Chapter 48
My dad leftme behind all the time, whether he was going out with his friends or even chatting with students. I was nothing, insignificant. Never in my life would I want someone to feel like that. Especially someone I cared about. I’d thought I was doing the right thing, and by Jasmine’s response, I had. But it was still wrong in the eyes of an eleven-year-old. He was on the cusp of going from a child to a teenager. Life was confusing enough for him without me making it harder.
I grabbed my laptop out of my bag and headed into the living room. I stood beside the couch. “Do you want to see some of the footage we got today?”
Rose clapped. “Yes.”
Bailey shrugged.
“Sorry, you couldn’t come out with us today. I thought you should have some mom time.”
Bailey glanced at Jasmine who gave him a smile. His attention turned to the laptop in my hand. He’d normally be jumping out of his skin to look. Now he was completely blasé.
I’d really fucked up.
I plugged the laptop into the TV and went to the drone footage. “We started with the little inlet. Jack positioned the drone above the sea lions so we could see their reaction to our approach. What do you think happened?”
Rose moved forward in her seat. “They all got excited and hopped in the water to meet you.”
Bailey rolled his eyes. “They are wild animals, Rose, not pets.”
Smart kid.
“The sea lions here do that,” Rose protested.
“No, they don’t.” Bailey shook his head. His full attention was on us now. “They sit and watch us. Some come into the water but most of them don’t.”
Rose crossed her arms. I smiled. She was always the dreamy one, seeing love and positivity.
“Watch,” I said.
We saw the moment they heard the boat approaching. Many of them lifted their heads from their prone positions. Then when the boat came into sight, many of them sat up and kept a watchful eye.
“We get closer to shore, but we do it very slowly.”
“Why?” Rose asked.
“We didn’t want to scare them. Imagine if they all rushed into the water at once.”
“They could get hurt,” Bailey said.
“Exactly. They can’t tell the difference between a boat and a predator. They need to protect themselves. The water is where they feel safe.”
The boat stopped twenty metres from shore. Some sea lions fled into the water. The young who were close to those sea lions followed.
“Why do you think the young ones did that?”
“They copied the adults,” Bailey said.
Rose nodded. “Like if your mum was scared in a storm you would probably be scared too.”
I smiled at her. “Precisely.”
“Precisely,” she repeated.
Was that going to be her word of the week?
Bailey was still watching.
“So, next, I need to visit them at different times of day to see if their reaction changes. Then I want to visit every day to see if that makes a difference.”
“To see if they get used to you,” Bailey said.
“Yes. And I want to record our colony to compare.”
Jasmine came over and sat on the arm of the chair. “What will all this tell you?”
“It will help determine the best distance for boats so as to not disturb colonies.”
“And that will mean less injuries and less disturbance during breeding season,” Jasmine said.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“And that may help stop sea lion numbers declining.”
I nodded.
She rubbed my back. “And this will form part of your dissertation.”
“Part of it.”
She kept her hand on my shoulder.
I looked at Bailey and Rose. “If Mum says it’s OK, you can help me over the holidays.”
Bailey turned to Jasmine, hope filling his eyes.
“I don’t see a problem with that,” she said. “But sometimes it will be just Ethan and me, and sometimes Ethan on his own.”
Rose clapped.
“Thank you,” Bailey said to me.
“You’re welcome.”
That kid was something else. This family was something else. The only other time I’d felt this content was with my grandparents. It had taken a while to trust them. They had been patient with me and let me take my time. Most of all, they’d never let me down.
Like Jasmine today, they weren’t angry if I’d done something wrong. They didn’t put me down. There was no power struggle.
I glanced at the three of them. If I’d ever wanted a family, I’d want this one.
* * *
“Ethan.”
Fogginess. Where was the sound coming from? I forced my eyes open.
“Ethan,” Bailey said, coming to my side of the bed. His eyes were wide. He kept looking over his shoulder.
I manoeuvred myself from under Jasmine and sat up. “What’s wrong?”
“I heard a sound outside.”
Jasmine rose into a sitting position.
I swung my legs out of bed and looked at the clock—2am. “What sort of sound?”
“I don’t know. Footsteps. Tapping.”
Jasmine hopped out of bed.
I grabbed my board shorts and tank top off the floor. “OK. I’ll go check.”
“You’re going out there now?” Jasmine stood beside Bailey.
“Well, yeah.” Didn’t we want to know what was out there? “It’s probably some sort of animal.”
“Maybe we should leave the animal alone. It will be gone by the morning.” The slight tremor of her voice showed her fear.
I looked between her and Bailey. I needed to reassure him somehow. “I’ll go turn the outside lights on. The nocturnal animals won’t like that.” And while I was doing it, I’d check the doors and windows. Just to be sure. “Wait here.”
I turned the lights on and stared into the pool of brightness. There was no movement. But who knew what was beyond in the darkness.
Creaking behind me. Tingles raced through my body. I swung around. Jasmine took a step back.
“I told you to wait with Bailey.”
She peeked over my shoulder, looking into the shadows.
“I can’t see anything out there,” I said.
“He wouldn’t make it up.” Her voice was full of accusation.
“I didn’t say he made it up. I said I can’t see anything.”
She turned on her heel. “I’m going to sleep with the kids.”
I watched her retreating back.
I tried to tell myself we were all on edge. We were all waiting for something, but we didn’t know what. And that was why she was upset with me. I lay on the couch and closed my eyes. I went over everything in my head from the moment Bailey had woken us up, trying to figure out what I’d done wrong.
Were my actions like what I’d expect from my father? My brain failed to make a connection.