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CHAPTER EIGHT

Lucas

C oming up to spend some time on land was supposed to be a fun way to literally stretch my legs and see how the other half of the world lived. I figured I’d take in the sights, be in a show, and have a little fun, and when it was all over, I’d swim back down to my Mom and Dad’s house to figure out what the next chapter of my life would bring.

I did not expect to find my fated mate, to have a day and a half of wild, seahorse sex with him, and to bond with him. Oh, and to get him pregnant. But sometimes life did whatever it wanted to do when you were least expecting it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I called to Zack through the bathroom stall door a week and a half after he’d been to the doctor and told me for certain that he was pregnant.

Zack answered with a horrific retching sound and a splash in the toilet. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he called back weakly.

I could feel his morning sickness through the bond. It made me feel awful on more than one level. Not only did I have some residual nausea myself, I knew I was responsible for how horrible Zack felt. If I’d had any idea that I’d be able to impregnate him, even when he was taking birth control, I would have done something, like wearing a condom.

Except I didn’t hate the idea that Zack was carrying my child. I didn’t hate it at all. We were still keeping our distance and Zack was still coming to terms with the massive change in his life, but already, I was imagining getting a pretty little house with Zack inside the bubble of Blue Haven City, or maybe out in the ’burbs, near my parents, or maybe even one on land, I wasn’t picky, caring for him as he grew round with my baby, and then raising the little guppy along with him.

Zack retched again, but that one was weaker, and instead of staying bent over the toilet, I saw his butt hit the tiles as he sat. I still hadn’t explained to Zack that, as the mate of a merman, he could become a merman, too. Something told me that now wouldn’t be the best time to hit him with that.

“All done?” I asked, reaching under the stall door to take his hand.

“Yeah,” he said weakly. He squeezed my hand for a second, then let go of it, saying, “Eew, Lucas. Why are you sitting on the floor of a public men’s room?”

I laughed. “Because you are.”

“Yeah, but I’m not here by choice,” Zack said.

“I guess it’s time to get up, then.”

I stood and pulled open the door that I’d left shut to give my mate some semblance of privacy. Zack looked feebly up at me, so I smiled back reassuringly and leaned over to flush the toilet.

“Come on,” I said, scooping him up under his arms and carrying him over to the sinks. “You’ll feel better once you’re cleaned up a little.”

I turned on the taps and pumped some liquid soap into my hands, then stood behind Zack, my body encompassing his, as I washed our hands together.

“You’re not going to turn into a merman right here in the VPAC men’s room because your hands are wet, are you?” Zack asked.

I laughed. “No, it doesn’t work like that. I have complete control over when I shift. I could shift back into my tail whenever I wanted, whether I was wet or dry.”

“Doesn’t it hurt to shift into a water creature on dry land?” he asked as I pulled some paper towels and wet them so I could wash his face.

I hummed and pinched my face. “I wouldn’t say it hurts . It’s like getting severely dry skin. It’s tight and it pulls, and if I’m in the air with my tail for too long it loses its shimmer, but I wouldn’t say it hurts .”

“That sounds like it would hurt to me,” Zack sighed.

As soon as I was satisfied that Zack was in good shape, I spun him to face me and took more time than I needed to wet another paper towel and brush it over his lips. Zack looked up at me with the sweetest, mooniest look I’d ever seen. He was completely irresistible when he was vulnerable and needy like that. So much that I couldn’t resist leaning in, eyes trained on his lips, for a?—

The bathroom door banged open and Ben stomped in, his face like a thundercloud, when my lips were millimeters from Zack’s.

“Of all the absolute nerve!” Ben shouted, stomping toward one of the stalls as I leapt back from Zack.

My stomach plummeted to my feet and my heart slammed hard against my ribs. I could feel Zack’s pulse racing as well, even though we weren’t touching. We’d moved apart so fast that Zack nearly tripped over his own feet and had to catch himself on the sink.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. The words came out tight and awkward.

“Yes, something is wrong!” Ben growled back amidst the sound of a stream hitting the water in front of him. “I just had to fire my best lighting tech and one of the chorus members for canoodling in the breakroom.”

I caught my breath and stared at Zack, eyes wide. So Ben hadn’t been joking when he’d said he’d fire anyone who got involved in a showmance.

“Can you afford to lose them?” I asked.

Ben continued peeing, then there was a pause, a zip, and a flush. He stormed out of the stall and over to the sink, looking ready to murder someone.

“Betty asked me the same thing,” he said, slamming on the water and nearly cracking the soap dispenser, he hit it so hard. “She said I was being ridiculous and that of course people were going to get involved during the show. Do you think I’m being ridiculous?”

There was only one answer, with the way he turned to glare at both me and Zack.

“No, no, not at all,” Zack and I both mumbled, shifting awkwardly and turning red.

