The Triplets and the Prophecy
(Meredith POV)
Get up, get up, sleepyfins!" Triton exclaimed, pulling Carmen's tail with all of his might. This wasn't a lot, but still.
"Triton! It's night-time!" Carmen pushed him away, and put her head under her pillow. My sweet Carmen, six going on sixteen. Triton was unfazed, and jumped on her.
"The triplets… are hatching… right now!" he shouted between jumps.
"What? Why didn't you say?" Carmen squealed.
"I just did!" Triton rolled his eyes. Carmen grabbed his hair and swum over to their little singing siblings and me.
"Triton, they aren't hatching!" Carmen exclaimed, letting go of his red curl and glaring at him. He rubbed his head and shrugged.
"They haven't hatched yet, stupid," Prince rolled his eyes.
"Their singing is almost like our voices. That means it's almost time," I told them gently. We were all gathered around the shell bassinet, waiting. I looked up to the roof and prayed Quidam would someday see our little ones.
"That one is horrible at singing," Carmen wrinkled her nose, pointing at the second smallest one.
"Kind of like a dying seagull," Prince laughed.
"Well, not everyone can be vocally blessed," I rolled my eyes at him. The biggest egg suddenly started to shake. Cracks began to appear in it's smooth surface as the infant struggled to be born.
"Hurry up, I want a sister already!" Carmen shrieked.
"No! A boy! A boy!" Prince yelled, not to be outdone by his little sister. The two looked at Triton expectantly to cast the deciding vote. He looked at me helplessly, then to the egg.
"What do you think?" he asked softly. The egg continued to crack until a little mermaid poked her head out, not singing anymore but screaming.
"Uh!" Triton covered his ears and pulled a face as the little mermaid forced her way from the egg.
"Hello, my little Ursula Selene," I picked up the little mermaid, the telltale upward half moon between her eyes still bright. In the coming months, that would fade away. Looking into her soft blue eyes, I hardly noticed the second biggest egg cracking.
"Mama, pay attention! Your baby is hatching!" Carmen snapped. I looked away from Ursula to see a second little mermaid wailing. Still off tune, mind you. I sighed, setting Ursula back into the crib as she sung in her melodic voice, in favour of her tone-deaf sister.
"Settle down, Morgana Lune," I whispered. She only wailed pitifully.
"Oh, Morgana! Please settle down like Ursula!" I pleaded. That seemed to pacify her. I would have to remember to continue doing that. All eyes were on the smallest egg to hatch and reveal itself. But there was nothing, not even an assuring melody that the egg would hatch soon. I looked at my older children, blinking back tears. Prince seemed to understand, his eyes locked with mine as tears filled his eyes. Carmen was too busy playing with the triplets- twins- downy hair to notice the third egg anymore. And Triton, my dear sweet Triton, looked as though he was silently willing the egg to hatch. Perhaps he remembered not so long ago, when he had had such difficulty hatching. But this was different. He had sung.
"Mama… the baby isn't coming, is it?" Prince whispered with his voice filled with pain.
"It's right there, Prince," Carmen said, looking at her brother's pained face with surprise.
"Mama, what's he talking about?" Triton's big blue eyes were filled with fear.
"Sometimes, babies aren't meant to hatch. Sometimes, Poseidon decides to bring them to be foam on the ocean with him instead of living here with us," I said gently, brushing away my tears into the water.
"Why?" Carmen whispered.
"She wasn't meant to be born, darling. She was too sick and far too little," I answered as best I could, "Tomorrow morning, we will bury her body in the sand so she can live between the foam and the ocean bed. That way she can be with us in spirit even though she couldn't live with us."
"She?" Prince echoed, I nodded, looking at my two babies and their dead sister in the bassinet.
"How do you know, Mama?" Triton whispered.
"I had a feeling they were three little girls," I replied, kissing his forehead, "Ursula Selene, Morgana Lune, and Attina Artemis. My moonchildren."
"Attina," Triton echoed.
"Yes, baby. Attina," I agreed, "It's time to go back to bed now. You can play with the tri-twins in the morning."
Prince winced to hear me call Ursula and Morgana twins instead of triplets. Carmen curled up in her bed with her loyal bedtime toy, Mr. Goldfishie. Only Triton remained by the bassinet, looking at little Attina.
"How do you love a person who never got to be?
Or try again to see a face you never got to see?
How do you mourn the death of one who never got to live?
When there's nothing to feel good about and nothing to forgive?
I love you, little sister; you're a person of the wind.
Free to be the memory of all that might have been.
I love you, little sister, my companion of the night.
Wandering through my lonely hours beautiful and bright.
What does it mean to die before you ever can be born?
To live the lovely night of life and never see the dawn?
Ah! My little sister, you lived like anyone!
Life's a burst of joy and pain, and then, like yours, it's done.
I love you, little sister, just as if you'd lived for years.
No more, no less, I think of you, the angel of my tears," he whispered, almost reciting the words. Words he'd never heard before. He turned from the bassinet and swam over to me, curling up in my arms, his bright blue eyes wide with compassion as he stroked my cheek lovingly.
"Will you sing for me tonight?" Triton pleaded. I kissed his forehead and smiled, rocking him gently in my arms.
"Hush-a-bye, my little child
Hush-a-bye, though winds blow wild
While the storms rage o'er the sea
You shall sleep in serenity
Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye
Sea winds whistle a lullaby
Hush-a-bye-, hush-a-bye
Sea winds whistle a lullaby
Children of fisherfolk by the shore
Winds shall sing to you evermore
Winter gale or summer breeze
Fill your dreams with their melodies
Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye
Sea winds whisper a lullaby
Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye
Sea winds whisper a lullaby."
Across the room, Prince had drifted into a restless sleep, as Carmen lay dead still with Mr. Goldfishie in a deadly hug. In the bassinet, Ursula and Morgana slept their first sleep as mermaids instead of little eggs. I looked down to see Triton sleeping peacefully in my arms. There could never be a prophecy so dark for my precious baby boy. The Prophetess Sybil had told us the last son would bear the prophecy. And I had wanted one of those to be the prophecy so badly, pleading all my instincts to be wrong! A cruel little boy, with a hard heart I would never love in a million years. Not my Triton, my special baby boy, with a heart bigger than the ocean and that darned temper to match. Just like his father, and grandfather before him. I had wondered if Triton's son would bear the infamous Eau temper. Of course, he wouldn't have any sons, daughters, or children at all. If anything, the Prophetess was clear about that. He wouldn't live long enough. He couldn't.
My son would never be a killer.
AN: Triton's poem is To a Stillborn Sister by Andrea Gabrielli. Meredith's song is Lullaby of the Sea by David Lundie.
