Page 6 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
I hope I can keep better control of this situation.
Because if I can’t, I’m not sure how it’s going to mess up my life.
And my life is already quite messy.
3
LEE
The front seatof Austin’s van is surprisingly comfortable. It reclines back into a sort of niche, and there is a footrest that folds out, so it makes a complete, narrow bed. There is a little curtain you can pull across to separate it from the driver’s seat.
Controls on the dash show that you could heat it, or even set it to vibrate. Those features are pretty standard in most cars, but it is interesting in a seat that folds into a bed.
I guess the vibrating is new too.
I want to try that out, but I figure that would be somewhat inappropriate.
Austin leaves the curtain open, and Ark flops down beside me. I’m not sure if he is intended to guard the van or me, but I don’t care. I like big dogs, and I don’t plan to rip off anything from Austin.
I close my eyes and am just starting to drift off when I hear Austin leave. So trusting, and so kind. Or naive.
I mean either way he’s right. I’m not going to steal his van or his dog, or even his super soft and comfy clothes. He was right about the shower, right about the food, and he’s definitely right about this.
Someone else might consider stealing it, sure.
Not me.
The thing is, I feel safe. Really, truly, safe like I haven’t felt in ages. Which is an odd thing, tucked into a foldout bed in a van on the beach. You would think it would be scary, but it’s not.
It’s way better than the situation I was in previously, that’s for sure.
I must have made a sound, because Ark sticks his nose in my ear. I pet him, and he settles down beside me again. Sleep catches up with me then, on that narrow bed, with my fingers tangled in Ark’s thick fur.
I dream. It’s one of those crazy-ass lucid dreams, the kind where you know you are asleep, but it seems so intensely real.
Part of this had been kind of real, I guess.
I’m in a room, being fitted for my wedding dress. My friend, Rosalee, is going over a catalog of flowers and bouquet holders, trying to get me to pick one.
I don’t like any of them. They are all too stiff, too formal. There’s not a speck of real emotion in a single one of them.
Just like there’s no emotion and no love in the wedding dress. There’s no love in the whole thing, only... business. My brother is paying for it.
He doesn’t know that this is a loveless, sham of a marriage. He’s so happy with his family, that he doesn’t suspect that I’ve drifted into a mess.
Suddenly, an evil face looms in front of me. It has a wicked grin, just like the Joker in old Batman comic books — the ones where he looks like a leering clown. “You look so good; I could just gobble you up!” the face said. And it opened its mouth wide and lolled out its ugly red tongue.
I try to shrink into the dress. But there isn’t enough of it to hide me. A door closes, and the face is gone.
Rosalee has left the room. There is a pair of sewing scissors on a table. The seamstress has also gone on some errand.
I hop off the fitting stool, grab up the scissors and cut away the bottom half of the skirt. Then I tiptoe out the sliding glass doors at one side of the room, and I run and run, until I get to the ocean.
The ocean opens her arms wide and enfolds me in her arms. I am warm. I am loved. I am free. The ocean will keep me safe, and no one can make me go back, no matter how many prenuptial agreements I have signed.
Then, I am rocked in the ocean, and I am safe. A big seal whuffles a sigh, and I know that he loves me with loyal and unconditional love. He swims beside me. The ocean washes over me, and I am happy.
I awake to the aroma of hamburgers and fries. I blink, the van around me slowly coming in to focus.
