Chapter 19

Five minutes to three. That's what the clock said. Lenny had been watching the clock all day trying to decide what to do. Stick to his old plan and have his back turned on his mom when she came in or let her come in facing him and finish her years-long search then and there. If he ever decided to stick to the latter plan, his thoughts would return to his dream. He still wasn't sure of the consequences but if Lino was still the same the outcome could be deadly. So Lenny decided to combine his two options. He was going to test Kathleen. He would keep his face hidden from her and let Dustin do all the talking. If she gave them any good reasons why they should find her "missing" son, Lenny would face her. If not, he would have to come up with a good excuse for not helping her. Either way, he was still nervous about what was about to happen.

Dustin could tell he was apprehensive. "You okay?" he asked.

Lenny took a deep breath and said, "I think so."

"What do you want me to do again?"

"Just try to get any information you can without sounding suspicious," Lenny reminded him. "I wanna see if my dad really has changed. If she says anything that means he has changed, which I doubt, I'll probably ask you to leave."

"Ah, so you two can catch up?" Dustin asked.

Lenny nodded. "Anything else you didn't catch?"

"No, I…"

Dustin was interrupted by a knock at the office door.

"That must be her," said Dustin. "Better turn around before she…"

Before he could finish the sentence or Lenny could turn his chair around, the door opened and the knocker came in. They were both surprised to see that it was, not Kathleen, but Kylie.

"What are you doing here?" Lenny asked quietly when she reached the desk.

"Making sure you don't make the biggest mistake of your life," Kylie replied.

Lenny tried to talk her out of it. "You don't have to. We've got it all under control."

"I still wanna be here for you," said Kylie.

"Mom or not, this is still a meeting," Lenny explained. "We can't have you in here telling me what to do…"

"Relax," said Kylie. "I'm not gonna say a word. I'm just gonna stay over there in that corner and watch your every move. And if I think you need any help, I'll give it to you in a nonverbal way."

"But..."

Then there was another knock on the door. All three of them knew immediately it was Kathleen.

"One minute please!" Dustin called. "I'll let her in. You two better take your places." He got up from his seat and slowly made his way to the door.

Lenny knew now there was no turning back. It was too late to talk Kylie out of staying, so he let her. He turned his chair around so Kathleen wouldn't be able to see him and Kylie swam a few feet away to the nearest corner. Then a thought struck Lenny.

"Kendall?" he asked Kylie in a raised whisper.

Kylie looked back and said, "My mom's watching him."

After making sure Lenny and Kylie were in their places, Dustin turned the door handle and welcomed their guest.

"Good afternoon," Lenny heard him say. "You must be Kathleen."

"Yes, I am." A tear almost fell from Lenny's eye when he heard his mother's voice. He realized now that this was the first time he'd heard her gentle voice in seven years.

"Please come in and have a seat," said Dustin.

"Thank you."

Seconds later Dustin was back at Lenny's side. "This is my co-President," Dustin explained to Kathleen.

After a few seconds of silence, Lenny heard Kathleen say, "Why won't he…"

"Uh, my co-President is a very private shark," Dustin covered. "He usually lets me do the talking for both of us while he does the paper work."

The irony to that statement was in truth it was the other way around, but Lenny had other things on his mind. He actually did feel like crying right now. His mom, who he hadn't seen or heard from in seven years, was only feet away from him and she didn't even know. There was only one thing preventing him from turning around and hugging her: Lino. So Lenny was forced to continue to suffer. Kylie saw the sorrow in his eyes and hoped he really did know what he was doing.

Dustin began asking Kathleen whatever questions he had. "Now Kathleen, we understand that you've come a long way to get here."

"That's correct," Kathleen replied. "I've traveled far, from the South Side Reef. My husband's back at home."

"I see, and what exactly does your husband do?" asked Dustin, knowing Lenny at least wanted to hear that.

"He's retired now," said Kathleen. "He used to run the reef. Our son was supposed to take over the business but his leaving us made that impossible."

"So Pop is retired huh?" Lenny thought. "Well, Oscar and Angie were right about one thing. But this still doesn't mean he's changed."

"And you've been searching for your son for seven years, you said?" Dustin continued.

"Just about," said Kathleen.

"If you don't mind me asking, exactly how old would that make him?"

Kathleen thought. "Well he was nineteen when he left us so by now he'd be about twenty-six."

"Hm," said Dustin. "Now you are aware that our main purpose is helping to find lost children, are you not?"

"Yes, I understand that," Kathleen answered quickly. "But I heard great things about this organization. I heard nobody can file a search party better than you. I've been trying to find my son for years and never came close with the help I got. Besides, I know he's not a technically a child, but as a mother I have to say that he's still my baby."

Lenny was becoming more emotional by the second, but for now he still had to stick to his guns.

"Your story breaks my heart," said Dustin. "In that case, though it may not be what we normally do, we'll see if we can help. Do you happen to have a photo of your son taken around the same time you lost him?"

"Thank you so much," said Kathleen. "And yes, I do." She was silent for a moment. Lenny could tell she was searching through her purse. "Here it is."

Dustin took the picture and pretended to examine it. "Thank you."

Lenny looked at the picture from the corner of his eye. That was him alright and Dustin knew it.

"And what did you say his name was?" Dustin asked, even though he knew the answer already.

"Lenny. L-E-N-N-Y."

"And most importantly," Dustin finished, "Do you have any knowledge as to why he ran away from home?"

"Well actually, he didn't run away," said Kathleen.

"Oh?"

"He left for another reason, but I really don't feel comfortable discussing it."

Even though Dustin already knew the answer, he said, "I understand why you would be upset, Kathleen, but we will need a reason why he left to find him. Otherwise, it could be that he may not want to be found."