“See?” Ben said, as if our panic was proof that his policy was the right one. “I’m sick and tired of being second-guessed,” he went on. “Betty knows full well that the rule is for her own good. The way that Greg loser has been sniffing around her?—”

He stopped himself with a quick intake of breath and turned the sink off. As he reached for the towel dispenser, he frowned at me and Zack and said, “What are the two of you doing in here? You were looking awfully cozy when I came in.”

“Oh, I?—”

“We were just?—”

“It wasn’t what it looked?—”

“I must have eaten something that disagreed?—”

“Zack was telling me about his dreams of being a stand-up comic and I was trying to encourage him to give it a try,” I blurted.

Zack looked at me with round, disbelieving eyes.

“A stand-up comic, eh?” Ben said, wiping his hands then throwing the paper towel into the trash. “Why would you want to go into something as risky and unstable as stand-up comedy?”

“I don’t know,” Zack said, glancing desperately to me for help.

“Zack is really funny, in case you hadn’t noticed,” I said.

Ben hummed. “He is funny. Have you ever tried it before?”

Zack gulped. “Sort of? Only on a small scale. But, uh, yeah, it was the reason I came from Philly to Valleywood. I can’t explain it, but I feel drawn to be up on a stage, making people laugh.”

“Interesting,” Ben said. “Well, if we ever have a lull in rehearsal and need someone to entertain us, I’ll let you get up there and give it a try.”

Zack’s mouth dropped open, but before he could say anything, Ben nodded, then marched out of the room, looking like slightly less of a thunderstorm. More like a hard rain beating on the surface of the water.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Zack let out a wheezing breath and leaned against the sink. “I thought we were dead meat.”

“Yeah, that was close,” I said, shoving a hand through my hair. “Although I keep thinking that we should really just tell him that we’re together.”

“No!” Zack pushed himself upright again. “You’ll be fired! I’ll be fired. That’s not as important, but I’ve got a baby on the way, I need a job.”

I thought about telling him that my family had more than enough money to support him and the baby, although I fully intended to get a job so we could set out on our own without being dependent on anyone. Before I could say anything, a warm, urgent, tingly feeling formed in my gut.

“Oh, crap. I’ve got to go,” I said.

Zack nodded to the stalls. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“No, I mean my mom’s about to call me,” I said.

Zack frowned at me. “You’re mom’s about to call you?”

“It’s the telepathy-slash-magic thing,” I said.

Immediately, my phone rang and I pulled it out of my back pocket.

“Hi, Mom,” I answered. Without words, of course. To Zack, it probably looked like I just answered the call then held the phone to my face in silence.

“Leucosius!” Mom snapped at me. It wasn’t the best way to start the call. “What are you still doing up on land? I told you I wanted you to come home.”

“You said you didn’t mind if I came up to be in this play,” I told her, leaning against the sink with a frown. “We’re still in rehearsals.”

“I was cautious about this whole thing from the start, but ever since Frisia told Caliban that you’ve been spending almost all your free time with that omega you had dinner with at their restaurant?—”

“Uncle Caliban can stick to his own business,” I cut her off. “I’m a grown man. I was going to have a life of my own eventually.”

“Oh, that’s so weird!” Zack said, sinking back against the wall and staring at me, one hand pressed to his head. “It’s like I can hear you talking, but you’re in another room and I can’t make out the words.”

I smiled at him. “It will get clearer with time, you’ll see,” I told him.

“Who is that?” Mom asked. “Are you with someone? Are you with that omega?”

“His name is Zack,” I told Mom with a sigh, “and you’re really going to like him, I swear.”

“Maybe I should just leave so the two of you can have your conversation,” Zack said, pushing away from the wall. “It’s all just a little much to sort of half hear you, like you’re—” He stopped, stunned. “Oh my gods, it’s like you’re underwater! That’s what it sounds like. Like when someone says something and you’re underwater.”

“That’s exactly what it’s like,” I said.

“Exactly what what’s like?” Mom asked.

I sighed impatiently. “Let me just sort everything with my mom and I’ll come find you later,” I told Zack.

“You’re talking to your mom?” Zack blinked. “Yeah, I really need to leave you two alone, then. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Zack left so fast I didn’t have a chance to give him a proper goodbye. I wasn’t happy about it either.

“Did he leave?” Mom asked, her voice a little calmer, almost self-satisfied. “They all leave eventually.”

“Dad didn’t,” I reminded her.

“What your father did or didn’t do is beside the point,” Mom said. “I’m not happy with you being up there, involved with a landie, and parading yourself around on stage in that insult of a show.”

I headed out of the bathroom myself, since being there was a little much, and walked across the hall to one of the green rooms. There were several couches in there, so I sunk into one of them, body aching, to deal with the rest of my mom’s call.

“What bothers you more?” I asked. “Your baby finally leaving the nest, me finding an omega I adore and want to spend the rest of my life with, or The Little Mermaid ?”

