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They had both agreed that after exams, a little vacation during spring break was just what they both needed. Taking a small break from going over rulings and old cases, John pulled up Airbnb on his laptop and browsed through the listings for a place to rent for the week. Fortunately, they had both previously settled on a short list of requirements for their search: far away, but within the American continent; a safe place to visit and somewhere with nice, warm weather. The past winter in New York had been brutal. They had agreed they were in serious need for some sun.
John started listing off places one by one as Alex scrolled through Twitter on his phone, snacking on gummy sharks.
“Florida?”
“No.”
“California?”
“Nah.”
“Texas?”
“NO.”
John sighed. “Well, the only other place far enough for our list is Mexico.”
Alex nodded. “Try that.”
John refreshed the page and read out the first listing. “There’s a place in Cozumel.”
Alex paused his scrolling. “Is that the place Hercules went for vacation last year?” Turning in his seat, John shook his head. “No, that was Cancun. Cozumel is nearby though. It’s this island just off the tip of the country.”
Alex got up from his spot on John’s bed and together they viewed the attached photos for a listing of a small, one story, one bedroom, one bathroom beach house with the outside walls green and pink and a wooden deck leading to the beach.
Alex hummed his approval. “I like it. It’s cute. Book it.”
With a silent nod, John clicked the reservation button.
Alex couldn’t be more at peace than he was at that moment, with the warmth from the sun’s rays on his back, a light breeze in the air, Big Pun in his ears, and his law textbook laid out in front of him.
It was well into the afternoon when he looked up from his textbook and glanced at John, who was out swimming in the bright, blue ocean. He had brought a pair of goggles with him after he had met some divers who were at the island to take photos of its aquatic wildlife. He had been looking forward to swimming with the fishes when the two left for the beach earlier in the morning. Alex watched as he swam about with the cute little green goggles in his eyes, occasionally calling out to him when he spotted a fish. Alex shook his head at his adorable boyfriend and went back to reading.
When John walked back to their spot, Alex was too engrossed in his book to notice. Chuckling to himself, John grabbed the spare towel to dry off and sat down on the towel on the sand next to his boyfriend. Taking a sip of water from the bottle they had brought with them, he looked at their surroundings. There were a couple of families down the beach but no one around them. For the moment, they had the place all to themselves. It was perfect.
John laid back and closed his eyes, listening to the seagulls fly in the sky above him. Alex shut his book and pulled his headphones off. “Oh, hey. When did you come back?”
“Not too long ago.”
Alex tapped John’s thigh and John spread his legs to make room for Alex to sit, which Alex promptly did, after which John wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and linked their fingers together. He placed a kiss in Alex’s hair, breathing in the scent of his coconut shampoo and the salty sea air. Alex hummed in content. “You’re warm.”
John laughed. “You smell good.”
Alex brought their joined hands up to kiss them.
They sat there blissfully content, watching the waves hit the shore while their hands roamed; John’s, tangled in the soft, dark strands of Alex’s hair; Alex admiring and counting the many freckles dotting John’s arms and hands; John peppering kisses all over his adorable boyfriend - on his hands, in his hair, his bare shoulder. Alex decided enough was enough, turned around in his spot, pushed John back until he was laying down on his back, and leaned over to get a proper kiss from his boyfriend.
After a couple of hours of sitting by the beach, engaged in playful caresses, their stomachs started rumbling and John said, “I’m hungry, and I can guess from your stomach rumbling that you are too.”
Alex laughed. “Yeah, I am. We should head into town and see what we find to eat.”
John kissed Alex’s temple. “Sounds like a plan.”
Alex stood up and held his hand out for John to grab. John took it and Alex pulled him up.
When John got upright, he inched towards Alex, smiling wickedly at him.
“What?” Alex asked.
John shrugged. “Oh, just this.”
One moment, Alex’s feet were on the ground.Then, John tackled him and lifted him up by his waist, forcing Alex to wrap his arms around his neck to hold on, his feet dangling two feet off from the sand. John then turned and ran towards the water, grinning devilishly.
“John, no! Put me down! John, stop!”
