CH 69

Saturday morning everyone was crowded around Joan as she sat at the table with Cameron. Cameron took the wraps off her arm, then the glove, then the bandage sleeve.

"Lift your forearm up." Cameron said. Joan did, Cameron inspected closely.

"Now make a fist …now open your hand, fingers splayed … wiggle them… now put your fingers together …. Good, now swear you will never be that careless again!" Cameron said.

Everyone chuckled. Joan said, "I SWEAR I will never be that careless again!"

"Good, now you can help make breakfast," Cameron told her.

"Gladly!" Joan beamed.

"We should go feed the alligator," Louise said.

Joan perked up. "I want to help, I'll get breakfast started right after that."

"Not surprised," John said.

"At least she's not afraid of alligators now," Jackie said with a grin.

JJ asked, "When has Joan ever been afraid of anything?"

"True," Jackie admitted.

John only nodded. He remembered the girls come back through the time machine and being hyper-excited about fighting terminators. If that didn't scare them, nothing would.

.

It was a nice, cloudless day out, so when they set up outside, they had tents ready, but not set up. Daniel, Claire and Allison came not long after breakfast was over and help set up the picnic tables, chairs and stacked presents at the far end of the porch. Seeing all the activity, the alligator was watching from the lower part of the front yard.

Martin and Sarah arrived to add to the presents. The huge cake they brought stayed in the back of their car until they were ready for it. Right after them, Mark and Sonya arrived.

When Carol and Bob arrived, Joan ran over to their Jeep. "Carol, Bob, look! I'm all better now!" she beamed, and waved her arm at them. Carol gave her a hug and wished her happy Birthday. Turning to Bob, she glopped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. They hugged and shared a lengthy kiss. He whispered something to her, she giggled.

"No making out yet!" Jackie announced. That made everyone look at them.

To everyone's surprise, a Mercedes pulled in. An older looking James Ellison got out and opened the door for Mrs. Weaver as John Henry got out the passenger door and opened that back door for a now grown up Savannah.

This caused a gaggle of greetings, handshakes and hugs. Even Mrs. Weaver took part in the hug-fest. Grown up now, Savannah had a single braid in her bright red hair. She still had freckles, but now was a beautiful young woman.

Joan had towed Bob over to greet Savannah. Savannah and Joan shared comments of how each other had grown since they last saw each other. Savannah's face then dropped as she looked between them.

"There's an alligator behind you." Savannah said softly.

Joan turned around. The alligator was watching them, but it was still laying down. "Yes, that's our gator, she does that. She's just curious about you, it's nothing to be worried about."

"Unless she grabs your arm," Jackie said with a smirk.

Joan frowned at her. "It wasn't our alligator who grabbed me, it was one near Bob's house." Explaining to Savannah, she said, "I was swimming over to Bob's and I wasn't watching around me close enough and a gator grabbed me. I'm OK now."

"You swim in a lake with alligators?" Savannah asked.

"We all do," Jackie said, "But MOST of us keep a watch out what's around us."

Joan stuck her tongue out at her. Jackie returned the gesture. Savannah laughed at them.

"So Savannah, what have you been doing?"

"I'm in college, Business major and computer sciences. Mom and John Henry had been a real big help to me."

"I bet! You have the best resources for information in your mom and John Henry," Joan told her.

As they talked, another car came into the filed up lot. The driver opened the limo door up. Barnabas, Mrs. Collins, Miss Winters and Daniel got out. Again, it was a group meeting with lots of handshakes and smiles. Mrs. Collins was very happy to personally meet Catherine Weaver.

Daniel was looking around to see if he could find Jackie, when she asked from behind him, "Aren't you going to say hi?"

Daniel spun and cried, "Jackie!"

They shared a hug, Daniel had an ear to ear smile on his face. When they pulled back, Jackie asked, "Remember that letter you sent me, your theory about evolution?"

"Yeah, so do you think I'm right?" he asked.

Softly, Jackie said, "I can do better than that. I've got something to show you later, but you can't share it with anyone OK?"

