Page 18
Chapter 18
Lynn
I decided to board Charlie rather than have him make another long trip to yet another strange place so soon. Besides, Chris was bringing their cats, and I wasn’t sure how Charlie would react to suddenly being thrust into a hotel room with them, seeing as we were sharing a room tonightThe ride down was as thrilling as the one we’d taken up, but felt even shorter. Probably because I was so excited, drinking everything in, not wanting to forget a single moment. We broke through the clouds, skimming above the ocean and soon, Honolulu came into view, the ship slowing down to what felt like a normal car speed as it approached the beachside hotel’s parking lot. We settled into an area marked off for small Mylos craft, the engines barely cutting out before the pilot was up, bustling about in the cabin.
We all managed to quickly unbuckle ourselves and stand up to accept our garment bags.
“We used to have to land at the Scholarship Center,” the pilot said conversationally as he handed me mine, containing my dress. My shoes were packed neatly inside my brand new suitcase as Yorix decided we should get matching hardshell luggage.“Then with so many residents and Fleet families returning so frequently, many of the larger businesses started providing dedicated landing sites. We can also now land at the airports, but since we can do so at the Hilton and only have to walk a very short distance to get inside, I didn’t see the point.”
“Good call,” I said in full agreement.
“Aloha!” a woman called out from outside.
She and the two men with her wore colorful local clothing, she in a floral print muumuu and the men in Hawaiian shirts paired with dark blue cargo shorts. All of them wore slide-on sandals and held leis.
“There’s a gentleman here to help you with your luggage,” she informed us as we came down the ramp. Sure enough, there was a hotel employee with a brass luggage cart who took our bags from us, carefully hanging up our wedding attire so the bottoms weren’t crushed between the suitcases. He offered to also take the cat carriers from Chris but he declined.
Once we were sorted, the woman said, “Again, aloha! And welcome to Hawaii! My cousin Kimo told us you were arriving today and we wished to meet you personally and give you a proper island greeting,” as she and her companions placed a colorful lei around each of our necks. “I’m Leilani, and this is my cousin Keanu, and our friend Roberto.”
“Aloha! I’m Lynn and wow, this is so nice! Did you make these yourselves?”
“No, our auntie did. We helped pick the plumeria and ti leaves for these and your crowns for the wedding, though. Kimo said you were going to the Hilton’s luau on Wednesday, but we’d like to invite you to a smaller one for just our ohana on Saturday. Kimo will be there so you’ll have someone you already know - well, other than just us,” she laughed.
“We would be honored to come,” Korah replied. “We have known Kimo many years and consider him part of our ohana.”
“As you are also ours,” Keanu said.
“Kimo is one of the main hula instructors,” Yorix explained to me softly.
“Once one of the Akanas decides you are part of their ohana, that’s it. All of them claim you,” Roberto chuckled as they followed along behind the luggage cart with us. “I have to watch what I do or I end up with one of the aunties or uncles blowing up my phone. But there’s a lot of love behind it, and you get plenty of good things to eat, and any help you need.”
“That’s what family should do for one another,” Yorix replied approvingly, joining in the conversation.
Korah tugged Chris into his side, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.
“Kimo and his wife have been eager to meet you, but wanted to give us this time uninterrupted to bond and for you to settle into life aboard ship,” he told him gently.
“Oh.” My heart panged as I saw Chris's eyes fill with emotion. “That’s so nice. I’ve never had family who did anything like this for me before or thought about what I might need.”
“Well, you do now,” Keanu informed him staunchly.
I nodded firmly. “Found family is still family. You’re not just a regular old bestie, you silly muggins! You’re the brother I never knew I had.”
Chris swallowed, averting his eyes as he tried to get ahold of his feelings once more.
“That’s today? I didn’t realize it was quite so soon,” he gasped, gesturing towards a sign by the front lobby doors, advertising local Friendship Day activities for guests.
“It is,” Korah replied, a dark expression crossing his face and disappearing so fast that if I hadn’t been looking right at him just then, I’d have missed it. I looked at Yorix who now had a firm set to his mouth.
“Spit it out,” Chris said, pulling Korah aside as we entered the lobby, the rest of us following suit.. “I can tell there’s something I should know but you would rather not tell me. Just do it and get it over with. If it’s my Dad and Brenda, I’d rather hear it now so I can set it aside. I’m not letting them ruin this for me any more than they already have by having Jimmy.”
