Page 77 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
“He’s full, and he needs to be burped,” Lee says. “Anyone want to hold the baby?”
“Oh, yes, please!” Mimi says. “Give me that little man!”
Her words are impetuous, but she eases the baby out of Lee’s arms and expertly balances him over one shoulder, rubbing and patting his back.
I watch as Al gives a mighty burp, milk bubbling on his lips, then he snuggles into the side of Mimi’s neck and falls asleep.
I long to hold him in my own arms, but I know that I have months ahead to cuddle my son, and years beyond that to watch him grow. Mimi and Pops Quinn are in their twilight years.
Speaking of Pops…I wonder what Pops McKinney will make of the new addition? I know that Mrs. Hubbard and the Turners will welcome our son. Pops McKinny probably will, too.
Pops Quinn must be reading my thoughts because he says, “You kids going to live down there on the beach?”
“For the summer, at least,” I say.
“You’re welcome to stay in the vineyard cottage,” he says. I think I can hear a little wistfulness in his voice.
“We like the ocean,” I say. “Don’t want to take my mermaid too far away from her water. But you and Mimi are welcome to visit anytime. I’d like to introduce you to Pops McKinney. I think the two of you might have a thing or two in common.”
“Besides both being called Pops?” he says.
“Yeah, besides that,” I say. “Anyway, if you and Mimi want to visit for a week or two, I’ll get one of those inflatable tentswith an air conditioner and it’s own pop-up bathroom. All the comforts of home.”
He laughs. “We just might take you up on that. Kandy and Richie do a good job running the vineyard. We aren’t near so tied down these days as we used to be. Say, what is it exactly you do for a living?”
“I trade stocks and make investments,” I say. “Here lately I’ve taken part interest in more tangible assets.”
“Good plan,” he says. “You can maybe get a sizeable loan using stocks and bonds as collateral, but you’ll have a hard time eating them if the world falls apart.”
I laugh. “I kinda already figured that out,” I say, thinking of the community farm plots on the north side of the village, not too far from the Quinn vineyards. “I have something of a brown thumb when it comes to plants, so I’ve been cultivating good neighbors.”
Pops Quinn cackles out that old man laugh again. “That’s probably the best investment anyone can make.”
“Yeah,” I say. Then I marvel at myself — me, the guy with itchy feet, the man who couldn’t stand people.
Well, I’m still picky about the people I have around me. Julia is my daughter. I’ve an obligation to her, even if I didn’t love her — which I do.
Rylie is my gift from the sea, my selkie woman. I have her strands of pink hair put away in a box, and I’m mindful that selkies come with a set of rules that if violated will send them running back to their element and away from their land-bound lovers.
Lee must feel some of what I’m thinking because she turns those ocean blue eyes toward me. “What do you suppose Ark is doing?” she asks.
“Pops McKinney has him. They get along well together, and they’ll take care of the Beach until we get back.”
“You mean the Beach and all its people will take care of them.” Her eyes crinkle up at the corners and her mouth smiles. I see the adorable cherub I found at the ocean’s edge.
I lean over, put my arm around her, and she scoots closer to me. “That’s how it should be,” I say. “People and places taking care of each other.”
“When can we go home?” she asks.
“In a day or two,” I say. “Artie wants to be sure that you are healing well, and she wants to get all the well-baby tests back from the labs so that we know Al is growing and developing the way he should.”
“Artie is good people,” Lee says.
“She is,” I reply. “But I don’t ever want to be on the wrong end of her gun again.”
Richard laughs at me from across the room. “She is fierce, isn’t she?”
“Say,” Pops puts in. “Whatever happened to that Jason feller?”
