by Jillian Neal
“It’s all over, Dan. Go to Kauai. It certainly seemed to bring about healing the last time you were there.” He gestured his head to Fionna who was intently listening to Mrs. Haydenshire’s advice.
“That’s certainly my plan.”
Most of the guests left around ten. Chloe rushed to Fionna. “Let’s go out! You look hot, and Anglingtons is doing half price drinks!”
Fionna rolled her eyes, shook her head, and chuckled. “Chloe, I’m pregnant and therefore I can’t drink. My little girl has to be taken home and given a bath. I have to hold an ice pack on her sweet little head while my amazing husband casts her so that we can all move to Kauai for the entire summer tomorrow. Then she has to be put to bed. Then Dan and I have to finish packing, and then I’m going to collapse in my husband’s arms when I finally go to bed.”
“And all of those are perfect examples of why I am never getting married or having kids.” Chloe scoffed.
“Ah, music to my ears.” Garrett sauntered up in time to hear the end of their conversation.
Chloe beamed and then immediately wound her body around his.
“Oh yeah,” Dan quipped. “Change the station, man, because you have no idea what you’re missing out on.”
Home
It was nearing two in the morning when Dan finally convinced his wife to stop packing. He guided her to bed, stripped her down, and cradled her tenderly on his chest.
“Thank you for being so amazing. Thank you for always taking care of me and for figuring everything out. I love you so much.” She vowed as she nuzzled her face against his chin.
“I love you too, Fi. You’re just incredible. I honestly don’t know how I got so lucky.”
She feathered a kiss on his chest and then one on his jawline. “Well, you’re not getting lucky tonight because I’m so freaking tired.”
Dan laughed. “That’s all right, baby doll. We have all summer. I’m already working out positions for us to use when my baby girl is taking up all of your belly.”
“Are you?” She giggled.
“Definitely. I consider it part of my job as a good Dad.”
“You are an amazing Dad.” Her tone lost all sense of teasing.
She yawned deeply. Her energy was weak and draining.
“Go to sleep, sweetheart. You’re exhausted.”
She nodded and as he pushed soothing rhythms through his shield she relaxed. A minute later, she was in a deep sleep.
Dan tried to force the harrowing images from his mind. It was over. He didn’t want to keep replaying it. But Wretchkinside’s son, Fionna’s cheek, Aida’s shoulder and head, it all haunted him. He didn’t want to close his eyes. If he just stared at Fionna and felt her rhythms as she slept, she would keep the nightmares at bay.
He slipped his hand down her side and touched her growing bump. Closing his eyes, he concentrated and locked onto Halia. He pushed his calming rhythms through Fionna’s womb.
She reacted. Her energy seemed to pulse in a happy cadence.
“Hey, baby girl.” Dan spoke in a choked whisper. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, for all I’ve already put you through, but I promise you I will always keep you safe. It’s over. It’s really, really over.”
“Okay, sewing machine?” Frantic tension furrowed Fionna’s brow as she stared at her list.
“Got it.” Dan assured her.
“Fabric?”
“Was it with the machine?”
She nodded.
“Then it’s in there.”
“Aida’s new books and the pregnancy books Kara gave me?”
“Baby, it’s all in the car.”
“Okay, let’s go.” She glanced around their home nervously.
Garrett shook his head at her. He was coming to the airport with them to drive the Mercedes back to Dan and Fionna’s after they left. “I’m sure Danny boy will buy it for you if you forgot to pack it, baby.”
Dan nodded his agreement.
“We forwarded the mail?”
“Yes, baby. I took care of it.” Dan offered her his hand as Garrett drove.
She laced her fingers through his and drew soothing energy from him.
“Still amazing every single time.” He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
“Aida.” Fionna sighed contentedly as she turned to glance back at their baby girl who was reading in her pink flower seat.
“Yes ma’am?”
“You know how my name is Fionna?”
“Yes, but I get to call you Mommy, and Halia will get to call you Mommy when she learns to talk, but no one else.”
