Heretical Fishing

Book 2: Chapter 69: Future Plans

A swath of purple and orange colors painted the sky in the predawn light. Beneath that beautiful vista, Maria and I raced over the sands. Borks loped between us, his golden fur streaked back in the wind. I reached the gate first and put our race aside for a moment to hold it open for her. Without even a thank you, she sprinted past, poking her tongue out at me.

Borks leaped clean over it. As with Maria, he didn’t pause for a moment. I pouted, then grinned. Taking off at a sprint, I swiftly made up the distance they’d put between us. The world blurred by under my feet, and focusing my chi into my legs, I leaped. Like a rocket, I sailed past them, skidding to a stop in the sand just before the first crop of sugarcane. They reached me three heartbeats later, and Maria pointed at me.

“Cheater!” she yelled, lifting her chin. “We agreed to a running race! You were clearly flying just now! Right, Borks?”

He barked in agreement, his tail wagging despite the accusation.

“Flying?” I held a hand to my chest. “I would never commit such vile treachery on purpose. It’s not my fault that I tripped and fell.”

She giggled.

“Tripped and fell? From the halfway point between your house and the Village’s border?”

“I’m rather clumsy.”

Borks barked in the affirmative again, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I’d say that too if I got caught cheating,” Maria huffed, but her smile betrayed her.

“Come on,” I said. “If we don’t get our coffee soon, we’ll miss the sunrise.”

She interlaced her fingers with mine and planted a lightning-fast peck on my cheek. “Lucky you’re cute, otherwise you’d never get away with your constant bending of the rules.”

Despite it being a mere peck, my face flushed hot, and a hand drifted up to touch the spot she’d kissed, distracting me as we walked. When we entered the street before Sue’s bakery, the scent of fresh coffee struck me. Sue was just handing over a cup.

She gleaned up at us. “Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you two together so early in the morning. You must have woken up rather early to meet before coming here together.” The downright predatory smile she had told me she knew the truth of it.

“We—er—we didn’t...” Maria spluttered, her cool demeanor having disappeared before Sue’s ambush.

I gave Maria’s hand a squeeze, trying to reassure her, but before I could tell Sue off, a tiny ball of dough came sailing toward her head.

“You leave them alone, Sue,” Sturgill said, leaning around the dividing wall between the counter and kitchen.

The dough bounced off the side of her head, and she slowly turned his way. Sturgill retreated, scrambling from sight as Sue rushed him. Maria and I raised out our brows at each other as a cacophony of clanging pans and muffled smacks followed.

“Joking! I was joking!” Sturgill tried, but Sue’s pursuit was relentless.

I let my hearing extend, wanting to make sure Sturgill wasn’t getting shoved headfirst into the oven. They were both giggling under their breath as Sue berated and smacked him with what sounded like a wooden spoon. I withdrew my senses. A moment later, Sue reemerged, brushing flour from her shoulder and smoothing her hair.

“Where were we?” she asked, tugging at her apron. “Ah, yes—you two were explaining how you came to be together so early in the morning.”

“I stayed at Fischer’s last night,” Maria replied, a slight blush to her cheeks.

Sue sighed. “Sturgill!”

“Yes, dear?” he asked, grinning from behind the counter.

“Stay there for a moment, would you?” She bent down to retrieve a croissant from the display case. Drawing her arm back and raising a knee, she launched it at her husband’s head.

He let it strike his chest, then plucked it from the air before it could hit the ground. “Thanks! I was just considering breakfast.”

Sue pouted at his laugh as she retreated into the kitchen.

“Infuriating man, ruining all my fun.” She straightened her apron once more. “Well, jokes aside, I’m happy for you two. You’re both wonderful people and you make a charming couple.”

A heat blossomed in my chest, only increasing as Maria’s grip tightened around my hand.

“Thank you,” I replied, feeling the heat move up to my face.

“Okay.” Sue gave us a kind smile. “That’s enough of my prattling for one morning. I assume you two would like a coffee and a croissant?”

