The ocean was calm and peaceful under the waves. Schools of fish flaunted their colors along the reef in their own tightly knit groups. Small crustaceans hid under various overhangs of coral. The occasional octopus even crawled out of the small burrow it made to hunt down nearby prey. Everything was rhythmic. Balanced. Beautiful. It was a perfect form of calm synchronization with another lazy day slowly going by. It was above the waves that was the complete opposite.
"Lotisoo! Keep the center of the raft up! Lisa! Secure the rope around that dolphin! Josh! Move your ass before I have Kina kick it for me!" a blond-haired, blue-eyed man shouted on an island shore. An orange raft was now hauling a rather heavy generator and kept threatening to dip down. The one called Lotisoo was a merman, and he was in charge of keeping the center of the raft from dipping down too much. Other members of his pod were ready to help when he got exhausted.
"We could use Kilnak!" Josh scowled. His skin was already bronzing under the sun, and it seemed to enhance his light-green eyes. "Where is he, Dad?"
"Kilnak is keeping your sister from getting sick. And, he's ensuring the island we chose is safe," the father snorted. Another merman swam over and nodded to him.
"Joe! It can take us about ten minutes, if we take turns," the merman said.
"Thanks, Kep. How's Nikki doing?" he asked.
"She is doing better. She still feels a little sick, but not too bad. We shaded the beach quite well to the temporary island. There is plenty of fish there, too," Kep nodded. He was still talking slowly, but his words had definitely improved over the past few days.
"Everything else was moved over?"
"Yes. All that is left is this thing. Then the house can be built. How long do you think?" Kep frowned. "We are all curious."
"It could be a few months. Maybe even a year. I'm hoping it will be done by the time Nikki gives birth. Once this island is clear, the crew will come in. Was all the treasure moved? Josh, guide that dolphin! Don't just sit there!" he scowled at his son.
"We will handle the dolphins," Kep said. "You handle your kids."
"I wish I could," he muttered. That got a laugh from the older merman, and he refocused on the raft. On the temporary island chosen, Nichole was trying to organize what was brought over. It took a week of careful planning to choose the right island. After it was fully secured and properly shielded from the harsh sun, everything was slowly brought over.
"Are you all right?" Kilnak asked his wife. She looked over at the merman with her father's deep blue eyes and smiled with a nod. He gestured for her slim form and cuddled her. He pulled her blond hair away from her face to let her get more comfortable. She was very happy that he managed to learn how to speak so flawlessly to her. Other members of the pod were slower, but he learned quickly. It took him a while to lose the high-pitched squeaking, but now he had a bit more of a normal tone with the lower vocals he managed to control. She thought he sounded incredibly smooth and sexy.
"I'm as well as I can be," she said. He had her rest her head on his shoulder.
"I don't like how this island is so exposed," he frowned.
"I know," she sighed. "At least there is some form of shading now."
"I doubt it would hold up to a storm."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"If I did, you know I would have brought it up."
"At least this island has a bit more room than the other one."
"I know it," her husband agreed. The island was once rather sparse and bare. That had changed when poles were purchased with netting to create an overhang. A type of tent-like dome was created with seaweed to be a touch weatherproof, but tarp was used underneath it for waterproofing reinforcement. Kilnak had ensured that the poles going into the wet sand were able to work with the added weight of the seaweed. They were even able to make a form of fold-out doors that could be held down under the water for a bit more privacy. He had done quite a bit of online research to ensure he got the right equipment. Bobby, their one true means to get what they needed done, was able to assist.
"I'm glad we made small rooms," she smiled.
"The humidifier helps," he grinned his lightly fanged grin.
"I'm glad it did help. I'm very glad we tested it with the generator. We'll need to get that over here to get the humidifier working. We were even able to make small tunnels for water, too. There was plenty of room for that. Of course, we had to reinforce the tunnels with a bit of rock to keep them from caving in, but it worked. A bit tricky, though, to get them built. We had to dig down, as your family dug up to meet us. The rocks did the job when we were able to use them to hold the walls out. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't work."
