17. Lucky #2
And that was all the warning he gave me.
Soon?
What was soon?
“What’s soon?”
“Nick?”
He didn’t answer.
“Nick, so help me, if you ask me to marry you when there are sharks swimming all around me, I don’t think I’ll forgive you.”
Laughing, he tugged me into a darkened corner, backed me up against a portion of the tank, and kissed me again. “I’m not going to ask you right now. It’s okay, Lucks. Breathe.”
I did, breathing out a sigh of relief—until Nick glanced behind me, and his face did a weird thing where he tried not to smirk while also trying not to freak out the girl who was terrified of sharks.
“There’s a shark right behind me, isn’t there,” I said calmly.
He finally grinned, nodding, and I shrieked and catapulted myself into his arms, jumping several feet off the ground and absolutely trusting that he wouldn’t let me fall. He managed to catch me under my thighs, nearly staggering with laughter, while I craned my neck back to see the tank.
Huge shark. Right. By. The glass!
It didn’t look like it wanted to eat me, but I wasn’t taking any chances. “I think I’ll go on ahead to the whale exhibit and the jellies and let you hang here,” I said, my voice slightly trembling.
“I’ll go with you. Should I carry you?” he teased. “Do you think your legs are working yet?”
I ignored his teasing. And no, my legs were probably not working yet. They felt like jelly. “You wanted to see the sharks, though. Here, just set me down here, and I’ll close my eyes and wait for you.”
I think we were amusing another middle-aged couple who were in the 360-degree viewing area with us, because they kept sneaking glances back at us and smiling.
“How about you just close your eyes, and let me carry you. I’ll look around a bit first before we head out.”
Sounded good to me! I closed my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder, snuggling with him. My legs were probably fine now, but I wasn’t going to say anything yet. Unless he started struggling with my weight, which he didn’t seem to be.
I shivered.
I could practically feel all the sharks surrounding us. And yes, I knew that not all sharks were vicious, and that they were just trying to survive and live their lives, but that didn’t make them any less scary to me. I couldn’t understand why Nick loved them so much.
They had sharp teeth. Rows of sharp teeth.
I shivered again.
I used to be afraid of the ocean, and I thought foolishly that maybe taking a Marine Biology course in college would help.
But instead of helping, the class had only made things worse.
Ignorance truly was bliss sometimes. Because the more I learned about what was actually in the ocean, the more I wanted with all my heart to stay on land.
I could go on ships and boats, and I could walk in the shallows along the shore, but actually swimming in the ocean?
I shook my head.
Nuh uh. No way. I choose life.
Nick walked around a bit before he eventually made his way out of the viewing area, then he set me down so I could walk again.
When we entered the whale exhibit area, we studied the whale display they had up, and then went around the huge room using the interactive panels to learn more about whale migration, their vocalizations, and their social bonds.
When we finished there, we entered the huge 60-foot dome theater, put on our 3-D glasses, and found a seat.
I’d read about this place before we’d come.
The massive dome above us was the screen, and it was the only one of its kind.
It was like you were on the floor of the ocean, staring up through the layers of water until you reached the surface.
“Oh my gosh,” I whispered reverently. “This is... wow.”
Nick pushed the armrest between us up and gently tugged me against his side. I leaned my head on his shoulder, happy.
They started the film, which showed a lot of normal whale behaviors under the waves, but on such a massive scale that it was literally jaw-dropping. I found the video of the mom interacting with her calf so sweet that it made me tear up.
And the sound!
They had some kind of special sound system set up because the clicks and whale song made my chest vibrate. I could feel it in my bones. It was the most awesome thing I’d ever experienced.
A whale breached the water directly over us, and I jerked back into Nick’s shoulder, gasping, then laughed at my jumpiness. The 3-D effect was very realistic.
When the film was finished, we went to the front to find our tour guide, who took us to a special area of the Center and allowed us to feed the turtles, as well as tour some behind-the-scenes areas most people couldn’t see if they were just walking through on their own.
In our Uber on the way home, I said, “You know, they have a shark dive, if you wanted to go back another day. You’d get to swim with the sharks. Or they have another thing where you could camp out under the 360-degree dome for the night, and sleep with them.”
He squeezed my hand. “Tempting, but no. I’d rather spend time with you.”
I tilted my head and studied him. “You know, it’s sweet, and I love that, but we’re not attached at the hip. You can do things without me and I promise I’m fine with it. I’ll just do something else.”
His chuckle was low as he kissed my neck. “I’ve spent hundreds of years without you, Lucky. I have no interest in wasting any of my time without you now that I’ve found you.”
“Because... I’m not immortal?” We were whispering, but I was fairly certain the guy driving wasn’t paying attention to us at all. If he was, oh well. When Nick got out of the range of my magic, he could just adjust his memories.
Nick’s expression turned pained. “Yes.”
Before I could answer him, my phone buzzed in my pocket. “Hold that thought. I want to talk about that.”
I opened the zippered pocket of my pants and yanked my phone out, checking the screen.
Grandpa!
I hurried to answer. “Grandpa? Did you find something?”
“We found it, Ducky. A way to get rid of your chaos magic for good.”