I grinned.

“I’d usually ask for the finest coffee and croissant someone has, but I know all of yours are flawless.”

She gave me an appraising look, then glanced at Maria.

“Watch yourself around this one. He has a silver tongue.”

As Sue prepared our coffees, the purple and orange sky faded to gradients of pink, warning of the sunrise to come.

“All right, you two.” Sue placed our cups on the counter and slid over two croissants. “On the house, as usual.”

“Thanks, Sue. I know we made a deal for free coffee and food, but I’ll have to start paying one of these days.”

She shook her head at me, rolling her eyes playfully.

“Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea how much our business has picked up because of the coffee machine you got us? We could give you twenty coffees a day and it wouldn’t be enough.”

“You’re too kind to me.” I passed Maria her cup and croissant, then breathed in the scent of my coffee. Unable to help myself, I drank a sip. It was perfect.

“So,” Sue said as I took another drink. “How long until you two have a baby in the oven?”

I choked, spraying foam and crema everywhere. Maria made a similar noise from beside me, thumping at her chest to clear her throat. Sue cackled with laughter as we tried to compose ourselves. She leaned all of her weight on the counter, barely able to hold herself upright.

“Sue!” Sturgill chastised from the kitchen. “Leave them alone!”

She only laughed louder, falling to the floor as she tried to wipe a tear from her eye. “Your faces!” she got out before cackling wordlessly.

Maria cleared her throat and took a deep drink of her coffee. I reached over the counter and stole a tea towel, using it to wipe my face free on foam. I threw it down at Sue. Again, it only made her amusement increase.

I grabbed Maria’s hand.

“Let’s go catch that sunrise. The owner of this coffee shop is a lunatic.”

Maria’s face was bright red. She nodded, not meeting my gaze.

***

My heart and mind raced as we sat on the shore, watching the sun’s glow rise over the horizon. When its orange face finally came into view, I turned to Maria. She stared at it, her lips pursed and eyes crinkled in thought. I gathered my courage.

“Do you want children, Maria? Eventually, I mean.”

She started, her head hanging to the side as she turned to look at me.

“I do... eventually.” She swirled her cup. “What about you? Do you want kids?”

It was something I had never really considered in my previous life. There were fleeting thoughts, sure, but bringing a child into that world seemed almost... irresponsible.

Here, though, in Tropica...

Each time I saw Paul, the thought of having a son or daughter came to mind. When my eyes drifted from the rising sun to Maria’s freckled face, the answer was simple.

“I’d love to have children, or at least one child.” I rubbed the back of my head. “I haven’t given it too much thought, to be honest, but I know I’d love having a kid, especially with the right person.”

“The right person, huh?” She rubbed her chin. “It’s a shame Sue is spoken for, then. I can’t think of anyone else with the same cruel sense of humor as you.”

It was so unexpected that I almost choked on my coffee again.

“Oh, ha-ha. If we’re talking degenerate senses of humor, you’re just as bad as she is.”

She grinned.

“I suppose I am. You might have to settle for me, then. A pity.”

I flicked part of my croissant at her. She caught it easily, dipped it in her coffee, then placed it in her mouth as she shot me a wink. I looked out at the ocean. The sun was almost entirely visible now, only a small section remaining hidden by the horizon.

“So... I have an awkward question.”

“More awkward than Sue asking us when we were going to procreate?”

I snorted.

“No, not quite that bad. Is there, uh... contraception here? In this world, I mean?”

I chanced a glance at her.

She stared back, her face scrunched in confusion. “Contraception? What’s that?”

“You know—like methods to stop someone getting pregnant.”

“Oh!” She laughed, covering her mouth with one hand. “I honestly forget you’re not from here sometimes—you have the weirdest little gaps in your knowledge.” She shook her head, smirking. “There are two different teas, one to stop you getting pregnant, the other to... stop a pregnancy.” She turned her body to face me, suddenly serious. “Maybe we should have talked about this earlier. My mom has been preparing the former for me for the last month or more, so there is little chance of anything happening. If it does, though, I don’t believe in taking something to ‘take care of it’. Even if it’s not the perfect time, I would never get rid of a blessing like that, especially with the… side effect.”