“Humans First is protesting many of the Friendship Day events. Busloads from around the country arrived at Central Park where the flagship picnic is to take place later today. There are also large protests in other major cities, including Cincinnati.”
“My father,” Chris said, sounding resigned.
My heart hurt for him. Couldn’t his asshole family and their friends let him have even one good day?
Korah nodded curtly. “Everything he and Brenda do at the protest is being recorded to be used in court. And if Jimmy is there, we have grounds under the treaty to remove him immediately pending the outcome of a hearing. Indoctrination, cultural alienation of a Mylos young, there’s a list of things that breach the terms of the treaty regarding family, young, and treatment of Mylos and Mylos affiliated persons.”
Chris’s face brightened. “And they’ll just swoop in and get him? Then bring him here to us?”
Korah nodded once more, a slow smile spreading across his face as he simply replied, “Yes.”
“Great. Here’s hoping my dad and Brenda are their usual stupid selves, then.” Chris grinned and I found myself smiling too. I gave him two thumbs up, letting him know I was here for him and that it was all going to go great. I just knew he'd get his fondest wish and Jimmy would find his way home to him.
“Come on. The desk clerk is staring at us and that guy is standing there waiting with all our luggage,” Chris said, grinning back at me.
“Ohana means no one is left behind,” I heard him whisper as he moved closer. “Hang on, Jimmy. We’re coming for you.”
I reached out, giving his hand a quick squeeze as he went past. “It’ll work out,” I said, and he nodded. As we trailed along to the check in desk, my thoughts turned to our spa treatments scheduled for today. Not too long from now, I realized, spotting the clock behind the check in desk. Perfect! We could settle into our room, have something to eat, and go to them. They would help take Chris’s mind off that stupid protest thing and refocus on the wedding, surely.
“Here you are,” the desk clerk said, handing over two door keys. Korah accepted them, passing one over to Yorix. A quick trip up the elevator and within moments we were in the exquisitely appointed double room.
“Thank you, sirs, ma’am. I’ll return to move you to your individual suites once they’re ready,” he said as Oshar thanked the attendant, handing him a cash tip. He left, taking the cart with him. Our garment bags were already hanging in the closet thanks to his attention.
“They’ve already got a litter box and dishes set up here with their usual brand of food and water,” Chris said, sounding impressed.
“I think we should just change out of the suitcases since we’re only in this room for tonight,” I suggested, taking my brush out of my purse, along with a scrunchie. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, then replaced my brush, taking out my reef safe SPF infused lip gloss to add a fresh coat.
“Good idea,” Korah agreed, everyone voicing murmurs of agreement along with him.
“I’ll just introduce them to where the boxes are,” Chris said, fussing about the carriers.
My stomach growled, and all eyes turned to look at me. I blushed.
I shrugged it off. “Come on! I’m starving! I looked up the place we’re going to, and it’s rated super high on Trip Advisor, so it’ll probably have a long line!”
“Alright already,” Chris pretended to grump at me, as he fed his furbabies treats. “I’m done. We can go now.”
“About time!” I snarked.
“Wow, hangry much?” he teased.
I giggled. “Maybe a little,” I admitted, putting my lip gloss back into my purse.
“Are you sure it’s safe for us to leave the hotel right now?” Chris asked, biting his lip. “I didn’t see any picketers here, but what if we run into some out there?”
“The manager said that ahead of the events, all known members of Humans First and other hate groups of record had legal orders forbidding them to go anywhere near places that’d registered they were hosting Friendship Day events. The general public was also warned that anyone interfering with a Mylos or their party, or any other tourist, would face immediate arrest. They aren’t playing around,” Korah informed us.
That made me feel better. I did not want those yahoos messing up our trip, not one bit. His words reassured Chris too, as he nodded, his shoulders relaxing as he said, “Okay.”
“Only the spirit of aloha is allowed to prevail,” Korah said, opening the door to allow us all out, then firmly closing it.
Chris’s mood improved as we found our way to the diner, courtesy of Uber. We pointed sights out excitedly to each other, our mates joining in all of us making plans on places to go poke around in later in our trip. Then we were there, hurriedly piling out. Korah paid, adding a nice tip.
“Mahalo nui,” the driver said before rolling his window up and driving away.
There was only a short line as it happened, and I took it as a sign that the stars were smiling down on us still.
“Here you are,” the hostess said, leading us to a table.
