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Contents ( 42)
  1. The Art of Breathing
  2. Part One: How We Became Who We Are
  3. Prologue: Or, Where the Kid Hears the Word of the Day
  4. 1. Where Tyson Learns to Breathe
  5. 2. Where Tyson Makes a Phone Call
  6. 3. Where Tyson Graduates and Bear Freaks Out
  7. 4. Where Tyson Says Good-Bye
  8. 5. Where Tyson Gets the Mail
  9. Part Two: Coming Home
  10. 6. Where Tyson Comes Home
  11. 7. Where Tyson Gives a History Lesson
  12. 8. Where Tyson Attends the Most Awkward Party Ever
  13. 9. Where Tyson Plans Attends a Protest
  14. 10. Where Tyson Gets Arrested
  15. 11. Where Tyson Gets His Ass Handed to Him
  16. 12. Where Tyson Writes Bad Poetry and Gawks at Frat Boys
  17. 13. Where Tyson Decides to Man the Fuck Up
  18. 14. Where Tyson Asks Some Questions
  19. 15. Where Tyson Remembers Theresa Jean Paquinn
  20. 16. Where Tyson Learns the Benefit of Therapy
  21. 17. Where Tyson Meets the Man Who Becomes Helena Handbasket
  22. 18. Where Tyson Gets Screwed at His Own Birthday Party (And Not in a Good Way)
  23. Part Three: Just Breathe
  24. 19. Where Tyson Goes to Helena Handbasket’s Sex Dungeon
  25. 20. Where Tyson Beholds the Awesome Wonder That Is Paul Auster
  26. 21. Where Tyson Receives Advice from the Six Sages
  27. 22. Where Tyson Makes a Phone Call
  28. 23. Where Tyson Hears the Inevitable
  29. 24. Where Tyson Meets His Match
  30. 25. Where Tyson Says Hello, Where Tyson Says Good-bye
  31. 26. Where Tyson Touches upon the Inevitable
  32. 27. Where Tyson Faces the Music
  33. 28. Where Tyson Breathes
  34. 29. Tyson And Dominic
  35. 30. The Art Of Breathing
  36. Epilogue: Or, Bear’s Perspective, As It Were (Yeah, He’s Gonna Freak)
  37. Author’s Note
  38. Excerpt
  39. Prologue: Or, Where Bear Answers the Door
  40. More from TJ Klune
  41. Readers love the Bear, Otter, and the Kid Chronicles by TJ Klune
  42. By TJ Klune

“Man,” the little girl on the porch says. “He sure wasn’t kidding. The color of this house is like an abomination against Mother Nature.”

A buzzing sound starts in my ears. “Who wasn’t kidding?” I ask her.

She rolls her eyes. There’s something so familiar about it that I take a step back. “Tyson,” she says. “You must be Bear. Derrick.”

“Wait,” Otter says. His voice sounds rough, like he’s having trouble speaking. “What?”

“How do you know my name?” I ask the girl.

She fidgets on the porch. Looks away. Back at me, then away again. “Ty said if I ever needed help, I could find him here.”

“He’s on a trip,” I tell her. “He’ll be back this afternoon.”

“You’re shorter than I thought you’d be,” she says. “How disappointing to know that’s what I’ve got ahead of me.” She takes a deep breath. It comes out shaky.

“I don’t…,” Otter says. “What do you mean hidden behind the other one?”

And it clicks into place. “Izzie?” I whisper.

She nods. “Ty said to find him if I needed help.” She sniffs, and I can tell she’s trying to keep it together but it’s a losing battle. “And I need help.”

“Are you sure?” Otter says from behind me. “How could they never see that…? I don’t… there’s… two… oh fuck.”

“What happened?” I manage to say to Izzie.

A tear spills over her cheek. Just one. She looks up at me, and even before she says it, I know. Somehow, I know. And in the darkest corners of my heart, I feel relief. Pure, white relief. “She’s dead,” Isabelle McKenna says. “Mom. She’s dead and I have nowhere else to go and Ty said if I needed help to find him and I need help! I need help so bad.” Her chest hitches and I fall to my knees, and for the first time in my life, my little sister launches herself into my arms. The weight of her reminds me so much of Ty that a lump forms in my throat. She sobs bitterly against my chest. The blood roars in my ears.

“Twins,” Otter says into the phone. “Jesus Christ. We’re having twins?”

Yeah, the only thing I’m sure of right now is that I’m about to fucking freak.

Author’s Note

TO THE readers of this funny little family of mine:

You’ve watched them as they’ve grown.

You’ve watched them as they’ve loved.

You’ve watched them as they’ve lost.

You’ve watched them as they’ve carved out their own little place in the world and were able to stand tall and fight for what they deserved.

It hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes it’s been downright unfair.

But that’s life, I think. And what we learn from that will always help to shape who we are. The good times and the bad.

There’s one more story to tell. One last time we’ll return to Seafare, Oregon. To Bear, Otter, and the Kid (though he’s not really a kid anymore, is he?), and we’ll see what we see. I don’t know when, but one day soon, I hope.