Chapter 4: Temporary Hiatus
"Happy Birthday!" Kendall shouted when his mom stepped through the front door.
Mrs. Knight smiled as her son grabbed her hand and eagerly dragged her towards the kitchen. Her smile widened when she saw her husband and the Mitchell's with party hats, and a cake with lit candles on the kitchen table. "Happy Birthday; sweetheart," Francis said as he went and gave her a peck on her cheek.
She chuckled, "nice hat."
Before he could open his mouth to retort, Kendall came bursting to the kitchen with his red bucket with Logan trailing behind him with a present in his hands. Francis quickly shut his mouth and stared at the bucket in his sons hands; he had been in his room dozens of times trying to find the pearl. But all he found was loose change, shells, and a lot of toys.
"Happy Birthday, Mama Knight!" Logan said as he handed her present.
"It's from us," Joanne said grabbing her husband's hand.
Quickly unwrapping it and she gasped at the mahogany box in her hand. It was small with a flower design on the cover and a small keyhole in the middle, the key was small also with a lose string attached to it similar to a bracelet next to the flower design.
She smiled at her reaction. "I knew you kept saving money for it, so we decided to buy it for you, good thing you didn't otherwise I wouldn't know what to get for you."
"Thanks Joanne, this means a lot," both women hugged. "Now I could use the money for Kendall's dentist appointment."
"Wished mama bought the box so I wouldn't go," he muttered to Logan, causing the young brunette to chuckle.
The blonde raised his red bucket towards his mom, "here's your present mom."
Jennifer placed the box near the cake and took the bucket, she gasped at its content as she took each shell out and placed them on the table, "their beautiful, Kendall."
He grabbed the con shell and stretched it towards her, "put it close to your ear so you can hear the ocean." She smiled and did as she was told while Kendall reached toward his pocket and took out the clam. Jennifer placed the con shell on the table and watched curiously at her son when he showed her a gray clam, "this is for you too mom, hope you like it."
She and the rest of the guests gasped when Kendall opened it to reveal the largest pearl she had ever seen. Everyone in the room stared wide eyed at the jewel mesmerized at the size and glow it emitted.
"Oh my god, it's huge," Joanne gaped.
"Kendall," Jennifer took the pearl and placed it in her hand feeling it soft and smooth under her touch. "Where did you find this?"
"At the beach, near the rocks," he said, with a smile.
Mr. Mitchell whistled, "judging by the color, luster, and size of that pearl; it's got to be worth at least four or five grand."
"Five thousand dollars," Francis repeated with widened eyes.
"You found this at the beach?" Jennifer asked amazed that her son's finding.
He nodded. "Yup, I thought it would make a great present because you have smaller ones, I thought you might like this one. Do you like it?"
She removed her gaze from the pearl to her son and smiled, "I love it honey thank you very much."
Her son beamed, "look inside the clam mom."
She did as she was told and for a moment thought if there was more than one pearl, instead there were two small plain shells, a blue and green shell.
"I picked those especially for you, mom," Kendall said with a proud smile.
She immediately knew what he meant, blue for the ocean and green for his eyes, two things that she loved most in the world beside her family and her house. "Thank you honey, these shells are the best present ever."
Joanne cleared her throat.
"I mean they are all the best presents ever."
Joanne gave her a knowing smile; the best presents always come from their children.
"I know exactly where I'm going to put these," Kendall watched his mom as she opened the wooden box and placed the pearl and the shells inside. She closed it and locked with the small gold key and then placed it on her wrist, "so who wants cake?"
After singing 'Happy Birthday' and eating cake, they spent the rest of the day playing games and having a great time together. Francis gave a glance toward the box when he passed by the kitchen with a gleam in his eyes, he now knew where the pearl was, it was only a matter of time and patience until he could get his hands on it.
"Dad!" he looked away and left the kitchen heading toward his son and spent the rest of the evening with his wife and guests.
A Week Later
James was ecstatic the minute he saw Kendall sitting on top of one of the boulders, would be an understatement. He was overjoyed, nearly cried out in happiness when he saw Kendall wave his arms at him. James went back underwater and swam toward the rocks near the shore, going through the same cracks between the stones until he reached the pool and saw the blonde with a large smile on his face. After he got rid of his black slippers Kendall stepped into the water and ran to him. James braced himself as the blonde crashed into him with a large hug; the merman did the same placing his arms around the human child before they pulled back and smiled at each other.
"Told you I'll wait," James said.
Kendall hugged him again, again, and again, every time he visited him. James will wait for him late in the mornings by the shore until he saw the blonde sitting on the rocks or when he comes out of the trees. Kendall will usually spend an hour with James or two, if he was really lucky, and they will talk about each other's lives and answer each other questions about their world. The blonde told him about his mom's birthday, the merman was thankful that Kendall was able to keep the pearl away from his father, and will talk about his family, his home, his friends on land, school, and a baby. James asked what a baby was and realized it was Kendall's new sibling that has yet to be born; he would smile when the blonde talked about playing with him/her, going to the beach together, play games and do all sorts of fun activities.
