"Got an earth Shade picked out yet?" I asked her as I stepped through a part of the wall smoothly. I kept a wary eye out for that fire Shade.
"Don't worry, we've got her blocked." Arianna gestured to the same island in the middle of the cave lake, where four Shades surrounded her; keeping her paralyzed by a strong weave.
"What if one of them needs a break?"
Arianna forced her human face out of her gaseous cloud to roll her eyes at me. "We don't take breaks. We are Shades. We don't sleep, we don't pee, and we don't eat tomatoes."
I immediately checked my chin for tomato dribble before I realized I wasn't exactly in human form down here either.
"You look fine, Kaitlyn. Spittle and all."
I laughed.
"Come on, I did find an earth for you, but this one wants to do an exchange."
"Sorry, can't right now – I only have a little bit of time… But at least let me meet her. Maybe she can give me something."
Arianna led me down the staircase, introducing me to a form sitting at the bottom. “Here she is."
"English?"
"No, Chinese."
I looked at Arianna. "We’re going to have some serious communication issues. Maybe we should focus on English speakers only."
Arianna moved closer to me, nudging my shoulder, "Oh, Kaitlyn. We all speak the same language. The language of magic."
I tried to push Arianna away but my semi-solid arm went right through her translucent body. I huffed in frustration and sat down next to my non-English speaking earth Shade.
Arianna sat next to me.
"You gonna stick around this time?"
"Thought it would be safer. Besides, you need a translator."
"You speak Chinese?"
She shook her head. "No. Magic."
I looked at the Chinese Shade. She wavered, then took shape. Showing what was once their human form seemed to be a sign of respect, or maybe at least a sign of introduction. She was very beautiful. Large brown eyes and smooth olive skin. Her shiny black hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Two apparatuses that reminded me of chopsticks ran straight through her bun. I refrained from making a joke about the Chinese food the cave had to offer.
She wore a traditional Chinese dress. Bright red flowers on a yellow background circled the fabric. Raising her dainty hands, she began a series of motions. Dust and dirt that littered the cave walls and floors flew to her. She gathered them up until a large mound of earth materialized in front of us, shaped like a tiny mountain. The mountain moved, slowly sending waves of itself back and forth.
"The earth element is the most dependable.” Arianna watched with me. “Steady and practical. Earth magic operates at a slower rate, but it is more likely to persist and endure."
Next, the Chinese Shade took out the two sticks holding her bun together. Her hair flowed down to her waist in a beautiful black straight line. With her sticks, she began drawing designs into the dirt pile. Her weaves and designs were easy to follow and commit to memory. Arianna was right, it was slow going but some of the steadiest weaves I had ever seen. Once done, she laid down her sticks and pushed her arms forward. She never touched the dirt pile but the symbols sank until they disappeared.
"Tracing signs or patterns in the earth can make spells more effective. The same can be done by burying symbolic items in the ground."
Suddenly, the pile of dirt burst outward, spraying the entire cave with its contents, effectively returning each grain back where it had come from.
When Arianna and I emerged from cowering below our raised arms, the Chinese Shade had her hair back up in a neat bun, chopsticks in place, without a speck of dirt on her.
I brushed the dust and grime off of me. "Thanks for the demonstration. It was helpful. I'll return again tomorrow and I can loan you some time with my body."
She immediately shook her head.
"Why not?"
She spoke again in her soft voice, then laid one hand on my belly.
Arianna leaned forward, whispering in my ear, "The earth element above all values fertility and the cycle of life. Giving back to the earth what once was taken, and celebrating new life."
The Chinese Shade smiled.
I smiled back. "Thank you."
She bowed, then gracefully returned to her gaseous form.
Chapter 27
Reunion
My stomach was the topic of the day. Once the doctor, Alex, and I had made it to the airport in Jakarta, I was drawing all sorts of attention. I was a white, unveiled woman in a Muslim country being escorted by two men. I was almost eight months pregnant, and I was in a bad enough mood to enter a staring contest with anyone who dared look my way. Which was pretty much everyone.
"Baby in there?" the attendant had the nerve to ask as we handed him our passports and tickets to board the plane.
"No. I'm smuggling a basketball."
Temporary confusion lit his face.
I didn't back down for a moment, "You know, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, dunk, swish, layup?"
"I sorry, I no understand."
"Ah. Not as good with the English language as we thought we were, I see."
Alex pushed me aside, trying to appease the upset attendant. I didn't care if we never got on that plane. I hated to admit it, but I was nervous to see Micah.
I turned to look at the plane that would carry me straight to Madagascar, and to him. Maybe I could create some unfortunate weather. My protruding stomach brushed against the doctor's arm. He gave me a dirty look.
Target acquired, and…fire.
"You know, you don't seem especially sympathetic toward pregnant women."
He rubbed at his temples. "Truth be told, I perform far more abortions than I do deliveries."
My shock nearly snapped me out of my bad mood. "What?"
He spared a glance at Alex, who was now challenging what was and wasn’t airline policy regarding third trimester women. He looked back at me. "Many find what you do to be a difficult life. They either can't be bothered with a baby, don't want to risk watching the Seven dispatch of their child, or wholly believe they are making an ultimate sacrifice to control population numbers."
