Shipmates

A thought passed through my mind. "Is he a paying guest?"

She winced. "No, when he contacted me, I offered for him to stay for free in exchange for a review."

"Just wonderful, well it better be a fucking good review."

She flinched at my words. I don't usually swear unless I am upset.

He turned up for dinner, and again I was annoyed. Tofu salad. I barely tolerated tofu, and Kira knew it. Usually if she was having it, she cooked me something else.

She watched as I picked my way through the salad, leaving the tofu. "What's the matter, honey?"

"You know I don't like tofu."

Her face dropped in recognition. "Oh shit, sorry, oh my god, completely stuffed up." She jumped out of her seat. "I'll get you something else."

"No, forget it."

She sat back down. Dirk with a salesman like demeanour started talking directly to Kira as if I wasn't even there. She noticed and kept trying to bring me into the conversation. It was awkward and uncomfortable. As we worked through the dinner, he asked, "Are we still on for the mountain biking tomorrow?"

Kira nodded. "Yes, remember, I'm not an expert at it yet, but we do have some great tracks where I can take you."

"Great, it would be nice to get some photos."

He eventually left, after much self promotion. He tried to get a kiss as Kira showed him out, but Kira turned away.

As she walked back in, I was in the middle of doing dishes. She flew into my arms. "I'm so sorry, Tim. I was so worried about making a good impression for Dirk I forgot about the Tofu."

"I said it's okay. I could use a sandwich, though."

She smiled as she set about making the sandwich and I finished the dishes. I decided to dive in. "Where are we going mountain biking?"

She gave me a funny look. "Do you want to come with us?"

I nodded. "Thought I might."

She bit her lip thoughtfully. "Tim, do you trust me?"

I didn't have to even think about it. "Yes I do."

"Then why do you want to go with us tomorrow?"

"Because I don't trust him."

"But you trust me?"

"Kira, he's a slimy shit. He will try something with you. I can see it in his eyes."

"It doesn't matter what he wants. If you trust me, what he wants doesn't matter."

Her words were true. "Fair enough, I have other stuff to do. I was going to get the fence finished."

She smiled easily. "Yeah, it needs finishing. You have put that job off long enough."

"Yeah, well somebody has to do some work around here. Seems the other half of this team is too busy playing with ex boyfriends."

Her face froze, the smile vanished. "I'm sorry if him being here makes you uncomfortable. I can just ask him to leave."

"No, he's here. I guess we are going to bump into your exes from time to time."

She tried to make light of it. "Yeah, I suppose I do have the odd one or two."

I chuckled at her attempt at humour. "One or two. Wow, talk about an understatement. You have more exes than Imelda Marcos has pairs of shoes."

We finished the evening cuddled together out on the deck. The evening surrounded us with the lush humid warmth of the tropics. The morning was a little awkward. I gave Kira a hand to load the mountain bikes on the back of our Ute and Dirk appeared dressed in his cycling gear. I had to admire his physique. He obviously worked out a lot. I doubted whether he had ever seen a hard day's work in his life. He was a gym junkie. He had muscles in all the right places, and I suppose he was good looking.

I busied myself getting the fencing gear ready. Kira went off to get dressed for the ride. She returned looking spectacular. A full lycra body suit, which fit her her like a surgical glove. Her hair was tied back and makeup perfect. She looked super hot. She walked into my arms and gave me a luscious juicy kiss. "Back about three, lover," she said loudly.

I looked on as Dirk loaded his knapsack on the back of the Ute. His eyes stayed locked on Kira's arse, which swayed sexily as she walked. Yeah, I liked him even less now.

I worked hard. The humidity could be overpowering, and it was only the sea breeze that made it bearable. By four o'clock, I was finished and putting my tools away. I stood back admiring the new fence. I worried a little, as Kira said they would be back by three. As I walked back to the house for a shower, I saw the Ute come in through the front gate.

