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“Hel doesnothate you, Hop,” Pat countered with just as much emphasis.“I am sure whatever is going on with the Norse goddess of Helheim has nothing to do with you.She is dealing with something.You can see it in her eyes.She is haunted by something or someone, and when she’s ready, she will…”

“Okay, if I’m not the problem then tell me how I get Desi and Faye to leave me alone until my beautiful Mate is ready to take the next step?”

“I think you need to…”

“You know what, Pat?”

“Umm… you don’t want to hear my opinion on getting Destiny and Fate to leave you alone?”

“No.I mean, yes.I mean…” Shaking his head, Hopper motioned for his Cousin to hurry up as he added, “Sorry.I mean that I shouldn’t have interrupted.After all, Ididask the question.So, riddle me this, dear Cousin, why can’t those two leave me alone?”

"Because they love you, and they love Hel.Most of all, they want both of you to be happy.Those two know all too well that you and she have known y’all are Fated Mates since the moment Hel was born.They understand, well, at least Fate understands, that making a commitment is hard.No matter how you feel and what you know, when you are gonna live forever and ever amen, and that means that you will be together with the one made for you by the Universe forever and ever amen, anything and everything can be scary."

“Yeah, but…”

“One more thing,” Pat continued.“Everybody keeps saying the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but they keep forgetting that the way to True Love is narrow, rocky, and full of potholes.”

“Well, shit, you got me there,” Hope sighed.“I never thought of it that way.”

Shrugging, Pat added, “Just a little perspective from the guy who has helped a lot of people tolerate a lot of curves and swerves on their way to happily ever after.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever.I get it, I guess.You are telling me that I need patience.And I have that where Hel is concerned.Truly, I do.”

“I know you do, Cuz.”

“Well, then you need to help Faye and Desi get some, too.After all, that is your thing.”

“Touché.”

“Yeah, well, as I see it, our dear Cousins think Hel is scared because making a commitment to me is forever and she has some skeletons in her closet that need to be dealt with, and Faye and Desi think I feel the same way.”

“That’s not exactly what I said.”

“Close enough.”Running his fingers through whatever curls were left in the mop of blonde hair atop his head, the Omnipotent Being known as Hope continued without so much as a breath.“Now, can I ask my question?”

“The one where you started with, ‘You know what, Pat?”

“Yep, that one.”

“I can tell I’m gonna regret this...but yeah, go ahead.Let’s assume I have no idea that what you say next will be so off the wall that it should be coming from somewhere just south of Poughkeepsie.”Making the ‘come on’ signal with all four of the fingers on his free hand, Pat continued, “Go on now.Tell me.”

“I envy you.”

“What?!”Pat yelped with such gusto that a spray of coffee flew from his lips as if they’d been shot out of a 747 going at top speed.Flying in every imaginable direction, the flinging droplets of the warm brown liquid landed all over the back of Hopper’s dark blue leather couch.“You…” He pointed at Hopper.“…envy me?Damn!I didn’t see that comin’.”Poking himself in the chest with the tip of the index finger of his left hand, he shook his head and scoffed, “Why in all that’s holy would you, the Omnipotent Being known as Hope, ever envy me?”

“Because, my dear Cousin, you…” Unable to continue, Hopper leveled his gaze.

Inhaling deeply, the Omnipotent Being known as Hope held it for precisely one second, then exhaled while slowly nodding.Silence filled the massive room as he searched for the right words to properly convey how much he admired his Cousin.When nothing came to mind, but his annoyance continued to grow in leaps and bounds, he shrugged and just let it all fly.After all, he’d always been as blunt as a fence post and as honest as the day was long, especially with his Cousin, Pat.Why change now?

“You are the Omnipotent Being known as Patience.”Holding up his hand when his Cousin started to speak, he kept right on going.“And I know you’re gonna tell me that it’s a pain in the ass being said Omnipotent Being.That it is no walk in the park being the literal Magical, Mythical, Unexplainable embodiment of Patience–the one thing over ninety-five percent of all sentient beings on the planet known as Earth want andneedto survive and stay out of jail but never truly want to ask for just in case they are taught a lesson from which they might never recover.You’re going to tell me that your job is worse than an itch you can't scratch or that elusive bastard of a cricket that chirps at three-thirty-three in the morning after you just spent two-and-a-half hours getting comfortable enough to fall asleep.But I’m here to tell you that being me, Hope, the dude who holds the purse strings on the feeling that makes us all believeanythingis possible and that events will turn out for the best for all the living beings in the universe sucks when you are the one quickly losingyourbelief inthatparticular feeling where your own eternal existence is concerned.”

Pushing off the corner of his desk, suddenly frustrated that he was irritated and getting madder at himself by the minute for that frustration, Hopper felt the muscles in his jaws clenching as every syllable had more emphasis and every word came out faster than the one before.“I feel like a failure.Where didmytrust in ‘everything turning out the way it was meant to be’ go?Did it just evaporate?Did I leave it somewhere?Did someone sneak in and take it?And who in all that’s holy would be able to sneak into my home and take anything from me?”

With a sharp shake of his head and quick shrug, he powered on, “You know that I have always been the one to cling to the mere possibility of goodalwaysconquering evil and loveeternallywinning in the end.It hasalwaysbeen me who saideverything–and I do meaneverything no matter how big or small or in between–would come up roses.I have hung on to that belief even when Auntie Uni and God with a capital G told me that there was less than a snowball’s chance in Hell of everything always turning out well foreveryone.I mean, I was a Believer from the second I was breathed into existence.Hell, I helped the Monkees write the song,I’m A Believer.And I do not think it was or is just because I am the embodiment of Hope.I believe, or at least I used to believe, that things will always turn out the way they are meant to for everyone who believes in hope.Not me, but the true feeling that is Hope that I am lucky enough to represent.”

Slowly shaking his head, he sighed, “But now, I just don’t know if I believe in any of it anymore.”

“Yes, you do,” Pat countered.“Of course, you do.You believe inallthose things.YouareHope.You’re not just someone who represents Hope.Let me say it again.You.Are.Hope.It is one of the many reasons we all love you like we do.You keep us going, focused, willing to face another day.”Taking a step closer, he tilted his head to the side.His light, crystalline eyes swirled with lavender and silver and shone brightly with brotherly love and understanding."You haven’t lost your belief in all those things.You’re just having a hard time right now because… Well…” Shrugging, the Omnipotent Being known as Patience raised his free hand and turned it back and forth.“…the dynamic duo of Fate and Destiny–two sides of the same playing card–continue to draw attention to the fact that you and Hel have never said more than four words to each other even though you both know you are Fated Mates.The Girls don’t understand the purpose of waiting for the right time.That’s kinda my gig.You know as well as I do that neither one of them has ever heard the word, no, even when someone was screaming it at the top of their lungs.By their very nature, those two amazing Ladies that we both adore with every fiber of our beings are women of action.They take no prisoners.They…”