"Walking With a Ghost" by Tegan & Sara

I folded my arms onto the desk in front of me before putting my forehead on them and groaning. I've just cleaned these fossils with the wrong solution. They're going to dry dirty. Fuck me. With an exaggerated huff, I stood and dragged myself out of my tent. Adrienne saw me and looked like she was immediately going to ask a favor.

"No," I said firmly, dropping the bucket and pushing it under the correct chemical bucket with my foot.

"Didn't you just spend four hours cleaning those fossils? They should be absolutely spotless by now," she mused. I gave her a very unamused look and pointed at the other bucket. "Oh. That's no good. They're going to dry dirty."

"I'm aware." I turned off the tap. I had enough solution to actually clean them properly.

"Sleepless night?"

I stared in response.

"Yes, I'll make Tyler do it."

"Make him do whatever I'm supposed to do after that, too."

"Don't worry, I'll just give him the next three things."

"Good, he looks too happy."

Adrienne snorted in amusement before going over to my long-haired friend and informing him of his newfound luck. He shot me a look across the field so I held up my bucket and waved. He stuck up his middle finger in reply. Glad to know he still loves me.

I dragged the bucket back into the room and got back to work. Six months always seems to be the point where I start to have trouble doing stuff and get extra grouchy about everything. I'd feel bad but, honestly, I'm carrying around two little humans so I don't really care that much. Unless I'm actually being a dick. But I try not to be a dick. Just cranky.

And, after four more hours of work, they were finally properly cleaned. I leaned back in the chair, stretching my back and then rubbed my abdomen. All I want now is dinner and sleep.

"Jesus, you're pregnant again?!"

I looked at the chair beside me. Rocco was sitting there with his glasses on top of his head. He hadn't changed a bit. He reached out and touched my hair.

"You cut it. It looks nice on you."

"Am I about to die?"

"What? No. Can't I just show up and say hey?"

I stared. I think I see Rocco all the time but usually I just think I'm crazy.

"I just wanted to pop in and say hello. And also warn you that one of the kids is about to set the house on fire."

I got up so fast that the chair I was sitting in fell over and waddled as fast as I could to the house. Rocco walked briskly beside me, following me into the kitchen where Kelly was just about to put a dish covered with aluminum foil into the microwave.

"Oh, honey, no, you can't do that," I intervened, opening the door before she could hit the start button.

"What? Why?"

"Metal will spark."

"Why?"

"Ask Google, I'm too tired to remember the words that make the sentence make sense." Rocco giggled at that, clapping delightedly. Kelly seemed to not hear him. I gave her a kiss on the head, removed the foil from her dish, and then shut the door and pressed start. Kelly shrugged, pulled out her cell phone and started typing in a browser to figure out why that was a bad idea.

"Crisis averted!"

"What's going on out here-?" Murphy asked, carrying Matteo while Dina and Conan wobbled into the kitchen. Kelly grinned delightedly, put her phone away, and immediately started playing with her two siblings on the floor. I'm so glad they all get along, other than Kelly and Declan bickering over trivial things.

"Hey Murph! Never thought I'd see you with so many little brats. It suits you," Rocco grinned with a wave. Murphy looked like he was about to fall over. The microwave beeped.

"What? You've definitely seen Mom before," Kelly rolled her eyes, grabbed her food, then Dina, and went into the living room with the triplets following her close behind.

Murphy pointed at Rocco, looked at me, then back at Rocco and eventually gave up on eloquence: "What the fuck?"

"He showed up to tell me that Kelly was about to set the house on fire," I shrugged. He continued to stare so I picked up her discarded aluminum foil and wiggled it before throwing it in the trash.

"I hang around sometimes, just kind of watch."

"Ye just hang around and watch? What kind of sicko are ye?"

"Not like that-even though you're still lovely Cecilia. But you're a mom and a soon-to-be married lady so I can't. That's crossing a line." He shook his head vigorously to show that he was serious.

"Who's a sicko?" Connor asked as he walked into the kitchen, pulling on his jacket to go visit Eunice or Adrienne or both. We don't really discuss the specifics. And nobody's had the heart to tell Connor that he didn't successfully convince the two of them to partner with him. The girls and I decided that that was just kind of something he doesn't need to know. So of course Murphy doesn't know because he would never let Connor live it down. I'm not sure it would hurt Connor's ego very much. Adrienne and Eunice are both total catches and he's in over his head.

"Rocco," I shrugged, opening the fridge to poke around. Murphy came over to help me find the leftovers and motioned for me to sit and relax while he took care of it. Rocco sat next to me, propping his feet up on the table. Connor looked perplexed.

"Hey Connor."

"Hey Rocco," Connor said slowly before sitting down across from him. "Not that I'm not happy to see ye, but what the fuck?"

"I came back to tell Cec that one of the kids was gonna set the house on fire."

"That's it?"

"I'm sorry, isn't that a good enough reason to say hello?"

The twins shared a look as Murphy put the reheated food in front of me and handed me a fork.

"Besides, Cecilia sees me all the time."

"What?" the twins asked in unison.

I shrugged. "It never seemed important enough to mention."

"Ouch." Rocco put his hand over his chest and pretended to be wounded.

"That's a lot less funny since you were literally shot in the chest," I scowled. I'd slap him on the arm if I could.

"Oh yeah, I forget about that sometimes. That day's a little fuzzy."

"I miss having you around."

"Yeah," Murphy nodded.

"We do, too," Connor finished for him.

Rocco got teary eyed as he sat up straight. "Oh, you guys. I miss you all, too. But I'm always around." He stood. "Now I've gotta go. Important things to do, you know."

Before we could question what, exactly, those important things were, Rocco was gone. I shoved some baked macaroni and cheese in my mouth and sniffled, trying not to cry. Goddammit, Roc. You should still be here with us.