Nadine Book 3

21. Boat Rules

I get to Zara's room, and she is so precious and sweet. She has such bright eyes. "I feel bad you are in here all alone Zara. I think I'm going to take you to dinner with me. I'll spend some time with you."

She coo's at me.

I send a servant out for a little pink dress and tell the girls I'm taking her with me. I take her back to my place and wash her up. I put her little dress on and she seems so happy. I sit in my chair and snuggle her for 10 minutes, then I go to dinner.

Dark eyes pop up everywhere. Kane turns Tye around, so he can't see me.

"Everyone, this is Zara. She's had a rough start in life. I'm going to keep her. She's mine now."

Dipak and daddy both choke. Tre spits water everywhere. Thora's eyes about pop out of her head. Almost everyone else is stunned stupid. Asa grabs her cup. "Well, only 99 more."

Momma takes a drink.

Omar stands up after a second. "Nadine, let's go have a chat. Leave Zara with Tre. Dipak is choking. Someone should probably fix that too." He gives her to Tre and leads me out.

We sit in the first sitting room we come to. "Nadine, what is the thought process here?"

Kane and Tye come in. I stare at them.

Kane finally says, "Dipak and Tre are both to scared to be here. They sent us."

"That's fine. Nadine look at me. What is the thought process here?"

"She's been hurt by someone who is supposed to love her. I was too. I can protect her. I can cuddle her."

"You 2 do have that in common. And you will protect her how? You already killed the threat. The baby needs someone who is not a teenager to raise her."

"I can do it. I can love her and keep her safe."

"Safety and protection is the theme here. Who would you protect her from?"

"Everyone."

"What would you do if someone tries to hurt her?"

"Kill them."

Kane smiles. "By taking a baby that's not from either of them, you will make damn sure they won't hurt your babies. No matter whose they are."

"And if either of them attempt to hurt her, you will kill them." Omar rubs his eyes.

Kane chuckles. "This is a mothers instinct. You're making sure your unborn babies are safe. And you're showing that you will kill anyone, mates included, for those babies."

Tye has a little smile on his face. He doesn't say anything.

"I didn't think about it like it. But yes that does make sense. I can't keep her can I?"

"No. you can't keep her to make sure your babies will be safe. That's not fair to either of you. You are so very young. You still need to go play and have fun. You can't leave her all the time."

Tye winks at me. "Where in the world would we put a baby on a pirate ship? Instead of hoist the colors, it would be hoist the baby."

Kane smiles. "Well, at least we could all see her stuck to the flag pole. We wouldn't lose her that way."

"She could point out the directions for you all. Since, I don't think any of you can navigate over water anyways."

Tye nods. "Might as well let the baby do it. Dipak is going to have us lost anyways."

These boys have me laughing so hard. "He really will, and he's not going to ask for directions. We'll have to keep going."

After a few minutes, Omar stands up. "Let's go eat."

We get back to the dining room and Tye smirks. "We're going to hoist the baby onto the flag pole and let her point us in directions. No one trusts your navigation, Dipak."

I sit back down in my seat and Asa brings me the baby. "I guess I'm not a grandma yet?"

I shake my head at her.

"That was rather sudden. I haven't bought anything for grandbabies yet."

Momma jumps up. "WE NEED TO GO DO THAT."

Daddy yells. "NO BABIES."

Momma shakes her head. "WE'LL ONLY BUY A LITTLE BIT."

Asa yells. "WE NEED TO GET A START ON IT."

Daddies eyes go red, and he glares at Dipak and Tre.

They both say at the same time, "No babies for a long long time sir."

Daddy sits back down. "NO KISSING EITHER. WHERE THE HELL IS MY STABBING KNIFE? NEED TO GO STAB TRE."

Tye is watching me and his eyes are pitch black. Asa must see him at the same time as me. She grabs Dipaks' shoulders and points him at me. "See how pretty she is with a baby." Then she points people in different directions.

Kane spins Tye's chair, so he can't see me. But daddy must see him then. Daddy jumps back up and points a knife at him. "NO BABIES."

Momma jumps up and grabs the knife. "THEY KNOW." She turns around and sees Tye. "ASA I NEED A DRINK."

Dracul rolls his eyes.

"I'll take her for now." Asa takes Zara from me.

Dipak glances around since Asa let him go finally. "What happened?"

Tre is rubbing his eyes.

Asa, momma, and Kane all yell, "NOTHING."

Everyone gets reseated and starts eating. Omar smiles. "This is very good bread tonight."

Gunner grabs more. "It is really good."

We finish eating and go over to the morning room.

Tre lays the plans out on the table. "You're not going to have a room to yourself baby. Are you ok with that? Even here you have an apartment and a house. You will have to share with us all the time."

"I'm fine with it. I always sleep with 1 of you anyway."

Mary and Kane come in, and I stare at her. Her neck is horrible. It looks like he bit her 100 times.

"Kane, you only had to bite her once."

He starts laughing then the boys laugh.

"Boys, it's not funny. That hurts."

"Sorry, I got carried away."

I open the door. "Guard, summon Thora's ointment. She'll know what that means." I pull up a chair. "Sit here Mary, I'll get you fixed. But I may break your mate in the process." She hands me the swords.

Kane's eyes about pop out of his head as I bring 2 swords down at him. He pulls his sword so fast and blocks them. I swing again, and he blocks it and backs up.

Thora, Momma, Asa, and Prinna all come flying in the door and go after Tre and Dipak.

"YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD."

"YOU CAN NOT BITE HER."

"SHE IS TOO YOUNG TO CARRY A BOND."

