Bati

by Nikki Clarke

  “Yes, mommy?” KJ’s shaky voice sounds out near my ear.

  “Your apha is going to take you to the campsite, okay? I’m going to stay here and practice my floating. Once he drops you off, he’s going to come back and get me.” Tiani’s voice is easy. She is a good mother. The feeling that I have failed her is intense even as I know there was no way to foresee this.

  “What if you go under water?”

  “I won’t go under water, baby. I’m gonna take shadow breaths.”

  “It’s shallow breaths,” KJ returns with a weak chuckle.

  “That’s right, baby. I’m gonna take shallow breaths.”

  Tiani turns back to me. Her gaze is shifty and nervous, but she smiles before leaning into kiss me. I sweep into her mouth when she opens for me, tasting as much of her as I can. She pushes against my shoulders to end the kiss even as I lean in for more.

  “I will come back for you. I will not let you drown.”

  “I know.”

  We both look in the direction of the sea willow. It’s close, but not close enough. With my speed, it will still take about fifteen minutes to get there and back. Fifteen minutes. I send a plea to the universe that Tiani can stay afloat that long.

  “We should discard our packs. KJ can keep his.” I ease first one strap then the other off my shoulders and let my pack go.

  “There’s nothing important in there?” Tiani’s eyes follow the pack as it drifts across the water.

  An instinctual need to protect flares fiercely through me. “I am holding the only important things in my life.”

  Her mouth curves up into a sad smile. “Set me up?”

  I help her remove her pack and the cumbersome Qitoni garb so it’s easier for her to float.

  “What about your stuff?” KJ protests as the packs float way.

  “Mommy’s going to watch our stuff, baby. Don’t worry,” Tiani reassures him.

  I don’t waste anymore time. I push Tiani away. She relaxes her body and leans back as I brace her beneath the back and legs until she’s level in the water.

  “Just breathe, lehti. I will be back. Whatever happens, just breathe.”

  “Let’s have some babies.”

  I blink. “Lehti?”

  “If I make it, let’s have some babies. I love you. Let’s just do it all.”

  I try to smile, but the pain in my chest is too great. “Once I come for you and get you to safety, I will give you as many babies as you want.”

  “Okay. I’m gonna think about our babies. That will keep me calm.”

  I hold her until the water carries her weight, and then I let her go. She drifts a little. Her eyes are closed. Her chest rises and falls above the water.

  “You are doing well, Tiani. I will be back before you know it.”

  I lift KJ from my shoulders and bring him around to my front.

  “I’m going to hold you in front of me, dahni. Kick your legs as long as you can.”

  KJ’s chin wobbles. The water is colder than expected. The sun has started to set, and without her clothes, Tiani is in even greater danger of being affected by the elements.

  “What about mommy?”

  I look back. Tiani is still floating a few feet away. I meet KJ’s worried gaze and chuck him beneath the chin.

  “Your amha will be fine. I am coming right back for her.”

  “We’re gonna come back for you mommy!” he shouts across the water.

  “I know, baby.” Tiani’s voice is calm, but I know this will not last for long.

  I push us off. KJ’s little legs kick out beside me. Our process is not as fast as Lyqa speed, but it is quick. The sea willow gets closer. KJ’s breath puffs out beside me.

  “We are almost there, dahni.”

  We’ve been swimming for nearly ten minutes when I reach out and grab the base of the sea willow. My arms shake as I lift KJ onto the first step above water.

  “Run to the top, my dahni, and do not come back down. Not at all. Even if we take a long time to return. If we are not here by nighttime, use the blanket in your pack to stay warm and then tap your band and say, ‘call Uncle Ah’dan,’ okay?”

  He stares down at me, shivering on the step.

  “Tell me what I have said.”

  “Don’t leave. Use my blanket if I get cold, and in the night time, if you and mommy aren’t here, call Uncle Ah’dan.”