"It works well. Definitely gives us a solid reason to have the same thing done in our home."
"We were already talking about that," she nodded. "We'll probably use steel, though. Also, I need to dry out every now and then, too. I can't stand being like a prune all the time!"
"Don't complain to me about that. You know I have to keep my skin moist. I can't afford to dry out. Like you know, I'm more dolphin based," he grinned and nibbled her neck. "Are you hungry?"
"A little," she muttered, and his mouth caught hers up in a kiss. Now she found herself lost in thought. It's still so hard for me to believe that I'm married to a merman and pregnant with his kid. And to think it happened almost over a week ago! I've been out in the Caribbean for roughly eight days now. It was supposed to have been for a cruise with me to have a week to myself for scuba lessons. It was a day after my arrival that Kilnak came into my life. Only a day later, after my father came out to help me with a stalker, If found out that I was pregnant. Then the rest of the family had to come out. Now my older sister and oldest brother were married into the Merfolk pod, and even my youngest brother, Douglas, was engaged, too. The only family member left single was Annie, my younger sister, and I seriously doubt that she'll ever be able to figure out what to do with her life.
"You're distracted," Kilnak whispered. "Talk to me."
"Just...thinking over everything that happened," she whispered back and cried out at the hard thrust he gave her after the quick yanking aside of her swimsuit bottoms. He had her give herself over to him before he shouted out his release. Then he pulled her close to hold and comfort. She buried her face into the webbing that attached from the base of his neck to the back of his skull. He gave out his soft, musical purr and nuzzled her. The purring did calm her down a touch, but not by much. He didn't like her being upset. That led to stress. It was time to find out what bothered her.
"Like what? Being with me?" he smiled. "Moving too fast?"
"Yeah. And Annie..."
"Don't talk about her," he growled.
"I know, I know..." she sighed. "Just thinking of everything up to this point. That's all."
"Well, there's no need to think about that one."
"And Doug?"
"He at least apologized for the insult he gave us, and Sitari likes him. He still has a ways to go, but he's trying. Stopping the smoking helped. Annie is just a bitch with a spoiled life."
"Kilnak!"
"Don't argue with me!" he smirked. "You know this, too!"
"Josh just had to teach you how to swear..."
"And, Annie isn't a nice person, so I can swear out her name whenever I want. Like I told you. I will only use swears to not nice people. She's a fucking monkey with a piece of fruit up her ass."
"That's enough!" Nikki colored up. "Yes, I admit it. My sister has a lot of faults. But, she isn't here. That should say enough."
"Agreed," he nodded. "She was taken back to Maryland...oh...two days ago?"
"Yes. With my Mother. Doug is working with Bobby to learn with some of his crew about electronics and ships. We'll need to work on getting various fish species to breed around the new home. I was thinking about something else, too," she smiled.
"Tell me," he chuckled.
"Is it possible to gather up all of the black coral that grows around us to bring to our island?"
"Now...that would be interesting," he mused. "A form of transplanting. We would be protecting it, anyways, and it could be used for fish habitats..."
"And, if coral harvesters appear, it would give your family some entertainment."
"You can be so evil!"
"It would give us a way to test the defenses when they get set up."
"I like that."
"I knew you would," she smiled. He kissed her again and looked over at his dolphin companion.
"Device being brought! There is room?" he clicked. Kilnak smiled and placed a webbed hand on his friend's forehead in greeting. Nichole had found out that his companion was a male not long ago. She even had her own dolphin companion that was the largest male of the pod, and he was hunting around the island. The moment she was in trouble, he would be quick to appear.
"Yes. We made room. How far off is it?" Kilnak asked.
"Some time. Hard to move! Will get here," he chittered back. The dolphin swam off, and Kilnak squeezed his mate. She thought about something, and he looked at her.
"I want to learn your language," she said.
"I don't think you can," he chuckled.
"I should still try!" she frowned. He thought and nodded.
"Okay. This is how I say 'hello'," he said. He carefully formed the sound. The sound she made had him stuttering with laughter. Vocal imprints were the key to forming the proper words, and she was off by a milestone. "Um...you just said this..."
