Page 6 of Seduced By the Mermen
I would know. And the Portsmouth clan will know. My uncles Enzo and Stefano are going to watch the lobbies for us.
The same Uncle Enzo who, at our last party, put shrimp shells on his fingers and pretended they were puppets?Delmar has a point.
I suck in my lower lip. Perhaps this was a bad idea.Yes, but Stefano will keep him in line.
Did he keep him in line at the Vividaria ball last year when he tossed your aunt over his shoulder and ran out, saying old people like sex too?
I mean, he’s not wrong. We’re not what most would consider young anymore, either.
Speak for yourself.Delmar is the youngest of our pod. But in many ways, he’s older than most of us.
I’m surrounded by students all day, so I frequently feel both older than I am and way younger than I am. Either way, I didn’t become head of my department and on the way to being the head of higher learning by being a fool.It’s just for a little while. Plus, you should see how excited Stefano is. He rubbed his hands together with glee.
Oh no, not glee. Well, I hope to Poseidon this doesn’t keep us from at least getting a chance to talk to Blair again.
It won’t.
I glance at the elevator as a family flows out, followed by Uncle Stefano. He’s holding a basket of food the size of a three-year-old podlet. “Do you think you have enough food?” The family smiles at us and hurries out to the docking platform. “You’re not going to spend the night in the lobby?”
“No, this is just my snack until dinner. Your aunt is on board. She’s going to come down later and sit with us both.”
I have made a terrible mistake. I can see that now. But there’s no going back.
Stefano sits down on a bench and opens his basket. “Tea biscuit?”
“No, thanks.”
“Well, go on. Shoo. Get out of here. I’ve got surveillance to be doing.”
“Right. Okay. Thanks. You don’t have to do this if?—”
“Nonsense. You’re a big-time professor. You must have other things to do. Go on.”
“Just don’t say?—”
“Of course not. I won’t say anything. I’m a pro.”
And it’s then it comes back to me. Stories from my pops one night when he’d had too much seaweed gin about how I had two highly decorated servicemen uncles that were spies. But he never told me which two, and since I have over fifty uncles, I’ve never been able to narrow it down. But maybe it’s Stefano and Enzo?
“Okay, pro. Try not to ruin our chances.”
“I’m just sitting here trying to find a new marlimax partner, someone who doesn’t cheat. Do you know how hard that is to do in a pod when you’ve been mated for fifty-five years? The whole lot of them are cheaters.”
I’ve heard this complaint from my own fathers. The tile game takes mental dexterity or a good sleight of hand.
Another pod strolls in the back door. “Any of your fathers play marlimax? Ones who don’t cheat?”
The mermaid smiles. “Sorry, no.”
“The ones who do play most definitely cheat.” Her pod mates laugh as they get into the elevator.
“See? Pro. Plus, I might find someone to play an honest game with, someone who thinks I’m not going to cheat them. Now swim out of here.”
“Thank you, Uncle Stefano.” I’m shaking my head on the way out the door.
A click and the door of my Gorsca solo shuts in place. There are advantages to not having any podlets. Still, I would have given my fancy solo to know the other life. But that’s the past. We thought about putting our names down to raise a geminae podlet. But it hurt too much for our mate. And then time ticked on.
I dock in one of our reserved spots and take the lift to the second-to-the-top floor. The grand dame of Stele has the penthouse. She’s Forrest’s aunt. Forrest’s parents next to them. But I’ve never wanted to live anywhere but here.
