Page 91 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

Things at the office had been crazy for him as a merger with another offshore oil company was taking place, meaning we hadn’t seen each other since I got out of the hospital. It didn’t help that his righthand man and personal assistant, Joss, had to quit, leaving him to find a replacement. I wouldn’t say Eli was a bad boss, but the man was a perfectionist. He had zero problems pointing out people's mistakes, but in his mind, he believed he was helping them improve. Forty interviews and three tries later, Eli managed to find Joss. I can’t wait to see how things will work out this time.

“Hey, big bro,” I greeted, flinging my arms around him. “I feel like it’s been ages since we’ve seen each other.”

Eli returned my hug with a gentle squeeze. “Well, B, I suppose that’s the downside of not living under the same roof.”

When I didn’t let go right away, Eli wasn’t bothered and continued to hold me close.

“B, I know it’s been a little while, but when did you acquire a lion pretending to be a dog?” Eli whispered.

Laughing, I released my hold and took a step back. “Eli, meet Waffles, my personal medical alert guard dog. Oh, and Nugget, he is a trained psychiatric service dog who is struggling with his self-confidence.”

“Is a service dog allowed to work if they have an issue like that?” Eli questioned.

Gareth snorted, trying to cover up his laugh. “I should have known the deal for Waffles was too good to be true. Turns out it's because Waffles and Nugget are a package deal. This little tyrant does his job perfectly as long as Waffles is around to give him the support he needs.”

Eli blinked a few times, processing that information. “So a service dog has his own emotional support animal?”

“Pretty much,” I agreed. “But Hank says there is still hope Nugget might work through his issues, and if that happens, he might pick his own person to help one day.”

“Hank is the trainer,” Yun-Sun offered. “He spent a week working with Bailey-Rose on how to use the personal protection commands Waffles is trained to respond to.”

Eli’s eyes went wide. “Wow, you guys don’t know how to do anything halfway, do you? I certainly would think twice if I had to face off with Waffles.”

“That was exactly what I hoped for,” Gareth said with a proud smile. “Plus, it was a way for all of us, Bailey-Rose included, to feel confident enough to do things on her own, especially now that she’s fully cleared to resume all activities.”

“Little B, that’s amazing,” Eli cheered, pulling me into another hug, spinning us in a circle. “Oh God, there couldn’t be any better news to hear.”

Setting me on my feet, he pulled out his phone, and the next thing I knew, my parents and Crew were on the screen.

“Are you all right? What’s wrong?” Daddy Rawr demanded, looking slightly panicked.

“Eli, why did you send the emergency SOS message?” Mother asked, rubbing sleepy eyes. “Where are you? Oh my God, what happened to the studio?” she blurted, seeing the damage behind me.

“Guys, maybe we should stop asking questions if we want answers,” Crew reasoned as he slid his headphones to wrap around his neck, telling me he’d been working in the recording studio.

“Ah… hi, guys,” I offered with a wave then glared at Eli. “Did you seriously use the panic button for this?”

“Little B, this is absolutely a situation that warrants an instant response,” Eli argued. “Now tell them so I don’t look like the boy who cried wolf.”

Rolling my eyes, I faced my family with a shit-eating grin and gave the good news. “Who’s got two thumbs and is free to live her life to the fullest? This girl!”

“What?” Crew blurted, nearly falling out of his chair. “LouLou, that’s incredible.”

“Oh, sweety, that’s so wonderful,” Daddy Rawr said, elation lighting up his face.

Mom cheered and clapped her hands before snatching the phone away from Dad. “Darling, I knew this day would come. I prayed for it constantly. Oh, your papa must be doing that awful dance he does when he’s excited about something up in heaven. Eli was right, this is absolutely the right time to use that alert. Tell me, what are you going to do first? Skydiving? Climb a mountain?” She lowered her voice. “Have lots and lots of sex?”

“Mom,” all three of us kids yelled.

“What? The poor thing has had to be so careful, and none of you know what it’s like to be an Omega. We have needs, you know,” Mother grumbled.

Ulysses’ face appeared over my shoulder. “I can answer that, Mrs. Thatcher.”

“Jolene, please. We are family now, Ulysses,” Mother corrected.

Ignoring the request for the millionth time, Lysse continued, “Two days from now we are flying out to Prio Gria where we will be spending some time in the sun and ocean.”

Shocked at this announcement, I looked at the guys who looked far too pleased with themselves.