Daniel gazed at her. "You have something? Like what? Did you find some bones or something?"

Jackie cast him a big smile. "Later, but I promise, it's good."

"Can you tell me what it is?" he asked eagerly.

Jackie shook her head. "Seeing is believing," she told him with a wide grin. "You brought dark colored shorts I hope?" she asked.

Daniel winced and glanced at the lake then the alligator in the yard. "Is is safe, that alligator's here."

"Don't worry about her, you'll be with me." Jackie assured him.

"About the shorts," Daniel stated.

"You didn't bring any," Jackie concluded.

He shook his head.

"We'll find something for you, You're about JJ's size."

.

The gaggle gravitated over towards the table. Even though John, Delilah and Cameron had told Mrs. Collins there was no danger from that alligator lying in the yard, she still was wary of it. She remembered Delilah's story of it going after Willy.

"Mrs. Collins," John said in a soothing tone, "Willy was trying to push Joan back to keep her out of the lake. The alligator there, thought he was attacking her. That's why it went after him. It lays there and the kids walk right by it all day, no problem. Give it some space and don't make any aggressive moves, and you'll be fine."

"Still it's a little scary with it so close," she said. "Can't put another fence up to keep it away?"

"That would be a wasted effort. It has learned how to climb fences. Relax, please?"

Cameron came up and said, "John, we're ready."

John nodded. "OK! All Birthday girls, come have a seat over here!" he announced, pointing to the middle table.

Joan, Jackie and Allison went over to sit down, Claire and John escorted Cameron over to sit her down in the middle of the other side. "Your built Day still counts." Claire told her. They sat her across from Joan, then had Jackie and Allison on either side of Joan switch places.

The cake Sarah and Martin brought over was long. It had four sets of candles on it. In front of Jackie was a dual row of eight to make sixteen, The pattern in front of Cameron was a question mark, Joan had 18 candles, Allison had 19 candles.

The first part of the birthday song went well, everyone sang in unison, when it came to the names, they were sung differently, and it turned into a giggling mess.

"And now the coordination test!" John announced. "Make your wishes, then blow out all the candles!"

The three girls looked at Cameron. Cameron puffed her chest up, then nodded. They all blew at the same time, all the candles were put out.

"Yay!" everyone cried and clapped. Everyone took seats, Mrs' Collins paused. "It's coming," she said breathlessly.

Joan turned to look. The alligator was walking towards them.

"She wants some cake too!" Jackie said. Jackie turned to sit sideways as Joan did, towards each other. "Let's see if this works," Joan said. She slapped a hand on her lap. The alligator stopped behind and between them. Joan reached down and lifted the alligator's chin. It moved a bit closer. Joan reached down with the other hand and picked up one paw, Jackie reached down and picked up the other paw. The alligator moved closer, they put the paws in their laps. The alligator was looking at the table, head height to everyone else

"Do you have to spoil that thing?" Cameron asked.

"We just want to see if she likes cake," Jackie explained.

"I don't believe this," Savannah said with a chuckle.

Joan cut a piece, put it on her plate, then picked it up and raised her hand above the alligator's snout. The gator opened her mouth, Joan tossed it in.

SNAP

Mrs. Collins, Daniel, Savannah and Bob all recoiled slightly at the sound. The gator tipped it's head up farther and opened and shut her mouth a few times. then a couple more. She bounced her head up and tried to swallow the cake that was smeared along the inside of her long mouth that hadn't gone down yet.

Jackie giggled, "This is like feeding a dog peanut butter!"

Allison laughed.

The Alligator slid back and got down, still tying to swallow the cake it tasted in it's mouth. Jackie, Joan and Allison were giggling their heads off.

John cleared his throat. Firmly, he said, "Girls! No more feeding the alligator at the table."

"Yes, Dad," they chorused, and kept on giggling.

Mrs. Collins shook her head in disbelief. Never has she thought she would ever hear a father have to tell that to his daughters.

Allison moved over a place so Bob could sit between her and Joan.