John stopped when the water reached his mid thigh. He looked up at Alex, who said with the hardest, most serious voice he could muster. “John, don’t do it.”
John feigned innocence, his eyes adorably wide. “Don’t do what?”
Alex pushed his hair behind his ears. “I know what you’re thinking, John Laurens. Don’t do it.” He ordered, eyeing the water below for any oncoming dangers.
John whispered: “You mean don’t do this?”
Alex shut his eyes tight, bracing himself for the cold water to completely engulf his body, but, instead, he just felt John’s soft lips on his. With a slight, surprised grin, Alex willfully leaned into the kiss. When John pulled away, Alex opened his eyes to see John’s angelic smile.
“No, no, you can do that !” Alex said, and leaned in for another kiss. His tongue explored John’s mouth, savoring the fading taste of mint toothpaste and salt as John tugged on Alex’s bottom lip, making him shiver down his spine.
John let go of Alex’s lips, causing his boyfriend to whine at the sudden loss of their soft touch. “As much as I would love to continue this”, he said, “it’s getting late and the water’s cold and I’m starving.”
When Alex nodded, John turned them around and together they headed back to shore, where John finally set Alex back on his feet and they moved to gather their things and leave.
“But we will continue that, right?” Alex asks as John wrapped up their large beach towel.
“You mean the making out part? Most definitely.” John answered with a wink. After lifting up the picnic basket they had brought, the they made their way back to their house to find some food.
However, on the way they spotted a man in a blue polo and khaki shorts studying the sand underneath him and occasionally jotting something down on his clipboard.
After exchanging confused glances, they shrugged in unison and began walking towards him.
“Alto, por favor!” The stranger suddenly ordered, holding out his hand to stop them from moving closer.
Alex spoke first. “Usted estas bien, señor?” , he asked in slightly accented spanish.
The guy nodded and walked up to them. “ Oh, si, si! Todo va según lo previsto!”
“As planned?” John asked.
“Yes, yes! The temperature has been perfect these past couple weeks. It’s perfect for the eggs!” the guy explained while looking through the pages on his clipboard.
“Eggs?” John inquired, raising his brow.
“ Si , the mother came onto shore two months ago and she laid her eggs at that spot.” The man said, pointing to a square shaped section of sand that was closed off with plastic mesh and wooden stakes. “I was on the beach when she came and I marked the spot and placed the sign to warn others to be careful. The babies should be hatching any day now!”
John’s eyes widened. “What kind of babies?”
With a knowing grin on his face, the man leaned in as if he was about to tell them a secret. “Ah, señores . Sea turtles!”
John gasped, and then his mouth broke out in the widest grin. Sea turtles! He’d never thought he’d get the chance to see sea turtles hatch! He remembered hearing stories about others who had seen them back home in South Carolina but, unfortunately, they never come near his home. He couldn’t believe it!
“Do you know when the eggs are going to hatch?” John asked excitedly as the man fumbled through his bag, from which he took out a small green notebook.
“The mother came onto shore two months ago so, if the time is right, they should hatch within the next couple of days. I’ve been on turtle watch for the past few days.” the man stated.
John looked back at Alex with bright eyes full of wonder, as well as something more. Alex knew that look. He knew it very well. His John had a plan and he was going to make his plan happen.
“Disculpe, un momento.” John requested, and pulled Alex aside.
“Alex!” John took Alex’s hands and whispered, “Sea turtles! We have to ask if we can join him for the night and watch.”
“Cariño, what if they don’t hatch while we’re here? We’ve only got a couple of days left.”
John squeezed Alex’s hands. “I just have this feeling that they’re going to hatch while we are here. Mon cher, I just know it.”
“Since when do you have a sixth sense for sea turtles?”
John rolled his eyes. “There’s no harm in asking. Please?”
Sighing, Alex nodded in agreement. “Alright, let’s ask.”
They walked back to the man, who was packing his things. John took a deep breath. It was now or never.
“Excuse me! Would it be okay if my boyfriend and I come back here tonight and watch over the nest?” John asked, and waited with baited breath as the man zipped up his shoulder bag and hauled it over his shoulder.