Dan and Garrett both chuckled.
“Okay.” Fionna wasn’t going to point out that she and Dan might decide to extend their family beyond their two baby girls. “Well, in Kauai, where I grew up, everyone calls me Maylea, because that’s what my Mommy called me when I was a little girl.”
“Before she went away?” Aida asked solemnly.
Fionna swallowed back emotion as Dan continued to supply her with calm. She managed a nod.
“Is my name different in Hawaii too?”
Fionna and Dan shared a grin. “No, baby, unless you’d like a Hawaiian nickname.”
“Like what?”
“How about Hanai?”
“What does that mean?” Dan asked quietly.
“My precious adopted child.”
“I like that name, but I think I like to be Aida too, maybe just a little bit more.”
“Okay, you be Aida and I’ll be Maylea, except for you and Halia.”
“Deal.”
As they were boarding the plane, Fionna’s cell phone chirped. They seated Aida beside the window. Dan helped her buckle in as Fionna read the text. Her brow knitted.
“What?” Dan pulled his iPad from his bag and handed it to Aida along with his headphones. Even on a fully staffed Senate jet, it was going to be a long flight.
“Malani says she and Kai have a surprise for us that they’re bringing to the airport.”
Dan shrugged. He couldn’t fathom what Malani might have in store for them.
“Daddy! The plane is going down like this!” Aida woke Dan up several hours later. She sounded concerned to the point of panic as she stared out at the surrounding ocean beneath them.
Rubbing his eyes, Dan yawned deeply. “We’re landing in a few minutes baby. It’s okay. The plane is supposed to do that.”
“And Mommy’s friend will be at the airport when we get there?” She was a little nervous about their extended trip.
“That’s right, and you’ll really like Malani.” Dan whispered. Fionna was still asleep on his shoulder. “Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because she reminds me a lot of Mommy.”
The plane dropped again, and Dan kissed the top of Fionna’s head as one of the coolant officers projected his voice throughout the plane. “Senate flight 39884 will be landing in LiHue International airport in approximately eight minutes. If you could please prepare your children and belongings for arrival.”
“How do you prepare me?” Aida stared up at him wide-eyed.
Laughing, Dan winked at her. “I say Aida, baby, we’re gonna land in a few minutes. Give Daddy back his iPad and put Sophie and your coloring book in your backpack.”
“Are you going to prepare Mommy too?”
Nodding, Dan kissed Fionna again. “Wake up, baby doll. We’re almost there.” He rubbed his hand along her thigh.
Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she lifted her head, took in the brilliant blue waters, and beamed.
“You’re home.” Dan husked as the plane touched down and bounced slightly on the runway.
“Only because you’re here with me.”
Dan felt his guilt over all he’d put his girls through begin to ebb slightly.
He lifted Aida onto his shoulders as they moved out into the LiHue airport.
“Maylea!” rang from nearby. Fionna giggled delightedly. Dan’s mouth dropped open and
Fionna gasped as a very pregnant Malani rushed towards them. Kai was grinning ear to ear as he followed behind her.
“What? How?” Fionna stammered.
“Well, I think you know how.” Malani teased.
“Yeah, but.” She pointed to Kai confusedly.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s mine.” He goaded as Fionna hugged Malani fiercely.
“I just couldn’t tell you when you were here a couple of months ago, not after everything that had happened. I would’ve been the worst best friend ever, so I just kind of wore really big sundresses and shirts. It wasn’t that noticeable then.” She was clearly worried that Fionna would be mad that she hadn’t shared the news. “That’s why I couldn’t wait for you to get here, so I could finally tell you!”
Something is different about Malani. And something far away feels dark. Dan recalled a conversation he and Fionna had when they’d been in Kauai right after her miscarriage. Another haunting chill set in his bones. He laced his fingers through Fionna’s and inhaled the healing Kauai-an air, trying to ward off the events of the last few months.
“When are you due?”
