Chapter 43
MITCHELL
“Look, Daddy, Papa! It’s Lilo and Stitch!” Neal practically screamed as he spotted the mural.
“It sure is,” our driver told him. “We are very proud to have Hanapepe be the inspiration for their town.”
“This is the real town they live in?” Neal asked, amazed.
“That’s why Papa and I chose to come stay here,” Jolar told him.
“Yes! Are we moving here? Will I get to meet Lilo?”
“Lilo’s a cartoon character, honey,” I reminded him.
“But there’s a real town, so maybe there’s a real Lilo.”
The driver laughed. “I think there is a little Lilo in a lot of little girls.”
“Oh.” Neal looked faintly disappointed, but that soon changed as he spotted a grown man walking around wearing a Stitch plushie hat.
“Lookie! Can I has a hat like that?”
By the time we’d driven the short distance to the inn, Neal was vibrating with excitement.
“They’s gots a waterfall!” he cried out as we walked past the beautifully landscaped outdoor fenced off patio area with its pool.
“They sure do,” I agreed with him, tugging his hand gently to encourage him to follow us into the lobby.
Neal couldn’t keep still, even his eyes darting this way and that as he tried to take everything in.
Thankfully check in didn’t take long, and only a few minutes later, we were in our suite.
Looking around at the tropical themed decor, I could tell the inn wasn’t cheaply furnished.
I found I couldn’t help myself. While Neal zoomed off to go explore the bedrooms, I lifted my cell phone and did a Google image search on the desk.
It was by Tommy Bahama, and I didn’t need the shown price tag to tell me that was not an average Main Street furniture brand.
“You like the desk?” Jolar asked, noticing.
“Yeah, but it’s way too swanky,” I laughed. “It’s three times the price of the stuff from Ikea, for sure.”
“Mm,” he agreed, nodding.
I smiled to distract him. The last thing I needed was him using our Mylos living allowance on such an extravagant thing just because I liked it.
Fancy stuff was meant to be only an occasional indulgence for special occasions, as he’d explained it to me and Darla had told me the exact same thing.
We were already on a stupidly expensive once in a lifetime vacation because of the Mylos tradition of following local marriage customs and deeming this sort of package deal as the average ideal for human mates.
I was having the time of my life, but I did feel a bit guilty.
I mean, sure, people dreamed about having fancy weddings and destination honeymoons with all the bells and whistles, but the truth was the average joe out there had a modest wedding, and if they went on a cruise for their honeymoon, it was usually a discount one gifted by the parents.
“Where’s Neal?” I asked, noticing the door was open. I poked my head outside. Had he managed to slip past me to go check out the pool? Panic seized my heart.
“He’s fast asleep on the bed. Looks like that will be his room,” Jolar said, pulling me back inside and shutting the door before leading me to one of the bedrooms. “Look, see?”
Neal was half on and half off the double bed, Stitch in his arms and his roller suitcase abandoned at the foot of the bed. He looked so cute, I couldn't help myself. I lifted my phone and took a picture.
“We best put him all the way on the bed,” I said softly. Jolar nodded and I took another picture, capturing this tender father and son moment for eternity.
We left the room quietly, shutting the door behind us to muffle the sound of us moving about the suite.
“I can’t believe we only have three more days before we go home. At first, it felt like we had a long time, and now it’s as if time is running by super fast.”
“Well, we had five days at sea, then stopped at Maui, the Big Island, and got off here. Then we fly to Oahu. We can do some sightseeing and have dinner before taking an evening shuttle flight home.”
“Well, the flights to Oahu are super short,” I said, considering it. It would be a shame to get to visit Hawaii and not see the famous Waikiki beach, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, especially as we don’t have to go through normal security. It’s a private flight, so we just go straight to check in and boarding.”
I refused to consider how much that was costing the Mylos.
