wrath of the Sea Queen (51 page)

"
Pretty C
a
eli!  I knew you would be here,
"
a young voice squealed excitedly.

The force of the
unexpected
impact caused C
a
eli to stumble backward into Vin, who
adeptly caught
hold of
her and
helped her regain her balance.  C
a
eli tried to loosen the shoe digging uncomfortably into her left side, but
it
w
ould
not
budg
e
.  Vin not
ic
ed
the grimace on
her
face
and moved
forward
to see if he could help.  He reached up and pulled the young child away from C
a
eli,
untangling
the boy's feet and arms as he did so.  Vin sat him gently on the nearest tabletop
, knowing
C
a
eli
would want him to be patient and kind to any child, even one causing his wife such pain
.

"
Whoa there
,
little fella!  Where did you come from?
"

Vin
bent down to look closer at the boy who could not have been more than five years old. 
He
recognized the boy as the one who
was
discussing C
a
eli with his father
a
ft
er
they came aboard.  Vin glanced over his shoulder to
ask
about her young friend
, but
stopped suddenly
when he saw
C
a
eli
’s hand
pressed
tightly
against her left side.  He turn
ed
to help her, but
C
a
eli
waved him back, letting him know
that she was ok
. 
Vin was not dissuaded. 
Instead
of dismissing
her pain
, Vin reached out and took her
other
hand, guiding her to sit down on the bench to his right.  He
then
sat down as well,
keeping the boy between them.

C
a
eli
placed
her back against a metal pole at the end of the bench and drew her knees up close to her ribs
.  She slid
one hand across the top of
her knees and kept
the other
pressed to
her side.  Vin straddled the bench with his left elbow resting on the top of the table
and
reached out his other hand supportively to C
a
eli.

"
Are you ok?
"

"
I will be.  I'm not feeling very well, and I'm a bit worried about…
" 

The
ir discussion was interrupted as the
young boy slid closer to C
a
eli and tapped her on the shoulder with one finger.

"
H
i
, Max.  It's good to see you
safe and dry
.  Is that your Papa
sleeping
down there
?
"
C
a
eli said in a
low
voice.

"
Worried about what?
"  When
C
a
eli
worried, Vin worried.  She was not one of those women who worried over petty matters, such as what to wear or being late to a party.  Those things never really bothered her. 
C
a
eli
only truly worried if there was a chance that someone could be hurt.  In this instance, he didn't like the implication of the person at which her worry was directed.

"
Later, Vin.
"

"
Yep!  Papa sleeps a lot when we travel.  He snor
ed
so loud that everybody else
went
away.
"
  Max giggled as he looked toward his father
w
hose
head
was
buried in his hands at
the end of the table. 

"
Papa said you were staying behind cause you could swim good
.  B
ut I knew you were talking to the water
so it would stay out of the plane
.
"

At that, Vin furrowed his brow slightly, but C
a
eli
shook her head
,
dismiss
ing
Max's words.  Vin let it go. 
He made a mental note to be sure to ask C
a
eli about this, too, when they
had an opportunity
to si
t down and talk about the day's events
. 
Max continued, not having noticed the
private
exchange between the adults. 

"
I'm sooo happy you finally got here, but it took you long enough, pretty C
a
eli.  We
ha
ve been here forevvvver.  I
talked to the
pretty, doctor lady.  I told her you said she would be nice to me
, and she was
nice
.  She said I can call her
pretty
Dr. Salma if I want.  She said I had to use her name too, just like you said
, pretty C
a
eli
. 
And t
here was
a funny man with her. 
Mr. Ben
made a cookie disappear behind my ear
, and then he made magic so it would come back
. 
Do you like magic, p
retty C
a
eli
? 
I like magic. 
N
ow that we are going home, will you come visit me
like you
promised
?  I w
ill
tell you
that
story.  Who is this guy?  Is he your friend?
  Is he going to come visit me, too?
"
  Max rattled off the questions in rapid succession, bar
ely stopping to take a breath.

C
a
eli smiled and looked over at Vin, who shook his head and laughed quietly
, familiar with the phenomena
.

"
Well, pretty C
a
eli, should I be worried that a four year old is trying to steal my lady?
"
  Vin teased her with
extra emphasis on
Max's designation
of C
a
eli
.

"
I
a
m not four.  I'm five. 
And
I
'
m not stealing her. 
Papa says stealing is bad.  Pretty C
a
eli
is my friend.  Besides,
she
is a
S
ea
G
oddess and she already belongs to
a huzban
.  Can't you see the ring on her finger?  Pa
pa said that means she is m
a
rr
ied
, like Mama and Papa.
"
  The serious look on Max's face
, daring Vin to contradict him,
caused Vin to laugh out loud until his sides began to ache.

"
Ok, ok.  I'm sorry.  My mistake,
"
Vin
said when his
laugh
ter finally subsided
.

The boy definitely wasn't shy, and he seemed to have developed a protective attitude
toward
C
a
eli.

"
See there, Vin.  Max thinks I'm a goddess,
"
C
a
eli quipped in a soft voice and then winked at Max.

"
G
reat!  I
wi
ll never be able to top that.  Thanks a lot, Max.
"
  Vin
ruffled
the boy's hair.

"
Max, this is Vin
. 
He
gave me
my
ring. 
Vin
is
my husband
," C
a
eli explained.

"So he
i
s the Papa and you
a
re the Mama?"

"Yes, I suppose
you could
say
that
.
 
I was going to bring
Vin to visit you and your Papa, but I have not
told
him about it yet.
"
  C
a
eli
patiently
answered
Max
's questions
.