  “Good. You are such a smart, special boy, KJ. Your apha loves you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I only stay long enough to see him turn and run up the side of the sea willow before I start swimming away. My arms burn with the effort to push myself through the thick water, but I persist. I gather every bit of strength I have, willing my first heart to do what it is made for, and I head back in the direction I have left my lehti.

  After a while, I know I have been swimming for too long. A low fog has settled over the water, obstructing my view somewhat, but I know I have not gone the wrong way. I paid attention to every shift in direction. I am grateful in this way for my Lyqa senses, and I am more scared than ever because I should have come upon her already. I stop and tread water, turning around in a circle.

  “Tiani?” I keep my voice even out of fear that I may startle her out of her float. Silence surrounds me. The only sound is the gentle lap of the sea.

  “Lehti!” I cannot stop the panic that fills me. I push off again, swimming for a few seconds. Perhaps she has drifted further than I anticipated. “Tiani?”

  Again I am met with nothing but silence. A few feet away, something floats. I hurry toward it, but my relief is dashed when I see that it is just my pack. I was not incorrect. This is where I left her. Except, she is not here.

  And then I feel it. A tug in my chest. The feeling of constraint. My heart thumps an off kilter rhythm, like it’s trying to beat as some outside force attempts to stop it. The moment I feel it, I know she has gone under and is somewhere out here dying.

  TIANI

  I dropped my damn butt.

  I was doing really well before the fog showed up. I could feel myself drifting with the slow rock of the water, but I tried to stay calm. I told myself that even if I floated a bit away, Bati would find me. Then something brushed my leg, and I panicked, thinking it was a giant fish or worse, and dropped my butt.

  I flail around in the water, trying my best to do cupcake hands, but only managing to tire myself out and swallow water. Too soon, the last of my energy drains and I start to sink.

  .

  .

  .

  “He is looking for you, little one.”

  Sol’s voice has that same robotic quality in my head. I’m moving slowly through the water. I tried to hold my breath for as long as I could, but my chest started to burn and it was like my mouth opened on its own. Air has been leaking slowly from between my lips, and with each breath I release, I sink a little more.

  It’s so quiet. I feel like I’ve been sinking forever. I know I’m not dead yet, but I can sense it creeping at the corners of my mind. All I can think about is KJ and Bati and my mother. Amina’s face flashes through my mind. That stupid little dance she did when I said I would come to Lyqa. I should be pissed about agreeing, but I can’t be. Because Bati. And Bati.

  “He is looking for you.”

  “I know, Sol. Tell him to go back.”

  I bit more air escapes my mouth and I drop a little lower. My heart thumps heavily in my chest. Every beat takes so long to happen that I wonder I’m still alive.

  Again, I think of KJ and Bati and my mother. I think of Kwarq’s big toothy smile. Ah’dan’s easy grin. I think of LaShay. So weird. So sincere. She really is a good aunt.

  “Who is that woman?” Sol’s voice is sharp in my head. It sounds—different.

  “Shay.”

  “Who is Sheh?” I inside laugh at his pronunciation.

  “My sister.”

  “Where is she?”

  “On Lyqa. Did you tell him to go back?”

&n
bsp; “I will not go back. Where are you, my lehti?”

  Bati’s voice cuts in and my heart thumps.

  “I don’t know. I went down.”

  “I am looking for you.”

  “I love you, Bati. Go back.”

  “I love you, too, my lehti. Do you have any breath?”

  “A little.”

  “Then call me. Nice and loud, so I can hear you.”

  I feel for the small hint of breath that’s left in me. It’s just a whisper, so slight that I can’t really get ahold of it, but I do. I hold it and gather it, and then I open my mouth and I scream.

  Chapter 17

  BATI

  Tiani begins to cough and spit up the dark sea water the moment we break the surface. My ears are still ringing. Her piercing scream sounded out so loudly in the water that I had no trouble locating her. Although, I’d gotten to her just in time. The delay between the beat of our hearts had become too long. Any longer and I would have lost her, but this is not something I will allow myself to think of.