I watched from the kitchen window as Dirk unloaded the bikes. There was a very deep conversation going on, and his hand rested on Kira's shoulder as he tried to convince her of something. I had to fight back the urge to go sprinting out and punch him in the face. I kept my cool, just. I watched as Kira swept his arm off her shoulder and snarled at him. I could hear the voices, although the words eluded me. She was unhappy about something.

She turned and walked towards the house. I already had the kettle boiling for tea. She stormed, rather than walked in and I could see she was fighting back her tears. "Tim, you were right. He's a slimy shit." She rushed into my arms. "I'm sorry, I should have listened to you."

"What happened?" I asked as I held her tight.

"He tried to kiss me."

"Are you all right?"

She smiled holding me tight. "Yeah, I'm okay. I slapped him and gave him a shove."

Her words shocked me and I was already heading for the door when she grabbed me. "No, Tim, please. Don't do anything stupid. He is leaving right away."

I slowed. I still wanted to kick his arse, but Kira was right, we weren't sure about what would happen if he called the cops. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a taxi pull into our compound. Dirk loaded his gear in the back and headed away.

Kira stopped gripping me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Thank you for that. I wouldn't mind you punching him out, but I was scared you would end up in jail."

When I didn't respond, she whispered hoarsely. "He was such a dick. God, big headed prick. He thought he was so good."

"What happened?" I asked.

She gave me a shameful glance. "We were riding up around that track that goes up past the ballet school. We stopped for something to drink and he jumped on me. He had been flirting like mad. I should have put a stop to it, but I was worried about the review."

"Fuck the review, we don't need that arsehole."

"We do, Tim. We have poured all our money into this place. If we don't start getting more people through then we are going to end up in trouble."

"Kira, we own the place. We haven't borrowed anything. If I have to keep working, then it's no big deal. We can do this."

"But I don't want you away from home all the time. I wanted this to be the thing that brought us together."

"It will, but these things take time. We have to ride out the early stages and let it grow.

Things did improve after that. I don't know if Dirk felt guilty for his inappropriate actions, but the reviews he gave us were fabulous. What we didn't know he was syndicated to newspapers all over the world. As the news hit, so our numbers went up.

I had to give up the fishing job to start taking the kayak tours, and then the cycling tours. We employed a couple of locals to give us a hand.

I focused my attention on bringing the Joanna B into the business. She was a hard sell, it was Kira who suggested the solution. "If we could get her to run on some form of alternative fuel, something green... There must be something?"

Her suggestion got me thinking and I dived online to do some research. While I was doing my research, a name kept popping up. Gerhard Rummer, he was a local, lived there in Tahiti. I found his number and gave him a call. At first he was a bit reticent to talk, but after we met and he realised I was serious, he opened up. If I thought Kira was passionate about the environment, this guy was twice as bad.

He did; however, come up with a suggestion: used vegetable oil. He explained that the used oil from local restaurants was all going to waste. He mentioned that diesel engines could be modified to burn vegetable oil. The other good thing was, the restaurateurs would probably pay me to take it away.

He couldn't have been any more right. I soon had a run where I travelled around the city taking all the used cooking oil I could get. I utilised the big extra fuel tank I removed from the Joanna B, fitted to the back of an old truck chassis.

Gerhard gave me a hand in constructing a filtering plant, and changing over the fuel injectors on the boat. We were soon up and running. The Joanna B was now suitably green, and became a big part of our business. I ran fishing charters, cruises. It was just damn good fun.

Throughout this whole process. I saw some incredible changes in Kira. She went from a socially inept wallflower to a savvy businesswoman. She grew emotionally, no longer afraid of who she was. Now she was as comfortable in a room full of people as she used to be with just the two of us.

She blossomed; the butterfly emerged victorious.

With our financial future secured, our lives seemed to slip into a routine. I saw Kira drift away a little, become not distant, but deep in thought. It got to the stage, I wondered whether she had outgrown our little enterprise. After battling cyclones and starting a business, this seemed mundane. I feared she was bored.

"Okay, Kira, no more. I need to know what's bugging you." I couldn't just watch her drift; I wanted to tackle it head on.

"Tim, are you happy?" she asked.

"Yes, absolutely. I love our new life."

