Page 63 of Kringle and the Kraken

A couple of my siblings rolled their eyes, but I continued.

“According to legend, a long, long time ago, when magic was everywhere, it flowed along lines that crisscrossed the globe known as ley lines. These lines were where the magic flowed most easily from the magical plane to the earth. Over time, towns sprang up along these lines and became safe havens for creatures from the magical plane to reside with humans.”

My nieces and nephews were all bent forward, elbows on their knees listening intently to my story. Several of my siblings looked a little bored, but at least a couple were intrigued, and both my parents were looking at me like they were hoping I’d get on with whatever I had to say.

I took a deep breath and blew it out. Here went nothing. “Lifeboat is one of those towns. In fact, Lifeboat is a North Atlantic oceanic ley line haven town.”

My nephew, Kyle, raised his hand. “Uh, Uncle Kris, what does that mean?”

I knelt so I could answer his question on his level. “Well, bud, it means that here in Lifeboat, humans and sea monsters live together.”

His eyes went wide and round. “Really?”

“Yes, Kyle. Really.”

Kevin pushed off the wall where he was standing. “No offense, Kris, but I’m calling bullsh—baloney.” He rolled his eyes. “This sounds like another one of the fish tales you love.”

I looked at Levi, who gave me a nervous smile, then stepped forward. “Actually, I can prove it. Everything Kris said is true. Half the people that live in Lifeboat aren’t technically human. Including myself.”

He slipped off his jacket, revealing another squid pun T-shirt, and held out his arms. The outline of his tentacles glowed slightly as they lifted off his skin and snaked out from under the hem of his T-shirt to wave around his body. As always, when I saw them, my heart skipped a beat, and blood pulsed toward my dick, anxious as ever to be wrapped up in the purple-blue flesh.

When I looked at my family again, their expressions were a mixture of wide-eyed awe, mild terror, and skepticism. They were all eerily silent. For the first time ever in the Kringle household, the expression about being able to hear a pin drop actually applied.

Then Kyle unfolded his little legs and stood, walking toward Levi on silent, Christmas tree-socked feet. Kimmy tried to reach for him, to hold him back, but her bump was in the way, and he moved too fast. Kyle smiled at Levi, then held out his hand. Levi glanced at me, and I nodded. He extended a tentacle to brush against Kyle’s palm, and my hard heart melted to reveal the previously absent, gooey marshmallow center as tears pricked at my eyes.

My nephew’s simple gesture was proof real magic existed and that it lived within us.

Kyle giggled. “It’s so soft. And not slimy.” He looked up at Levi with a serious expression. “Are you supposed to be slimy?”

Levi smiled down at him. “I don’t think so. Maybe I’m a little slippery in the water.”

My nephew pursed his lips and nodded solemnly. “That makes sense.” The tentacle wrapped around his little fingers, the suckers making a soft popping sound as they moved, unsticking and resticking to his skin.

He turned around and addressed our family. “It’s okay, guys. Levi is a nice octopus.”

Levi’s voice cracked with emotion when he tried to speak, and he had to clear his throat. “Uh, actually, I’m a kraken.”

“No freaking way,” someone exclaimed, but I couldn’t tell who.

“Mom, what did you put in that eggnog? I’m not really seeing this, am I?” Karla asked.

My mom shot the assembled Kringle clan a glare and stood from her chair. She walked right up to Levi and threw her arms around him. “I don’t care what you are, honey. Kris loves you, and that’s all I need to know.”

“Mom!” I chastised. What she’d said was true, but I hadn’t said the words to Levi yet, and I didn’t want my mom stealing my thunder.

“What?” She winked at me, then ran a hand down one of Levi’s tentacles. “Oh, you’re right, Kyle. They are soft and not slimy.”

As though they’d been waiting for the Kringle matriarch’s approval, everyone else surged to their feet, crowding around Levi, everyone trying to touch a tentacle like they were plunging their hands into some sort of kraken touch pool. Levi handled all their prodding and the accompanying barrage of questions with grace I couldn’t ever hope to have.

My dad slapped me on the back as he stepped back to give someone else a turn to pet my boyfriend. “For someone who didn’t seem to believe in magic, you sure fell right into the middle of it.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

The skin near my dad’s eyes crinkled as he smiled wide. “He’s a good man, Kris. Wait, let me try again. He’s a good kraken. I’m glad you’re happy, son.”

And I was. I really, really was.

But this big reveal was only half of why we were there.

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