“Si, no es un problema! You are welcome to join me!” The guy answered, causing John’s face to light up as he smiled wide.
“What’s your name?” John asked, holding his hand out for the man to shake.
The guy took it, laughing when John shook it real fast. “Miguel. My name is Miguel.”
“Miguel, fue un placer to meet you. Hasta luego!”
“Igualmente! Adiós!”
After bidding Miguel goodbye, John turned to Alex and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s chubby frame.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He chanted into Alex’s hair. When John let go, Alex got up on his tippy toes and kissed his lover’s cheek.
“Anything for you.”
After showering and changing into a fresh change of clothes, they made their way inland downtown in search of food. Passing by rows of restaurants near the water that were brimming with tourists, they continued to amble down the sidewalk until they stopped at a small local seafood place, vibrantly decorated with colorful wooden chairs and bright blue tables. The restaurant, being somewhat out of the way of the major tourist traps, wasn’t very full, with only a handful of couples scattered across the dining room- enough to fill it with soft murmuring, but not so much that it prevented anyone from listening to the radio. They took their seats at a table next to a painting of the sunset.
While they waited for a waitress to come by and take their order, John unleashed his inner marine biology nerd and began talking enthusiastically about sea turtles. “So the origin of sea turtles goes back about 150 million years in the late jurassic period and are the only types of turtles that can not retract their heads, arms, or legs into their bodies...” The waitress arrived and took their order leaving a bowl of chips and salsa and a bottle of wine.
After that, John continued. “Did you know that there are seven species of sea turtles in existence? There’s green, leatherback, hawksbill, flatback, Kemp’s Ridley, Olive Ridley and loggerhead.” he said, counting with his fingers. “Females will return to the same nesting ground they were born in to lay their own nest of eggs, but once males are born and get into the water, they never return back to land. Do you know how the sex gets determined? It all depends on how the temp…”
John cut off when he heard Alex’s soft chuckling and saw him shake his head lovingly. “I knew you were an expert on all things soft-shelled turtles,” Alex remarked, “but I never knew your expertise extended past them!”
John shrugged, “Before you came to New York, I took a class on marine biology. We took class trips to the aquarium and got to see a behind-the-scenes look on all the great stuff they do there.” He sighed. “That was until my father told me to I needed to concentrate on more important things, and now I’m pre-law.”
A soon as the words left his mouth, John’s heard his own voice falter, felt his face fall, his shoulders instinctively tensed and he averted his eyes to the tablecloth. His right hand curled into a fist, and suddenly the thought of chugging the bottle of wine in front of him became much more appealing. John watched as Alex reached for his hand and uncurled his fingers, linking them with his and plat on them a light kiss.
“The sex of the turtles depends on…?” Alexander urged, while caressing his boyfriend’s hand.
Grateful for the distraction, John continued: “Oh, it all depends on the temperature of the area while the eggs are incubating underground. If there are cooler temperatures, there are more males. If it’s warmer, there are more females.”
The waitress returned with their food - fish for Alex and lobster for John - and the two dug in. The two returned the conversation with more turtle facts, what topics they thought Professor Washington was going to bring up in their Speech and Debate class, and speculations as to what their friends Lafayette and Hercules were up to back home. No one mentioned Henry Laurens, or anything even remotely related to him.
The food was delicious, and the rest of their dinner was filled with warmth and laughter. Before they ate, John made a toast to the rest of their vacation, their health, their friends’ health, and, of course, to the sea turtles. The addition of the turtles made Alex laugh. It was nothing short of perfect. Afterwards, they split the bill and left, making their way back into town and stopping at a drugstore to pick up snacks: gummy sharks and plantain chips for Alex, trail mix for John, and water bottles.
When they got home, they packed the wicker basket with all the things they thought they would need during a night of stargazing and patiently waiting: food, blankets, a flashlight, and Alex even managed to sneak in the other book he had brought for the trip, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. They also changed into warmer clothes: a long-sleeved Columbia sweatshirt for John and Alex, who had forgotten to bring warmer clothes, wore John’s favorite hoodie. It was a worn-in, soft Mets hoodie with Laurens on the back and John’s favorite number, 11. Alex loved seeing John in it, but he loved wearing it more. When they were all set to go, they locked the back door and made their way down the beach to the sea turtles and Miguel.