"Look, she had to go wash her mouth out," Sonya said and pointed. They turned to see the alligator go off the end of the dock into the lake. the girls laughed, and soon they got everyone laughing.

It was a fun birthday party.

They didn't get many presents each, but they got some good ones. Joan got her key to her Bronco that was up in the garage, and two sets of official sweat suits and an Austin uniform, both variations, complete with helmet. Jackie loved her new tail and when she opened the box from Daniel, Barnabas and Mrs. Collins, she beamed in joy. The new semi-auto rifle even had scope on it. The clip was a ten shot clip, with two spares.

"We thought that would be good for pig hunting," Barnabas told her. "It's .30-06 caliber, the two boxes of bullets are 165 grain boat tailed bullets. At 100 yards, they have the power of a .300 magnum. The scope had been sighted in at 200 yards, but the rifle, from that the man said, is good for 500 yards, the scope recticules are marked from one to 500 yards."

"Thank you!" Jackie gushed, then went to hug Barnabas, Mrs. Collins, then plowed into Daniel to give him a long hug.

Allison also got a car for her birthday and two pairs of Austin sweats and a complete uniform.

.

After the official ceremonies, Mark and John tended the long grill with James, Martin and Barnabas nearby, the women sat talking around a table, JJ and Peggy sat in the pool at the shallow end with Savannah and Louise. Bob and Joan laid in the yard on a blanket. The alligator came back in the yard and laid a short distance away from them on Joan's side.

Jackie took Daniel by the hand and walked him down to the dock. On the way, she said, "I thought about this, you can probably see what I want to show you from right here, without going out into the lake."

Coming down on the dock, Daniel remembered how clear the water was here. Around the dock, it was crystal clear. "It's right here by the dock?" he asked as he studied the water. He looked, and other than some debris on the bottom, and a catfish lying in wait on the bottom by a post, he didn't see anything.

"That depends on where they are," Jackie replied.

"Huh?" Daniel eyed her.

"Daniel, what do you think a real mermaid would look like?" she asked.

Daniel cracked a grin and said, "Kinda like you."

Jackie chuckled. "OK how about one of our ancestors?"

Thinking, Daniel said, "Well, I think they'd have our general shape, but you know, a tail with maybe a dolphin type fin at the end. I'm sure they'd have leg bones, a few sea mammals do. Arms, maybe webbed hands, I don't know about hair. Since we have long hair on our heads, I figure they might have some too. Since the first humans were dark skinned, possibly they were too." He noted Jackie look off to the side and down and smile.

"You mean, kinda like this?" she asked and squatted down.

Daniel noted movement in the water where she was looking. Someone, no, it looked like a gray colored mermaid, was coming towards the dock, swimming about six feet under. In one hand was a trident with a fish on the end. The mermaid with long black hair had something in it. Daniel saw it was small alligator in his hair.

Mouth open in surprise, Daniel watched in awe as the mermaid, came up to surface and grab the dock with a webbed hand to pull himself up and made some sounds Daniel couldn't make out. Jackie reached out and grabbed the alligator in his hair. She turned it over and tickled it's belly. It wiggled around and it let go. She tossed it away into the water.

The mer-man, Daniel now saw, made a sound almost like thank you, in a moan. Jackie nodded and waved. He waved back and went back under to keep going on his way.

"That was a mer," Daniel managed to get out in a whisper.

"It was," Jackie agreed. "They live in the lake. Moms think when this part of Texas was under water, they were all over the place. For whatever reason, when the water went down, they got trapped in the lake here. Since there's plenty of alligators around and this lake was firmly isolated, they lived here for a long time with no one knowing about them. They are still alive here, but an endangered species. We haven't found any others than right here. That is why we need to keep it a secret. If masses of scientists, reporters and other curious groups come, they will disrupt the Mer's life, and possibly end up killing the mers off. We can't let that happen."

Daniel shook his head. "No, that would be a great tragedy. It's amazing any are left alive after all this time. They are living fossils."

