Tetrology Of The Sea - Book 1: From The Sea 🪼✔

Five

After a week or so, Ruth decided to take Travis down to the social security office and get him a social security number, fingerprinted, and a birth certificate, and anything else he needed so that he would be accepted in society as a citizen of the country. Travis held her hand as they walked into the building and went up to the register.
"How can I help you?"
"Yes, um... I need to get some documents made for my son."
The lady at the counter looked over it and Travis gave her a wave.
"What documents do you need?"
"Well, everything."
The woman lifted an eyebrow. "Everything? What are you trying to pull lady?"
"I'm serious. He has nothing on him. I need a birth certificate, social security card and number, the works."
"Are you saying that you gave birth to this boy and never registered him with the state or country?"
"No."
"Then you adopted him?"
Ruth rubbed her temples as Travis lifted himself up over the lady's desk and gave her a smile. Ruth looked over and put her hand on his arms.
"Travis, sweetie, get down from there." He got down. "Look, would you believe that I found him? He might have been abandoned somewhere for all I know. I'm telling the truth that he was found and he's been with me a little bit while I made for sure that he didn't belong to anyone. I just need to make him a legal child so that I can give him the care he needs." She said in a taut, but calm voice.
The lady looked at Travis as he lifted himself up again and gave her another grin. She then looked at Ruth and sighed, grabbing paperwork.
"Fine... Fill these forms out and I'll see what my boss wants me to do in this regard."
Ruth nodded and Travis walked away with him.
"Can I talk to fishies?" he asked, looking at the fish tank on the other side of the room.
Ruth nodded and he went over to the tank to look at them closer.

The paperwork was grueling and once the lady at the desk had talked with her boss, it kept piling up. Ruth didn't think it would be this much work just to make sure Travis was registered in the system. It took hours and hours of paperwork and it wasn't until she heard the shrill laughter of Travis that she looked up.
He had been playing with the fish in the tank for all the hours it was taking her to do the paperwork. She looked up and found that he was laughing at the fish as they did some acrobatic tricks and then gathered to his face where he was looking in and his lips were moving. Some of the fish seemed to bob up and down a little and then Travis laughed again.
"Travis." He turned to her and Ruth motioned him over. "What are you doing?"
"I talk to fishies! They're funny!"
Ruth smirked. "What do they say?"
"They tell me jokes."
"I'm almost done so sit by me now, alright?"
He nodded and sat beside her, swinging his legs. Once the forms were all filled out, she took him up with her to the desk and they were called back.

As they emerged from the office, Ruth's phone rang and she answered it.
"Yes?"
"Hey, it's Josh. I was wondering if you could come by the clinic sometime today. The results for Travis came back and you're going to want to see them."
"I'll be there shortly. I just got all his documentation done. Travis Bagery is officially a part of the system."
"Excellent.
She hung up the phone and went to the clinic. As she walked in, she turned and saw Aylin and Shana sitting in the waiting room with their father.
"Auntie Ruth!" he yelled, running to her.
"Oh, you." She said, even though she accepted the hug. "Are you sick?"
"Daddy's sick so he took us with him... Hi."
Travis looked up at Ruth and she smiled. He looked back at Aylin and waved.
"He's kind of shy."
"What's his name?"
"Travis."
"I'm Aylin and that's Shana." He said, pointing to his sister.
Travis looked at Shana and she giggled, hiding behind her father's arm. Aylin made a face at her.
"She's stupid."
"No she's not." Ruth said. "Come on, Travis, Josh needs to see us."
"Your boyfriend." Aylin said with his tongue sticking out.
Ruth grumbled and took Travis to the back, looking for Joshua's office. She found him in there setting up the table and he turned, smiling as he saw them. He went and closed the door behind them and then looked at Ruth excitedly.
"The results from his tests were remarkable. I'll tell you about what I scraped off his tail." He grabbed the paper. "It's a legitimate seahorse tail. I asked a friend of mine if he would run it and he wanted to know where I got a culture that large. It's made out of the same materials that a seahorse is made of to an exact molecule."
Ruth took the tests and looked at the molecular structure comparisons and saw that everything matched up exactly.
"And this is real? You didn't make these up?" Ruth asked.
"Absolutely not," Josh said with a frown. "You deeply hurt me."
"Sorry but having someone prove your theory makes you think it could be fake."
"I understand. I also got him to look at the liquid that I took from Travis' strange pouch and guess what it is."
"What?"
"It's a mixture of embryonic fluid, seahorse eggs and seahorse sperm."
Ruth looked at him curiously. "So you're saying he has seahorse eggs in him?"
"Wherever he came from, he was already mature in that world. I asked my ichthyologist friend about it and he said that seahorses usually live to be about five years old and are mature at six months, ready to make a litter of seafoal. So, to answer your question, then yes, he just might."
Ruth looked at Travis and saw that he was paying very close attention to what they were saying.
"Shouldn't be get that out of him?"
"My personal opinion is 'yes'. For the mere fact that the eggs or whatever was there is breaking down and turning into some sort of sludge. What I got from that pouch was the sludge and we don't know how the pouch is connected to Travis' stomach. If something happens and the pouch gets a rip on the inside, will it seep into his abdominal cavity and cause a massive infection? Who knows? I would just get the sludge out and deal with what comes later on."
Ruth nodded and Travis raised his hand.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Sludge is babies?"
Ruth looked at Josh for help on the subject and Joshua knelt in front of Travis, holding his hand.
"It might be. You're from a different place that we don't understand. To help you stay as human as possible and safe, we need to take some precautions. That sludge might be babies but it's not right for your body anymore. We don't want you to get hurt."
"Sludge is bad?"
"Sludge is unknown and thus, we don't take chances."
Travis looked at Ruth and then at Josh.
"No sludge."
"Travis-"
"No sludge!" he yelled.
"You tricked him into doing that." Ruth seethed.
"I honestly did not do anything. I was not trying to persuade him in any way, I simply answered his question."
"No, I heard the way that you talked to him and you made him think that way. We'll wait before any decision is made."
"Ruth, I'm serious about this. I don't think it's a good idea to keep all that in there."
"For now, I want Travis to make up his own mind without you trying to persuade him or me. I'll let him make the decision on his own."
"He could-"
"Josh, I want Travis to decide. Come on."
Travis nodded and walked with Ruth back out.
"Sludge is good?"
"Sludge is difficult. It's up to you, sweetie, if you want to keep it or not. I won't say anything."
"Sludge is babies..."
"Kind of."
Travis walked with her but couldn't figure out what he wanted. Josh said the sludge was bad but that they were babies. Babies were not bad... He felt a strange protection over the sludge and was glad his new mother was letting him choose. He wasn't sure why he felt close to the sludge, but he did and he didn't want to hurt anything if at all possible.