“Everything looks so good!” Chris said, once we were seated and had a look at the menus kept on the table. “What do you recommend?” he asked, as our waitress approached.
“Well, the pancakes are delicious, but my personal fave is the loco moco,” she replied. “You can’t get any more Hawaiian than that or a plate lunch.”
“Oh!” he glanced down at the menu, looking to see what a loco moco was.”I’ll have that then, the loco moco, I mean.” He glanced at Korah. “I’ll have to try one of the plate lunches another day.”
I was in full agreement with him on that, because, damn, they looked amazing!
We all decided to have a loco moco and she hurried off to fetch our sodas, the order having been sent directly to the kitchen thanks to her electronic order tablet. As if her walking off had been some sort of signal, phones all around the diner began to ping, as well as Yorix and my kunnarskyns to chime.
“What’s going on?” Chris asked, looking alarmed.
Korah placed his hand over his, stopping him from grabbing his phone, the both of us having received our Mylos compatible phones just before we left the Fleet this morning.
“Let me look. I’ll have better intel than any journalist or vlogger,” Korah replied and I put my own down without looking as Chris replied with his agreement..
Korah glanced at his kunnarskyn, his eyes widening. “What time is your spa thing?” he asked..
“In an hour and a half, why?” I replied, seeing the time on a clock on the wall by the door..
“Okay. You guys go do that and I’ll wait in the lobby for Oshar.”
Chris gasped. “He’s coming now? But he’s to meet the guests and take them to dinner and -”
“The L.T.C.’s mate, Richie, is going to do that with Kimo, and ride down with them all tomorrow as planned.” I grinned at him broadly. “A judge just ordered social services to do a handover. Oshar and Daisy are on their way to pick Jimmy up and bring him here.”
Chris let out a whoop while I fist pumped the air, uncaring that other diners had now turned to look at us and stare. I’d been right! And now Jimmy was on his way!
“They did? Why? Had they taken him to the protest?” Chris asked excitedly.
“I’ll let Oshar explain, but yes and no. It’s a bit more than that but nothing that endangered Jimmy personally, okay? So just focus on Jimmy and not anything else you might hear about.”
Well, that sounded ominous.
“It’s bad, isn’t it? What the fuck did they do?” Chris scowled..
Korah sighed. “A teacher and a kid were kidnapped while leaving the picnic in Central Park. Jimmy had overheard your dad talk about a kid from New York being brought to Cincinnati, so he snuck away from the girl they left babysitting him and some other young at the motel they checked into, and went to a nearby Waffle House where he convinced the waitress to call 911.”
“Go, Jimmy!” Chris and I chorused.
Korah smiled. “Oshar and Jimmy can tell us the whole story when they get here in a few hours. He’s on his way down from the ship now, he has to pick him up and sign papers, then fly to the hotel.”
“Maybe I should skip the spa treatment,” Chris said.
“Don’t you dare!” I told him, jabbing him with my nail. “When he gets here, Korah can let the spa staff know and bring him to us. You can say hello but then he’s probably going to need to eat and he won’t have many clothes with him or anything! Let Korah and Oshar bond with him by seeing to that, and then after he has a nap, we can go to dinner at the bar and grill.”
“I’ll make sure he only has a light meal while we’re out, then,” Korah promised him.
“Okay,” Chris replied sulkily..
“We need to look our best for tomorrow,” I reminded him. ”He’ll be excited to see you and be part of the Mylos ohana and have a whale of a time, no matter what.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” His face brightened. “And he won’t ever have to go back! Right?”
“Right. No judge will give him back after this,” Korah agreed as Yorix and Oshar nodded in agreement.
“Okay, who had the Diet Coke?” our waitress asked, reappearing.
I raised my hand, and she placed my drink in front of me. She then handed out the rest of our drinks, left, returning minutes later with our plates of food.
“Oh my gosh!” Chris moaned around his first mouthful. “This is delicious. We totally have to come back tomorrow so Oshar and Jimmy can try this.”
“This is like the ultimate comfort food level. But I don’t think I could eat it every day. All this gravy would go straight to my hips and ass,"I replied.
Yorix pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You’d be beautiful no matter what you ate or where the calories went.”
“Aw!” Chris cooed. “Someone is definitely smitten.”
“Well, he is my perfect match, just like Oshar and Korah are yours,” I pointed out. I sure hoped Jimmy knew how lucky he was to have a brother like Chris, and how fortunate he was to have Oshar and Korah there for them both.