"You were right in your theory," Jackie said and held his hand. "You nearly perfectly described them. I just wanted to show you, you were right."

"You think they have always been here?"

Jackie grew a crooked grin and said, "They surely didn't drag themselves by their arms all the way across Texas to get here."

Daniel giggled. His face softened as he gazed at her. "Thank you, this was really special, you showing me this. It's something I won't ever forget."

Jackie shrugged. "You're here, so why not?"

"You are so special to me," he said softly.

The soft look in his eyes got to her. Jackie didn't want to become involved in a long distance relationship, but at the moment, she thought, screw it. Daniel came closer, their lips met and they kissed. OK, maybe she could give it a try.

.

The party was winding down when Delilah got a phone call. She answered it then listened. "Really? Wow, so we don't have to go to court? … OK … Yes, I'm fine with that," She then frowned. "I have to go to LA? … OK, if I have to, I'll be there … the studio too? OK, I figure out something to do with it. See you there."

Delilah put her phone away. "John, remember that guy who stole my song? He settled out of court. All rights to the song, every penny he made off it and the recording studio he bought with the proceeds, are mine. He is banned to claim or sing that song again. What the lawyer says is I get 1.4 million in cash, along with the studio and it's contents. The lawyer has the keys to the place. I have to meet him there to go though what's there and decide if I want to keep it or sell it."

"Congrats," Cameron said, "When do we go?"

"I'm to meet him there Wednesday afternoon next week at One PM."

"What song is this?" Savannah asked.

"A song I wrote for a charity concert, it's call the Thousand Year Lullaby," Delilah told her.

"You wrote that?" Savannah asked in a gush. "So that Tex Jenkins didn't?"

"No apparently he heard it then stole it from me. Now all the money he made from it belongs to me, and since he claims he has no more, I got his property also as punitive compensation," Delilah told her. "A couple record companies want to bid for a video of me doing that song like I did for the concert." To Cameron, she asked, "Will you dance for me again?"

"Always," Cameron replied.

"OK, yeah, "Savannah said, "Now it makes sense! Delilah, you wrote that questioning if you have a soul, right?"

Delilah nodded.

"I saw a YouTube video of him doing that song. It looked kinda lame. I bet you can do the dying robot thing much better."

Delilah and Cameron laughed.

Mrs. Collins was surprised that not only the Connors knew Catherine Weaver, the woman had came to a birthday party at their house. Their kids knew each other too. Down on the dock she saw Daniel and Jackie kissing, their arms around each other. She heard John chuckle as he watched them.

"I think young love is wonderful," Elizabeth said.

"You're right, " he agreed with a grin. "It wasn't that long ago though, last time he was here, all they did was yell at each other. They really didn't like each other at all. It's just amazing how things change."

"That is true," Elizabeth said. "One thing Roger wanted was Daniel to marry the Bach's daughter. He insisted on it. I think Daniel should marry whoever he wants, and if it happens to be your daughter, then so be it."

John grinned, "I've learned we don't have a whole lot to say about it, so it's good you see it that way." He noticed Jackie and Daniel coming back up through the yard hand in hand. They were walking slowly and talking.

"I think I know what he sees in her," Elizabeth said as she watched them. "Jackie is beautiful, and from what I've discovered, she is a strong girl and all but fearless." She let out a dry chuckle. "Who else but your daughters would pull a dangerous wild animal up to the table to feed it Birthday cake?"

John had to laugh at that. "Yeah, they do follow after their mothers in that respect. No doubt about that." He gave Cameron an appreciative wink.

"I've seen that myself," Elizabeth said. Those men that came to force me to sign everything over to them in trust, I thought for a moment, Delilah was going to kill them. She drove them out of the house. I'm not sure what was said outside, but they took off. I mean no one has seen them since."

"That's good, isn't it?" John asked, thinking those men were probably dead now.

"It is, for many people," Elizabeth replied. "They were powerful and ruthless. I'm glad they're gone."

"Cameron and Delilah are experts at getting rid of the bad people. They've done it time and time again," John said. "I couldn't be more proud of them."

