Cresting Tide (10 page)

Peter returned with the star fruits that his lover enjoyed so much and was relieved when his lover did not force him to eat first. His elf must be hungry indeed. Once more, their daughter slept after she had her fill and Peter reached for her.

"Hand me Magali and eat, love," Peter smiled and indicated the exchange.

It may have been his imagination but Peter thought his daughter was heavier than when he had handed her off to his lover earlier. He shook the strange thought away as he cradled his daughter and watched his lover eat. Peter was only slightly surprised when his elf indicated that he should return to shore again so soon. He decided that his lover needed more rest so he did not resist the gentle prods his lover gave him.

Cuke could not help but smile as he watched his family wade ashore. Their child was already growing swiftly and his father's words no longer haunted him. He waited only long enough to see his lover's footprints swallowed by the cresting tide before he dove under the waves to hunt.

Peter held Magali and watched her sleep as the sun slowly climbed over the horizon. He felt like he could stare at his daughter forever and only felt more joy when he was in the sea with both her and his lover. Peter sat under the shade of a palm tree as his mind wandered toward the future of the family he now had. He was going to stay here with Magali and his lover; Peter had no doubt about that. But he would need more than a beach to live on and his daughter deserved a home. Peter was not a craftsman but he was sure that even with his pathetic skills he could build some sort of shelter for them. There was always the cave behind the falls at the cove but the thought of making the cave a home for their daughter did not appeal to him. His gaze traveled along the tree line before it settled back on Magali.

"I'll make you a home, Magali. It might not be a palace like where I was raised but it will be a home where we both can be happy and near our sea elf." Peter told his daughter who was now awake in his arms. His eyes grew wide when his daughter seemed to coo in response to his declaration. It was almost as if his daughter already understood him and was happy about his decision to keep them by the sea.

Magali's little hands waved in the air and Peter brought his hand forward so she could grasp his finger. She was strong as she gripped the digit and he examined her little hands. The webbing between her fingers was not as pronounced as his lover's and it was not even noticeable unless her little fingers were splayed open. Her small fingernails looked like any other human babe; they were not the sharp claws of an elf. Peter's other hand cupped her tiny feet as he held her on his lap. He gently pushed on the ball of her foot and was not surprised to see the webbing between her toes. The webbing came higher along her toes than it did between her fingers but it still was not as pronounced as the paddle-like feet of his elf.

Magali cooed again causing Peter's gaze to return back to his daughter's small face. She had his elf's round eyes and he knew that every time he gazed into her deep green eyes, he would see his elf lover staring back at him. There was barely a golden glittery effect in his daughter's green eyes and the dark green was rimmed with the slightest hint of gold.

"You are beautiful, Magali," Peter said with awe and pride as she made happy baby noises.

The sun moved higher in the sky and Peter found himself telling his daughter stories about the sea that he had learned from the lore books in the palace library. The tales of the sea did not stop until he heard his lover calling to them from the surf.

Peter was not surprised at the bounty from the sea that his lover handed him in exchange for their daughter. He had no choice but to return to shore to cook the meal his elf brought him. Peter sat upon the onyx sands eating his seafood and watched his family. His lover was feeding Magali again and using his deadly claws to drip sea water over her tiny body. It amazed Peter that his elf could be so gentle with his talon like fingers. Never once had he feared his lover would hurt their child with his sharp claws.

Cuke delighted in his child as it fed from him. Its eyes remained open and wide, gazing at him as it suckled. His child would break from its feeding every now and then to coo or giggle as he dripped sea water over its small body and the sounds only made his heart leap with joy. Occasionally he raised his gaze to where his human lover sat upon the beach and was greeted with a smile filled with as much joy as he felt.

Peter finished his meal as he watched his family and decided that the first thing he needed to do for Magali was make a proper place for her to sleep. He knew that he would still hold her at night but he also knew that he could not risk hurting his daughter while he slept. With a grunt, Peter pushed himself off the warm sand and headed toward the tree line.

Cuke watched his human lover stand and was surprised to see him not heading back into the sea but further up the beach. His gaze flickered between his lover, who was now pulling land items onto the sand, and his child, who was still cooing in his arms. Cuke did not know what his lover was doing upon the beach and could only watch and wonder at the sudden strange behavior.

Peter became absorbed in his task to make some sort of bed for Magali. He knew that his daughter was safe with his lover and should she need to be brought ashore; his lover would call to him with the now familiar clicks and whistles of his language. Peter had no tools with which he could craft a cradle even if he knew how one should be made. Instead he gathered fallen palm fronds and stacked them near his fire pit. He stripped the leaves from the fronds until he had a neat pile. Using the stick-like center of a frond, Peter dug a trench into the sand that was slightly larger than his daughter's body. Once he squared the hole and packed the dark sand tightly, Peter took the loose frond leaves and began to weave them. Over and under he forced the stiff leaves to go, always making sure the sharper edges were turned toward the bottom of the mat he was weaving. The sun was beginning to set when Peter looked at his handiwork. The mat he had made was just large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the trench he had made for Magali to sleep in. He knew he could not allow his daughter to sleep in a hole for long but this was the best solution he could come up with until he could figure out how to make something better without the proper tools.