James would purposely change the subject when the blonde will ask about his family. Kendall was too young to know about his family troubles and wanted the human child to not know much about his past.
The merman will mostly talk to the blonde about the ocean, his home, a large cave with multiple tunnels and small caverns that were almost like rooms. He would talk about crystals, shiny rocks that glow by a specific type of light, playing with dolphins, talked about his companions, other merpeople, and cities under the ocean, and more making the blonde's emerald eyes glow in awe.
Other than talking they will spend their time playing hide and seek in the rocks, splash each other, play tag, and make sand castles. There will also be times when James will take Kendall to the ocean, but not too far only close to the shore and get splashed by the waves.
Even though they spent only a short amount of time together neither of them have been most content in their life. They both wanted it to last, but unfortunately for James it only lasted for three months. The merman noticed the sea creatures migrating towards warmer waters mostly in the South; he felt the slow change in temperature in his scales when he felt a shiver go up his tail to his spine. He dismissed it until he noticed the dolphins swimming toward the opposite direction instead of swimming by the coast where they usually swim. After a week, he had to make the painful decision of leaving his home to head to the tropics, normally he would be ecstatic and plan where he would go whether it was Central America, Hawaii, or the Bahamas and have some fun with his friends who are also there because of the change in water temperature.
But this time he couldn't bear to leave now that he had to be separated from the blonde. He didn't have the heart to tell him he would be gone until the next solstice. However, if he didn't leave soon, he would have a difficult time moving in the ocean with his tail freezing and spasm painfully.
One day while Kendall was talking about a man in a spider costume, James winced when his tail clenched painfully for a second making the blonde look at him in concern.
"What's wrong James, are you hurt?"
He shook his head, "No, I'm fine."
The merman tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he felt his tail clench slightly sending a wave of pain up his spine. James fell forward and landed on his forearms; biting his lower lip he muffled a cry of pain.
"James!" the blonde got in the water and placed a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at the blonde with a shaky smile, "I'm fine."
"Liar," the blonde muttered. He saw the merman's body tremble slightly and his cheeks were flushed almost making him look like he was having a fever. "James what's wrong, you better tell me the truth this time."
The merman sighed and looked away, "I should have told you sooner."
"Told me what?" the blonde asked, curious.
James shoulders slumped a bit, and lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes, "ever wonder why there aren't fish here when the season changes?"
He furrowed his brows in confusion. The merman sensed it and spoke, "when the temperature in the water changes it affects the fishes and other creatures of the sea in different ways that includes merpeople. For me, specifically, my tail gets cramps or clenches itself making it hurt, when that happens it is a sign for me to move to warmer weather, warmer waters."
Kendall stayed silent as he his young mind processed his words, "so you have to leave?"
James turned to him and gave him a sad and guilty expression, he nodded a moment later.
The blonde frowned, his lower lip tremble a bit, "why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried," James explained. "But you were always happy when we have these visits and we only have a short amount of time together, I couldn't."
James looked away not being able to see Kendall upset. Now he will be and will find a way for not trusting him and he will have to-.
"You're an idiot."
His brows burrowed in confusion, before he turned to him. The blonde had an angry expression on his face. He expected guilt, disappointment, sadness, not anger. "What?"
"You are an idiot," he said again. "If you needed to leave then you should have."
"But won't you be upset if I left?"
Kendall clenched his hands into small fists controlling his emotions and the sudden burning in the corner of his eyes as he nodded, "I will miss you so much, but if it's good for you then you have to leave. If you stayed here for me you will get hurt and I will be sad that you're in pain because of me. I don't want that."
A tear fell from the blonde's eye and he quickly wiped it away before James did. "Will you come back?"
He nodded. "I will when the temperature changes, most likely in the summer solstice."
"Next summer?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Kendall looked up at James with sad eyes, "I guess this is goodbye."
"I….guess it is," The merman's chest clenched painfully at the blonde's sadness and wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but he didn't want to worsen his already gloomy mood. James never imagined this; he never thought that Kendall was willingly letting him go.
Kendall raised his pinky towards him, "promise me you'll come back."
The merman did the same and connected his pinky with his and shook, when they parted Kendall threw his arms around him and hugged him tight. James did the same and wrapped his arms around his small body.
"I'll miss you Kendall."
The blonde held back a sob, "I'll miss you too, James."
James was the one to pull back from the hug and give the blonde a small smile; he leaned forward and kissed his forehead. He pulled back and chuckled when he saw the blonde's red cheeks; the merman gave him another smile before he moved back towards the cracks, leaving the pool.
Kendall quickly left the pool and grabbed his sandals then climbed onto his usual seat. He sat and looked at the ocean, a few moments later he saw James rise from the water and wave at him. Kendall did the same and watched the merman dive back to the water his white tail fin the last thing he saw before he let the tears fall from his eyes. "Bye; Jamie. See you next summer."
I felt a little bad about this one, I could have done better, but this came out instead. Hope you like it, thank you for reading.