Meanwhile, Barnabas and Victoria were sitting together, hands clasped.

"You know, Vicky, right now I am very busy. The instant I get the chance, I'll be coming to see you more often," Barnabas told her.

"I know, and I teach here now," she said sadly, then added, "Though I am so happy you're now fairly normal. That had to have been very rough on you."

"It was. Thanks to the Connors, I can live like a normal person again. I owe so much to them, so much to you for believing in me," he told her softly.

Victoria frowned a bit and said, "When I found out ... what you were, I was terrified. That's why I ran away. Even then, I was hoping, praying for something to happen to make that part of you go away. I really like you, Barnabas, you don't know how relieved I am we have a chance to have a real relationship, ever if it is long distance at the moment."

"My feeling exactly. I was just hoping I'd still have a chance with you."

"You do," Victoria said firmly. They came together in a kiss.

.

Savannah wanted to see Louise swim in her mermaid tail. Once Louise got hers out, that coaxed the other girls to run and get theirs. Jackie tried to coax Sonya to go get hers. Lounging with Mark, Sonya declined.

Mrs. Collins and Savannah thought they were going to swim in the pool. Allison and the Connor girls, Jackie with her new tail, ran down to the dock to put them on. Cameron and Delilah decided to join them.

John noted Mrs. Collins was watching them put their tails on then dive into the water. Savannah and John Henry was watching them as well.

"They aren't coming back up," Mrs. Collins said in a worried tone.

"Give them a few minutes, he assured her.

The first one to surface was Louise, to jump out of the water in a high jump to dive back in, quite a ways away from the dock. Almost halfway across the lake, Joan shot up vertically, flipped over and dove back in, Allison doing the same just before Joan hit the water again. Jackie came up and did a knee deep tail walk to the side, then flipped backwards into the water. Cameron and Delilah rose up to to tails walks close to each other and talked abut something. Joan rose up to tail walk by them, then Allison did, calling out, "Tail walk contest!" Jackie jumped up behind them and yelled,"Sisters!" and hugged them, pushing them forward, they all splashed down together yelping out.

Then Jackie did a jump, followed by Joan and Allison. They were chasing her. All three were swimming fast. On the next jump halfway back to the dock When Jackie jumped, Joan jumped above her and and pushed Jackie down. Jackie tumbled and with a yelp and splashed down on her back. A roll and a flip of her tail and she was gone back under. This time, Joan made a long jump, followed by Jackie. Allison jumped up just behind Jackie and gave her a shove so she hit the water sideways.

"They are very good at that," Elizabeth stated.

"They practice constantly," John told her.

"They are amazing," Savannah said.

Louise swam slower, not at a frantic-porpoise speed. After a half hour of racing around the lake, Jackie, then Joan then Allison jumped up onto the dock and laid spread out, panting. Louise came back swimming on the surface. Out in the middle, five heads were showing above the water.

"Wasn't just Cameron and Delilah out there?" Savannah asked.

"We have neighbors who like to enjoy the lake too," John told her.

"Why swim so far out?" Elizabeth asked.

"Alligators like to hunt the shores and shallow water," John explained. "That's also why the dock is longer than it needs to be. It seems like ten to twelve feet down is the deepest alligators like to go."

"You've done much research on them?" Catherine asked.

"We have hired a dedicated marine biologist to do just that." John explained. "Dana helped solve some mysteries, like why this one alligator here in the yard seems to have adopted us. Some gators here have a DNA difference, and she's studying them."

Savannah gave a snorting chuckle and asked, "Like why it will come eat at the table?"

"And how it can climb the fence," John said. "Usually, alligators can't do that."

"Evolutionary change?" John Henry asked.

"No, some college students were using them for DNA experiments before we moved here," John explained. "We're trying to find out what it's done to them. Like this alligator, It's not ten feet away from where Bob is sitting, watching the girls. Yet, Willy tried to keep Joan from getting into the lake, and it went nuts on him. I didn't think alligators could move that fast. It wanted to kill Willy, but wouldn't harm Joan, who was holding him up out of it's reach."