"Said what?" she frowned. At his whisper, she blushed a beet red. "I did not!"
"You did," he snickered. "I think I'm quite good at mating you. What do you think?"
"All of that was said with two small sounds?" she blinked.
"Yes. Sound travels far in the water. I'm sure you know that. Long notes and short notes give the desired word structure and sound vocalization. Even the tone can make a completely different word. I honestly think that you wouldn't be able to speak our language unless you were born into it. Let me do the talking. Okay?" he grinned. Then he gaped at her. "Hey!"
"What?" she smirked and shifted him for his back to be against the damp beach sand. "If it's something I said, I had better act on it. Shouldn't I?"
"Bad Nikki..." he growled with a small grin.
"Are you complaining?"
"Does it look like I'm complaining?!"
"Then start using it, and use it well!" she snickered. He growled at her daring look and did exactly that for the next ten minutes. They were panting against each other when they heard her father hollering at Josh to keep pulling the raft with the dolphin. Kilnak muttered and sighed.
"Let me help them," he grumbled. She pressed a long, deep kiss to his mouth and ignored her brother's calls for help. I'm pregnant. I want my husband. Only after the kiss finished, did he set her gently on the beach to help them.
"About time!" Josh scowled.
"Nikki is pregnant and needed me. Do you want her to throw up?!" Kilnak glared.
"Be nice!" Kina frowned at Josh. "Nikki need Kilnak!"
"Okay, okay!" Josh winced at his wife. Kina was Kilnak's youngest sister and was a bit protective of Nichole in her vulnerable state. She used to be extremely shy, but being married cut that bit off rather quickly. It surprised her pod, too.
"Was it rough to get here, Joel?" Kilnak asked when he grabbed the lead line from Josh.
"A bit. We almost lost it when a whirlpool happened, but the whole pod was able to lift it. I'm going to need some water, though," Joel sighed. "I've sweat more out there than in a sauna."
"That's fine. How's the yacht?" he asked.
"It's back at our island. Grynkar is watching over it with a few dolphins."
"Good. Elder, was this the only thing left?" Kilnak asked Kep.
"Yes. Joe will contact Bobby to get the other Land Dwellers here. The surface will have a bit of activity. We need to be prepared," Kep nodded.
"Oh! Nikki had a great idea! You know the growing cling rocks that the Land Dwellers harvest? The hard to find ones? She was thinking that we could bring over any that we find to our surface. We can protect them and use them for future food homes," Kilnak chuckled.
"I like that idea! We'll have to do it when the Land Dweller device is built, though. We can start hiding what we find now in advance. Joe! Nikki had a good thought," Kep said.
"About what?" Joel asked, as he swallowed down a bottle of water.
"The corals that the harvesters want. The rare ones. We can transplant them around the island for future fish homes," Kilnak grinned. Now Joel's eyes lit up with a smile of approval.
"I think I won't tell Bobby," Joel smirked. "Considering he dabbles in the trade, too..."
"We'll leave small ones behind, but take the largest ones. This way, he'll think that others got to it first," Nichole grinned. She waved at Lisa and Lotisoo when they finally managed to separate from the raft to swim over. Lisa sighed and plopped onto the beach.
"I don't want to do that again!" she frowned.
"May have to when home built," Lotisoo smiled softly. Now she groaned, and he hugged her. "It okay, Lisa. We work good! All done now."
"Until we move back!" she mumbled. She looked at her husband and smiled at his grin. She knew he liked to watch her swim, and he made no effort to hide the fact. Then she thought and looked at her sister. "So, Nikki, did your boobs grow yet?"
"Shut up!" Nichole scowled. Kilnak glanced over at Lisa, and Lotisoo even gave her a funny look. When Kilnak looked back at Nikki with a curious gaze, she relented. "No. Not yet. That may not happen until the second or third month."
"I'm just saying that it would be nice to see you start to fill out! You can finally be up to par with me," Lisa shrugged. She had a succubus build like her mother and younger sister. Nichole lacked it.
