Page 94 of On The Beach

His grin turned devious. "Well, you know, legend has it you need…a certain remedy for jellyfish stings. A bit…unorthodox."

I glared at him, catching onto exactly what he meant. "No way. You'renotpeeing on me. This relationship will be over before it starts."

"Come on, Belle," he teased. "A little island wisdom never hurt anyone."

I shot him a warning look, and even through the pain, I couldn't help but chuckle. "There has to beanotherway."

He took my hand, kneeling to examine the sting with exaggerated seriousness. "You know, I'm glad we're both scientists. I happen to have a bottle of vinegar in my hut that should do the trick."

Mick carried me to his…our hut. He set me down on the steps of his porch and jogged in. He returned with a bottle of vinegar and a towel. He gently dabbed on the sting, his touch soft.

"That's better," I whispered, looking at him as the pain started to subside.

He grinned, pulling me close and wrapping me in his arms. "Good. Because I plan on keeping you around for a long time, Dr. Volnay. Stings and all."

As we sat together, stars twinkling above and the ocean stretching out beside us, it hit me—I was exactly where I wanted to be, right here, with Mick, building a life that I knew was going to be amazing.

CHAPTER 33

bottom bum

MICK

Ifound Belle pacing up and down the porch, muttering to herself, which meant either she'd accidentally killed a lizard, found a crab on the toilet seat, or was about to break some life-changing news. When she spotted me, she stopped mid-stride, staring at me with those wide, serious eyes that made my heart drop right to my flip-flops.

"Mick," her voice was tight, "we need totalk."

Uh-oh.

I took a slow step forward. "Alright…are we talking, like,our internet is out again, oryou hate my guts and I need to sleep in the hammock?"

She bit her lip, one hand dropping protectively over her stomach, and my brain went silent.

"You remember that time when I ran out of birth control pills, and you said fuck it and fucked me?"

"Yeah, vividly."

She took a deep breath. "Well, Captain Cuddlepants, I'm pregnant."

For a second, the world stopped. Then, as the reality sunk in, my mouth stretched into a grin so big ithurt. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, Mick." She waved her hands, half-laughing, half-panicked. "We're having a baby."

I grabbed her, lifting her and spinning her around before setting her down, laughing. But when I saw how she looked, I sobered up quickly. She was staring past me, looking slightly shell-shocked.

"What are we going to do?" she demanded, her voice laced with equal parts excitement and terror. "Where are we even going to live? Are we just going to keep raising a kid in the world's draftiest beach hut with no working shower?"

I leaned back, crossing my arms. "Why not? Our baby will have an oceanfront viewanda pet lizard."

"A racing champion lizard," Belle corrected me.

She'd chosen a wiry green lizard with a faint scar over one eye—a tough little reptile who looked like he'd seen a few battles and lived to tell about it. He was surprisingly fast, especially for a lizard who seemed to stop every few seconds to eye the crowd as if daring anyone to challenge him. When the race began, he would bolt forward with this ridiculous, zigzag sprint, dodging obstacles like he'd trained his whole life for this.

Somehow, that scrappy little lizard (he was also named Scrappy) kept crossing the finish line first every single time. And, true to his champion status, he'd stop right after the race and give one final nod to the crowd as if acknowledging the applause.

"Our child is gonna love Scrappy." I cupped her belly and felt like the universe had just given me everything I could've ever dreamed about.

Belle gave me that look, the one that said I'd just suggested we move to Mars. "Mick, be serious! When the baby is older, they'll need…a real house and school. And probably a dentist."

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