“Sometime in August. I keep praying that you’ll still be here when she comes.”
“How did I not feel this?”
“You did, baby doll. Remember? You just weren’t quite yourself last time we were here. You weren’t sure what you were feeling.” Dan eased.
“But now we can be pregnant together, with girls! And they can be best friends!”
“Yes! And, this is Aida, my precious little hanai.” She beamed up at Aida who was biting her lip nervously.
Dan lifted her off of his shoulders and set her on the ground.
“Hi, Aida!”
“Hi.” Aida supplied shyly while gripping Dan’s hand.
Leaning down, Malani placed a small pink and yellow lei she’d made around Aida’s neck. Delighted Aida dropped Dan’s hand so she could hold the lei out and study it.
“I’m your Aunt Malani, and you have to love me.”
“Okay.” She gave Fionna a bewildered glance.
“Come on, baby girl.” Dan took her hand once again and guided her out of the airport. “She comes on a little strong, but she really does love you.”
Almost an hour later, they all spilled out of Malani’s Jeep once they arrived on the farm.
“Tu, they’re here!” Fionna’s grandfather, who was carrying a large wicker basket, called into the house.
Tutu appeared at once with a broad knowing grin.
Papa rushed to hug Fionna tightly. “You look so much better, Maylea. You had me worried last time, sweet girl.”
“I’m good, Papa. Dan always takes care of me.” Fionna reached back to take Dan’s hand.
“Well, let me see you.” Tutu commanded as she pulled Fionna in for an all-encompassing embrace. She took her hands and smoothed the loose dress Fionna was wearing flat against her. Smiling, she took in the tiny bump growing each and everyday.
“Very nice work, Daniel.” She laughed as she hugged Dan fiercely.
“I do what I can.”
“And this must be my very special little Aida.” Tutu leaned down to study Aida and grinned at her adoringly.
Aida tucked back into Dan.
“Did you know that I knew you were coming to be in Dan and Fionna’s ohana before they knew?”
“Ohana means family.” Fionna whispered to Aida.
“You did?”
“Yes, the island rhythms told me the night your Mommy and Daddy married that there would be two granddaughters coming to my island very soon.”
“Me and Halia?”
Tutu gasped as she stood to gaze at Fionna.
Nodding and blinking back tears, she beamed. “Halia Elisabeth Amelia Vindico.” She ran her hands over the tiny swell again.
Tutu hugged her again this one lasting much longer than the one before. Both of them cried and laughed simultaneously.
As the sun sank softly into the Pacific and the majestic mountains gave off their burnt orange glow, Dan and Fionna guided Aida into the room in the guest cottage where they would be spending the summer.
“Tomorrow, you can ride with me on the tractor, my sweet girl.” Papa was overjoyed to have Aida on the farm and in the family.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Well, by the end of the summer, kekei, we’ll have you surfing and tractor riding.” Papa assured her.
“I saw the ocean in Paris, France but I wasn’t allowed to go outside Alex’s house. I don’t know how to swim in it.”
“Your Mommy is an excellent teacher my little hanai, and we’re going to teach you to do all kinds of fun things while you’re here.” Tutu assured her.
“Okay.” Aida looked excited to get started.
“We should explain to her at some point that all of France is not called Paris.” Dan whispered to Fionna.
“I know.” Fionna giggled. “But it’s so cute that she calls it that.”
“I brought in some of your old toys, Maylea.” Papa pointed to an old wooden chest that had been added to the room since Garrett slept there the night before Dan and Fionna’s wedding.
Tutu had made Aida’s double bed up with her prescribed white bamboo and cotton sheets, one down comforter, and one homespun quilt.
Dan smiled as Fionna moved to the bed and blinked back tears. “You found my old quilt!” She ran her hands over it tenderly.
“Maylea, I’ve had it all this time, sweetheart. I was waiting on you to need it again.” Papa soothed. “We cleaned it up on your wedding night. We knew what was coming.” He gazed at Fionna like he couldn’t possibly love anything more.
