Chapter 48
JOLAR
Mitchell scolded me later that night after the luau.
It hurt my heart knowing he felt so unworthy of being treated like a king.
It was worth the look of exasperation on his face on Oahu, though, when we visited the North Shore on our last day and I married him for the third time, this time gifting him with a sterling silver necklace with a silver and koa wood honu pendant.
“No more weddings, right? We’re going straight back up to the ship?”
“We are. Besides “three is a…”
“Magic Number…” Neal sang along with me.
“Oh, my God! Are you seriously singing Sesame Street at me?”
He placed his hands over his mouth. “You didn’t marry me three times because of that song did you?”
“Is it not true? That three is considered magical?”
“Well, yeah, it is, and four unlucky in some places, while thirteen is considered really bad luck so a lot of buildings skip right to number fourteen. Wait. It was like a talisman?”
I nodded. “Three times, as having you for a mate is like magic.”
He stared at me while the pilot stuffed a fist in his mouth and Neal looked at me in confusion.
“How did you even just say that with a straight face?” he asked me.
“Because it is true.”
“Yeah it is, you goof, but some things most people don’t just say.”
He went into the shuttle and helped Neal fasten his harness.
“Did you not like hearing it?”
“Well, yeah. It was pretty romantic but…”
“And did you not cry from so much happiness each time we made our promises?”
“Ye..es.”
I sat down in my seat and began buckling myself in. “Alright then.”
“I do not think you will win this one,” the pilot told him.
Mitch sighed , looking mildly chagrined. “You’re right, I probably won’t.”
“And you don’t really want to either,” I asserted.
“Damn it, I hate how you’re right.”
“Daddy is always right,” Neal said solemnly, and the pilot chuckled once more.
“I’m just going to do my final pre-flight checks,” he said, escaping to his console. We sat there in silence while he did those and got clearance to take off.
“What would you like to watch?” the pilot asked.
“Lilo and Stitch,” the three of us chorused.
“But the TV show,” Neal added.
My kunnarskyn sent me a message alert. I read it, a wide grin spreading across my face.
“They found Jason Ito,” I told Mitch. “He was hiding out in a cellar whose door was hidden under a large carpet.”
“Wow! So he’s been arrested?”
I nodded. “Klora says he is ‘singing like a canary’. I hope he sounds better than Linda Takahashi did.”
Mitchell giggled. “He’s not really singing a song. That means he’s confessing and telling everything he knows.”
“Ah. I hope it provides closure for the Takahashi brothers and leads us to finding their uncle.”
“I hope they didn’t kill him.”
I hoped so too but knew that was likely a futile wish.
“I should arrange a day to hang out with Amy and Darla so I can dish about the weddings,” Mitch mused.
“They are not going to believe it. Goodness knows I hardly do.” He fingered the turtle on his necklace as he spoke, the bracelet on his arm and ring on his finger glinting as the shuttle lights caught them.
“I can hardly believe I found my mate and got to marry him three times. We are mates so much there will never be an undoing.”
“You can’t undo one anyway,” the pilot called out.
“Haha, he’s got you there,” Mitch chortled.
“Shh, I can’t hear,” Neal complained.
Five minutes later, he was sound asleep anyway so Mitch and I asked for the vid to stop playing and to show us the view outside while listening to soft music. We flew home in companionable silence, my hand in his, though Mitch gave me a fond but exasperated look as I reached for it.
“This is going to make planning our first anniversary hard, you know.”
“We didn’t go to every island,” I observed.
His mouth fell open.”Do not even think about marrying me all over again on the rest of those islands.”
I just smiled, not making any such promises.
I had an entire year to figure out where and when and what to gift him.
He’d forgive me, I knew that for certain.
He liked to pretend it was too much, but he treasured every moment and gesture.
I wanted to give him many months where he knew he was being adored.
He’s had enough harsh words and derision in his life before me, and I was determined he’d never have even a single instance of such ever again.
Our ship loomed before me and to my puzzlement, I saw I had a message from Lila McKay, one of the social workers assigned to work with Mylos families wishing to adopt children.
I tapped it to respond, but saw it merely asked me to give her a call at nine in the morning her time.
That would be eleven in the morning ship’s time, so I set a reminder.
My heart seized, wondering what she wanted.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
“A social worker just asked me to call them in the morning.”
Panic crossed his features as the shuttle entered the landing bay. “They can’t take Neal back, can they?” he asked me in a soft urgent tone, glancing at our young.
“No, but sometimes a parent who had to relinquish a child finds a lawyer who is willing to try to sue. They always lose, as the treaty is clear. All adoptions are final, and the child must have been relinquished to the human system before being placed for adoption within the Fleet.”
“Thank goodness,” he gusted out. “It will be fine, then. A hassle maybe, if that is even what this is about. Could be something to do with a case.”
I nodded. He was right. It could be that something was being reported relating to an ongoing case or a new case needed to be opened.
The shuttle landed with a soft thump and Neal woke up, looking around wide eyed.
“We’re home,” I told him.
“Can I have Larry over to sleep tomorrow night?” he asked me.
“We’ll ask his mom if it’s okay for this weekend,” Mitch replied. “Tomorrow and the day after are school days.”
Neal smiled. “Yay! I can tell all my friends about our vacation!” he crowed as he unfastened his buckles.
“You sure can,” I replied.
“Back to normal life,” Mitch said, standing up with a small stretch.
Normal. I hoped he was right and that bad news wasn’t on the horizon.