They spotted their new friend standing next to the marked site, and he waved them over to help them set up a spot a few feet away from the nest. After the blankets were laid out, John made small talk with Miguel while Alex got comfortable, placing a blanket underneath him as a cushion and draping another blanket over his legs.
He listened to their conversation, pitching in when needed. Miguel had also changed into warmer clothes and had brought with him a small folding chair and a laptop on which he was currently showing John the data he had collected over the past couple weeks. Alex tuned out their soft chatter and closed his eyes.
When Alex had lived on St. Croix, listening to the ocean waves come and go had always helped him calm his mind and focus his racing thoughts. Whenever he found himself short of breath, his head pounding, and his thoughts going in a million different directions, he would drop everything and headed towards the shore. He would find a spot and sit there for hours, matching his breathing with the coming and going of the waves and, sitting there in those quiet moments, he’d imagine the coiled tension in his body recede into the sea, leaving him cleansed and rejuvenated.
Alex took a deep breath, felt his body start to relax, felt the tension he normally carried in the back of his neck come loose. He was deep in thought when he felt a gentle squeeze on his right shoulder. He looked up to see a small smile on John’s face. “You okay, babe?”, John asked.
Alex brought his hand on top of John’s and smiled back. “Yeah, I’m fine. How are they doing?”
The mention of the baby turtles brought a look of childlike excitement to his boyfriend. “Well, about an hour ago, when he was setting up his stuff, Miguel thought he saw some movement in the sand, but he’s not a hundred percent sure. He thinks it could have been his doing. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Miguel called John over and Alex watched as John carefully made his way back to him, stepping so lightly on the sand as to not disturb the nest. Laughing softly to himself as he watched his cute, adorable boyfriend tiptoe around the marked area, his arms flailing at his side as he tried to retain his balance, Alex reached into the basket and pulled out his book. He’d gotten to the part where Harry and Ron save Hermione from the troll in the girl’s bathroom when he realized he had read the same paragraph three times already. He set the book aside and turned his attention to John.
Miguel was sitting in his chair and John was looking over his shoulder at the laptop screen on Miguel’s lap. The light from the screen painted John’s face in a blue hue which allowed Alex to see John’s light dusting of freckles even from where he was sitting. A stray curl that escaped from John’s ponytail framed the side of his face. John mindlessly brushed it behind his ears and then his eyes flitted to find Alex’s. The look John gave him was so full of love and pure joy Alex’s breath caught.
If it hadn’t been for Miguel and the sea turtles, Alex imagined that he and John probably would’ve been in bed, keeping each other warm between the sheets. Instead, there he was, sitting outside in the cold, by the ocean, waiting for a moment that maybe wouldn’t even happen. It didn’t matter, though. Alex adored John. He loved John. Of that he was certain. When Alex had first laid eyes on John at that fateful debate team after-party, everything around him had become a blur, and the path to the guy with curls so soft he longed to touch them, with hazel eyes so bright and mesmerizing he could drown in, with freckles he could spend hours upon hours counting, was not only as clear as day, but the only path that mattered.
That night, Alex had confidently walked straight up to him and when he was greeted with a dazzling smile, Alex knew immediately that he was hooked. That stranger had reeled him in without knowing and Alex swore in that moment that he would never let go.
Alex watched as John explained something to Miguel, his hands moving wildly around in the air, something they tended to do whenever John was engaged in a conversation about something he was passionate about. As Alex watched them, munching on gummy sharks, Miguel said something to John that made him laugh, and it was the type of laughter that caused John’s eyes to crinkle around the edges and a slight dimple to appear on his left cheek. It was Alex’s favorite laugh, and he beamed at his adorable, brilliant boyfriend. Sometimes Alex wondered if he could love John any more than he did, but then that laugh and smile would appear and Alex would inevitably fall in love with that wonderful man all over again.
Alex’s only thought going through his mind every time that happened was always: I can’t believe I get to call you mine.