Nope, not going there. Still, new department store furniture, top of the range gadgets, new clothes and shoes because I wanted them and didn’t need to scrimp and save for them were all definitely new experiences for this guy.
I was thankful Neal was never going to have to face the struggles I had getting enough food to eat, and having that be of decent quality, nor would he have shoes he had to stuff newspaper in the toes of or ones that pinched his feet.
I smiled brightly. “If you’re sure that’s not too much, then let’s do that. I’d love to see Waikiki beach and the Royal Palace.”
“I’ll make the arrangements,” he said, stepping out onto the lanai.
“I best put our clothes away then,” I muttered to myself, and began taking our luggage into the other bedroom to do just that.
Somehow, while aboard ship we had managed to double the amount of clothes we had with us.
I thought back to all those quick trips to the shops on board the cruise ship and cringed.
It was a good thing we’d not packed our suitcases completely full to begin with, so we’d only ended up with a single large extra suitcase, also purchased onboard for wayyyyyy too much money.
But hey, it was a hardshell Samsonite so it would last us forever, right?
And while the rest of our vacations would be nowhere this extravagant, we’d still be coming down earthside for them so luggage was a must.
“Buy once instead of buy cheap five times,” I told myself, immediately feeling better at this piece of common sense.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Jolar said, stepping inside through the lanai door here in the bedroom. “The L.T.C. just asked me to go to Honolulu immediately. He’s sending a shuttle to come pick me up. I should be back before breakfast tomorrow.”
I was on instant alert. “Is it dangerous?”
He shook his head no. “Honolulu PD picked up a man who fits the description of a fugitive, and I need to go see if it is truly him or not for myself and if it is, ask him some questions. He’s a suspect in the death of the lawyer whose body we found on Linda Takahashi’s property.”
My hands flew to my mouth. “And he fled to Honolulu of all places? How did he manage to do that? He must have a great disguise and a perfect fake Real ID to get past TSA!”
“That’s one of the things being looked into, but don’t worry. He’s safely locked up in a cell.”
“Okay. “I’ll take Neal swimming after he wakes up and then call an Uber to take us to that cute little diner we saw in town for an early dinner.”
“Sounds good. I really am sorry. I know I’m supposed to be off, but I’m the closet enforcement agent.”
He looked completely torn apart at having to go and I couldn’t have that.
I walked over to him and pulled him into a hug.
“Neal is going to be a bit tired and ratty to do much else anyway, and this is super important. Besides,” I said peering up at him so he could see the truth in my eyes, “think of the story we’ll have to tell!
A bit of real Five-Oh action in Hawaii on our honeymoon! ”
I could tell he didn’t get the reference, but that was something I could easily remedy once we were back aboard ship. He’d already expressed an interest in watching Star Trek, looking overwhelmed when I explained just how big the franchise was.
“That’s a fictional show about a special police task force based in Honolulu, that covered all of Hawaii,” I explained.
A look of understanding crossed his face. “And it will sound almost like we were in one of their adventures.”
“Yes, with you as the star of the show.” I released him. “You best change into your uniform.” I giggled. “All you have is your dress uniform.”
He nodded. “I will wear it without the sword. I checked the sword and my blaster in, so they are in the safe, I’ll change and stop by the lobby to get it.”
“Good call.” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and watched as he changed clothes.
Another kiss, this one a bit longer, and then I was alone except for our son.
I sighed. What to do for a couple hours until I woke Neal?
I didn’t want to leave him to sleep too long or he’d be up all night.
I picked up the remote on the TV and discovered they had Netflix.
Remembering there was a password for this on my tablet, provided by the Fleet, I picked it up from where I’d sat it on the dresser of our room during unpacking.
“How to Sell Your Haunted House”, I read aloud as a suggestion popped up on screen.
“Sure, why not?” I pressed play and the show started just as a low rumble outside sounded, letting all and sundry know a Mylos shuttle had just arrived and then taken back off.
“See you in the morning, sweetheart,” I murmured, missing him already.