A Place to Call Home | 16

All morning, Gaby has been holed up in the kitchen, determined to bake an absolutely perfect apple pie. She's never considered herself much of a cook, but she manages to avert failure and come out with a delightfully golden crust. "I sure hope this thing holds up on the flight," she says, doing her best to avoid cutting into the dessert right then and there.

But she has to save it for Harvestfest, which, this year, is bound to be especially memorable. Realizing the rest of her family hasn't yet gotten the chance to meet Noelani in person, Gaby has booked tickets for all three of them to fly to Oasis Springs for a few days, where they'll be celebrating along with Gaby's siblings and their children.

She worried the whole trip over that Noelani would be shy around her cousins, but she seems to take an immediate liking to them, especially Rafael's youngest daughter, Camilla, who's closest to her in age.

Within minutes, Camilla is teaching her how to play chess, and the two of them fall deep into concentration. Meanwhile, Gaby and Alvin greet the rest of the family. "You guys sure have grown since the last time we saw each other," Alvin says with a nervous laugh, waving at Ana's twins Cleo and Ari. It's a bit of an understatement, seeing that they're both practically adults now.

Ana, of course, is older, too, but her Del Sol Valley lifestyle - a bit of Botox here, a professional blond dye job there - has kept most of the more noticeable effects of aging at bay. She's still as obsessed with maintaining her social media presence as ever. Her days as a working actress may be largely in the past, but it's important she maintains a high profile. After all, she'll never be remembered as an icon after death, she tells Gaby matter-of-factly, if she fades out of the spotlight while she's still alive.

"So tell me," Alvin says slowly, looking around the room with shifty eyes, "where do your parents hide the liquor around here?"

"How do you expect me to know that?" Cleo shrieks, clutching her hands to her heart in mock outrage.

Alvin leans in and lowers his voice. "Come on, don't tell me you haven't stolen a sip or two while no one else is around."

"Check the globe," she mutters and nods surreptitiously toward the far corner.

As promised, the globe is fully stocked with fine wines and liqueurs. Trying not to draw too much attention, he pours himself a generous drink. "Bring me a glass, too, won't you?" Gracie calls from behind, winking knowingly as he twists around in surprise.

Finally, everyone settles in for the grand Harvestfest meal. Noelani and Alvin, following Sulani tradition, decide they'd rather eat outside, so Ari and Rafael join them.

Meanwhile, everyone else enjoys their turkey and apple pie inside while they take turns catching each other up on the latest developments in their lives.

In typical fashion, Rafael's oldest daughter Marisol shows up late. She may have outgrown her teenage sulkiness, but she still operates on her own schedule. Noelani, of course, is immediately won over by her air of rebellion and spends an hour assailing her with questions about what it's like to be so grown up and cool. Visions of a tumultuous adolescence dance inside Alvin's head, and he has to excuse himself to pour another drink.

As sunset approaches, the children beg to visit the nearby playground, and Gaby and Alvin grudgingly agree to be their chaperones, though they're both a little too tipsy to pay much attention to anything but each other.

Thankfully, the girls hardly notice their sloppy public displays of affection. They've already become great friends and can barely stand to be separated at the end of the night. Luckily, the 'Aukais will be sticking around in Oasis Springs for a few more fun-filled days before heading home.

The next morning, they meet back up with Cleo, Ari, and Camilla for a bit more cousin-bonding in the form of rollerskating. At first, Noelani loves skating, having never experienced anything like it before.

That is, until she gets her first taste of a nasty wipe-out. Gaby tries to encourage her to get back up and keep going from the sidelines, but Noelani shoots back in a snobby tone, "I don't see you out here, Mom!"

A pep talk from her dad and a promise that he'll be there to catch her if she falls again is enough to put her back on her feet, though.

Sadly, it appears Alvin isn't much more skilled at skating than she is. Gaby makes the executive decision that they should both vacate the roller rink before they end up needing to visit the hospital.

Instead, they regroup and head for the water park, where they immediately feel much more at ease and in their element.

Alvin can't help himself from jumping into the pool for a refreshing swim, forgetting momentarily that it will cause him to transform. But Ana and Gracie take the revelation that he's a merman surprisingly well. They've both seen some crazy things in their lives. At this point, a man with a tail seems perfectly expected.

"Oh, look at her!" they exclaim in unison when they see what a strong swimmer Noelani is already. "You can definitely tell she's got those mermaid genes in her," Ana says, almost as proudly as if Noelani were her own daughter.

On their final evening in Oasis Springs, they have dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. Gaby has fond memories of eating here when she was a kid, and the place has barely changed all these years later. "So, honey, how have you liked your first trip off the island?" Alvin asks Noelani as she doodles on her place mat.

"I like it here," she says. "I really liked meeting all my cousins and getting to hang out and have fun with them. But this place is so dry and dusty! I would never want to live here. I'll be glad when we're back home and I can swim in the real ocean again."

Before they leave, though, there's one more activity on the docket: bowling! Or, in other words, the kids will be bowling and the adults will be distractedly cheering them on while simultaneously ordering the bartender to keep the drinks flowing.

"That's all this is, throwing a ball?" Noelani scoffs, full of childish overconfidence. "As long as there aren't skates involved, I'm good. How could I possibly mess this one up?"

Of course, she isn't quite prepared for just how heavy the ball is, and it ends up in the gutter within seconds of leaving her grip.

Luckily, her older cousins aren't much better at bowling than she is and possibly even worse. She joins Cleo in laughing uncontrollably at Ari, who somehow manages to throw the ball behind him rather than into the lane where it belongs.

"Move over, kiddos!" Gaby bellows, making her way over from the bar with a slight stagger in her step. "I've played this game once or twice in my life. Let me show you how it's really done!"

Perhaps predictably, she falls flat on her face, though she insists her lack of coordination is due to how rusty she is rather than excessive alcohol consumption.

"I'm not a fan of all these land games," Noelani concludes at the end of the night. "I think I'm definitely starting to miss home now."

When they land back in Sulani after another long flight, she's immediately greeted with doggy hugs and kisses. It looks like Meli has been missing Noelani all this time, too! If it were up to her, her new favorite human companion would never leave her sight again.