CHAPTER 1- REED
(SEVEN YEARS AGO)
Opening the door, I’m met with my least favorite person, and my favorite as well. “Hi there! To what do I owe this surprise visit?” I smile and lean down to the latter.
“Uncle Reed!” My nephew bounces on his heels and grips his little backpack. It’s then that I notice he has a suitcase in tow. I exchange a look with my sister-in-law, then look back down at Aisen.
“Eyes-and-ears-and-nose!” I poke his little nose, and he giggles. He’s always loved that nickname I’ve had for him, an easy way to remember how to pronounce his first name. No one’s calling him “Ay-Zinn” in my presence. “You staying the weekend?”
“More than that!” He sways back and forth as little kids tend to do. “What do you wanna do,samchon?”
My face falls for a moment before I smile down at him again. “Why don’t you go into the living room and go watch some cartoons?”
“Okay!”
He dashes off, and I lean on my door frame. “Shannon,” I say in what hopefully resembles a cordial tone. “You could have called first.”
“You know it’s hard for me to use my phone underwater.” She barely looks up as she texts away.
The life of a professional performing mermaid is a busy one, I suppose. I thought after she had a kid, she’d stay on solidground more often, but I guess not. “Speaking of water, wanna come in? I can offer you tea or something.”
“Can’t. I’m busy,” she says.
The relief in my chest is immeasurable. The less time I spend with my brother’s wife, the better. “Okay, well, I’m happy to take care of Aisen for the weekend. But I would like you or my brother to ask next time in advance.”
“We didn’t think you’d mind; you never have social plans or anything.”
I frown, but she’s still not looking up. “Speaking of being preoccupied, where is my brother?”
“Ryan is practicing our new show. We didn’t wanna leave our son home alone, we’re not selfish.”
“So you brought him here unannounced with a big suitcase of his clothes?” I roll in the luggage decorated with little dinosaur stickers.
“It’s more than just clothes?it’s his birth certificate, social security, vaccination records.” Shannon shrugs and continues to text away. “You know, that sort of thing. You’re welcome.”
My eyebrows furrow. “What? Why would I need that?”
Shannon sighs and finally looks at me. Her straight black hair shines, and I recognize where Aisen got his nose from. My brother chose a pretty Korean girl to lock down, exactly what our parents wanted for us all those years growing up here in California. I was never going to end up with a woman, and that was one of the many disappointments that drove them to move back to Korea. In any case, my brother got with not the kindest girl, but a pretty one.
Right now, her typical snobby attitude is replaced with sympathy. “Look, Reed. It’s no secret that you’re closer to Aisen than we ever were.”
My breath hitches. I don’t like where this is going. “Wha…what?”
“He looks up to you. You guys are…the same.” Shannon flips her hair and looks away. “Your brother and I, we assumed we’d have, you know, mermaid children.”
“What?” I whisper, hoping Aisen can’t hear us from down in the living room.
“You know what I mean.” She waves her hand. “Mermaid. Or merman. Merboy. Any gender of merfolk.”
My cheeks burn. I know exactly where she’s going with this, but this is low. I never thought she’d say it out loud. “So he’s not what you thought. Does that mean you’re going to abandon your son?”
“No!” She crosses her arms and looks away again. “But with our shows and constant touring with other merfolk, living on showboats hasn’t been easy for the kid.”
My mouth goes dry as I nod. I was never a fan of them raising my nephew in the ocean, but it was their prerogative as parents. But now… “You want him to stay here for longer. Like until school starts in two weeks.”
“He won’t learn much with our ocean lifestyle.” Shannon shrugs and looks down dolefully. “And he connects so deeply with you. He adores his Uncle Reed. You’re the best role model he could ask for.”
I sigh and look away. Shannon raises valid points, but I didn’t think my brother and sister-in-law would actually want to pawn off their only child.