  “I have you. You are okay, my lehti.”

  “I dropped my damn butt.”

  I chuckle despite the intense terror that gripped me a moment ago and paddle us over to Sol’s hovering craft.

  “You did very well, my lehti. You had not been under for long, and I would never have let you drown.”

  Sol opens the panel as we approach, and KJ’s head springs out from the interior.

  “Mommy!”

  Tiani reaches for Sol who hauls her out of the water and into the craft with little effort. Immediately, she pulls our dahni against her, sobbing over him. I pull myself up beside them, sliding the craft door closed. My body is tired, but it does not stop me from pulling both my lehti and dahni onto my lap. I only want to have them close. KJ holds tight to his mother, and she smoothes her hand over his back in comfort.

  “I’m sorry I scared you, baby.”

  “I wasn’t scared, mommy. I knew apha would find you. He swimmed so fast!”

  Tiani reaches a hand up to cradle my face, and when I look down, her eyes shine with fresh tears.

  “Swam, baby. He swam so fast.”

  “Does that feel good?”

  I groan as Tiani kneads her hands into the muscles of my back. My body aches from my efforts on Qiton.

  We have only been home for a short while. The entire family was anxious to hear the dramatic events of our trip, especially when KJ began relaying details the moment we stepped in the house, but I’d managed to carry my lehti to our apartments where I can have her to myself. I need time to stare at her, to assure myself she is well. Although, she has been taking care of me since when got to our room.

  “Oh, my lehti. This is the best thing I have ever felt in my life. What is it called?”

  She chuckles. “A massage.”

  “And this is done as a service to partners?”

  “It can be, but it is also something that you can pay someone to do for you.”

  I flip over Lyqa fast and pull her over my hips to straddle me.

  “Do not pay anyone to do this service for you. I will do it for free,” I tell her.

  She resumes her movements over my aching pecs.

  “So that shot I got. It’s just going to cancel out my birth control?” She leans down to press a soft kiss to my chest and my cock stiffens.

  “It will return you to a fertile state, yes.” I brought her to a healing center the moment we returned to Lyqa. While there, she inquired about reversing her conception prevention, and was given a shot to neutralize the hormones she has been taking.

  “Good,” she murmurs as she leans down to press a kiss to my lips. When she straightens above me again, I take the time to look at her. My eyes roam over her beautiful brown face. The sharp curves of her cheekbones. The full, lushness of her lips. I am grateful every second that she is with me and loves me and knows that I love her.

  “You got an eyesight problem?”

  As she speaks, she rises up and reaches between us to release my cock from my sleeping shorts. She nudges aside her undergarments and lowers herself onto me. A harsh groan rumbles in my chest as her tight, warmth settles over me.

  “Ah, my lehti. If this means that I can think of no greater sight than that of my lehti, my heart, and my love. Then yes, I am afflicted with such an ailment.”

  TIANI

  “Oh my god, this is horrible!”

  I lean back over the toilet and heave again. I don’t know how it’s possible that I’m still puking. There’s nothing left in my stomach, even though it feels really tight and full. Like I drank a gallon of water.

  “It is the conception sickness, lehti. It will pass.”

  Bati strokes my back, but that doesn’t stop me from lifting my head to glare at him.

  “You did not tell me this was going to happen.” I barely get the words out before my stomach jerks again, and I have to turn back to the toilet. This is so gross. I didn’t have one day of morning sickness with KJ. Not one.

  Bati chuckles, and I could punch him.

  “Would it have stopped you from climbing on top of me if I had?”

  I shoot him another look and it only makes him chuckle again.

  “Do not be upset with me lehti. I have only done what you asked and given you babies.”

  My head jerks up again. “Babies?”

  He shrugs. “It is likely. Twins of my kind will almost always produce twins. It was this way with my brother and your sister.”

  I roll my eyes and stick my head back into the toilet. The next two months cant be over quick enough.

