Page 12 of Not So Stranded (Delaney’s Sea Monsters #3)

Late the next evening, Kit had Eric on the satellite phone while he passed a serious-looking wooden gate on the northern side of Cecaelia Bay.

Hiaka and Zenori had already jumped into the water and were, presumably, using the underwater entrance to get into the lagoon.

Kit couldn’t see a damn thing over the gate, but he did hear a cheer go up both from that direction and over the line.

“And that’s a happy reunion kicking off,” Eric said, bemused. “Come around to the other side of the island, Kit, and you’ll see the yacht. A few of us will be there to help you tie off by the time you get there.”

“Excellent. See you soon!” Kit put the phone down and drove the trawler around to the south side of the island.

Already he could see the prints from at least three sea turtles going across the beaches.

The land sloped upward quickly, lots of native trees creating a forest perimeter, and plenty of tall grasses for the turtles to dig under for their nests.

And then there was the cliff with a huge colony of black and white Newell’s Shearwater seabirds nesting in every nook and cranny.

Finally, he saw a well-worn path snaking up from a dock where a yacht was tied.

A mega yacht. That thing had to be at least a hundred feet, if not more.

A man waved from the dock with two younger men flanking him and…

Well, alright, a topless woman was also standing with them.

While everyone wore what looked like swim shorts, Hiaka had said going nude was pretty normal here.

After all, the cecaelia didn’t wear clothing.

Kit himself had taken to being naked on the boat until they’d gotten closer to civilization, so he was ready to integrate into the customs of Cecaelia Bay. Eventually. Probably.

Between the five of them, they got the trawler secured to the dock. It made Kit blush a bit to see just how secure it was after his fiasco on Ikaika. This time, the trawler wasn’t going anywhere, storm or no storm.

“Welcome to Cecaelia Bay! I’m Eric Baird.”

Kit shook hands with the tall man, his sandy blond hair standing up in waves all over his head. He looked tan and bright eyed and happy—nothing like what Kit imagined when he thought of a billionaire.

“Kit Tennant.”

“This is Larkin Mayer.” Eric gestured to the younger man beside him, dark-haired and with lively brown eyes. “He’s mated to Dean Kennedy and Mo, who is one of Hiaka’s siblings.”

“Oh, awesome,” Kit said, shaking Larkin’s hand. “And I’m glad to know we’re not the only group of three.”

“You’ll find pretty much anything goes around here,” the woman said as she held her hand out for a shake. “I’m Angelica Boes. My mate is Hessan, who is Ty’s parent’s sibling.”

“Ty is your mate,” Kit said to Eric, but then had to take a second to try and map out the rest. “And Hessan is like an aunt or uncle?”

“Right.” Angelica nodded. “The cecaelia don’t really have words like that for relatives, unfortunately, so it sometimes feels like you need a family tree and to just point.”

Kit couldn’t help the little thrill of excitement that had him grinning. “Has anyone made a family tree yet? If they haven’t, I’d love to. Data is my life.”

“That could be fun,” Eric said. “A great way to get to know everyone, too.”

“We could print it out and put it up in the house,” the last young guy said before putting his hand out to shake Kit’s. “I’m Kevin Atchley. I’m mated to Quatrus, so Eric’s my father-in-law.”

“Oh, okay.” Kit shook Kevin’s hand as Eric chuckled.

“And my twin, Jonah,” Kevin continued, “is mated to Primus—Eric’s oldest—and they’re expecting their first clutch right now.”

“Babies? How wonderful,” Kit said with real delight. “Will these be your first grandchildren?”

Eric led the way up the path away from the dock. “No, Primus and Jonah will be the last of my oldest children to have kids of their own, actually. They’ve been having adventures all over the ocean for a few years, but have decided to settle down and raise their family now.”

“I’m glad they’re doing it here. I still feel bad that Hiaka and Zenori didn’t get to use the island where we met to start their family. Maybe having a new clutch hatching here will help them feel better about losing that spot.”

“This is the safest place for breeding and raising the littles,” Eric said from the head of the line. “Ty and I designed it to be that way. There are some good spots down in the Solomon Islands, but even with hundreds of islands to choose from, it’s still getting pretty crowded out there.”

Nodding, Kit added, “Tourists have been getting more and more curious about the leeward islands right here.”

Larkin said, “We’ve had to double the height of the gate and put out buoys warning folks away.”

They crested the hill, and Kit stopped to stare down into the lagoon.

At first, it looked like a resort with decks, lounge chairs, and cabanas full of people enjoying themselves, hundreds of fairy lights above their heads and a massive movie screen showing an episode of Bluey.

