Chapter 24

Hunter

Elaine, my step-mom led us to the table where the rest of my family had gathered. Ryan, Hannah, Dad,
Aunt Paige who was dad’s younger sister, her annoying bratty six year old son Elliot and I did a double
take when I saw Will, my cousin seated beside Hannah. His father, my uncle who worked as a cop
wasn’t at the table so that meant dad and him were still cross, so as not to turn down the lunch invite
he’d sent Will on his own. And I was glad he’d come alone for the lunch gathering.

I leaned into Blue’s ear and whispered, “I’m going to sit beside you at the table. My family will probably
ask you some questions. I’ll tap your knee under the table if you say something that you shouldn’t,
okay?”

I noticed how Elaine was watching us with utter adoration, thinking I was having some private moment
with my girlfriend. The reality, I was asking my mermaid girl not to reveal her identity.

When we approached the wide picnic table, Ryan and Hannah took turns to greet and hug Blue. When
Blue said hello to Will, he just shrugged. I wondered if he was just acting shy, having not met someone
like her and Elliot as usual had decided to make Blue his best friend. Leslie had taken a piss on the
butler’s leg who had been standing by the table with a serving tray.

“You’re so pretty, like the doll I saw the other day in the store, right Mom?” Elliot complimented Blue.
“They have mermaid Barbies with Blue hair.”

Aunt Paige nodded her head. “She sure does.”

Blue laughed, her cheeks were growing warm. “Thanks, Elliot. I think you look really cute too. I had
never met a boy your size before, I’m glad I did now.”



Elliot’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. He was probably trying to decipher the meaning of ‘boy
his size’. I totally sympathized with him. Blue said outrageous things most of the time; I’d gotten used to
it enough not notice it.

“A boy my size?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Blue said and brought a hand close to her waist indicating his height. “A short little boy. I’ve
only ever been acquainted with taller ones.”

“But, but…mom says I’ll grow taller when I grow older.” Elliot insisted. “Maybe even taller than Hunter.”

You need to get in the line, kid.

Blue laughed her sweet laughter musical to my ears. “I hope I live on land long enough to see you all
grown up and I—”

I placed my hand over Blue’s thigh and tapped it once lightly. She realized her mistake and stopped
talking. Ryan looked at us from the corner of his eye from the barbeque station.

“I brought my UNO cards, Blue we should play later.”

“Elliot, honey, Blue is Hunter’s girlfriend. She’s not from your school nor is she of your age. Don’t
harass her.” Aunt Paige said politely from the opposite side of the table.

Blue waved her hand. “It’s quite alright. I have never played these UNO cards; I’d love for Elliot to teach
me this game.”

“Really?” Elliot’s huge brown eyes became even wider. “Awesome.”

He’d began sliding more towards Blue’s side. Elliot stuffed his mouth with a hamburger that looked
bigger than his size. The mustard and ketchup had dripped over the boy’s t-shirt front and chin. “Can I



ask you a riddle?”

“A riddle? Sure.” Blue said.

Hannah over there seemed to be at complete bliss to have our little cousin’s target shifted from her to
Blue. Hannah wasn’t very good at kids, Blue seemed to be handling it too well.

“What did the doctor ask the banana?” Elliot asked with a mouthful of bread.

“Let me think…” Blue said. My mermaid was thinking hard, “The doctor asked if he could eat the
banana?”

Elliot laughed. “No, dummy.”

“Elliot!” Aunt Paige warned her son.

“Sorry.” Elliot apologized. “Okay, pass?”

“Pass.” Blue said.

“The doctor asked the banana if he was peeling better.” Elliot said and laughed slapping Blue a high-
five. “You get it? Peeling.”

Blue was laughing so much; she had tears in the corner of her eyes. “That was hilarious.”

Yes, hilarious for an age from six to twelve. I snorted because the laugher was infectious.

“I have one, too.” Blue joined. “What did the ocean say to the other ocean?”

Elliot took a few guesses; he wasn’t the type to give up. He then said, “Pass.”

“They just waved.” Blue answered.



And the two began laughing.

At this point I’d become a third wheel. Blue could have easily forgotten about me. Elaine and Dad were
looking at her with an interesting look on their faces. They were amused.

Blue wanted the sandwiches from the bowl; she picked up two with both her hands and placed them on
her plate. She then proceeded to eat barbecue chicken piece with her hands, barely having touched
the fork or the spoon. Elliot was eating the same way, but no one paid attention to the kid of course.
They were more enthralled by the gorgeous aqua haired girl with a lack of table manners.

