Mal takes the next bag, and he’s a big guy, so that doesn’t look too strange.
The poor driver unloads some person-sized plants and Pink takes one of those since he is basically human and doesn’t have freaky strength like the others.
The driver looks relieved at this return to normality, but then Jade grabs a sack of gravel and walks away with it like it weighs no more than a pillow.
Our hapless human driver gives up on trying to act like nothing is up, and just stops and stares after Jade with his eyes all but bugging out and sweat dripping down his face.
Shit. I thought it was funny, but what if he actually gets hysterical? Ordinary people aren’t supposed to know that the paranormal world exists.
Carter strides forward and slaps the man on the back, in that dude bro way some men do. He says something and the driver laughs. Then his shoulders relax.
Carter steers him back towards his cab, and soon they are out of sight.
Looks like Lello’s mate has this. Phew! Thank goodness for that, because I wouldn’t have a clue what to say to put the man’s mind at rest.
I pick up one of the tall, willowy plants and head towards the pool. When I get to the back of the house, everyone is standingaround the pool staring at it. Judging by the empty bags, they’ve already tipped the gravel in. As I get nearer, the water comes into view. It’s all murky and cloudy.
A god awful shriek leaves my lungs.
Lello whips around. “It’s just sediment. It will settle.”
My lungs are heaving. It’s fine. It’s all fine. It’s only sediment. I haven’t ruined Blue’s pool. It’s going to be lovely when it is done.
Lello hands me a shovel. I take it and blink at him blankly.
He rolls his eyes at me. “To spread the gravel around.”
Oh right. Yeah. That makes sense. I can breathe underwater now. I can simply stroll to the bottom of the pool and shovel gravel around. Totally normal thing to do.
The kelpie shimmies out of his tiny shorts and picks up a rake.
“Come on, I’ll help you,” he says brightly.
I nod and move over to the shallow end. I’m keeping my shorts on, thank you very much. I never used to be shy, but these guys make me feel all sorts of inferior.
The water is cool. Pleasant. It feels like silk against my skin. Surely on a hot day like this, it should feel freezing? I wonder if it is another effect of the mate bond?
Lello walks with me towards the deep end. The water sloshes against my chest. My legs stop moving. My subconscious is convinced that going any further is a bad idea.
Lello grins at me. “See you at the bottom!” And then he disappears.
Easy enough for him to say. He has been breathing water his whole life. But it’s fine. I can do this. What’s the worst that can happen? Lello won’t let me drown. At least, I don’t think he will?
With that comforting thought in mind. I take a deep breath and duck under the water. It’s murky down here, but not as bad as it looks from up above.
I find Lello standing at the bottom of the pool happily shoveling gravel around. The small stones have fallen into small piles, butmost of the tiled floor is already covered. This isn’t going to take long.
It already looks so much better than the sterile tiles. White stones were a good choice. It’s going to look amazing when it is all done.
Lello grins at me and I realize I’m breathing water as if it’s no big deal. I grin back and get to work.
The boys get some more bags of gravel and dump them down. Then Lello and I emerge to get the plants. Bedding them down in the stones is easy. The bright green ferns sway in the water and it looks like they are dancing.
We go back up to the top just as Brodie arrives with the fish. He grumbles about the lack of choice for cold, salt-water fish. But I think he has done a brilliant job. He has found three different types. And they look pretty to me. It’s a shame we can’t heat the swimming pool hot enough to give Blue the tropical experience of the aquarium. But this is definitely an improvement on what he had before.
Brodie hands me something that looks a bit like a hairnet.
“It needs to go over the pool pump, so the fish don’t get sucked in.”