Cuke had floated on his back, holding their child out of the water as much as he could upon his chest, for most of the day. The only time his feet touched the sandy bottom of the sea was when he had to stand in order for their child to nurse. His attention was split between the child who floated above him and his lover on the shore. His human lover looked so intent on whatever it was that he was doing, that Cuke did not want to disturb him. Never before had his human remained on land for so long while Cuke was in the water. Normally, Cuke had to force his human lover from the sea for his body to recover.

Cuke knew that his lover was making something, likely for their child, but he could not determine what it was. He was astounded that his lover was able to craft anything without even a dagger to use as a tool. This thought led to the next for which Cuke began to worry.
How would his lover protect himself and their child if he needed to without a weapon?
He decided in that moment, that before he hunted the next day, he would fashion his lover a dagger so he could protect himself and their child while he was ashore. 

"Come back to us my human love," Cuke called when he saw his lover finish creating his light upon the beach.

Peter lifted his eyes from his fresh fire when he heard his elf's whistles. There was no panic within Peter at the high sweet notes of his lover but instead a wave of happiness seemed to caress him when he heard the call.

Cuke finished feeding their young by the time his human lover reached them in the surf. He willingly handed their babe to his lover as he took more of the land food he had not originally noticed that his human carried.

Peter accepted Magali and smiled first down at his daughter and then at his lover when the elf began to eat the star fruit he had handed him.

"You are beautiful Magali," Peter felt like he could not tell her enough times how beautiful she was as he ran a finger down her cheek. "I have made you a bed but I will make you another soon."

Cuke listened to his human as he talked to their child. He could not help but wonder if the child understood. Elf children understood their parents within a few days of birth but their child had not made any elfin sounds since it was born.
Would he ever be able to speak to their babe and have it understand?
He had tried while they floated upon the sea and all their child did was coo and giggle in return. Cuke hoped that their child would learn the human tongue but what if it couldn't? Surely, the Gods could not be so cruel as to make their child human but not human enough to communicate.

"What is it?" Peter asked when he noticed his lover frown.

Cuke snapped out of his dark thoughts at the concern he heard in his human's voice. "I am well," he tried to reassure his love as he was unexpectedly pulled into an embrace. Their child was between them and reached out her small hand to grasp his long hair.

"Come, let's relax and watch the sunset." Peter urged his lover to follow him into shallower water.

Once there, Peter returned Magali to the elf's embrace and sat upon the seabed before he settled them both between his legs to watch the day end.

~~~~**~~~~

Chapter Eleven

Four Years Later…

The white foam of the rising tide swirled around black boots that stood on equally black sand. Peter looked out to sea and felt his heart breaking all over again. His eyes roamed toward the waterfall at the back of the cove. Anyone looking at him might think he was absorbed in its beauty but it was not the clear water that cascaded down from the cliff above or the small rainbow that formed in the mist that held Peter's gaze. No, it was the small cave that was hidden behind the falls that he could not tear his eyes from as the memories came.

The storm blew in from the sea with almost no warning. Like the gods themselves had split the sky asunder in their disappointment? Anger? Or maybe their grace and Peter's salvation? Peter could no longer keep his footing on the sandy bottom as the rising incoming tide smashed into his body and the rapid, swirling outgoing tide threatened to take his legs with it back out to sea. His elf sent him and Magali ashore as the waves crested and crashed in upon them. Reluctantly, Peter embraced his lover before retreating to the safety of the beach.

At first it seemed as if the wind was going to be the worst part of the storm as the gods blew down their wrath. How wrong he was. Thunder, lightening, and cold pelting rain forced Peter to seek better shelter than the palm they were huddled under. How could the rain be so cold while the air that tried to blow him off his feet was so warm, he did not know. The cave became their refuge as the god's power ravaged Peter's small piece of paradise.

Crouched over Magali, wind sending the cold water of the falls pelting into his bare back, Peter marveled at their daughter. Not once since the storm began had she cried in fear of the new experience that thunder and lightening were to her. In fact, it came as a shock to Peter to realize, Magali had only cried once in her short life and that had been when she had wailed in her first breaths of life. He stared down at the infant in his arms and her luminescent green eyes stared right back at him. Peter could not believe that Magali was barely one month old because his daughter appeared several months older. She was growing at an alarming rate to him, even eating fruit already, but his sea elf lover did not find this strange. Perhaps sea elf babies just grew more quickly than human babies.

Peter blinked and tried to push the rest of his heart breaking memory away. It would not go and as if he were watching a play, his mind continued to show him the painful scenes that only he could see.

The black sands glittered like chipped coal, even under the vast amount of debris that covered the shore line. The storm had broken shortly after dawn and Peter rushed into the surf to call his elf. One hand held Magali to his shoulder as his other rhythmically slapped the surface. Fear for his lover consumed him and just as he was about to allow his despair to overwhelm him, he heard the familiar clicks and whistles of his elf. Peter's eyes searched the once more smooth surface of the blue-green sea until they finally settled on a small speck. Tears of relief spilled unnoticed down his cheeks, his salt joining that of his lover's watery home. However, his relief did not last long. His lover appeared before them and took them both into his pale green scaled arms for a tight embrace before trying to urge them both ashore once more.

Peter clearly remembered his confusion and also remembered the stabbing pain that lanced his heart when his lover bent to brush his lips first against Magali's brow then to Peter's lips. Their first kiss. Their last kiss.