Page 44 of Deadly Aloha
I should not be thinking about little booties and mini coconut bras and small fingers curled around mine. I wasn’t even positive I’d ever smelled a newborn’s head before, but I swore in that moment I had a sweet, almost milky scent in my nose.
A baby.
I touched my middle. Aloiki had been practically shoving food down my throat since I moved back in with him. ClaimedI was too skinny. He’d also stocked the freezer with Rocky Road and threatened bodily harm against anyone who touched my ice cream. Just another way that he showed me his affections without saying the words—though he’d certainly gotten better about that too.
We were in such a good place. The only dark stain on our relationship at presentwasNishi’s unknown fate. It killed me that my best friend was missing and it killed Aloiki that he was failing to keep his promise to me.
It would be cruel to blame him. If he gave up, if he wiped his hands of the situation and just moved on, I would feel differently. Because there was a difference in failing versus breaking a promise.
Despite what he might believe from his bedroom skills, Aloiki wasn’t magical nor a god. Looking for Nishi wasn’t just looking for a needle in a haystack; it was looking for a specific needle in a stack of needles. I was stupid and foolish to think that getting kidnapped myself would lead me to her. I’d been so wrapped up in panic and worry for my best friend that I hadn’t stopped to think I might share her fate.
Tears ran down my cheeks. Nishi loved babies. I felt her absence like a gaping hole inside my chest, now more than ever. I didn’t know how Aloiki was going to react to the news of my pregnancy, and I wanted my best friend beside me when I told him.
Iwouldtell him too, and soon. Beyond that he deserved to know as the father, we’d sworn not to keep secrets this time. Open communication, be it good or bad. I didn’twantto keep this from him either. I just wished I could guess how he would react.
Silent disappointment was my assumption. When he got quiet and mopey, like a child whose favorite toy had just been broken. In his mind, he likely would think that analogy apropos.He certainly loved playing with my pussy, and it wasn’t going to be the same after this.
My shoulders slumped. He was outside overseeing the construction to the bunkhouse, but this couldn’t wait. I needed to find him and go tell him.
Leaving the bathroom, I debated on grabbing his phone from the nightstand where it had been charging. Aloiki was awful about remembering to grab it, and for some reason, I felt like I needed an icebreaker before spilling my news. But then decided against it.
While I did not consider myself a coward, Iwasfucking nervous. We’d sworn we were in this to the end, but we never said anything about a baby when we made those vows. Which brought me full circle back to how reckless we were those first few days. True, I’d taken the Morning After pill, and that had obviously failed.
Would he blame me? Think I’d done this on purpose? My gut told me ‘no’, but my rising anxiety wouldn’t let the question go.
I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn’t see Rory standing in my kitchen until he moved. I caught him in my peripheral and jumped.
“Kahaha!” I exclaimed, hand to my chest. The other flipped the pregnancy test so it was lying along the inside of my wrist and arm. I wasn’t wearing shorts with pockets so I didn’t have anywhere else to hide it. “Rory! Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
Rory was shorter than Aloiki but more muscled. He had a long mane of reddish-brown hair and bright green eyes that portrayed his Irish roots, but his skin was noticeably tanner than one would expect of an Irishman. That’s where his Polynesian blood came in.
I met Rory about eight years ago at a party Aloiki took me to, a fundraiser to protect the reefs. Aloiki had gone to collect information on a man who was giving money to the foundationas a PR stunt after his tanker boat leaked fuel, polluting the water in that area.
I always thought Rory to be a sweetheart, and I felt sorry that I hadn’t been here to mourn Aaleah’s death with him. I was very grateful he wanted to rekindle our friendship after my abrupt absence and was willing to be here in my time of need. He had not been shy about blaming Aloiki for Aaleah’s death, which I thought was unfair. I just wasn’t sure how to approach the topic without bringing up bad memories for Rory. He never said anything negative about Aloiki in front of me.
“Sorry,” he chuckled low, closing the fridge. “Just came in for a water.”
Unlike the others in the club, Rory was wearing his cut over a t-shirt. Shit. I did it again.Skipperwas wearing his cut over a t-shirt. He was wearing socks and a pair of tan cargo shorts. In comparison to the others outside, he probably looked like he was dressed for a blizzard. At least he took his boots off before he came inside. I appreciated that.
Since the former barn was under construction, the members currently had free rein of our fridge and freezer. Other than my ice cream, that is.
As much as I loved the ambiance of the club, I was looking forward to when the house was just Aloiki and me again. Well, Aloiki, Tangaloa, and me again. I doubt Tangaloa was going to be moving out into the bunkhouse once construction was completed.
Lowering my hand from my chest to my belly, I realized that in seven-ish months, we’d have a fourth person living here, too.
“Haven’t seen you in a while.” Skipper approached me. “You’re looking good, Lu.”
I gave him a half smile. “That’s what happens when you spend all your time on the water and not here bonding with your new brothers.”
He shrugged. “The Nomad’s gotta roam. At least, that’s what Paniolo keeps telling me, anyway. ‘Boots on the ground’,” he mocked, cracking a smile. “I guess in our case, it’s more the ‘rudders in the ocean’, but same thing. Keeps me from being here unless I have news to share.”
My posture straightened. News? “Do you?” I asked hopefully. “Is it Nishi?”
Skipper made a face. “I’m not supposed to say. Club business and all that.” I was about to demand he tell me anyway, but then he said, “So you have to promise not to tell Paniolo I told you, too.”
I nodded, in too much of a hurry to hear his news to tell him that Aloiki would have told me anyway, just with less dramatics. Although, Aloikihadbeen keeping true to his promise to only tell me information when he was inside me. It was a wonder I wasn’tmorepregnant.
Skipper came close, bending his head down to me before whispering, “I found the remaining Bloody Scorpions. They’re on the Valley Isle.”
