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I was really thankful the coconut didn’t have the same visceral effect on me that the mangos had.
“These are really good,” I exclaimed. “Thank you for risking your life to get them, Makoa.”
“No problem, brotha! We gotta make sure to harvest them before they fall and knock someone on the head!”
“Has that happened?” asked Visir.
Makoa grinned. “Of course. Why do you think Kai is such a coconut head? One too many to the crown.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Kai. “At least I’ve got some brains. All you’ve got up there is meat.”
“Eat more!” Makoa said to me. “Have as much as you want. Stuff your face. After all, you’re eating for two.”
“Eating for two?” Grandma Payaka asked.
None of us had heard her come into the kitchen. She was holding a big basket of mangoes that nearly dwarfed her, and Ari ran over to help her.
“Yes, exactly!” he said. “Because… Makoa told him he could eat his portion of the coconuts.”
Makoa looked offended.
“Well, you must be feeling better,” Grandma Payaka said to me. “And we have a lot of mangos.”
The smell hit me before I could say anything.
It was an absolute travesty that one of my favorite T’wanu foods was suddenly as appealing as rotting tree bark.
I slapped my hand over my mouth and stumbled away from the mangos like they wanted to hurt me. Makoa and Kai looked at me like I was crazy.
“No mangos,” I uttered into my palm.
“But you love mangos,” she said. “Are you sure everything’s alright?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just full from all the coconut, that’s all.”
She eyed my stomach. “You do look full.”
Ari threw himself in front of me. “A-a-ah, I just remembered, Istil needs another dose of medicine,” he stammered, waving his arms. “Uh, we wouldn’t want him throwing up all over the place. Thank you, Grandmother, we’ll have some later, goodbye!”
He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me out of the room.
“This is going to get ridiculous very quickly,” I told him, back in his office. “What am I gonna do? Hide in my room all day and avoid your grandma? She’s everywhere.”
Ari took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Yes, I know, I know. Dammit. I should have a plan for this.”
“Maybe we don’t need a plan,” I said. “We’re only delaying the inevitable.”
“By the Gods,” he muttered. “I know you’re right, but the thought of telling her… I’m not ready for the clan to know about this.”
I grabbed Ari’s hand and placed it against my stomach.
“We’re never ready,” I said. “I’m definitely not. But it’s happening.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t know how she will react. We’re not in a relationship, and in the old days, that could be grounds for exile.”
“But things are different now.”
“In certain ways.”
