“Perhaps you should sit in the shade? The sun is already so bright today.” Mercer holds Zack and looks down at me with concerned eyes.
“No, no. I’m fine,” I say, then work hard to relax and let my head empty.
“If you’re worried about Zack, he’s doing great, and I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. See, I have my tentacles a few inches under him in case he should sink.”
“I won’t!” Zack chips. “Mommy, puff out your belly! You gotta fill up with air.”
“I’ve got it, baby, thank you.” But of course, Mercer’s eyes seem to shift to where my belly already puffs up in one single curve without any definition (unless you count soft and squishy as a definition), and I instinctively try to suck in my stomach.
I flap, and my butt sinks first. Pathetic. I’ve been swimming since I was Zack’s age! I know how to float.
Mercer doesn’t seem to think so, letting out a little grunt of alarm and inserting two tentacles under me like support beams.
“I’ve got you! Madelyn, your headache must be quite bad. You go rest. I promise on my life, Zack and I will be fine. You know, you probably need rest. You’ve been moving, working, taking care of Zack, surviving a scary moment...” Mercer turns his head from me to Zack, who is happily floating on his back and naming all the shapes in the clouds. Even though Mercer seems to have divided attention, I can’t help but smile as I see two of his tentacles under Zack, and a third one hovering halfway out of the water, reminding me of a watchful periscope.
It’s such a safe, peaceful scene, such a kind offer, that something breaks inside. “It’s not my head,” I confess with a guilty sigh. “It’s my Mom Bod, okay? I know you’re looking, and—”
And I’m ashamed. I hear Eli’s disgusted voice, telling me how unsexy I am, and how he wouldn’t have to leave if I’d at least made an effort to be my old self, to still be his fun, athletic wife who had a lean, toned body. No matter how many of my friends tell me I still look great, I know it’s not the trim bike-race body I used to sport.
“Zack, you’re doing great on floating. Let’s practice kicks and bubbles, now. Hold on.”
At Mercer’s command, Zack grabs a hold of one tentacle, ducks his head in the water, and blows a gargantuan amount of bubbles while sending up enough spray to water a botanical garden with his energetic kicks.
Under the cover of the noise, it’s Mercer’s turn to heave a guilty sigh. “I am sorry, Madelyn. I know humans are more discreet and better at flirting, at the subtleties of attraction. I tried not to stare. I don’t know the term ‘Mom Bod,’ but yes, I know you are a beautiful woman and a mother, and I should not have been staring. I hope you can forgive me.”
Beautiful woman.
Staring?
Forgive him?
“Excuse me, what?”
“You’re incredibly gorgeous. And... It’s not merely how beautiful you are that makes me want to see more of you, I vow on all the waters.”
Zack keeps blowing and kicking, lifting his head in a rhythm that he’ll keep doing until he tires himself out. Yay for his sometimes-exhausting dedication to a task. I’m standing inthe water with my mouth imitating a black hole, trying to comprehend what I just heard.
“A Mom Bod,” I repeat, figuring I need to tackle that first. “It’s soft. Not muscular.”
Mercer nods. Eagerly.
Huh??
“Like flabby,” I elaborate. “Fat. Stretchmarks. Big butt. Thick thighs.”
“Oh, yes,” Mercer almost sounds... breathless. “Yes, because you’ve carried a child, and you sacrificed muscle for softness, and carried him, and gave up sleep. Nursed him?”
“Oh, yeah. Saggy and soft up top,” I admit with a tight smile.
“A warrior’s body. You fought to give someone a life, to sustain him. Now, you are soft and comforting for your mate and child.”
“No. No, no. My ‘mate’ hated my body. He hated how I looked. He made mooing noises whenever I nursed Zack.” I keep my voice ultra low so Zack can’t hear over the splashing.
Have you ever seen an angry kraken?
They’re terrifying.
All the tentacles but the one Zack is holding are suddenly up and out of the water, but they don’t remind me of friendly periscopes now. They’re like attack dogs, looking for something to maul. His face is something out of a Greek myth, sparking thoughts of angry sea gods, teeth clenched, eyes blazing.
