Page 20 of Not So Stranded
Was I a snob, or was he delusional?
My delusional mate. And everyone was learning about that except him. Dad hadn’t spoken English, so at least there hadn’t been a surprise reveal thrown out during our phone call. But I still had to find a way to tell Kit who he was to me. That I didn’t want our time together to end, and Zenori didn’t either. That,someday, both of us would like to have kids with him. How was I supposed to start that conversation?
I could just blurt it out at him. He was abandoning his entire project to follow me home, so that had to mean something big. I knew he didn’t mean it when he’d said he’d research us because there were practically stars in his eyes when he talked about turtles. The unknown nesting site could be a significant lure for him, but he was coming home to meet my parents—my whole family! That meant a lot.
“It’s so strange,” Kit said, “to be out here on open water.”
“Never done that before?”
“Jeez, no. There’s always been land somewhere nearby.” He checked the instruments and looked behind us. “And all these huge cargo ships! I’ve been to plenty of ports, but never ones that deal with those, so I had no idea just how enormous they are. They’re like mountains!”
I chuckled at him. “They’re big enough to hitch a ride on without anyone suspecting I’m there.”
“You don’t,” he said, aghast.
“Sure, why not?”
“You could get caught in a propeller!”
“Well, I do my best not to.”
I wound a tentacle around his lower leg to comfort him, still amazed that he’d taken to going around naked without any prompting. That would be helpful on the island since every other human did the same.
“Honestly,” I went on, “most of the time, I’d do that to get through something or avoid something. Like going through the Panama Canal. There are just too many eyes there, so hitching a ride on something big helps me stay hidden.”
“Okay. That makes sense.”
“The submarine waswayscarier.”
Kit turned horrified eyes on me. “Oh my god, you didn’t.”
I laughed. “I was curious. But I am pretty sure they knew exactly when I touched them.”
“Hiaka!”
“And they might’ve had cameras, too.”
Kit groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “And you were worried aboutmesaying something.”
“I’m not worried about you. Or them, really.” I shrugged. “I probably looked like a giant squid. Clear as a Bigfoot sighting, you know?”
“Good grief.” He chuckled ruefully. “At least if it’s the military, they won’t leak it to the public for, like, fifty years.”
I grinned up at him. “And I’ll be a great-great-grandparent by then, living my best life, never once caught, and so no one will believe it.”
But the laughing stopped as he stared at me for a moment. His voice was serious as he said, “Will you and Zenori have your kids at home now?”
“Yeah, we could.”
“I’m sorry I contributed to ruining that little island for you two.” Kit sighed and stared out ahead of the boat. “It would’ve been a great place to raise a family.”
I gulped. This was it. I could say it right now.
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said instead.
“No, I know. My boat, though.”
He set his hand on my shoulder, just resting there, and I knew I had to tell him.