Fionna nodded as tears leaked down her face.
“Next summer, we’ll put your old crib in here as well.” Tutu wiped away Fionna’s sudden tears.
“Aida, this is the quilt that I slept under every night when I was a little girl.”
“You don’t have to share it with me. It’s very special.”
Malani and Tutu both clutched their chests over Aida’s vow.
“No, baby, there isn’t anyone else in the world that I want to share it with but you.” Fionna cried harder.
Confusion cast Aida’s sweet face, but she nodded. “I promise to take very good care of it.”
Regaining her composure after a fierce hug with her little girl, Fionna wiped away her tears.
“Do you know what else you get to do when you come to Tutu and Papa’s farm for the summers, my sweet little Aida?” Tutu’s eyes sparkled as she cradled Aida’s face in her right hand.
Aida shook her head.
“You get to come up to my house and have a tea party with me and Papa every night after dinner just like your Mommy used to.”
“I get to have a tea party every night!” Aida’s gasp delighted everyone in the room. “Wow!”
Tutu kissed Aida’s forehead. “And that way Mommy can take her bath and get ready for bed.”
Fionna’s mouth dropped open as she scowled in horror.
Dan furrowed his brow. “My parents were taking baths together and having sex while I had tea parties with Tutu!” She whispered, but sounded completely horrified.
Dan cracked up as he wrapped his arms around her.
He fell onto the sofa beside Fionna after Aida was sound asleep in her new room. His mind reeled backwards for a moment to the last time he sat on that very couch. Recalling that morning phoning his parents at their home to inform them that he was in fact marrying Fionna in an hour’s time, he thought of all that had happened from that moment to the present.
Fionna was sipping her evening tea supplied lovingly to her by her grandmother. Maylea’s coffee was stacked on the counter by the coffee maker. The cabinets and refrigerator were stocked full of the ingredients to make her favorite meals, along with everything for her tea, Dan’s favorite beer, and Dr. Peppers.
Their bedroom contained oils for their baths, candles arranged on the dresser and bedside tables, and a
beautiful bouquet of Hawaiian wildflowers fresh picked from the farm. There were numerous jars of oil of Ohia lehua to be used with regularity throughout the spring and summer.
There were also the oils and ointments that Dan had already been rubbing Fionna down with each night on both nightstands.
He let the feeling of truly being cared for and of being surrounded by people that loved Fionna almost as much as he did soothe his weary soul. He’d gotten her here. She was safe and content, and they had almost four months to actually heal from all they’d suffered.
Her rhythms were already stronger, and they’d only been there a few hours. He reveled in everything he drew from her.
“It feels different.” Fionna whispered in the soft night air.
“What feels different, baby?” Dan kissed the side of her head and enveloped her in his body.
“Than the last time we were here. It feels like it’s all really over. Last time, it still didn’t feel over because it wasn’t. I don’t guess.” She fumbled confusedly in her explanation, but he knew precisely what she was referring to.
“Fi, baby, I’m just so sorry for all I put you through.”
“Dan, stop. You promised.” She’d begged him to stop apologizing on the plane home from Paris.
“This time it just feels like we’re really safe, and we can really heal. Aida can heal, and little Halia can grow and grow.” She ran her hand over her bump contentedly. “She knows she’s here.” Fionna gazed up at Dan wondering if he believed her.
He felt a broad smile spread across his face. “Can I feel her?”
“Yeah, let’s go take our bath.”
As it was the middle of the night in D.C., Dan assumed Aida would sleep until the sunrise, so he brushed a kiss across her cheek and pulled her door to.
He joined Fionna on the screened in porch as she ran the water. Dan lit the candles with his hand and supplied Fionna with the oils before he stripped her down.
Helping her into the tub, he joined her and immediately felt the soothing island rhythms begin to course through him once again.
He closed his eyes as Fionna relaxed languidly against his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he placed his hands on her baby bump. He felt the tiny rhythms almost instantly.