"YOU WILL DESTROY IT."

"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?"

Tre jumps behind Tye. "IT WASN'T US."

They all look at Tye.

"YOU CAN NOT BITE HER." His eyes about pop out.

"SHE IS TO YOUNG."

"BOY, I WILL TEAR YOUR HEAD OFF."

"HHHHEEEEEEEYYYYYYY" I yell, "IT WAS FOR MARY. I'M NOT BIT."

"Oh my word."

"What did that man do to you?"

"I have the ointment in my pocket. Turn your head a little."

"Oh sweetie. That has to hurt so much."

"The ointment will help it. Should be all healed very soon."

Then they all turn to Kane. I run behind the desk with Tre, Tye, and Dipak.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW MUCH THAT HURTS?"

"AND TO DO IT WITHOUT THE OINTMENT."

"YOU PUT HER THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN."

Thora grabs a sword from me and throws it at him. It goes right into his arm.

"NO OINTMENT FOR YOU." She storms out.

Momma rips the sword out. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THAT. SHE HAS TO HEAL BETWEEN THEM." She sticks the sword in his other arm and leaves.

Asa and Prinna follow her out. "That is ridiculous."

Dipak says, "Well, that happened."

"Yea."

Mary stands up. "That does feel so much better already. What is that ointment?"

"I don't know Mary. They won't tell me. Thora would probably tell you if you ask though."

"Ok."

"Can anyone get this sword out of my arm?"

Me and Mary both glare at him. "No."

Dipak goes over and takes it out of him. "There you go."

Tre crosses his arms. "I really don't know about having her share with us all the time. She says it's fine, but I don't know."

Dipak nods. "You wouldn't have any space for yourself. I don't know how well you would like that. I know you always sleep with 1 one of us. But you also get a lot of time to yourself. You would not get that at all. You would always be with one of us."

"It's not like a weekend trip. We would be staying on that boat for possibly weeks at a time. And it's not like any of us will be able to leave for long at a time. We'll be in the middle of the ocean. I really think having personal space for yourself is a good idea."

Mary smiles. "Yea, she's not use to sharing like that. Think about your apartment, little miss. I know one of them is always there with you. But the way you decorate it, all the treasures you keep. You do need personal space. I can't even imagine you after a week if you had no time to yourself."

Kane smirks. "And flying around over the boat blowing fire at us does not count as time to yourself."

"But that's the best kind of alone time."

Tye checks the floorplan. "Put a room right here. I mean the stairs are here. Then 2 rooms at each end. Put her room in the middle. It may make getting to the rooms at the back awkward. But if it's only us on that floor, who cares? We can deal with it."

Dipak nods. "And for a shorter trips we could take Thora. Let her have that room and Nadine could stay with me or Tre. That would work out better anyway."

Tre checks it again. "It really wouldn't even make it that awkward. We would move her against this wall. It would end up being a hallway the people in the back have to use."

Dipak points. "I want to be at the front of the boat. One of these rooms are mine."

"Me too."

I try not to laugh. "You 2 really want rooms that are side by side?"

Tre rubs his eyes. "I'll move to the back of the boat. Opposite corner as you Dipak."

"You are not allowed to get loud on the boat, woman."

"We'll have to keep her quiet."

I look at Mary. "I ALREADY HAVE BOAT RULES." We both crack up again.

Kane shakes his head. "Soundproof the whole level."

Dipak rubs his eyes. "Good Idea."

Tre looks at Mary. "Are you ok sharing?"

Kane puts his arm around her. "Yes she is."

That makes me mad. I point a sword at him. "SHE CAN ANSWER HERSELF."

"Yes, I am fine sharing."

Dipak rubs his eyes. "What do we need in the rooms?"

My eyebrows shoot up. "Everything was built in. In the rooms. Everything was nailed down. Even the couches. Nothing would move at all."

He gives me a funny look.

Tye smiles. "It's because of the waves. They will get big and rock the boat sometimes. You don't want to get hit with a chair or couch trying to get out of bed. Every single thing has to be bolted down. Nothing can move. Drawers have to have locks on them, so they don't fly open."

Tre looks at him. "I would not have thought of that."

He nods. "Kitchens are really weird. Even bowls and plates and things each have their own space to be locked in to. Baths like we know here, can't exist. The sitting water would fly out everywhere."

Kane laughs. "Walk into the kitchen and get stuck in the head with a knife."

Dipak winks at me. "Well, she'll be on the boat, so that is always a risk anyway." They all laugh.

Tre sits back. "Let's go somewhere and see an actual ship. I mean, this layout is good, but it sounds like we're missing all the little things. We can take Tye, and he can point out stuff. We can figure out something for bathing. Even if it's a room with overhead pipes and a drain in the center of the floor. We can put locks on it and share if we can't figure out how to put one in each room. I'm not going weeks without a bath."

Dipak stands up. "We can do that tomorrow. The 4 of us can go over to that dock in Greece."

"Why can't I go?"

"Do you really want to go watch us pick apart a ship and make a bunch of notes?"

"No, I guess not."

He winks at me. "Go shopping for the ball with Thora and Elkie."

"Fine, but you better tell me you like my shoes 200 times or next time I'll send you with a door knob."

Tye smiles. "Don't forget, if she changes her shoes, the counter resets."

"Woman, I am not telling you that you have pretty shoes 200 times."

"Well then you get a door knob next time."

Kane rolls his eyes. "Let's get back to the boat."

Dipak nods. "I think we're good for now. Plan on going to the dock in the morning."

We part ways for bed.