“You never said you wanted to spend the rest of your life with that omega?” Mom’s voice boomed in my head.

“So I guess that’s the answer to that,” I said.

Mom sighed and made the bubbly noise she made when she was frustrated. “I love you, Lucas,” she said, much calmer, but more emotional. “You are my baby. You’re my only child with the love of my life. I love your siblings with everything I have, too, but they’re the children of gods or demigods, and bless them, they can be so fickle sometimes.”

“I think that’s a compliment?” I said.

“I worry about you constantly,” she said. “I only want the best for you, and I haven’t trusted anything about the world after eighteen-twenty-one. It’s become such a mean, selfish place. Those humans pollute the water like they think the lake is their own personal toilet. They’re making our entire planet unlivable, for us and for themselves.”

I rubbed my forehead. My mom was adamant about the environment. Honestly, she had a point.

“There are people working on ideas to fix things,” I said, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. “There are good people up here as well as crappy ones.”

“But it’s the nasty ones who always seem to be in charge,” Mom said. “That’s why I worry about you. That’s why I question your choice to get involved in that asinine, insulting, ridiculous play.”

“Ah, so it is The Little Mermaid after all,” I said, smiling.

“That Hans Christian Andersen fellow should have been dragged out into Copenhagen Harbor and drown.”

“Mom.”

“Imagine, insisting that merpeople don’t have a soul and that when they die they become the foam on the ocean. Hmph !”

“This production isn’t like that,” I insisted. “It has a happy ending. You and Dad really need to come up in a few weeks to see one of the performances.”

No sooner had the words crossed my lips than I was hit with inspiration.

“That’s the perfect idea,” I went on. “You and Dad need to come see the show. You can also meet Zack. The two of us have something very important to tell you.”

“You’d better not be saying the two of you are getting married and living on land for the rest of your life,” Mom said in a warning tone.

“No, no, that’s not it at all,” I said, my face heating.

We hadn’t discussed where we were going to live. Given the fact that merpeople and sirens were so long-lived and humans got a little tetchy when they noticed people not aging over the course of decades, it was always a good idea to go live underwater for a generation or two before settling on land again.

“Just promise me you’ll come up here, see the show, and meet Zack and I will promise you that you won’t be disappointed.”

Mom made a frustrated sound again, then said, “I’ll think about it.”

We said our goodbyes and ended the call. I sat there for a moment, eyes pinched closed, wondering how my life had become so complicated.

I only gave myself a minute to wallow in frustration before pushing myself to stand. I had rehearsals to get to and a show to see through to the end. More importantly, I had an omega I needed to take care of and a baby to bring into the world.

That last bit put a smile on my face. I was going to be a father. I’d always liked kids, but I was only just over six hundred and hadn’t really thought about starting a family yet. I could see Zack and I having dozens of children, though. It would be great. It would be?—

“I heard your conversation in there.”

As soon as I stepped into the hall, I nearly ran headlong into Eric.

“What? What are you talking about?”

I had a bad feeling I’d started answering Mom verbally instead of just telepathically. That happened sometimes, especially since I’d been up on land for a month now.

“You and Zack,” Eric said. “You can’t keep it a secret forever, you know. I’ve been suspicious about the two of you from the start.”

“Come on, Eric,” I sighed, walking past him. “You need to get a life. I was just talking to my mom. She’s worried about me and keeps insisting I go home. This obsession you have with my potential love life is a little weird.”

“I couldn’t care less about who you’re dating,” Eric said, following me as I headed back toward the stage. “You waltzed in here out of nowhere, stole the part that my friend should have had, and manipulated Ben and Betty into changing the show to make you the star. I’m not going to let you get away with that.”

I stopped a few yards from the stage door and turned to face him. “As I understand it, the parts in this show didn’t belong to anyone until we all auditioned for them. I would have been happy with the chorus. Ben and Betty can do whatever they want, it’s their show. And if you’re such a hot shot talent who should be a big star, why aren’t you one already? Have you ever even auditioned for a show outside of Valleywood?”

“I spent two years in New York,” Eric said, looking sullen and flushed.

“And?” I asked.

Eric’s face pinched and contorted, like he was trying to think up a really good insult.

He didn’t come up with anything, though. All he ended up saying was, “I’ve got my eye on you. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to make sure that you’re either cut from this show or that you’re humiliated in front of everyone.”

“Okay, Eric,” I said with a smirk, then turned and headed on toward the stage.

Eric jumped into motion, racing in front of me so he could pull open the door and dash into the backstage area first.

I shook my head and took my time going where I needed to go. Zack was emotional and dramatic, but he had pregnancy hormones to blame. Eric was just a drama queen with too much time on his hands. I didn’t care what he did to me.

I did care if he tried to hurt Zack, or anyone else, though. I wouldn’t have put it past him to try something underhanded before the show was done. I would have to be on my guard to keep my mate and everyone else safe from one man’s petty jealousy.