A few hours had passed, with Alex picking the book back up and reading some more before putting it down again, when John joined him on the blanket and cuddled up against him. The wind had slightly picked up, bringing with it cold air, and being so close to the water and with no heat from the sun certainly didn’t help the chilling temperature. John wraggled his hands underneath Alex’s, or rather, his hoodie, and pressed his cold hands against Alex’s warm skin, making him gasp as a result.
“Ah! Cold hands! Your hands are cold!”
“That’s why I have you to warm me up.” John whispered against Alexander’s neck, placing feather-light kisses on the tender skin.
Breathless, Alex retorted, “If you keep that up you’re not going to get to see the sea turtles hatch because you’ll be preoccupied with other things.”
John gave a coy little smirk and playfully bit Alex’s shoulder. Alex didn’t know whether to smack him in his perfect, beautiful face or to make good on his threat.
He took one of John’s hands out from under the hoodie and gently rubbed it with his, and asked, his voice warm and worried: “But seriously though, if you’re cold, do you want your hoodie back?”
John shook his head, his eyes closed. “No, you keep it.”
Alex, remembering the extra blanket he had placed underneath him, pulled it out and draped it over his boyfriend’s shoulders. John moaned at the sudden addition of warmth and pulled the blanket closer around him. Alex, in turn, wrapped his arm around John and snuggled against him.
“Better?” he asked.
John, with his eyes close, nodded and mumbled: “Much better.”
Another hour passed and the two huddled close, relishing in each other’s warmth and enjoying the sound of the peaceful ebb and flow of the waves. Alex yawned and looked down to see John peacefully asleep on his shoulder. With an affectionate smile on his face, he wrapped the blanket tighter around the sleeping form of his boyfriend, and kissed the top of his head, breathing in the mixture of John’s sandalwood shampoo and salt emanating from his lovely curls.
“You and your novio are cute.”
Alex looked over at Miguel, who was sitting in his chair with his laptop in his lap, trying to hold back a yawn but failing. “You’ve been together long?” the man asked, his voice low as to not wake up John.
“A year and half.” Alex answered just as softly.
“He loves you. I could tell from the moment I met you two.”
Alex looked down at John’s peaceful face and kissed the top of his head before answering.
“He means the world to me.”
Miguel smiled at him kindly before he turned his attention back to his laptop and his annotations. Alex felt another yawn coming, which he tried to fight, but in vain. He wanted to stretch out his limbs, which had grown numb from his sitting position, but he didn’t want to wake John in the process.
“It’s ok amigo , you can sleep if you want”, Miguel said. “I’ll wake you if anything happens.”
Alex nodded at Miguel’s suggestion and closed his eyes. He would just take a short nap and then he would stay up the rest of the night, or at least so he planned.
Instead, he fell asleep, with his head atop John’s, fingers halfway entwined with his.
It must be early morning , Alex thought when he heard the seagulls cawing, flying over his head, just moments after he woke up from his slumber. His joints felt numb and fuzzy, no doubt from sitting in the same position for hours. So much for spending the night awake keeping watch on the nest, as had been the plan.
He was feeling himself drifting back to sleep when he was suddenly jolted awake by Miguel’s voice from behind him. “ Amigos! Amigos! Mira! They’re hatching!”
Alex looked over at Miguel, who was standing above the nest looking down at the sand with a gleeful grin on his face. Alex, rubbing his eyes, followed the man’s gaze and saw to his astonishment that something was definitely moving below the sand. His eyes snapped fully open at that realization and he gasped. Oh!
John, whom during the night had moved from Alex’s shoulder to his lap, was still asleep. Alex gently ran his fingers through John’s hair and whispered in his ear. “John, babe, wake up. I think this is something you should see.”
John mumbled something under his breath and snuggled closer to Alex, wrapping his arms firmly around his lover’s waist. Alex looked back at the nest and nope, no sign of baby sea turtles yet. He shook John’s shoulder, cleared his throat and tried again, this time slightly louder. “John. Wake up. The sea turtles are hatching.”