"You mean like ‘one less’?" I tested him. I don't know why it had never occurred to me that he could be another one of Shawn's implants until now.
He rubbed his temples again. "Huh? Listen, I don't encourage them one way or another; I just do what I'm asked. I don't get paid enough for it anyway."
I nodded. "Thus the poker habit."
"Hmph," was his only response.
"How many children have you delivered, exactly?"
He crossed his arms, defending his professional competency. "Enough."
"How. Many." I crossed my arms right back.
He considered me for a moment, probably wondering if he should tell me the truth. He really didn't know the extent of my magical powers; never bothered to ask. He was, in fact, as uninterested in me as a person could get – disturbingly so.
Finally, he gave in. He dropped his arms and his shoulders sagged. It wasn't even worth the fight to him. "Two. One baby died, the other survived. But the mother didn't."
I scoffed. "Wow. Just wow."
"I miss Vegas. Damn these Muslim countries!" With that, he turned his back, obviously done with the conversation.
Alex, having won the argument with the airline, picked up my carry-on bag. "Come on, guys! Thanks to Buddha belly here we all got first class seats."
The doctor blew past Alex, bumping shoulders with him as he passed. "Get me out of here. And I will most likely not be returning." His loud statement echoed down the long hallway to the plane.
Alex narrowed his eyes at me. "What did you say to him?"
"Don't look at me; he's the one with the gambling problem."
We followed the doctor down the hall toward the plane, still ranting about the country. I silently wondered if he had already started a gambling pool on my delivery date. Then cursed, because if he had, he might v
ery well be inclined to cheat.
* * *
Our connecting flight from Madagascar to Reunion almost left without us. I hardly had the chance to see the airport. People, bags, and cultural trinkets on display whizzed by in our rush to catch the next flight. The airport in Reunion didn’t make up for it. It could hardly be called an airport at all. The landing strip wasn't even paved. The bumpy landing prompted an emergency run to the bathroom. Where a flight attendant on a proper flight might have forced me down, here I only had chickens and toddlers lining the aisle to contend with. By the time I emerged, everyone had debarked, leaving behind several feathers and the God-awful stench of – I turned right back around into the bathroom.
Things were quiet when I came out a second time, and Alex and the doctor both looked more than mildly annoyed. I was getting used to that. I stumbled my way to the front of plane, my stomach knocking against chairs in the narrow aisle.
Stepping into the humid air, I spotted Micah and Susan immediately. They looked beautiful. They were tan and fit, with matching green eyes that almost took my breath away even from a distance. I was the antithesis; large and frumpy, with disheveled hair – and to top it all off, my shirt smelled of vomit. We made our way down the steep stairs, the doctor in front of me, holding one of my hands and bracing the whole way down to catch me should I fall. Now he cared. Quite the attitude change when his boss was present. Alex was behind me, keeping a tight grip on the back of my shirt.
The attendants were unloading luggage from underneath the plane. I spotted my large, black duffel bag and silently willed them to be careful with it. My life literally depended on that bag.
Micah walked forward as we came down the last few steps, and I felt the sudden urge to run. He couldn't see me like this; why would he want anyone that looked like this? Especially when he was so used to seeing beautiful women like Susan. Not that she was competition, of course, but she probably, almost certainly, raised his expectations.
Inevitably, Alex's grip on the back of my shirt tightened. He couldn't read my thoughts, but he absolutely knew me well enough by now to know given the choice I'd run away. Bastard.
As soon as our feet hit the ground, the doctor began talking, "Well, Micah, I've kept her in good health for—"
Micah shoved past him, taking me into his arms right then and there, planting a long, slow kiss on my lips, making good use of both of our tongues. Sparks zipped through my already overheated body, but I didn't mind. Every part of me needed this. The doctors 'ahems' barely even registered.
Eventually his mouth moved from my lips to my forehead, and he planted kisses there while squeezing me tightly. As soon as he stopped kissing, Susan pushed him out of the way and one hug was replaced by another.
Hers was quick. She stepped away. "You smell like throw up."
"Thanks for noticing."
She looked me over critically. "And you've been making your own clothes."
I looked down at the sorry threads that barely held my outfit together.
Micah came to my defense. "She looks beautiful."
I blushed. He wasn't looking at my clothes.
"It doesn't matter." She stepped forward again and put her hand on my stomach. Susan pulled back sharply, and glared at the doctor. "Are you aware her amniotic fluid is low?"
He immediately crossed his arms and glowered at her. "Of course, I've been monitoring it. It is not low enough yet to warrant any type of intervention, we just need keep checking it," he huffed.
It was the first I had heard about it. I turned to Micah. "We need to have a serious talk about your hiring practices."
The doctor’s disgruntled look turned shell-shocked. "Well, I never...you don't have any right..."
I raised my eyebrow, daring him to challenge me. With the information he shared in Indonesia, he had no leg to stand on.
He puffed out his chest and pulled his shoulders back. "You know what? I don't have to take this. I quit."
