Page 20 of Hooked on the Otter Doctor
“I’m in a group chat.”
“Helli…”
“Everyone’s very excited for you,” she said and showed me the screen that was full of hearts and gifs with heart-eyed characters. “Literally everyone wants a Norlon of their own.”
I got the appeal, obviously, but did the Norlons know it was hunting season?
“I’m… Well, I’m very happy to have your acceptance and everything,” I said to all of them. “I knew you were okay with Norlons in general, but wasn’t sure how you’d feel about me being mated to one.”
Oh, that needed a better term. Mated sounded so dirty. And considering what we’d done on the boat that Helli totally knew about… I felt my cheeks heat.
Mamma came close and held my face in her hands before kissing my cheek. “I’ve wanted you to find the love of your life regardless of who they are.”
She’d said something similar when I came out to her, so now I was blushing and getting teary-eyed, too. I pulled her into a hug and held on for a really long time.
“Svein and Petra,” Helli said, “want to know if they can come for dinner tonight.”
I groaned into Mamma’s shoulder as she quietly chuckled. “You’re in a group chat with the only girl I ever accidentally dated?” I’d been young, testing the waters, and discovering they were definitely not the ones for me. Petra had been understanding since she’d been doing the same thing.
Helli squinted at me. “Yeah, why?”
Mamma patted me and turned to Helli. “You’re not to go out with Svein,” she said sternly. “I heard about what he got up to last night. His mother saw the photos.”
I cringed right along with Helli. It was one thing to know what he’d done; it was another thing entirely to know our aunt had seen it.
I cleared my throat. “Um, I don’t mind if they come for dinner as long as they don’t pepper Halaby with questions about how to get their own mates. I already told Svein how anyway.” And if he was in a group chat with Helli and her friends, then they knew as well.
“How?” Mamma asked.
Pabbi snorted. “I’m sittingrighthere.”
“Oh, hush,” she said and whacked his shoulder before looking expectantly at me.
“Uh, you just have to meet them. They’ll know immediately. And then you will.”
Repeatedly. In several positions. All over town.
Mamma nodded and pinned Helli with a stare. “You’re too young.”
Helli groaned. “I also want to be a mother someday, and Norlons aren’t compatible that way. I’m not even looking, so don’t worry.”
“You could always adopt,” I suggested. “Can you imagine how cute their babies are?”
Helli’s eyes got anime big and she sucked all the air out of the room before dashing away.
Mamma hit my shoulder while Pabbi groaned.
I stepped out of reach of both of them. “Like you wouldn’t be all over a grandkid.”
“She’s too young,” they said simultaneously.
Yeah, okay, I agreed. At the same time, though, I wondered how Halaby felt about being a father someday.
Halaby had dressedup for dinner with my parents. All the Norlons wore long-sleeved tunics and skintight pants in a variety of colors, but Halaby’s tunic tonight had beadwork emphasizing the dappled pattern stitched on it. He looked like he was under the surface in the turquoise waters of somewhere beautifully sunny.
His clothes literally had me wondering what it might be like to have sex with him in the water. Warm water. Like, mid-Atlantic kind of warm. How much would it cost to get us both to the Caribbean?
Grinning at me in the doorway, Halaby bent close and whispered, “I’ll give you whatever you’re thinking about later.” Which made me laugh, so I was smiling when he kissed me.
