
Ollie blinked. “Wait…what? He did?”
Ben nodded.
“Did Nyx stab him or something?”
Ben laughed as Lily squirmed against him and let out an impressive burp. He adjusted his hold on her before looking down at his brother again. “No, but she threatened to multiple times.”
“Serves him right. He scared the crap out of all of us. Kinda like Jack did. What’s with brothers and heroics? They need to cut that crap out.”
“Jack won’t stop, and neither will Koios. Not until they stophim.”
“The manticore of doom,” Ollie replied. He gnawed his lip nervously for a second before looking up at Ben. “Koiosisgoing to find him, Ben. Isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Ollie let out a shuddery breath. “It’s been a hell of a few months.”
They’d all taken Grandpa William’s death hard, but it had hit Ollie hardest. The two of them had been peas and carrots for as long as Ben could remember. And all of that on the heels of Jack’s multiple near death experiences with the manticore.
“It has. I miss Grandpa every day,” Ben confessed. “I come home and want to go up and tell him about my worst patient of the day.”
“I take the twins to the memorial a few times a week. I want them to know him.”
“They will,” Ben said. “We’ll all make sure of it.”
“I might have taken my nap in his chair,” Ollie confessed.
He looked at Ben, as if Ben would have some awful opinion about it.
Ben leaned forward. “I slept in his chair a few nights ago.”
“You did?”
“Yep. It’s okay to miss him, Ollie.”
“I know. Papa’s doing okay, isn’t he? I mean, I see him all the time because of the twins, but we haven’t…I mean, he’s okay, right?”
“He’s grieving just like we are. Some days are better than others.”
“Yeah.” Ollie sucked in a breath. “Okay, back to Koios before I start bawling and wake up myfinallysleeping baby.”