Alex heard John mumble “The sea turtles are hatching”, but it took a little bit more than a second for the meaning of the words to hit John. But when they did, he sat upright so fast he almost hit Alex in the chin. The smile he gave Alex could, in Alex’s mind, put the sun to shame.
“Alex! The sea turtles are hatching!”
Miguel beckoned them and John walked over to the nest, paying careful attention to where he placed his feet, and both gazed down at the sand. The only sign that the eggs were hatching was the surface of the nest which was beginning to cave in. Alex pushed the blankets off his legs and stood up to join the other two, and together the three men waited for the first turtle to pop up from the sand and into its new world.
They waited, excitement creeping up between them until finally, a small black shape slowly emerged from the sand in front of them. Alex heard John gasp next to him, and his hand was no longer free.
The small dark shape pushed sand away until the full body of a baby sea turtle was suddenly visible in front of their feet. It was about three inches long, mostly black with white edges along its small body. John cooed loudly at the tiny thing.
“Oh, Alex, look! It’s beautiful!”
All three men stared, speechless, at the small baby sea turtle as it experienced the world for the very first time. And then, all of a sudden, the sea turtle started scooting down the sand towards the ocean.
“Oh my god, look at it go!” John exclaimed, pointing at the tiny animal as it scurried away.
He followed the little sea turtle as it scuttled down the beach on its way to the water. Unfortunately, because of it, he missed the next baby turtle emerge from the sand.
Alex and Miguel watched as yet another baby turtle climbed out of it’s nest and then another one and another one and soon the sand above the nest opened up and overflowed with little black bodies taking their first breaths of air and scooting towards the ocean.
John was at the edge of the beach removing sticks and stones from their path, in order to make it easier for the turtles to get to the water, their future home. Once the path was clear, John looked up towards the nest and saw the onslaught of baby sea turtles making their way towards him. He laughed and quickly moved out of the way, all the while cheering for the little turtles.
“Come on, little guys! You can do it! Go, go, go!”
By the nest, Alex watched his boyfriend behave like a proud dad cheering on his turtle children with the goofiest, happiest smile on his face. His heart nearly burst with joy for seeing John so incredibly happy.
Miguel raised an eyebrow at John’s cheering and Alex just laughed. “He really loves his turtles,” was Miguel’s only comment.
He joined John by the shore and together they watched as the waves pulled the turtles in, helping them make their way further into the ocean.
“It’s amazing how they just know to go to the ocean the moment they are born! Some of them might come back to this spot and make their own nests. Some of them will spend the rest of their days swimming, learning how to survive. Some of them might not even make it until tomorrow.”
Alex took John’s hand. “But they made it today.”
John smiled wide. “And it was amazing.”
Alex nodded. “It sure was.”
After the last of the turtles made their way into the water, the two slowly walked back up the beach to pack up their things, fingers lovingly intertwined. The adrenaline from watching the sea turtles hatch had mostly dissipated, leaving them exhausted.However, when Alex was shaking sand off of the blankets, he looked back at the nest and noticed movement in the sand. A tiny little turtle, one that he hadn’t noticed before, was struggling to escape the mount of shifting sand that covered it almost completely.
John dropped the basket he was holding and kneeled down at the edge of the nest. “Guys wait!”, he called. “There’s one more left!”
Alex dropped the blanket and hurried over to his John. “He can’t see because of the sand,” his boyfriend said, his voice hurried. He turned to Miguel. “Is there anything we can do?”
Both looked to Miguel for an answer. Miguel dropped his bag, kneeled at the edge of the nest and said, “Help me push the sand away. Make it easier for him to move.”
John promptly obliged and they quickly freed the little creature from the trappings of the sand. The sea turtle almost instantly started to move again, and kept on moving, mindlessly following the path created for it towards the ocean. John followed its path alongside it, making sure nothing stopped that little turtle from getting home. “Come on, little buddy, you can do it! “ he chanted to the little creature, “You’re almost there! I believe in you!”
He cried out in relief when the sea turtle reached the water and saw the sand covering it wash away.
When Alex reached John, he saw that there were tears in his eyes. Quietly, without uttering a word, he took John’s hand. He heard John whisper, “ Buena suerte , little buddy.”
