The Ocean’s City

“Poor thing looks like a beach bum!”

I was awoken by what I could only describe as a motherly voice hovering over me. I slowly opened my eyes to see the porch filled with people. Everyone looked similar to Dalton, especially the one with a worried expression. Without warning, she put a hand on my forehead. “Are you sick, dear?”

I flinched from her, still not fully awake.

“Silvestia, darling, this is my mom.”

“And you sure as heck only call me Mom!” she said in a playful, loving tone. She had a worried expression, unlike Dalton, who fumed at me. I folded under his stare.

“Come inside, dear,” Mom said, ushering everyone inside. Dalton stopped me from going in with the rest. His hand tightly grabbed at my arm. I flinched.

He searched my eyes for something. I did my best not to look guilty about my escape plan. His hand swept away the hair that was matted to my forehead. “Are you okay?”

I nodded my head. “Are you sick?” I shook my head. “Then what?”

“I — I—may have gone swimming.”

“With your clothes on?” I nodded my head again. A smile curved at the edge of his lips. “You have a bathing suit, you know.”

“Spur of the moment?” He nodded his head but didn’t let up with his hand.

“You must be on your best behavior while my family is in town… I will not be as lenient with you with them around.” I felt the threat.

“May I stay at Dannie’s, then?” Hoping he’d say yes, knowing it would make it easier to escape with her. He shook his head.

“Absolutely not. Don’t bring it up again.”

“Are you two lovebirds coming or not?” Mom hollered. Dalton gave me one last stern glare before ushering me in.

Dalton’s mom was busily moving around the room, clucking her tongue and telling others what to do. “Oh, honey! We have to decorate! I thought first we could all go to pick the tree out. Silvie, hun, are you more of a decorator or a cook?” She made a full circle back to us.

“It’s Silvestia, Mom,”

“I prefer Silvie.” I piped up.

Dalton’s mom ignored the annoyed look on Dalton’s face as she smiled at me. “Well, Silvie, which do you prefer?”

“I don’t know, actually.”

“Not to worry! You don’t need to be shy with the family.” Then, a lightbulb went on in her head. “My goodness, where are my manners? You haven’t met the whole lot yet!”

She quickly turned and pointed, first, to a freckled girl with mousy hair. She seemed to be around 12 and timidly stared between Dalton and me. “This is Phoenix.”

Then to the boy older than her by a few years. He had short hair that was similar to Hutson’s hair, and it was shaggy. “Connor”

“Teresa, and Calista. She’s the troublemaker.” She put a hand up like she was whispering it to me. The two girls looked to be freshly 18. Teresa had darker hair than everyone else, braided from her face. Calista looked like she once had the same darker hair, but she added highlights. Her long curls flowed down to her breasts. She looked like a girl who liked to go have fun.

“Not true!” Calista protested.

“Should I explain what you did yesterday to your brother?”

She quickly went meek and looked up at Dalton. “No,” she said, sounding a bit fearful. I looked up to see Dalton’s eyes narrowing in on her.

Their mom went on to introduce the last three people. All males who might be the same age as Dalton and Hutson. They looked very similar to Dalton, with minor variations such as a wider jaw, a shorter nose, and almond-shaped eyes. “And these three boys are Jake, Ian, and Demetrius.”

“Hello,” I said awkwardly to them. I could feel Dalton’s hand on my back, telling me he approved. I studied the whole family and noted they wore clothes for colder weather.

“These are all my babies birthed them myself…. Wait. Where is Hutson?”

I counted the people in the room. 7 children plus two, Huston and Dalton.

“He will be late. We have work that needs to be done.”

“You boys! Silvie wants to enjoy the holiday; all you two want to do is work. Where is Hutson’s girlfriend?”

“She will come with him later.”

“Alright then! Silvie dear, why don’t you change into warmer clothes upstairs? Dalton, hun, you already know what I will scold you about.” She squinted her eyes at him sternly, and he rolled his.

“Yes, mother,”

“Mom,” she corrected.

“Mom,”

She nodded her head and then clapped her hands. “Alright, let’s start unpacking.”

Dalton followed me upstairs. He walked straight into the closet and pointed to another side. “Please wear something from this side. It will be chilly today.”

Then, as if entirely annoyed, I heard him fling himself on the bed and let out a loud sigh.