"Good excuse, Dustin," Lenny thought.

"Well then," Kathleen started. "I'll only say that I must find him. I miss him incredibly and also I want to relieve my husband of his suffering."

The last word caught the attention of all three of the listening sharks. Lenny, now more confused than melancholy, thought he knew exactly what Kylie was thinking.

"Suffering?" Dustin asked. "What do you mean suffering?"

Kathleen sighed and began explaining. "You see, seven years ago our son was beginning to have a reputation for being, let's say, 'different' from the other sharks. It was revealed that he ate kelp. I know that's normal on this reef but not back home. I had no problems with it but it angered my husband greatly. He lost his temper, as so often happened, and he told our son that he… didn't care to see him anymore. That's why he left. At first I was furious with my husband but the very next day I went to the living room and found him lying on the floor. I thought he was dead. I bent down to check his heart, slapped him for scaring me the way he did, and then noticed how upset he looked. I asked him what was wrong, and do you know what he said? 'I miss him'."

Lenny could swear he felt his heart skip a beat.

"I knew immediately who he meant," Kathleen continued. "I no longer felt furious with him because I saw that for the first time in his life, he was admitting that he'd made a terrible mistake. Not a day has passed since then where he doesn't regret what he said to our son. To this day, he can't even face himself in the mirror. He's been living with this guilt for seven years and I can never do anything to make him feel better. He's so miserable that he almost never leaves our room."

"That's why Pop never leaves home anymore?" Lenny thought. "Because he… misses me? And he actually feels guilty about what he said?" He looked over at Kylie, who quietly mouthed, "Told ya!"

"That's when I started this search for our son," said Kathleen. "I knew that it was the only way to put my husband out of his misery. But it's not just him. I've been missing Lenny too. And I can't go back without him. If I do, it could break my husband's heart completely. We already know what the pain of losing a child feels like. We've felt it before. We can't sleep at night without knowing that our only living child is safe." Her voice started shaking, as if she was crying. "So I'm begging you, please… Please help me find my son." Now it was clear that she really was crying.

No one said a word for almost a whole minute. Lenny looked up at Dustin with big, shocked eyes. The look on Dustin's face said, "Did you hear what I heard?" The answer of course was yes. Lenny could not believe a single word of Kathleen's story. Lino actually missed him? He suddenly felt a painful sensation in his chest that he'd never felt in his life. What was this feeling? Could it possibly be… guilt? He looked over at Kylie, whose face told him, "You know what to do. Go on." Lenny gulped and then nodded. He looked back up at Dustin and made a pointing gesture at the office door.

Dustin winked and said to Kathleen, "I promise you we'll help you find your son. But first, I think you should have a private talk with my co-president. I'll be right outside if you need me."

Lenny remained silent until he heard the office door open and close. Then, with a pounding heart and tearful eyes, he turned around to face Kathleen, whose face was buried in her fins. He got out of his chair, swam up to her, and said, "I won't let you or Pop suffer anymore."

Kathleen still didn't look up.

Lenny inhaled deeply and said, "It's me, Mom… Lenny."

Kathleen slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes to face him. "Lenny!" she gasped.

The two of them stared at each other for the next several seconds, both tearful and both breathing heavily. Then Kathleen threw herself forward and hugged Lenny tightly. "My baby," she sobbed.

Lenny hugged her back and said, "I'm here, Mom."

Kylie watched the whole thing, feeling both touched by the sight and proud of her husband for choosing wisely.

"So, did you mean everything you just said?" Lenny asked Kathleen.

Kathleen wiped her eyes and said, "Every word of it. Your father regrets whatever he said and he wants you home."

Now came the hard part that Lenny had to explain. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

Kathleen looked stunned. "Why ever not?"

"Because I belong here, Mom," said Lenny. "For once in my life, I'm not different. Everybody here likes me for who I am. Plus, look around you. This is my office. I'm co-president of this huge organization that helps kids, which I love to do. I can't just leave all this behind."

"But Lenny," Kathleen tried to protest. "We just spent seven years thinking you were dead. And this is a lovely place and all but you can always come back and visit." Then she studied the look on her son's face and said, "There's something else, isn't there?"

"It's more of a someone," Lenny replied.

"I don't understand."

Lenny looked in Kylie's direction and smiled as he held out his fin to her. "Kylie?"

Kylie shot him a cheeky smile with a raised eyebrow and emerged from her corner. When she reached Lenny, she hugged him and whispered, "I'm so proud of you."

Kathleen smiled and placed a fin over her heart, touched that her son had found his true love.

"She's gotta family here, Mom," said Lenny. "And I have one with her."

Kathleen's eyes went wide. "You mean…?"

Lenny nodded. "You're a grandma."

Kathleen suddenly looked puzzled. "Great as that may be, those aren't the exact words I would've chosen."

"Sorry."

"You're really happy here, Lenny?" Kathleen asked looking rather sad.

Lenny took note of his mother's sadness and tried to make up for it. "I'd be happier if you and Pop were here."

Kathleen thought for a moment. "Well…"

"There is an empty room available right next to ours," said Kylie. "We were saving it for our son when he was old enough for his own room, but you and Lenny's dad are more than welcome to take it."

"You're sure?" Kathleen asked.

"Absolutely."

"Please, Mom?" Lenny asked. "I can't leave here, and you said Pop's retired. So why can't you? Just go back home, tell Pop everything, and you guys can move down here."

Kathleen gave the idea a little more thought and finally gave in. "Alright, I'll do it," she said with a smile.

"Awesome," said Lenny.

"But I'm not going anywhere until you introduce me to my in-laws and my grandchild."

End of chapter, one more to go!

Author's note: Wow, three uploads in three days? Now you guys know why I called myself I'm-On-a-Roll lol.