A New Home, A New Life

(Alana POV)

After a short honeymoon at a tropical resort down south, Academicus and I had returned to the castle a week ago, as husband and wife ready to begin our life together. We had our own wing in the palace that Daddy and my sisters had set up for us while we were away, just a little apartment for newlyweds or a little family. Who knew, perhaps we might have our own little family here, the kind of little family in daydreams. Academicus could continue working in the castle, I could spend time with my sisters whenever I liked, and there was certainly enough room for a little child or two to explore and have a million adventures. There had been enough room for my sisters and me to have at least a million adventures each. With six sisters, I couldn't imagine ever wanting to expand my family any further. Maybe just a little family. Poseidon knows this castle was already crowded enough as it was.

Light filtered through the ocean as dawn broke, casting pretty patterns on the room through the floral crocheted seaweed curtains. I had spent the last couple of days devotedly decorating our little apartment, making sure everything was just perfect, as Academicus was so busy catching up on the work he missed while he was away. I lay next to my new husband now, watching the light dance across his sleeping figure. There was something extraordinary about him, something unlike anyone else I had ever seen. His jet-black silky hair brushed his shoulders, swirling around his face in the water. His dark, flashing, almond-shaped eyes were closed; his lips were slightly open as he breathed in and out peacefully in his sleep. He was one of the rare merfolk with a multi-coloured tail, white with a black tip. He was so perfectly handsome, with his olive-coloured skin and lean frame. So very perfect… like he was something out of a dream. His long dark eyelashes fluttered, and he yawned, stretching out on the bed. He mumbled to himself for a minute, blinking around at the room. He smiled up at me sleepily, and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Morning, Lanie," he murmured, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning, darling," I leant down and kissed his lips gently. He sat up next to me, running his fingers through his hair.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Almost seven," I replied. He groaned, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"What a wonderful morning to waste upon an early meeting," he murmured, pulling a face.

"Well, you ought to blow it off and stay here with me," I suggested, wrapping my tail around his. He laughed, and kissed my neck affectionately.

"I would if I could… Oh, Poseidon, I wish I could," he sighed, "but, I simply cannot. We're preparing for the mid-year meeting with the King this afternoon. The Lord Treasurer has asked me to act as his assistant. Perhaps if I perform well I might be promoted."

"I suppose if you must, darling," I sighed, stroking his cheek. If only he wasn't so devoted to his job... but then, perhaps his passionate devoted to his work was part of his charm.

"Believe me, Lanie, if there was any way I could skip work today, I wouldn't have even brought it up," Academicus assured me, "if I could lie here with you forever, I would be contented for my whole life. You do realise how much I devotedly adore you?"

"Of course. You're terribly poetic this morning," I murmured with a laugh.

"I'm terribly poetic every morning," Academicus teased me, kissing both my cheeks lightly. With a disappointed groan, he climbed out of bed and swam off into the bathroom. I climbed out of bed and swam over to the balcony. Everything here was so beautiful, so terribly perfect. I sighed, leaning forward, twisting my fingers through my curls. What a beautiful city we lived in, with everyone just starting their day with the light coming through waves and shining down onto all of us. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful… there was nothing that I loved more. Certainly, nothing could spoil this perfect day.

"Lanie, there is something I need to tell you," Academicus declared suddenly as he swum back into the room.

"What is it, darling?" I looked up, swimming out from behind the curtain. He frozen for a moment, biting his lower lip, transfixed on me.

"Poseidon, you're beautiful…" he paused, and seemed to forget what he was going to say.

"Darling, you're pretty gorgeous yourself," I giggled as I swam over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. His dark, shining eyes fixed onto my eyes, and he kissed me, his arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me close to him.

"Was that all you had to tell me?" I teased him, running my fingers through his hair.

"Oh, no… it's difficult to explain…" he began, but seemed unable to continue, "well, not difficult to explain, exactly, but difficult to say…"

I tilted my head to the side, wondering what on earth he was talking about, or at least trying to talk about. The bells outside chimed, seven o'clock.

"I'm going to be late," he remarked, with a frown, "but I so wanted to talk to you as soon as we got home, and we've already been back a week. Well, actually, I wanted to tell you once we got engaged, then just after we got married, then while we were on our honeymoon… oh, Lanie-"

"Oh, darling, certainly one more day won't make much of a difference. You shouldn't keep the Lord Treasurer waiting. We've got time. We're going to spend forever together," I reminded him gently.

"Forever?" Academicus repeated.

"Forever," I promised. He half-smiled, and kissed me once more.

"I guess it can wait. I'll be back around five," he kissed me lightly, and swam from the room. I swam back down onto the bed and snuggled down under the blankets. We could have a perfect, fairy-tale life here: we could have a little baby and not much to worry about at all. I had never much thought about having a family before, but perhaps I might like to have a pretty little baby here in my pretty little apartment with Academicus. I might like to be a mother, have a tiny little baby to kiss and play with tiny little hands and a tiny little tail. A little baby to push around in a baby carriage, with its first words and first little swim. A little child to chase around the castle, to read stories to, to dress up, and tuck in to bed every night. It would be so lovely, just like living happily ever after.

I went into my dressing room, and sat down at my vanity, and started applying my makeup, but paused for a moment. Was I even going to leave my apartment today? I mean, none of my sisters were even around the castle. Attina was down at her little village school, her pet charity project. Aquata was at finball practice. She had been devoted to every kind of sporting team she could get her fins onto for the past year, with no time for anything else. Adella and Andrina went down to Eel-Ectric City with a couple of their friends for a couple of days. Arista and Leo had gone out of town to see Leo's family. And Ariel... well, Poseidon knows where Ariel was. It had been so weird without her here. Just sitting down at dinner now, and looking at her empty seat, waiting for her to hurry in at the last minute running her fingers through her red hair and bragging about whatever crazy adventure she had been on. But now, it was different. She didn't turn up to dinner anymore. My friends were either our partying or tending to grubby little merbabies. My best friend, Pearl, had moved up to Eel-Ectric City permanently. Pearl had been the coolest mermaid in Atlantica, the goddess of what's splashing and what's not happening. It was so quiet around here without her turning up to invite me to come out shopping or to come to a wild party. But even if she did turn up today, would I even what to go out to party with her when I could stay home with Academicus? Perhaps I wasn't the same Alana from Pearl-and-Alana, the epitome of glamour and style. A new kind of Alana.

A/N: How many of you have seen episodes from the Little Mermaid series? The character of Pearl is from the series, which I would highly recommend. A couple more characters from the series will be cropping up over this story. Is there anyone from the series or movies that you want to see?

And my darlings, not one of you picked up the line from another movie in the last chapter! I won't say it for couple more chapters, but then I'll tell you what the line and what the movie is. Would you like a hint?