I exited the bathroom wearing a sweater dress, leggings, and knee-high boots. Dalton sat up, staring at me like a hungry dog.

I stood at the door frame as he stood and walked to me. “You look so beautiful.” He whispered. “You will want to take a coat with you.” He went to the closet and pulled out a coat matching my outfit.

“I will be too warm,” I complained.

“Trust me. Shall we head downstairs?” Confused, I nodded and let him guide me to the rest of the family.

The whole house was filled with packed bags. “Oh, darling, you look absolutely gorgeous!” Dalton’s mom greeted us. “Alright, everyone, load up!”

Everyone hustled outside. I stood on the porch as the family piled up in two vehicles, an SUV and a Jeep.

“Would you like to ride with us girls?” Calista asked me.

“Sure—” I began to say, excited to get away from Dalton, but then his hand tightened on my arm, and he cut me off.

“Silvestia will stay with me this trip, Calista. The next time you visit, you can go about your shenanigans.

Calista blushed. “Don’t think we won’t discuss what you did yesterday.”

She made a noise with her mouth and, with sass, turned from him to pile into the SUV where their mom was already in the driver’s seat.

Dalton took my arm and led me to his car. He got to the backseat door and opened it for me. “Mind if you sit in the back?” He asked.

Before I could question why, I got my answer. “Brother, can I drive?” Connor asked with excitement.

“Not even in your dreams!” Dalton snarked.

I crawled into the back seat and let Dalton close the door as he and his younger brother went into sibling banter. The whole car ride was Connor talking about a million and one things. It was apparent he looked up to Dalton.

I didn’t like to think about it, but it warmed my heart to see it. It made me feel like Dalton wasn’t just some monster. Although I reminded myself he probably was.

We drove up a hill a bit out of town, and the ocean was no longer in sight. A couple of minutes later, the vegetation changed, and soon, both sides of the road were filled with pine trees. We approached a park where workers bundled up in winter coats greeted us. They waved us in.

Dalton opened my door, and I crawled out to the family’s excitement. The family split and ran through the rows of pine trees.

I quickly did the calculations in my head. If we were in the real world, it would be Thanksgiving soon. I turned to Dalton, who was hugging the youngest, Phoenix.

“When’s Thanksgiving?”

“Today!” Phoenix piped up in a quirky voice. Her eyes looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing that.

“So the time frame here is the same as…” I stopped myself from talking as I noticed the deadly glare Dalton was giving me.

“It’s technically what we want it to be, but mom likes to follow D— ouch!” Phoenix squealed, jumping away from her older brother. “You pinched me!”

“That’s enough, Phoenix!” He snapped, and I flinched for her.

She looked at me with tears in her eyes, and then she marched off.

I said nothing; I just gave Dalton a disapproving look. Then I felt hands on my shoulders, causing me to jump.

“Sorry, brother, to interrupt your quarrel, but it’s the holiday, and I must steal your wife.”

“Ian.” He warned.

Ian gave an innocent shrug as he pulled me toward the rows of trees. “She’s family. She needs to help pick out the tree.” He called over his shoulder.

When we were far enough away from Dalton, Ian spoke. “My brother really is a good guy. I can swear it on anything you would like. He will treat you right. He just has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He’s always trying to not disappoint anyone.”

We walked through the rows of trees. The family shouted back and forth at each other. “How many others… were there before me?” I took my chance and asked.

“No one.” He said with boyish certainty.

“That you know of,” I remarked, half to myself.

Ian stopped and turned me to look into his eyes. He was solemn as he spoke. “There has been no one before you. You are important.”

“Why?”

Ian just shook his head. “That you will have to wait till Dalton tells you. All you should know is that you aren’t in danger.”

“Except that my free will has been taken from me..”

Ian laughed. “Yeah, but my brother has a critical role in life. He can’t afford to have loose ends.”

“Marco!” I heard one of the girls laugh through the thickness of the trees.

“We are supposed to be looking for a Christmas tree.” One of the boys called back but was interrupted by a “polo!” From another brother.

Ian smiled at me as he took my hand. “Come on.”

Suddenly, the pine forest erupted with shouts and waves of laughter as the family ran, weaving their way from being caught by Marco.

Thanks for reading the eleventh chapter of The Ocean’s City. Let me know what you think! Grammar Nazis are welcome!