They stood there for what felt like an eternity. Alex reached out with his other hand to wipe a stray tear away from his cheek. He gently nudged John and pointed at the sea. “Look.”
They watched as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon, tinging the light, gray-ish blue of the morning sky with dramatic strokes of orange, yellow and magenta as the sun slowly started ascending to the highest point in the sky. Alex pulled John closer and wrapped both his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, resting his forehead on the curve of his lover’s neck. John brought his hands to Alex’s hair, digging his fingers into the long, soft locks he so dearly loved, inhaling the light, comforting scent of old books, ink and coffee that never seemed to leave Alexander, even when surrounded by the fresh, salty mist of the sea.
“This sure beats New York sunrises, don’t you think?” Alex asked, after placing a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s jaw.
Snickering, John shook his head and said, “Nothing beats a New York sunrise.”
Alex chuckled and nodded in agreement. He kissed John’s hand and asked, “Ready?"
John nodded.
They took one last look at the nest to make sure that all the turtles had hatched and finished packing up. Miguel shook both of their hands and handed John his card, “To keep in touch,” he said. “Until we meet again, Adios, amigos !”
They walked back to their house holding hands but in silence. Alex unlocked the door, leaving the basket on the couch. Fingers intertwined, they moved towards the bedroom, too exhausted for a shower, and got undressed, leaving their clothes scattered across the floor, and climbed into bed. There, beneath the sheets, John wrapped his arms around Alex and snuggled close.
Failing to get comfortable, Alex turned over and, when he saw his John’s eyes were closed, he kissed his lover on the nose. When John didn’t respond, Alex shifted and kissed him ever so softly on the lips. Thinking he was asleep, Alex whispered, “I love you.”
John suddenly stirred and pulled Alex in for a kiss. He took his time, tasting the sweet and salt on Alexander’s lips.
He whispered back, “I love you too.”
Burying his face into John’s warm chest, Alex closed his eyes and let the distant sounds of the waves and of John’s heartbeat lull him to sleep.
Tap tap tap, tap tap tap, went Alex’s foot on the carpeted floor. They had been waiting at the gate of the flight from Cozumel to Miami for the past hour and a half, and Alex was restless. A total of six and a half hours flight, with a hour layover in Miami, and they would be back home, and Alex would finally be able to start on the class readings that he had neglected during the past week.
Impatient and unable to sit still any longer, and needing to do something to take his mind out the pile of work that he had waiting for him at home, he tapped John, who was sitting next to him with his earbuds in his ears, to let him know he would be in the little gift shop down the hall. He needed to keep his mind busy until the announcers said the plane was ready to board.
He walked around the shop, briefly stopping to browse the biographies on the shelves, when suddenly he spotted a small plush on a spinning display. He smiled to himself. Perfect , he thought. He purchased it along with a keychain and a Cozumel magnet for their fridge and walked back to show John.
When John saw him, he took out his earbuds and looked pointedly at the plastic bag Alex placed on his lap. John hesitated, his brow furrowed, but Alex urged him on. “Go ahead, open it!”
John opened it and pulled out a soft green sea turtle plush roughly the size of the average beanie baby. Giggling like a little boy, he kissed Alexander’s hand, once, twice, his smile so bright it illuminated Alex’s whole world.
“Thanks, babe.” he said with his bright dimpled smile.
Alex blushed bashfully, and shrugged. “I thought you might want something to remember that day by. And, I also thought it was cute.”
Alex took his seat next to John, who held out the plush in front of them. “What should we name it?”
Scratching his head, Alex looked around him in search for some inspiration. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. That is, until he spotted a little boy wearing a Finding Nemo backpack. Then, Alex was immediately struck with an inspired idea.
“Squirt!”
John glanced up at Alex, his eyebrows raised,. “Squirt? You mean like the turtle from Finding Nemo ?”
“Yeah, of course! I think it fits!”
John nods, “Yeah, okay, I can see it.” He shakes the turtle’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Squirt.”
A ding and a voice came over the PA system above them. “Salida de vuelo American 1169 con destino a Miami, por favor embarquen por la puerta C12…”