He turned on his heel, walked over the pile of luggage, grabbed his two large bags and wheeled them toward the airport. Micah and Alex started after him, but I grabbed both their arms. "No. We don’t need him. He is not good enough for me or the baby."
Susan piped up, "She's right. I never did trust him. We can find someone else."
"And if we can't?" Micah asked.
"Then we can handle it ourselves." Susan squared her shoulders with his, pulling herself up to her full height.
I joined her. This was not up for negotiation.
Micah turned, watching the doctor enter the airport. "Goddamn it." He scratched his head in agitation, then glared at me. "Two minutes, Kaitlyn. Two minutes. After months apart, I finally see you, and in the first two minutes you have all my plans turned upside down." He sighed, rubbing his chin in thought. "I love you."
My eyes widened. Bracing for another fight, I hadn’t expected that. Before I had a chance to respond, he was down on one knee, producing a small box. "Will you marry me?"
Susan hissed at her brother, "Not here, you dolt! On the tarmac of an airport? Could you be any less romantic?"
He didn't flinch at her insults. He looked at me intensely, waiting for an answer.
I stammered, "It hasn't been a year and day."
"I don’t care. I know what I want." He rose, removed the ring from the box, and placed it on my left ring finger. "Don't you?"
I nodded, not bothering to hold back the tears. The bathroom truck was emptying contents from the plane. The air reeked of gas as the fuel truck operator made a sloppy time of his work. The noise from a jet taking off caused us to cover our ears. Susan was wrong, I couldn't possibly think of a more romantic place.
Alex and Susan gathered up our luggage, and Micah took my arm as we walked toward the airport to get a cab. I looked up at him, forcing a smile. Truth was, I did know what I wanted.
Chapter 28
The Competition
Reunion is a small island in the Indian Ocean that sits to the east of Madagascar. The territory is an overseas region of France, but settled by Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Indians, giving the island an ethnic mix that would rival the United Nations. Reunion holds the record for the most rainfall in a 24-hour period ever recorded on Earth.
Today was sunny and bright. The only evidence of heavy rainfall was the lush tropical life all around the island. It wasn't an overly-touristy, mega-resort kind of place. Instead, it was one of the most diverse areas I had ever seen. A rugged interior, full of majestic mountains gave way to the dozens of miles of warm, sandy beaches.
We drove past a group of young, muscular men toting their surfboards and coolers to the beach. Teenage girls wearing less-than-string bikinis followed closely after.
"Um, I don't think I'll be going anywhere near the beaches." I looked longingly at the locals, soaking up the sun with every inch of skin. My skin at the moment was full of stretch marks and in no condition for a swimsuit.
I looked at Micah, expecting him to be enjoying the view of scantily clad women, but he was looking at me.
He put his arm around me. "And I won't be going anywhere without you."
That made me smile. But I was all too aware of how unattractive I looked. My eyes drifted back to the beaches.
He took my chin in his hand. "Don’t worry, we won't be anywhere near the beaches. I have a small cabin rented in the mountains. There’s a 30 foot waterfall visible from the back deck."
"What about everyone else?"
"They are staying on the beach, but we won’t see them much until we leave again. I've had my fill of Susan and Cato."
"What about Alex?"
"What about Alex?" he asked, looking at me suspiciously.
"He’s kind of your brother, well, adopted brother – don't you want to see him?"
"No. I don't want to chance him getting in the way of my view."
I laughed, shaking my head as he continued to look at me. "Don't worry, you would be hard pressed to find someone that could block my profile
." I stuck my stomach out further.
"I know. I can't believe how big she must be getting in there." He placed his hands on my belly, and was rewarded with a small kick.
"Oh my God, I felt her! That is so awesome!"
"Awesome?" I groaned. "She is sitting directly on top of my bladder, using my kidney as a punching bag and head-butting my ribs."
"That's my girl!" He rubbed my belly proudly.
"No taking sides! Not until you can see her face!"
Micah kissed me square on the lips again.
"What was that for?"
"I don't know." He looked just as confused as me. "I guess I'm just, so happy."
I punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow!” He rubbed at it. “What was that for?"
"Because. All it took was for us to separate for like, four months, for you to be happy."
He sighed. "Just for the record, I was miserable for those four months. And – it will not be happening again."
"You say that now – but that’s not always under your control." I leaned back in the seat, crossing my arms; that small motion was even becoming difficult to do.
The taxi turned onto an unpaved, rocky road, leading up to a row of houses. Driving through the island, there seemed to be a wide gap in income level. We had passed scores of shantytowns, full of wood shacks packed together, that would border the property of large mansions. Luckily, this row of houses was neither. They were traditional Creole houses; modest, cozy-looking, and best of all – private. A small grove of trees sat between each house, blocking one another from view. A steep, red-tiled roof sat on top of a cream-colored house. Vines grew up the stony sides. The small white porch with wicker rocking chairs leading up to the house all looked very inviting but at the same time sturdy and safe, built to withstand season after season of the relentless cyclones known to plague the area.
"It's perfect, Micah."
"Thanks. Susan didn't like it so much. Not close enough to the water for her tastes."
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