  “Aw!” I want to cry, and I don’t even know why. I’m going to assume it’s the Lyqa hormones. I know what Amina meant now. The urge to weep is like a thing crawling through me.

  I bend over the bed where Amina cradles her son and daughter. They peer up at her, wiggling in their swaddles. Amina murmurs softly to them, and they settle.

  Their little faces come into view.

  I blink.

  I look at Bati who’s smiling down at his nephew and niece. No one else seems alarmed by the fact that Amina’s kids look nothing like either her or Kwarq.

  I turn my back to Amina and nudge Bati in the side. He grunts when my elbow connects sharply with his ribs.

  “So we’re all just gonna pretend her kids don’t look just like you? You got something you want to tell me, dude?” I know it’s stupid, but I’m like for real mad.

  Behind me, Amina cackles loudly, startling the babies and making them fuss. Kwarq lifts his daughter from her arms. LaShay takes our nephew and rocks away with him, cooing and pressing kisses to his round, little blue-black face. KJ follows, straining his neck to get a glimpse of the baby.

  “Oh, you didn’t know? Me and Bati totally got it on when I was here before. It’s a Lyqa thing.” Amina shakes her head at me and gives an exaggerated eye roll. “Jesus, Tee. No one did your man, girl. Apparently, Lyqa genes are like the lottery. Who knows what your kids are going to look like.”

  I turn to Bati to find him looking at me with an amused expression.

  “You know I had not joined with anyone when I met you,” he says without an ounce of shame. Amina sucks her teeth and I turn to find her giving Kwarq the side eye.

  “Mm, how come you weren’t a virgin when I met you?”

  Kwarq spares my sister the barest glance before discretely rolling his eyes to the side.

  “You are the only woman of my heart. Do not worry about what came before you. You are all that is.”

  Damn. I raise an impressed eyebrow at Amina and her mouth curves into a wide smile.

  “I better be.”

  “You are.”

  I turn to Bati.

  “Ahem.”

  He stares blankly at me. “What would you have me say that I have not already?”

  “I don’t know. Some mushy shit like that.” I turn away, inexplicably salty. It rushes over me. These Lyqa hormones are no joke.

  A second after
my back is turned, Amina gasps. Her hand comes up to cover her mouth, and tears immediately fill her eyes.

  “What—” I turn. Bati is on his knee. He holds a small open box between us. Inside, on a pillow of fabric, is a silver ring with a large, bright blue diamond in the middle. At least I think it’s a diamond. It doesn’t look like any stone I’ve ever seen, but it catches the light and reflects every color of the rainbow. It reminds me of the sky the first night we came to Lyqa.

  Bati smiles up at me, and there is no denying the love shining in his own bright blue eyes.

  “Is ‘Marry me’ sufficiently mushy shit?”

  I burst into tears, throwing myself at him so we fall back to the floor as I press kisses all over his face. From somewhere in the quiet of the room, KJ’s little voice sounds out.

  “Ooo, apha, you cursed.”

  Sol

  Her face is round and smiling. It is a strange smile. Mischievous, yet innocent. It only flashes briefly in the montage of images that float through the drowning woman’s mind.

  “Who is that woman?” I speak the words gently, as much to keep her calm as to learn more.

  “Shay.”

  “Who is Sheh?”

  “My sister.”

  This beautiful woman is kin to Tee. The urge to dive into the water, to get closer to the mind that knows the most beautiful face I have ever seen, is almost unbearable. It is an urgency that is unfamiliar to me, but nonetheless persistent.

  The only thing that stops me is the youngling at my side. His anxiety is a bright blue aura around him. The drowning woman is his mother. His thoughts tell me that he loves her and wishes to see both her and his father return safely.

  “Do not fret, youngling. Your father has reached your mother. They are safe.”

  A moment later, the Lyqa emerges from the water with Tee. She clings to him, and again I am struck by the way they interact. Somii are not a people of affection. To touch another so often and with such comfort is…strange.

  “Thank you, friend, for helping me save my lehti. I am forever in your debt.”