"I don't want that visual!" Joel groaned.
"Well, I'm worried about you! You might smother the kid, if you have one," Nikki grinned.
"That's not funny!" Lisa colored up. She glared at Lotisoo when he started to snicker. Joel was now seeing to the raft to make sure it was undamaged. It was his way to ignore everything. Kina was in Josh's arms and snuggling into him. One lone mermaid was near them, too, and she sighed to herself. Joel looked over at her and now decided to turn his attention span over to her.
"Would you like me to call Doug for you, Sitari?" Joel asked, as he sat down.
"Please?" she smiled. "I miss him."
"I know you do. And, how is that wound healing?" he asked.
"Um, easy to move. Still sore," she sighed. He gestured to take a look, and she swam to the beach to lay back for him. When he traced lightly over the healing line that used to be a nasty gash, she winced. As a respected doctor and a surgeon, he was studying how the muscle was closing. He didn't like how it still appeared to be swollen. It was an active muscle, so it was bound to heal slower than usual. She couldn't simply sit down and do nothing. She had to swim to survive.
"Yeah, it needs a bit more time. No heavy swimming?" he asked.
"No," she said. "Small swims only."
"Good. Does it hurt here?" he asked, as he gently pressed two inches out of the wound. At the wince she gave, he frowned hard. "I think we have an infection."
"What?" Kep asked now. The others quickly looked over.
"It bad?" she frowned.
"It can be. As much as I don't want to, I need to do a small puncture to see if anything needs to drain. If there's only blood, then it's just sore muscle. But, if it's something else, it needs to drain. Nikki, I need the suture kit, please. Lisa, get me some fresh water," Joel said. "Actually, I got a few syringes, thanks to Bobby's help. Get me one of those. It will be easier to work with. Ah, grab one from the right, please. Shift them over from the left, but leave the last one where it is."
"Right," Nikki said and got him one after the other needles were shifted as needed. Kep was frowning at this, but, if Sitari was still hurting, it clearly wasn't right. Joel grabbed some anesthetic and carefully applied it over the area first to mildly numb it down. Then he used the syringe to draw up some blood. Luckily, there was no infection. It was just sore muscle. With a sigh of relief, he nodded.
"If it was yellow, or milky, that's infection. This is just blood. We're lucky. We'll give it another week, okay? If you still feel that any pain is there, you have to tell me," Joel said. Sitari nodded, and he swabbed the puncture mark closed. When he was sure that it was clotted up, he let her swim a bit to soothe the muscle back down. The Merfolk pod was really happy to have found Joel. There was another merman that needed his help with a gashed up tail. The same treatment was done to help him.
"Can't she take something for the pain?" Nichole frowned.
"I'd have to do an injection. Morphine would be best, but like hell can I find that. I wonder if pills would work for her. I'm sure we have some kind of penicillin or Tylenol. Do we even have some form of Advil? It may be easier for her. If I can get ahold of some of the stronger stuff, it would be faster relief. She may need swelling reduction, and it would help with the pain. What do you have, Lisa?" Joel asked. He put away the surgical needle after a quick rinse of alcohol.
As much as he didn't like to reuse needles, he didn't have a choice. He soaked them with alcohol after each use, but it was only two out of the ten he had that were used. He simply made a mental note of which one was used until he could swap them out for fresh ones. It was why he had the other needles shifted over. The ones on the far left of the pack were used ones. It was easier for him to remember.
"I do have some Advil!" Lisa grinned. "Sitari! Take two of these. Don't chew. Just swallow with water, ok? Swallow whole."
"Okay," the mermaid nodded and took the medicine.
"If you feel bad, tell me," Joel said. "Good thing I have another week off of work! Ah, let me call Doug for you, Sitari. Dry your hands and come here."
"Yes!" she beamed. She missed him and readily did what she needed to do to handle the phone. As she talked to Doug, Joel had Josh help him with the generator to get it going. Kilnak had Nichole back in his arms to silently watch the temporary island home get power to get the humidifier working.