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I laugh as he slips off his boots. I do the same, and then take off the sling, nestling the egg next to the backpack. Then I undress. Flint watches me as I tug off my shorts, my bra and panties, step by step until I'm in nothing at all.
"Damn," he says. "You know how gorgeous you are?"
I shake my head. "Until I met you, I never even considered such a thing."
He pulls me to him, kisses me softly. "Damn, I feel lucky."
"So do I," I say, then I look over to the egg on the ground.
"You going to be okay leaving him here?"
I smile. "How do you know it's a he?"
Flint shrugs. "I don't know. I guess we should come up with a name."
"You're right," I say. "Something that has to do with Flint and Fancy."
"Flancy?" he asks.
I shake my head. "Fant?"
He chuckles. "I don't know about either of those to be honest. Come on," he says. “Let's swim."
He helps me down the bank into the lagoon. I'm surprised that it's warm and clear. "So beautiful," I say.
"It's a freshwater spring, and the sun hits it most of the day so it's usually pretty warm."
"It's incredible," I say, ducking my head and rinsing my body off completely. I blink, seeing fish swirl around us at our ankles. When I come up for air, I brush my hands over my face, smoothing back my hair. Flint watches me, wading in the water a few feet away.
"It's pretty magical, huh?" he says.
"There's so many fish," I say. "It's surreal. And they're so big. Species I've never seen or imagined."
"So, did you come up with a name?" he asks, swimming closer to me. He tries to catch me, but I dodge away, splashing water in his face.
"Hmm. How about FlintFancy?"
"It's kind of a mouthful," he says.
"We'll think of something," I say. "I don't suppose we're in any rush."
Just then the sky darkens, and I frown, the contrast to the sun so shocking. "Wow," I say. "That storm is sure rolling in fast."
"It is," Flint says. "It's unexpected."
Just then the rain begins to pelt down on us. "Shit," he says, and we swim out of the lagoon toward the trees for cover. He wraps his arms around me and together we look out at the wild storm that dropped on us.
"It's insane," I say as the thunder and lightning begin to fill the sky. "Do storms always run in this quick?"
"Not since I've been here," he says.
"Oh, no," I say. "Maybe I'm bad luck."
"Not possible," I say. "Remember? Only good luck since I got that egg."
"Right," I say. "The egg."
Just as I'm about to dart from the tree line to go pick it up and hold it close for protection, a bolt of lightning strikes ten yards away from me, directly over the egg. I shriek, and Flint leaps forward, pulling me back.
"Be careful," he says. "Don't–"
"Oh my God," I scream. "Oh my God."
"What is it?" he says as lightning hits the amberized egg again.
"It's like it attracted the lightning," I say. "Where did you usually keep the egg?"
"I always kept in the cave," he tells me. "And I found it in a cave too."
"So it's always been in the dark," I say, gasping as the lightning strikes it again, so hard, penetrating it from the inside out. It becomes a giant glowing orb. I'm breathless, mesmerized, and I wish I had a video camera to document this whole thing, because honestly, this might be the first scientific discovery of all mankind.
"If this is the first time it's ever been in the light, and it was almost immediately struck by lightning, that can't be a coincidence," I say. "Can it?"
Flint shakes his head. "No. It can't. I'm telling you everything that happens here feels like fate."
The lightning pulls back, and within a minute, the storm rolls away. The thunder stops, the rain turning to sprinkles, then turning to nothing at all. The sun reappears. I try to steady my breath, lacing my fingers through Flint's, stepping toward the egg.
Not sure what we're going to find, if it's going to be obliterated, or disintegrated or… I gasp.
It's neither of those things.
The amber has melted away and the egg is beginning to hatch.
10
Flint
We kneel before the bone-colored dinosaur egg as it begins to crack before our very eyes.
"Oh my God," Fancy gasps. "I can't believe this is happening." I take her hand, squeezing it tight.
"It's all happening so fast,” I say softly. “First, I meet you. I fall in love. The next day, we're having a baby."
She looks over at me, tears in her eyes. "Fall in love?"
I cup her cheek. "Fancy, tell me I'm not crazy."
"You're not crazy," she says. "I love you too, Flint. I don't know what has happened to bring us here, why the Universe decided that you and I should meet like this, now, at this point in time. But I feel it, this unexplainable, ridiculous love. So no, it's not in your head."
