Once she’d finished showering, drying off was awkward, the corner of the towel dipping in the water twice. She pulled the nightgown on over her head, then had to hold the hem up out of the water.

When she tugged back the curtain, all three men were sitting in the living room, heads up, watching.

Her arms wrapped across her chest, she walked to her bed. Designing the homearium, she’d made sure the bed was in the center of the water. This way, Eh couldn’t reach her at night without wading through the water. He’d be too wary of Junior to do that.

Unfortunately, the bed being in the center of the room also meant it was in full view of the men in the house.

She pulled the plastic cover off the mattress and sat down, exhaling with relief. The bed rocked gently on its chains, an inch above the water. The end of a long day. Inside the building, Tibbet walked to the light switch and clicked the spotlights off: a kindness. At this, Eh and Blum looked at Tibbet, mouths tight. Now the men were the ones lit up for viewing, while she sat here in the dark. They rose and started to clear the dinner dishes.

She pulled her legs out of the water and lay down on clean dry sheets. Closing her eyes, she felt dizzy from exhaustion, the dappled water that she’d been staring at all day flickering across her eyelids.

However Junior was no longer able to reach her, and he began to squeal, distressed, loud enough for her to hear. He had never slept alone in his life, slept without other dolphins nearby, without holding Mother’s flipper in his mouth.

He circled the bed, screaming and clicking, fear in his voice. Once she thought she heard a responding squeal in the distance, perhaps Mother responding from down in the lagoon. She tried to wait it out, figuring he’d quiet down.

Instead water hit her in the face. The blowhole of a dolphin can hold and squirt an impressive amount of water. She sat up fast, her pillow soaked.

Junior continued to squeal, a baby having a tantrum. He whacked his tail down on the water, splashing the mattress.

So she rolled her leg over the side of the bed to calm him, dangling a foot at the surface. He rubbed against her foot, circling it. She lay back awkwardly, keeping her foot in the water. All she wanted was sleep.

After a moment, she felt something close gently around her toes. Looking over the edge of the bed, she could see he had her foot in his mouth. She’d seen him hold Mother’s flipper in his mouth while he napped, a habit he’d retained even into adolescence. She could feel his tongue against her toes, a rhythmic sucking pressure. He was nursing even as an adolescent.

She didn’t pull her foot back. The sensation was strangely moving, the trust and intimacy. He began to quiet down, probably as exhausted as she was, the stress and fear of being separated from the other dolphins, the new location. Within minutes, he was asleep.