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Lukas sighed and scrolled through his contacts, stopping at an entry that made his chest tighten.

Pressing the button, he lifted the phone to his ear and waited for the call to connect. With each ring he got increasingly anxious, shifting on the bed until his back met the wall and he could focus on Blaire’s sleeping face across the room. Was he really going to tell them?

“Poika?”

His mother’s Finnish accent drifted over the line into his ear, and he closed his eyes. She knew he didn’t understand the language, but he knew the word for son, and he felt a lightness in his chest as nostalgia settled in.

Lukas cleared his throat.

“Hi, Mom.”

“What brought this on?” She sounded worried. “Is everything okay?”

“No… yes, I’m fine. How are you? Where are you?” He hoped he hadn’t called at some weird hour, but he wasn’t sure what country they were in.

“We’re in New Zealand. We just finished having lunch with your father’s associate. How are you, poikani? I haven’t heard from you in so long. I miss you.”

Their relationship was complicated. He knew they cared about him, but their business came first. Why else would they have dropped him at the Blackthorn Academy’s primary school and barely returned to visit each year? It always felt weird to hear things like they loved him or missed him. It rang hollow in his ears, but he craved the affection, nonetheless.

“I dunno, Mom. I…” He took a deep breath, eyes taking in Blaire’s sleeping form. She still looked pale, but the sheen of sweat had finally gone away. He hoped the pain pills the nurse had given him for her were helping. “I found my Korrena,” he whispered.

“Poika! Onko se totta?” Her voice came out loud and fast as she spoke in Finnish.

“What? I don’t understand you.”

“My boy… is it true? Have you found her?”

Lukas closed his eyes at the sound of relief and contentment in her tone.

“I’m sure of it. I’ve found her.”

“Jyrki! It’s Lukas! It’s happened!”

Lukas smirked to himself as he could hear his mother shuffling on the other end of the line and muffled speaking before a deep voice came over the speaker.

“Lukas?”

“Hi, Dad.”

“Your mother tells me you’ve found your pair.”

“I have.”

“Congratulations. I knew it was only a matter of time. When do we get to meet her?”

Lukas looked at Blaire and sighed. “I don’t know… we’re not fully bonded yet.”

“No?” The confusion was evident in his voice. “Why is this?”

His mother asked questions in the background. “No, no, they’ve not bonded,” his father spoke to her. He heard more shuffling, and then his mother’s voice came over the line again.

“Why have you not bonded with this girl? Poika, you mustn’t wait!”

Lukas bit at the side of his lip. “It’s complicated.”

“There is nothing complicated about bonding. You just need to—”

“I know how it works.” He cut her off before she went into a long-winded spiel about the claiming process.