"Yes, but don't you feel like something's missing?"

Confused, and concerned about where this was headed, I said, "No, I love you. I love our life."

She picked up my hand in hers, her other hand drawing tiny circles around my knuckles. "I love you, and our life as well. But I do feel like something's missing. I have wanted to talk to you about it, but I'm afraid you might get scared off."

That sounded ominous. "Kira, whatever it is, if we don't talk about it we can't deal with it."

She nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. Okay, here goes. Tim, I want a baby. I want to start a family." Her eyes glistened as little teardrops appeared.

I couldn't hold back the elation, the joy. I pulled her into a tight embrace. "Kira, why didn't you say earlier? I thought you were bored with me."

"What, don't be a noodle. I love you, I just want us to have a family."

"Oh my god, yes. I would love nothing more."

It didn't happen straight away, it took almost six months, but we both took enormous pleasure in telling Mum and Dad. Mum was over the moon excited. She called every day and talked for hours with Kira about the birth, about what we needed, wanted.

As the date drew closer, I had one thought and I couldn't hold it in. "Kira, I want our child to be a Kiwi. I want us to go home for the birth."

She smiled. "Oh god, yes. I would love that, too. You better tell your mum though, because I think she's planning on travelling out here."

We flew back to NZ and took a week to drive from Auckland back down to Nelson. We stayed in Takaka with them and little baby Harry. Named after Kira's dad's middle name, he was born in the little maternity home in town. I thought it was marvellous, our son was born in the same hospital as Kira and I.

Harry changed a lot of things, like Mum. Mum fell in love with the little tyke. We had to almost fight her to get cuddles with our own son. She doted on him, even Dad was enamoured with him. The look on Mum's face when she had him cradled in her arms was one of euphoria. She adored him.

Seeing the pain on my mothers face the day we left broke Kira's heart, as well. She had a special connection with my mother that only deepened after Harry's birth.

The video calls got longer and longer, once we returned to Papeete. There were mountains of tears. I suppose when you understand how close they were, it was no surprise when Dad called. That in itself was unusual; Dad never called.

"Son, I have decided to retire. This damn farm is getting too much for me."

"Sounds like a hell of a good idea, Dad. What are you going to do?"

"Well, I have a buyer for the place, and your mother and I decided what we really want is a holiday. We thought we might come for a visit. Do you think you could put us up for a week or so?"

We greeted them as they stepped out of the terminal, Mum and Kira falling into a deep embrace, well, before Mum picked up Harry. Kira and I loved Tahiti. We loved its laid back atmosphere, the people were friendly, the weather was great. What was not to like?

Mum and Dad were the same. I watched as the peace slowly worked it's way into my dad's face. All my life I watched him toil, day after day on that farm. He was a terrier for work. He never seemed to tire. Seeing him here in his flowing floral shirt, he was a changed man.

Mum, she was in seventh heaven. She had her grandson in her arms, her family close by. It was her idea of heaven.

They sprang it on us over a family dinner after they had been with us for a month. "Guys, what would you think if we told you we want to move out here?"

Kira exploded with elation. "What would we think? We would love it."

Mum jumped in. "We could find a place, close by so we aren't on your doorstep everyday."

"Like hell," Kira snapped. She glared at me. "Tell them, Tim, we have room, they could build here."

That came as a shock, but I learned one thing quickly, living with Kira. Never argue with her when she feels so passionate about something. "Kira's right. There is room here. You could build a place here."

Dad replied. "You guys could deal with having us oldies on your door every day?"

Kira laughed. "We'll give you a job if you hang around all day."

They flew out a few weeks later to return home and complete the sale of their home and belongings.

That's sort of how our little commune started. Mum and Dad built a place up the back away from our home and the chalets. Our daughter, Phoebe, was born the next year, and the family unit grew when Mum's sister came for a visit, and fell in love with the place.

Our life together was sealed in marriage after Kira announced we were having a third. I started to get a feeling that I had when as a young guy I heard the rumours about what a slut she was. We needed to get a cork.

The end.