Page 26 of Every Chance to Stay

Unsurprisingly, it was Jack who filled the table with conversation. His twin asked Antonio’s age (34) and compared their own (23), his favorite color (blue), his birthday (October 3rd), and when he ran out of small topics, he turned to talking about the marine center.

“There were so many fish today! We haven’t had a bust that big in forever.” Jack exclaimed, almost knocking over his drink in his frustration.

“Let the man eat, Jackie.” Teague hummed, methodically working through his lasagna.

“I don’t mind.” Antonio smiled, making a show of eating, “The food’s delicious by the way.” Lucky could tell the alpha was desperate to make a good impression. “What do you mean by ‘bust’ though?”

Lucky rubbed his thumb over the back of Antonio’s hand under the table. “Ah, well, Paradise has pretty strict restrictions on what tropical fish can be kept as pets. It goes in two directions – what fish can be bred for sale and what fish can be imported. Some people don’t like listening to regulations like that.”

“Especially the ones around Lyrica Beach.” Teague shook his head.

“I’ve heard tales of the black-market fish trade, but I never considered what they were getting the fish for.” Antonio tilted his head.

“Usually, it’s personal tanks but sometimes we find out about them being kept in like, those big ornamental lobby tanks. It’s very frustrating. Especially when we have to go in and forcibly remove the fish, the entire process can be quite stressful – for us and the fish.” Lucky explained.

“It was a big bust this time, they even had coral. Coral! And the real problem in this case is that the fish were wild caught but who knows how long they were in the tanks and who knows what they were exposed to so we have to treat them and then put them in the aquarium tanks cause we can’t release them. It’s really annoying.” Jack cut through with an ease Lucky always envied.

“The rich and powerful really do as they please.” Lucky sighed, “Though… you live in the Verde Cliffs area, you must see some of that.”

“Yeah…” Antonio leaned back in his chair. “That’s my mother’s property. It’s the house I grew up in. Though right before my mother moved back to Spain six years ago, we had it renovated.”

“Did you know that over half of the pirates who founded Paradise were from Spain or the various Spanish colonies? Sure, we had lots of British, French, and Portuguese pirates too, but it’s really skewed towards Spain which is why so many people still speak Spanish here.” Jack’s autopilot history lesson never failed to amuse him..

“Jack is a real history nerd.” Lucky teased. While their conservation work always made for fun chatter, a chance to show off Jackie’s talents couldn’t go awry! “You should see the pictures he’s taken of the historical sites… or the shipwrecks!”

“You’re a photographer?” Antonio tilted his head, curious.

“Sort of. I’m not doing much of anything right now. Just enjoying life.” Jack shrugged.

“Jack’s been working on the Marine Center’s website. It keeps him busy and gets more people to visit.” Teague’s pride was warm. Lucky never once questioned how much their father loved them.

“Any chance we’ll see more TV specials?” Antonio probed with a hopeful look, “I’ll admit, when Lucky’s mayday came through, I was a little awestruck.”

“There might be.” Teague shrugged, “Lucky’s turtles come first. Speaking of, we finally got approved to collect the documents he requested. You can pick them up tomorrow.”

Antonio lifted their linked hands and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. Lucky felt his cheeks heat, mouth going dry. “Soon you will have your proof, and it will all be put to rest.” The confidence in Antonio’s warm voice made it easy to believe him.

“You two are so cute, I’m going to get cavities.” Jack broke the moment. Lucky kicked his brother lightly under the table.

“No more gold teeth, you already look like a pirate.” Teague rumbled.

Jack threw his hands up, “Coming from the walking pirate himself!”

Antonio laughed at their antics and Lucky had never felt more at ease. Everything would be okay. If it wasn’t, well… He had the best family. They could get through anything together.

The Department of Records was housed within one of several glittering government buildings in Hulltown. The capital of Paradise was a beautiful blend of historical buildings and recent construction. Statues stood, looking over Pirata Bay where the first ships had landed in their bid for freedom. It was where they repelled colonizing forces who sought to end them the same way they’d ended the Republic of Pirates, and it was where the first council was formed of captains and first mates to create the principals all in Paradise continued to live by.

Historical paintings lined the hallway, depicting various captains and their stunning vessels. Lucky took his time. He might have his issues with government – something they all swore lived in their blood, but he really did like learning their history.

Following the signs, Lucky found the department he was looking for and stood in line behind another omega with an eager teen by his side. The child talked rapidly about historical birth certificates for a class project. He remembered doing the same with Jack at his side, talking about which pirate dad was related to and what ship they’d make a diorama of…

After a few minutes, he was motioned forward by an older woman wearing red-rimmed glasses.

“Hi, I’m here to pick up some documents? They should be held for Lucky Wilde.” He rested his fingers on the wooden counter, rubbing his thumbs along the chipped varnish.

“Oh! You’re with the Marine Center then.” She smiled happily. “I’ve got… a folder on the protective status of Playa del Tesoro, does that sound right?” Her brows furrowed, “We’ve all been talking about it here in the office! Terrible stuff they’re doing, surveying the land for sale. No one’s happy about the proposal. Me and my book club are planning on attending the town hall to raise our concerns. Will you be there?”

“We always have a representative at every town hall.” He confirmed, “As for whether we’ll be raising concerns about this, we absolutely will. An endangered turtle species historically nests on that beach.”