It's All Relative(140)
As Jessie stepped into his arms, Kai had to agree with his grandmother’s comment. Yes, life could be very surprising at times. And as he was sure his grandmother would agree, that was what made waking up every day worth it.
Kai stretched back in his padded seat and sipped the remainder of his champagne. The roar of engine noise was faint to his ears as he reclined as far as the seat would go. Kai had never flown first class before, but as the meticulously put together woman walking down the aisle stopped, took his glass, and asked him and Jessie if they needed a refill on their drinks, he thought he might never fly any other way again.
Smiling, he shook his head at the stewardess. “All right, let me know if you do need anything.” Her voice was bubbly and bright as she fluffed his pillow before stepping off to help another passenger.
Kai’s eyes drifted to the windows. All he could see out of the tiny ovals were swatches of wispy, white clouds, but he knew that below the cloudbank they were quickly approaching his hometown, his home island.
Jessie squirmed in excitement, her eyes glued to the window immediately to her right. Kai smiled at her enthusiasm. She was just as eager to see the ocean as he’d been anxious to see the snow. It was something that was remarkably odd to both of them, since he’d lived all his life near the water and she’d lived all of hers near the mountains. Kai loved that he could give this experience to her, even if landing back home was coating his stomach with a black tar of dread.
He wasn’t worried about his parents accepting his relationship with Jessie. After Gran had given them her blessing, his stress on the matter had eased considerably. Besides, after what his parents had done to him, and to each other, they really didn’t have any room to talk on the subject of love. So far as Kai was concerned, they didn’t have a say on who he dated, even if that person had always been seen as a family member. His father would have an especially hard time with that, since he was Jessie’s legitimate uncle. There was no getting around it though.
But Kai had come to terms with that situation. What was weighing down his stomach, sizzling his nerves, was the thought of confronting his mother and father on the lie that had permeated so much of his childhood. Rationally, he understood the reasons why he’d been kept in the dark, but his heart was screaming and protesting, yelling at the top of its loud, thumping voice that he had been betrayed. Betrayed by the very people who were supposed to be his rock.
He hated that his body was in such disagreement. That wasn’t his style. He saw facts and made a logical conclusion based on those facts. That was how he worked his job. That was how he tried to live his life. If he had come across this situation in the wild, say, a gorilla female had duped a strong male into accepting her child as his own, Kai would have been awed by the miraculous ingenuity and perseverance of mother nature. But when the subjects in question were human…when they were him…the detachment of science flew right out the window, leaving only emotion and pain.
As Kai’s clammy fingers tightened on the leather seat, he marveled over the fact that Mason had purchased these tickets for him. When Kai had returned to Jessie’s placed after their visit with their grandmother, there had been a message on her machine from Mason, leaving the details of the flight.
Not only had he arranged for them to leave the very next day, but he’d booked them first class. And it made Kai smile that they were round-trip tickets. It made him surprisingly happy that his birth father wanted him to stick around. He’d been so sure the man hadn’t liked him that it was still shocking to know that Mason might actually love him. It blew Kai’s mind. He wasn’t sure if he loved the man in return yet, he was still practically a stranger to Kai, but he was willing to give him a chance. He was willing to get to know him. It seemed like the least Kai could do after all this.
Kai exhaled a slow, steady breath as the cloud cover broke and the dark blue depth of the Pacific Ocean erupted into view. He knew that before too long those near-black waters would shift to a bluish-greenish color that sort of matched his eyes. Then he’d be back home. Mason had also told him in his message that he’d spoken with Kai’s mother again. She was meeting them at the airport.
Jessie squealed and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. His stress relieving exhale turned into a light laugh. She was so excited about arriving that it took away a great deal of his tension. When her face turned back to his, her wide, chocolate eyes were glowing in their delight. She giggled and grinned, but her smile faltered as she looked over his face. “Hey, you okay?”
Kai forced the smile to return to his face but her frown only deepened; clearly she saw right through it. Knowing he couldn’t keep his emotions from her, he sighed; she knew him far too well. Shaking his head, he shrugged. “I’m just…a little nervous about this.”
Her hand squeezed his tight as she leaned over and placed a light kiss on his lips. “I know.” Pulling back, she gave him those smoky eyes that quickened his heart. “I’m here for you.” Smiling, Kai moved in for another kiss. He was glad to hear it. He had a feeling he would be leaning on her a lot this trip.
Reveling in the light, languid sensation of kissing her, Kai glanced out the window over her shoulder. Seeing something he knew would interest her, he pulled apart from her mouth. “Hey,” he whispered, nodding toward the window. Her eyes were burning like she no longer cared about any view that wasn’t him, and she leaned in to find his lips again. Laughing, Kai kissed her then muttered, “Jess, you’re missing it.”