After what felt like a long time for them to be hugging, Caelum lifted his arm and reached for her. She took his hand and gratefully joined in their hug, finding warmth and shelter with her guys. “Don’t be too mad at your dad when you find out,” Caelum whispered in her ear over the sound of the surf.
“Find out what?” she asked him, wondering what he could be talking about. But he only gave her a soft smile and kissed her forehead before giving Ippy a kiss on his as well. He stepped away, backing out of their holds, and she wiped away a few more tears. “Remember, you promised to come back,” she called as he stepped into the water.
He turned back toward them, the waves at his knees now as he walked backwards into what she was sure was icy surf. “I will. After all, I’m your selkie.”
Our selkie.
Ippy took her hand and she nodded to him.
Caelum smiled and turned to dive under the water. She held her breath, waiting to see him come back up. But when she saw him again, it wasn’t the man with sandy blond hair that came up. Instead it was the spotted head of a wet seal. She pointed at him so that Ippy could see, too, and he nodded and gave her a watery smile. They watched him until he lowered his head back into the water and disappeared.
“Caelum said not to be mad at one of you when I found out something,” Hannah said as she and Ippy climbed back into the car.
Her dad looked surprised. “I didn’t say anything. Did you, Liam?”
Daddy Liam didn’t answer right away, a sure sign that he was the culprit. She clicked her seatbelt, made sure Ippy got his own on right, and waited for him to spill it as Samson started driving again. “I asked him to give you a few years before coming back. Until you’re eighteen. Then I told him that I’d help you both in whatever way you needed.”
“You
what
? Why?”
It was exactly what she wanted to say, but instead the words came out of her dad’s mouth. She nodded along, letting Daddy Liam know that she wanted the answers, too.
Daddy Liam looked at them both. “Hannah, you ran away this morning to go rescue a complete stranger from whatever danger he was in without knowing anything but a general location. If Caelum had asked you to go back to Ireland with him next month or even next year, I think you would have found a way, and I was not about to worry about you crossing an ocean on your own and leaving the country. Tell me you wouldn’t have gone.”
She shook her head. She couldn’t. Daddy Liam was right. Now that she’d found Caelum, she would have done it. It wouldn’t have been easy, but she’d have found a way. “I’m almost sixteen so only two years away,” she reluctantly admitted even though it felt like forever.
Five for me.
Hannah cringed, instantly feeling sorry for Ippy. She turned in her seat toward him. “Yeah. How about this, we’ll wait until you’re able to come with us. Okay?” It wasn’t really fair to her, but she wasn’t about to leave Ippy alone, either. And maybe his parents would be more relenting than hers. It was unlikely, but whatever, no one thought she’d be able to find her selkie, either, so she figured it was all still possible. Ippy offered her his hand and she took it, glad to have him safe as they drove the few hours back home.
Once they got back to the pack, his mom and dad had a good time yelling at her. She took it, though she’d rather not have. And then Ippy was grounded. Her dads paid for the car just like she knew they would, but she was on babysitting duty for the next year for the pack to pay them back. She didn’t argue. At least Ippy got off easier than she did. It wasn’t his idea after all. She hugged him and then was glad to be going home to her nice warm bed after such a long day.
“Since its almost six am, you’re out of school today. But you are going back tomorrow,” her dad called up to her as she dragged herself upstairs.
She nodded and then halted at the top of the stairs as she remembered something. “My phone!” she shrieked, feeling like she was gasping for breath. “And my wallet!”
Daddy Liam looked exhausted as he came to the bottom of the stairs. “Where were they?”
Hannah wasn’t entirely sure, but she took a guess. “After they hit us with their car they might have taken them. Or they’re still in the car.”
Her dad’s mouth fell open. “Hit you with a car? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine. Just want my stuff.”
Daddy Liam nodded. “I’ll let the guy that Samson has going out there know to look for it. Go to bed now. It’s been a very long, exhausting day, and I think we could all use a rest.”
She gratefully climbed into her bed a few minutes later, not even bothering to get on her pjs, and she fell asleep soon after her head hit the pillow.
“Hey.”
Hannah looked up and found herself on a rocky beach. Caelum leaned over into her view and she smiled at him. “Hi.” She sat up, feeling a bit dizzy as they both stared at the sunrise slowly coming up over the water. “Didn’t think I’d dream about you already. But I’m not exactly arguing.”
He smiled at her and bumped his shoulder against hers. “That’s ‘cause we’re not dreaming. Selkies can get into dreams once we know a person. And I wanted to come thank you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Delusional dream here. Obviously I need some more sleep. Hopefully my dads will let me sleep in until dinnertime. Probably not, but—”
Her trailing thought was cut off by Caelum’s kiss and she froze, wondering what she was supposed to do. It was her first kiss and likely his, too, and then all of a sudden he pulled away, and she was left smiling at him.
“Great dream,” she said, taking his hand.
“Not a dream,” he reminded her.
She shrugged, letting his dream self tell her that. She was far too exhausted to argue with him. “Thanks for coming back.”
“Told you I would.”
Hannah nodded. He had.
“I promised Ippy that we’d take him along when he’s old enough to go with us.”
Caelum looked surprised. “Talked to your dad?”
“Yeah. I just can’t figure out when you did.”
“We were in the back seat and he talked into my mind. All I did was nod. I didn’t want to say anything else just in case you caught on.”
Well, that was nice of the dream Caelum to explain to her.
He leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “I should go. With the sun coming up here the boats will be arriving soon and I want to stay out of their way. I’ll go deeper to avoid them, but I’ll keep an eye on the land to make sure I’m going the right way.”
She didn’t want him to go. Not at all. But she knew he had to. It was just a dream, after all. “Be safe.”
He gave her a wink. “Of course. I’m going to come back to you both. You can tell Ippy that, too.”
“You like him, huh?” There was no judgment in her words, only curiosity.
He blushed and nodded. “Yeah. That weird?”
She shook her head. “Not to me.”
Caelum nodded and fell back into the water. It splashed around him, covering him instantly, and moments later a small seal popped up from the water a few yards from the beach.
“Bye, Caelum,” she whispered as her dream faded.
Caitlin was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by family and teachers that encouraged her love of reading. She has always been a voracious reader, and that love of the written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. If she isn't writing, she can usually be found studying as she works toward her counseling degree. She comes from a military family, and the men and women of the armed forces are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies she calls home with her wonderful fiancé and their two dogs. Her belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs deeply through all of her stories.
http://www.caitlinricci.com/