I picked up towel and swiped the corner of her lips that was smeared with barbecue sauce. She smiled
at me. “Thanks, Hunter.”

“You know what I really wanted to do right now.” I whispered into her ear. “Lick that sauce off your lips.”

“Ew, gross I heard that.” That was Elliot.

Blue dipped her fingers into the barbecue sauce and smeared it over her lips, and looked at me, giving
me a chance to do what I’d promised. The entire table’s eyes had turned towards us. Even the servers
had stopped working.

I wiped her lips with the towel again. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Not right now. Maybe later in private.”

“Okay.” She said.

“So what do you do Blue apart from doing distance education?” Dad asked her as he sliced his steak.

I’d told Hannah to lie to my parents about Blue’s education. A person without an education was looked
down upon by my father, and I didn’t want to give him any reason to ask Blue something that could hurt
her feelings. Blue didn’t need an education, as far as what I’d seen she could take a book into her hand
and absorb all those words in. She could become a doctor, lawyer, heck even an astronaut or a



scientist if she wanted. It was kind of dangerous but the mermaid had powers to do anything she
wished.

“I work at Lucifer’s Den as a waitress.” She said. I liked how she kept her words to a minimum.

Dad nodded, “You have something in common with Hunter there.”

I tried to ignore the obvious taunt at me by shoveling my mouth with a mini-pizza.

The irony was I was seated exactly opposite my father and we hadn’t exchanged a word since I’d
arrived at the table, and he was going to keep addressing me in third person. What did ones father
expect to hear from his son that he’d thrown out of the house? Hey, Pops, how’s it going? I think not.

“Hannah’s been telling us that you make delicious desserts. She says she loves the brownies you
made last time.” Elaine stepped in to save the day.

I froze. Blue never made any desserts for me.

Blue shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I have a sweet tooth. I think I enjoy making cakes and pastries more
than anything. You should come to our apartment next time, and I’ll bake them for you. I can even cook
dinner, Hunter will help me.”

Elaine smiled politely. “I would love to.”

“Mrs. Brantley, I noticed how Hannah looks like you. I always thought it funny how some children are
complete copies of their parents. I love your blonde hair, it’s so shinny. You’re so beautiful.” Blue
complimented with all her heart.

She wasn’t doing this to impress my parents or just to suck up to my step-mom, she was saying it with
genuine honesty and I couldn’t have loved her more for that.



Elaine smiled; she was going to become giddy with all those compliments. “Why, thank you, darling.
Everyone seems to say the same thing.” She laughed. “And please call me Elaine.”

“Elaine, all your children are so nice.” Blue said. “Also, Mr. Brantley, I was so surprised to see that
Hunter looks exactly like you. I always wondered if he got his good looks from his father, now I know.
It’s so wonderful, the creations of god, of this world.”

Dad stared at her, his expressions not giving away anything. “Uh…thanks.” He was blushing, definitely.

“I wonder…” Blue went on as she looked at me shyly. “I wonder if I had a son and if he would look like
Hunter too, or a daughter who looked like me.”

I was just having a sip of my wine, I spurted and coughed loudly.

“Your parents, Blue?” Dad asked. “Are they alright with you living with Hunter?”

Blue’s expressions turned sad. Whenever I talked about her family, her expressions turned gloomy.
She smiled nevertheless; I captured her hand in mine under the table.

“No. I don’t think he’s happy.” She said truthfully. “But it doesn’t matter what my father thinks. He will
eventually understand. Hunter loves me, and I love Hunter.”

I was in the middle of taking another bite of the pizza when I stopped; the pizza handed back on the
plate. I thought my ears were ringing. The wind had stopped blowing, birds stopped chirruping, babies
stopped wailing, and my heart had probably stopped beating at this point.

She said she loved me.

Blue was saying that she fucking loved me.



I reached out for the entire glass of wine and downed it. I turned to my parents. “Can Blue and I excuse
for a moment?”

I was up and around the table before they could even answer, I grabbed Blue’s hand and pulled her
away from the picnic table and towards a secluded spot by the large cupid fountain. My hands were
shaking with what she’d just confessed to in front of the table and I needed to confirm what she’d
meant.

