30th May 2019

It rained on the day of the funeral. Rikki, overcome with hormones and grief, was not ashamed of her tear-stained face. She stood under a very wide protective umbrella in the rain by the graveside long after the other mourners had left, clasping tightly onto her husband's hand.

Zane was ashen-faced and heartbroken. He too wept silently, mourning the loss of the father he had hated and loved. His black tie was undone and hung loosely on his stiff white shirt. Next to him, Rikki's protruding bump was black-clad, and she wore her unruly blond curls pinned under a black hat.

"He was so good," Zane wept softly, "Such a good man. I never appreciated him."

Rikki kissed Zane's forehead tenderly. "Go inside," she said sympathetically, "Dry off and I'll be in shortly."

Zane, weeping but obliging, turned and left Rikki alone by the graveside.

Rikki picked a few of the lilies growing freely by the graveyard wall and laid them on Harrison's tomb.

Harrison Bennett

October 3 1956 - May 25 2019

"I did love you," she said softly, "I did."

Rikki wiped the tears from her eyes and got up slowly.

She turned around to discover Vanessa Masterton, Zane's long estranged mother, standing behind her, black-clad, somber-faced and pretty in spite of her age. Rikki's sharp intake of breath and suspicious glance made Vanessa take a step forward. She grasped Rikki's hands and smiled feebly.

"Rikki?" she asked in a hoarse voice, "It is Rikki, isn't it."

Rikki nodded, trying not to meet the woman's eyes. How dare she? Rikki thought. After all these years, how dare she come, and at such a time as this? Rikki restrained her anger and managed to smile with gritted teeth at her (now that she thought about it) mother-in-law.

"Please," Vanessa said softly, "I know what you must think of me. I'm sure Zane must have told you all sorts of horrid things about how I... well..." she trailed off. A slow tear trickled down her cheek.

Rikki, not quite knowing where the newfound sense of altruism suddenly came from, looked into the deep chocolate eyes of her mother-in-law, smiled sincerely and wrapped her arms around her.

"Thank you for coming," Rikki said from the depths of her heart. Sleep-deprivation, pregnancy hormones and sorrow made for a strange combination, and Rikki succumbed to the unnatural comfort that this woman's presence had conjured within her.

"Thank you," she repeated.

oOoOoOoOo

Rikki and Zane would stay at their house on the mainland for now, taking some time to set Harrison's affairs in order. Back on Mako, the mourners had returned somberly by boat. Anna rushed immediately to the restroom to throw up her breakfast. She re-emerged pale and queasy-looking.

"Morning sickness just sucks," she moaned.

Emma smiled sympathetically and conjured a breath mint from her handbag, met with a grateful smile from Anna.

Cleo had mercifully stopped glowing in time for the funeral, but Lewis continued his research, which as of yet bore not fruit. He now rushed back to his office across the courtyard to investigate further.

Bella sat looking out into the rain, a deep melancholy rooted between her eyebrows. Emma came and sat on her lap in the wheelchair, hugging the forlorn blond head.

Bella looked up at her, tears in her eyes.

"I don't get it," she said softly, "How people can just stop living. Even if it's not their fault. And to think…. I… I can't believe I almost put you all through this. I…." she faltered.

"I know," Emma reassured her softly, smoothing her furrowed brow, "I'm mighty glad you didn't. I don't think we'd have coped. But it was Harrison's time. And one day it'll be yours too. I just thank God that it wasn't."

Bella smiled up at Emma, squeezing her hand gently.

"Plus we're mermaids," Bella laughed, "Who knows if we shall ever die!"

Suddenly, Cleo stood up from the barstool across the room, knocking down a silver tray with an almighty clang. Unfazed, Cleo grinned elatedly.

"Of course!" she exploded, "Why didn't I think of it before?"

oOoOoOoOo

"Here it is," Cleo laughed, "Fairy caverns. Of course! And here you were looking at scientific databases when all the time we had the information right here in our hands."

Lewis, pleased and yet slightly annoyed by his wife's discovery, took the book from her to peruse its contents.

"So really," Cleo said, "I had fairy… magic?... in me for five full days! Oh how exciting!"

Lewis slammed the book shut, smiling and scowling at his wife. "Why," he asked, "Do I seem every day to be bested by this darned leprechaun."

Cleo laughed and fluffed his hair.

oOoOoOoOo

Rikki's feet were curled under her on the leather sofa, a blanket wrapped around her. A little fire blazed in the hearth, for it was a chilling seven degrees Celsius, quite unusual for that time of year. Zane sat beside her and, in the armchair across from them, Vanessa told her story.

"You were ten," she said to Zane, "As sweet a little boy as ever there lived… except for a slight tendency towards being spoilt."

Vanessa brown eyes glowed warmly as she spoke of her son.

"But I was miserable," she confided, "I felt strangled and claustraphobic and I just needed to live." Her voice rose exuberantly on the last word.

"I'm sorry I left you, truly I am. I've been sorry of it every day since your father and I divorced. I've always wanted to find you, I just thought that you'd… hate me. When I heard of Harrison's death, I knew I had to come see you. Come meet you," she added, smiling at Rikki, "And your children. You're expecting I see?"

"Yes," Rikki raised her eyebrows, "Twins. On top of the twin girls we have at home."

"Goodness me!" Vanessa exclaimed, "Well, if ever you need a live-in nanny…"

"We may just take you up on that," Zane laughed.

"Oh, and do forgive me for forgetting to wish you a happy anniversary!" Vanessa gushed.

Rikki and Zane exchanged a horrified look. They had both clean forgotten.

"Meh," they said in unison.