For a second, the sight before him could’ve been from any seaside college town on spring break.

But then it registered that most of the people were every shade of blue and there were a whole lot of tentacles.

“Wow,” Kit breathed. “That’s incredible.”

Eric chuckled and patted Kit’s back. “Wait until morning when all the kids are awake. We’ll look like a waterpark and sound like one, too.”

“Oh, I see the slides,” Kit said, pointing, as he followed everyone down the hill. “And a zip-line?”

“Jonah did that,” Kevin volunteered, “just before Primus knocked him up.”

That last bit intrigued Kit. “So Jonah’s hosting the eggs right now?”

Kevin pointed toward the lagoon. “See that guy with the big belly floating like a corpse over there? That’s Jonah.”

“Ew, Kevin,” Angelica said at the same time Larkin groaned.

“What? Tell me he doesn’t look like that.”

Kit chuckled and had to agree. “It’s an apt description. I saw him right away.”

“Exactly. And honestly, all of us have done it.” Kevin smirked at Kit. “Or will eventually.”

That gave Kit pause. He literally stopped walking and Larkin bumped into him. “Oh, sorry. Kit?”

“I, uh,” he said, blushing, “guess I hadn’t considered that.”

“Hosting?” Kevin said, looking contrite. “It’s totally voluntary.”

“Especially since Hiaka can always host,” Eric added. “Primus isn’t a hybrid, so they couldn’t have hosted their own eggs. That’s why Jonah’s doing it.”

“But having kids isn’t compulsory in any way,” Angelica said with a hand on Kit’s arm. “No one’s going to pressure any of you either.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that,” Kit said to reassure them all. “I just didn’t put myself into the mix. It’s been Hiaka and Zenori who wanted kids this whole time. But it… It could be me, too.”

“It absolutely could.” Eric smiled and got everyone moving again.

But even as a cheer and a lot of hellos reached Kit from the lagoon as they approached, he was still distracted by the idea of being the one to get pregnant.

Could the children be half his? Zenori couldn’t host, so maybe the kids could also be theirs.

Or even though Hiaka could host, Kit could do it anyway, and the children could be theirs.

Or he could host Hiaka’s and Zenori’s kids.

There were so many possibilities, and Kit could absolutely be a part of every single one!

“Kit?”

He blinked a few times and realized he’d shaken so many hands without really focusing on anyone that he was literally standing there with his hand out to Hiaka. “Oh, sorry. I guess I was distracted.”

Hiaka took his hand and drew him forward into the warm water of the lagoon. “You looked like you were more than distracted.”

“Did I do something weird?” He looked around at the people he’d just absentmindedly met, but no one seemed to be side-eyeing him or anything.

“No, but are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just…” He gasped and looked around. “Oh my god, tell me I didn’t meet your parents while I was all spaced out like that?”

“You didn’t,” Hiaka said with a laugh. “But here they come so focus and smile.”

Kit smiled and focused on the big man wading out of the water toward them with a cecaelia beside them. Hiaka’s parents, Michael and Serion. Zenori came with them, so Kit assumed they’d already been introduced.

“Dad, Serion,” Hiaka said proudly, “this is my mate, Kit Tennant.”

As Kit gave them both a nod and held out his hand to shake, he realized this was the first time he’d met the parents of someone he was seeing. No other relationship had gotten that far. “It’s wonderful to meet you both,” he said with all sincerity.

Michael knocked his hand away and scooped him into a bear hug that literally squeezed the breath out of him. When Michael pulled back, he looked down at Serion and said, “One more and we’ll have gotten all of them mated.”

Serion snorted a laugh. “Like you had anything to do with any of them finding their mates.”

“More than half didn’t even have to leave the bay,” Hiaka said to their parents before looking up at Kit. “Most of my clutch mated with Eric’s and Ty’s kids like right out of the egg.”

“Aww,” Kit said, “that’s adorable. Marrying your best friend that you grew up with.”

“And we’re not pressuring Ukanipo,” Hiaka said sternly up at Michael, “because we like having them around instead of disappearing for years at a time.”

Michael made some grumbling nosies, but then beamed at Kit and Zenori. “I can be distracted from my unmated offspring by new grandchildren.”

Kit laughed and said, “Well, good, because I don’t think you’ll have to wait very long. That’s why we’re here.”

“Ah,” Michael reached for Kit’s face, “I knew I liked you right away.” He planted a big kiss on Kit’s forehead before letting him go and making a shooing motion. “Go settle in. Relax. Take advantage of the darkness.”

“Uh, okay. Goodnight!” Kit said just before Michael and Serion dove out of sight. “What did he mean about the darkness?”