“Side effects…?”

She nodded seriously. “It can hurt your chance of having a kid later. Other people can do what they like, but it’s not something I could ever do.”

I held up both hands

“I’m not the kind of man that would pressure you to do that.”

Her face relaxed, and she reached a hand out to squeeze my knee.

“I know you’re not, Fischer, but thank you for reminding me.”

I smiled at her, the glow of her cheeks threatening to take both my breath and all conscious thought away.

I forced myself to continue. “In a perfect world, I’d like to wait until all of this churchy-culty bullshit is over, but I know these things don’t always wait for the right time.”

“Same. As much as I agree with Barry’s plan and think it’s the best path for everyone’s safety, I don’t relish the thought of bringing a child into it.” She gave me a haughty look. “I’m also not so sure about you yet.”

I nodded.

“Understandable. I’d be having second thoughts too after seeing all that weight George has lost. He’s looking damn fine.”

She raised her hand to stop me.

“Okay, that’s the line. He’s still about twenty years older than me, Fischer.”

I shot her a wink.

“How about this, then: we revisit this conversation after Barry is finished making us all gods or whatever? If something happens before that, though, we’ll do the best that we can. Together.”

The smile she rewarded me with seemed brighter than the rising sun, and she nodded, making her hair bounce against her face. She took my half-finished cup of coffee from my hand, put it on the sand, and crawled into my arms. Our proximity made a barrage of emotions wash over me. I reveled in them, squeezing her tighter.

The joy coursing through me made me want to voice the other thing that had been tugging at my awareness lately. Against my better judgment, I decided to let it out.

“I wanted to mention something else, too,” I said, my stomach fluttering suddenly. “I worried it was a bit... forward, but considering the conversation we just had, it doesn’t seem so bad.”

“What is it?” she asked, looking up at me.

Gods, she was beautiful.

I chewed my cheek. “Let me preface this by saying this is probably just me getting caught up in my feelings, so keep that in mind if it seems a bit…”

She reached a hand up toward my face. I thought she’d caress my cheek or run a hand through my hair, but then she flicked the tip of my nose. She shook her head at me with a bemused smile.

“Fischer. We just had a conversation about the possibility of having a child. If that doesn’t scare me away, what could?”

I raised a finger to protest, then snorted. “All right, that’s fair play. It’s just…”

“Out with it.” She tapped me on the nose again. “Or else I’ll give you another flicking.”

I ran a hand through her hair, fighting the urge to change the subject by kissing her. “Okay. I wanted to ask you about, er… moving in with me.”

Her eyes opened just a little wider, so I rushed to explain the rest of my thoughts.

“I know it’s terrible timing with your father, and having you move in might be the thing that finally gives him a conniption, so I don’t think we should…” I shook my head. “What am I even saying?” I ran both hands over my face, searching for the right words. “I guess what I mean is that I’d love for you to move in when the time is right, and I wish it could be now.”

Her hand reached up again as she stared into my eyes, and this time it did come to rest on my cheek.

“You’re becoming an issue, Fischer.”

I quirked an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“Because everything you say only makes me fall for you more.”

I blew air from my nose, giving her a confused smile. “How does the word salad I just threw at you make you more in love with me?”

“Because you are thoughtful, caring, and kind. Even to my dad—a grumpy, unreasonable man that held a scythe to your neck the first time you met him.”

She wrapped her arms around me.

“Despite how much of a menace he is, I’m quite fond of my dad. As such, I don’t want to send him over the edge by moving in with a heretical fisher.” She pulled her head back to look into my eyes. “... yet. I’d love to move in with you when the time is right.”

She pulled herself in again, holding me so tight that I thought she may never let go. In that moment, with the scent of her hair wafting up and her slight body held in my arms, I wished she never did.