Page 39 of Tailwhip

After a quick boat ride out to the ocean and near a beach named Alki Beach near west Seattle, Captain Dave yells to us that this is the spot. We all just sit and wait for whatever we are waiting on. The boat just sways back and forth, making my stomach turn even more. I try to ignore the feeling of getting sick by breathing in and out on repeat. Nash comes to sit down next to me, “Ashlynn, I am not meaning this to sound mean, but you look like shit. You are way pale!”

Letting out a little laugh at Nash, I say, “Thanks for that Nash, I feel like shit! I don’t do well on boats!”

Anthony then comes over with some motion sickness medicine that he got from Nash’s grandpa. They kind of help ease the feeling, but not too much.

“Ashlynn, baby, if I knew you got motion sickness, I wouldn’t have planned this. I didn’t even think to ask how you do on boats. You don’t get sick in cars with motion sickness. I assumed it would be okay. Baby, you have no color in your face at all. I’m going to have Dave take us back. This isn’t fun for you.”

As Anthony gets up to walk to Dave, I grab his arm and pull him down on the seat next to me. “Don’t have him take us back, I will be okay. The medicine is helping a little. I don’t have car sickness because it’s a different motion than out on water. Though I am curious if this is the full surprise, or is it going to happen soon?”

Pulling my head down so it is resting on his chest and rubbing my back, he says, “You are so impatient. The surprise will happen when it is ready to.” I don’t even get what that means!”

Nash and his grandpa sit down when Nash decides to tell me, “You know, when I was little, I used to get sick all the time when we would go out on the boats. Even though I grew up out here and we went out on the water most of the time. It never failed; I would always get super sick.”

Busting out with a laugh, Captain Dave says, “It is true; the damn boy couldn’t even make it fully out of the harbor before he was throwing up over the side of the boat. He’s gotten better with age, as you can see!”

I look over at both of them, knowing they are just trying to help me forget about my motion sickness, “Thanks for the story, but talking about getting sick over the side doesn’t really help me out here!”

Anthony continues rubbing my back as I put my elbows on my knees and hold my head.

“Here is an old trick, Ashlynn. I swear it will help you. I need you to look up, though.” With that, I look up at Nash, noticing in my peripheral that Anthony nods at him like a go-ahead sign. “Look out at the horizon and find something to focus on. Don’t take your eyes off it. Soon, your eyes will only focus on that instead of the movement of the boat.” I am a bit hesitant that this will work, but I try it, anyway. What could it hurt at this point?

Turning my body to face the horizon, I focus on the beach that has a ton of seals laying out in the sun, but keep my eyes on the sand dune since it is not a moving object. We are far out in the ocean, but I can make out the dune. The only reason I know about the seals is because Captain Dave told us they hang out at this beach. Anthony has been unwavering in his back rubbing; I am almost relaxed, forgetting about the sick feeling. Right as I close my eyes, I hear a whoosh sound near the boat, opening them because I hear it again. I turn my head and see a mist of air come out of the water. Whispering more to myself than anyone, I say, “That can’t honestly be what I think it is.”

Anthony leans in, right next to my ear. “What do you think that was?”

I turn to look at him. “I think I know, but I am not sure!” More whooshing noise comes from a couple of areas around us, along with more mist in the air.

All movement has stopped after the last few minutes, so I turn back to focus on my nonmoving object. Sitting a bit longer and suddenly, a ton of air mist up out of the water and, with that, two orcas make an appearance, breaching up out of the water, just enough for us to see their eyes. I jump up so quick to the side of the boat that Anthony jumps with me and throws his arms around my waist. “You brought me out here so we can see orcas. Are you kidding me?!”

Anthony leans down and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Seeing your reaction is worth it. They are pretty awesome!”

The pod starts swimming all around our boat, and I am snapping as many pictures as I possibly can to always have this memory. Nash walks up next to Anthony and me, and says, “Feeling sick made it all worth it, right Ashlynn?”

I turn toward him. “So worth it. I never thought I would have this experience! This is amazing!” After a bit longer of watching the orcas, Anthony moves away and lets me soak in this moment. They are coming over to the boat more and I noticed that there are two babies with the pod! I can’t believe Anthony set all this up just for me.

With the pod swimming back and forth under the boat a few times, I lean over the side as far as I can so I can watch them and the babies swim more. Anthony comes back over to me, “If you lean any further, you are going to fall into the water!”

Standing back up and smiling at him, I say, “I guess you better hold on to me, so I don’t fall overboard!”

Giving me a shy smile, he says, “Of course, I will hold on to you. I’ll always be here to hold you!” Melting in his arms even more, I quickly turn and hug Anthony so tight and pull away, standing on my tiptoes and smash my mouth to his for a long deep kiss.

25

Anthony

Infinity (Piano Version) – Jaymes Young

I love seeing the excitement on Ashlynn’s face every time the pod swims around the boat or breaches out of the water. She hasn’t stopped smiling since the orcas started swimming near the boat.

I don’t know how long we stood and just watched them swim around. Finally, after who knows how long, a few orcas jump up out of the water. I am even excited to see that. The only part I regret about this is Ashlynn almost getting motion sickness before she even got to experience this. It seems like the motion sickness has subsided due to her excitement.

As we stand at the boat’s railing, the whales are starting to move along, away from us. Still, here and there some are breaching far away, but enough to see. At that moment, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.

I look over at Nash and his grandpa, who are both giving me the head nod to do it–along with a thumbs up from Captain Dave. Turning back and facing the water, I think to myself, that’s the reason I always stopped myself from saying it. It was never the right time, but now feels like the best time. I’m happy for the message from Nash and the go ahead from Captain Dave. Turning back around, I cage Ashlynn in my arms, and take a silent deep breath because I am nervous. I have told her this before, but this time feels different. Removing my arms off the rail and wrapping her up in a big hug, I lean into her ear, “Ashlynn.” Tilting her head slightly, I catch sight of her smile, and I finally muster up the courage and say it. “Ashlynn, I love you.”

Turning in my arms to face me, she pulls me in for a sweet kiss, and once she pulls away, with a giant smile on her face, she says, “You don’t lo me?”

Ashlynn says to me while biting her lip and a mischievous smile on her face. Pulling her as close to me as she can possibly get, I say, “Oh, so you think you can be a smartass, do you?”

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