The sound of the water from the fountain was balm to my racing nerves. I placed my hands on her
waist. “What you said back there, is it true?”

“The fact that my father won’t be happy with us living together? Yes, it’s true.” She said.

“No, what you said after that. You said Hunter loves me, what came after that sentence?” I asked
eagerly.

“I said that I love you.” She confessed, again.

My mouth probably tasted of wine but I didn’t care as I pulled her body possessively against mine and
drove my tongue deeper into her mouth. She moaned. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe this. Blue
admitted that she loved me. At this point, nothing else mattered to me. She had to literally stand on her
tiptoes to reach my height. I grabbed her waist and pulled her up easily, so she could have an easy
access to my mouth. Her fingers roamed in my hair freely.

She tasted of the barbecue sauce...hmmm...I loved it.

I came up for air and looked at her. Her gaze, it was heated, and so different, like she was looking into
my soul. “Hunter, the silver in your eyes are looking like gems in the sun and your hair…” she said
softly, running her fingers in my hair again. “You’re so handsome.”



“Is it really true? Do you love me?” I asked again, still having a hard time believing that this was
happening.

She nodded vigorously. “I really do love you, Hunter. It’s something I discovered recently, but I think I’ve
been in love with you for a long time, I just didn’t know what to call these feelings.”

I held her close, and I was going to tear up from the happiness that I was feeling. Nothing was going to
mess this up. I traced her cheek with the back of my fingers. “We have a lot to discuss, but we can’t
right now. We will talk when we get home. Okay?”

“Yes.” She agreed.

I kissed her once again. Mine.

“It's getting hot in here! Jeez, you guys need to get a room.” Hannah bellowed from the other side of
the fountain, balancing three platefuls of food and making her way towards the little lake house. Will
was right behind her.

“Get outta here.” I said laughing.

I hugged Blue and stayed like that for a while. The both of us were wrapped in each other’s arms, my
nose buried in her blue hair. When I pulled away, Blue appeared to be crestfallen again.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m so happy.”

Something wasn’t right, but Blue wasn’t going to tell me and I realized I didn’t want to force her to say
anything now. I knew she’d open up eventually.



“You can’t even imagine how lucky I feel right now. It’s like…I was walking alone all this way, finding a
purpose in life, a will to live and hold onto something and then you walked in, Blue, and changed
everything for the better.” I held her hands in mine and kissed them. “You’ve made me happy by just
being you, by existing.”

“I’m going to cry. You’re not the lucky one, I am.” She said wiping the corners of her eyes. “There are
some things, Hunter, that I haven’t told you.” she turned her azure eyes towards me, watching,
wondering if I’d change my mind if I learned the truth.

“It doesn’t matter what it is. You’re here with me, and you love me, and I don’t think I could ask for
more.”

“You’ve bared your soul, told me everything and I kept some things hidden, and I think it’s too late even
if I decide to tell you right now. I don’t want to keep you in the dark.” She said.

“I don’t want to know, whatever that it is.” I said. “For now, let’s just enjoy this moment with each other.
We can talk about this later. I swear to you, nothing you say is going to matter to me.”

What dark secrets could the mermaid have? Certainty, they weren’t going to be worse than mine. It
was only until a few days later that I realized how wrong I was to assume that things would be easier
from here on.

Everything was going to change.

“You can’t even imagine how lucky | feel right now. It’s like...| was walking alone all this way, finding a
purpose in life, a will to live and hold onto something and then you walked in, Blue, and changed
everything for the better.” | held her hands in mine and kissed them. “You've made me happy by just
being you, by existing.”

“I’m going to cry. You're not the lucky one, | am.” She said wiping the corners of her eyes. “There are
some things, Hunter, that | haven't told you.” she turned her azure eyes towards me, watching,
wondering if I'd change my mind if | learned the truth.

“It doesn’t matter what it is. You’re here with me, and you love me, and | don't think | could ask for

more.”

“You've bared your soul, told me everything and | kept some things hidden, and | think it’s too late even
if | decide to tell you right now. | don’t want to keep you in the dark.” She said.

“| don’t want to know, whatever that it is.” | said. “For now, let’s just enjoy this moment with each other.
We can talk about this later. | swear to you, nothing you say is going to matter to me.”

What dark secrets could the mermaid have? Certainty, they weren't going to be worse than mine. It
was only until a few days later that | realized how wrong | was to assume that things would be easier
from here on.

Everything was going to change.



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