The Stars and The Sea

Chapter 32

Not the longest chapter, but still cute!

A month after Laeli's birth, Moana told Keoni it was time to have her meet Ocean. He loved the idea, but he knew that Ocean could be finicky with interactions. Then again, he also knew how powerful the connection was between the two, so perhaps she could summon Ocean with just one word.

Together, with Laeli still bundled in a thin blanket, the young parents chose a spot familiar to Moana; the same spot where Gramma Tala formally introduced Moana to Ocean all those years ago. She felt a chill run through her, and in her arms, Laeli gurgled, shoving her little hand in her mouth.

It was a beautiful clear day. With a warm breeze rusting Moana's hair, which she now started styling similarly to Gramma Tala, with a red hibiscus tucked into the bun.

Coming to a stop on the lava rock outcropping, Moana handed Laeli to Keoni and stood on the edge, calling out Ocean.

It was silent save for the rustling of the palm trees in the wind and the distant call of native Motunuian parrots in the jungle. Then, there was the gurgle of rushing, spinning water. With a smile, Moana saw the glowing spiral as the 'head' of Ocean rose above the water's surface.

"Ocean!" Moana exclaimed, holding out her hand, and Ocean happily splashed her palm, "I've missed you! I'm so glad to see you again!" Ocean gently splashed her again as if to acknowledge her. Then Moana gestured for Keoni to come up next to her with Laeli in his arms.

"Ocean, I want you to meet mine and Keoni's daughter, this is Laeli." She beamed, taking Laeli in her arms, allowing Ocean to get closer and observe the baby itself.

Little Laeli did not know what to make of the strange blue shape hovering above her. She felt her mother's warmth and saw the vague shape of her face. Understandably confused, but also curious, she reached out her little arms up to the blue shape, squealing when her fingers touched wetness.

Both her parents softly laughed at the reaction, having anticipated something akin to it. Keoni was quite relieved his daughter wasn't frightened by the sight of the Ocean gazing down at her.

In the time following Ocean meeting Laeli, life continued about as normal. Both Keoni and Moana quickly adapted to their new role as parents, and were attentive to their daughter, taking turns caring for her when the other had duties to attend to. Keoni was especially focused, with the drive to be the best father he could be.

While he had accepted the reality with his own late father by now, Keoni still felt the need to prove he could be the father his daughter would need. The day she was born, he had promised his utter devotion to her. Whatever she needed, he would provide if capable. And just with her being a few months old now, he received showers of praise from other men in the village, as well as their wives, filling him with pride.

Soon, Laeli began crawling and holding her head up on her own, reaching all the milestones for her age, and Keoni couldn't be prouder. He loved cradling her and soothing her to sleep when she woke in the middle of the night, not always needing to be fed by Moana, but sometimes, just needing to be held.

She also loved the water, as Moana would often take her to shore and allow her to splash about in the waves. The baby had developed a habit of putting fistfuls of sand in her mouth and occasionally vomiting it back up, which was equally amusing and alarming, but Sina had assured the parents that Moana and Pania once did the same as babies.

With Laeli coming along in her milestones quite nicely, Keoni was also making progress with his tattoos. During Moana's pregnancy, he officially received his pe'a tattoo, and his lack of reaction to the pain was quite astonishing to his friends.

"I've been dealt all the pain in one lifetime from my shoulder, getting my pe'a is not going to kill me." He'd remarked.

The pe'a had fully healed by now, and he had also been discussing a plan for a new tattoo on his back, he'd been thinking about the layout of it for quite some time, and now that Laeli was a little older and he could take a few steps back into his regular chief duties, he felt it was time for his new tattoo.

It was to be in the shape of the star of his mother's constellation, and part of it would cover his scar, not that he minded. Moana would periodically come by with Laeli to check up on him, impressed with how well he was taking it.

"Like I said to the others, this is nothing." He grinned. Moana was rather amused by the whole thing, as she had seen plenty of other men whine and complain about the pain. She had gotten her first tattoo on her shoulder when she was about 17, and it hurt like hell. She had then received her malu tattoos when she turned 18, and she thought it was far less painful on her thighs than it had been on her shoulder.

That said, for her at least, the pain of tattoos was nothing compared to giving birth, so in a way, she and Keoni could both relate.

During one session of focusing on details, Pania and Akamu came by to see how Keoni was doing.

He wasn't expecting to see the humorous smug grin on her face.

"Yes, Pania?" She took a seat next to him, still smirking. Exasperated, he glanced up at Akamu, "mind indulging me on her insanity?"

"Guess who's getting married!" She sang. Keoni sighed and hung his head.

"Let me take a guess, my wife's very persistent cousin?" He commented with a raised brow. She squealed a bit and nodded, rocking in her seat slightly, she gazed up at Akamu who mirrored her grin.

"Well hey! Congratulations to you both! I assume you already told Moana?" Pania nodded.

"Duh! You're the second person. Akamu and I are going to make our rounds with the family as well. Moana did say to wait to tell you, but I wanted to see your face." She snickered.

"Well, you got my reaction. Happy?"

"Yep!"

"Cool, now get out of my session."

With a laugh, Pania got up and skipped away with Akamu in tow, who just shook his head, not hiding his smile.