Savannah said, "So this change turned it into a much more social creature than the lone predator alligators usually are."

"Right, that means under certain conditions, it can be much more dangerous," John said. "Suppose say a fisherman befriends one of these alligators when it's young. It becomes like this one with him. Then he gets a girlfriend. She hugs him and the alligator thinks she's attacking him and rips her up and kills her. That's why we are very careful who comes around. We keep the entire lake privately owned for just this reason."

"I can see your concern," Victoria said.

"Is there a way to return them to normal?" Mrs. Collins asked.

"Not that we've found. And to do anything with them, we must be very careful." John told her.

.

The party ended in the late afternoon. Many had to get home, they had work the next day. The Collins were getting ready to leave, but Jackie begged them to stay until she came back out, then ran into the house. They were by the car when Jackie raced back out ten minutes later with a thumb drive.

Jackie handed the drive to Daniel. "Here, play this on your computer later," she told him, then gave him a hug. "It's been great seeing you."

"It's been fantastic seeing you," Daniel replied and kissed her again.

They said their goodbyes and got in the limo. On the way out, Daniel was looking at the thumb drive.

"You're itching to see what's on that," Vicky said with a grin.

Daniel nodded.

Vicky dug in her purse and pulled out her pad. "Let me see it,"

Daniel handed it over. Vicky plugged it in and pushed a face of her pad a few times. "It's a music file. The title is to Daniel." She looked at him.

"Play it," Daniel said eagerly.

Vicky turned the volume to and did. The music was a classic Beetles song, but the voice singing was Jackie's clear voice.

Something in the way he moves
attracts me like no other
something in the way he woos me
I don't want to leave him now
You know how I believe and how

Somewhere in his smile he knows
that I don't need to other lover
something in his style that shows me
I don't want to leave him now
You know I believe and how

You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
Just stick around and it may show
I don't know, I don't know

Something in the was he knows
and all I have to do is think of him
Something in the things he shows me
I don't want to leave him now
You know I believe and how.

"She did that beautifully, " Barnabas said.

"She does have a lovely voice," Vicky agreed.

Daniel sniffled and wiped his teary eyes.

.

Her plan was set, and it was perfect. The demon waited until the sheriff came back in his office after having a meal at the bar. After he came in and got settled, she teleported outside and became visible (since it was for his benefit) in the form of Carol, then came inside.

"Evening, sheriff," she said in Carol's voice.

He looked up. "Evening. You don't usually come at night, something wrong?" he asked.

Acting sheepishly she blushed and said, "It's just that, I would like you to give me a chance." With her words she cast a Charm on him. "I do need you sheriff, please let me spend the night with you. I won't disappoint you."

He got up and walked over to her. "I really mean that much to you?"

"You are my life," she whispered, pouring out her Charm onto him.

The sheriff grabbed her and sat her on the desk, holding her there. He petted her face, then leaned into her. "You really want this?" he asked softly.

"I do," she swooned and wrapped her arms around him. "Take here and now," she begged.

He cupped her cheek and kissed the end of her nose. "I would love to. There is only one problem, Aliana," he said and grinned at her.

"What?" she asked weakly. He knew who she was? Her Charm didn't work?

"Upon learning your real name, your tricks don't work on me," he said with a grin. "So since you are again pushing the limit of what I said, I order you to stay invisible unless I specifically give you permission to do otherwise, and you will not try to help me or anyone else unless I give you specific permission."

"How, but..."

He put a finger to her lips," and no talking unless I tell you to."

In a growl of rage, she reformed into herself disappeared.

The sheriff stood up and noted the mess on his desk from pushing her onto it. "Aliana, put things on my desk back in order."

He had to grin as things moved back in place to the sound of a soft growling. He could almost see the snarl on her face.

A sheet of paper floated down on his blotter. A pen lifted up and wrote on the paper : I was trying to help you!

He laughed. "You were trying to seduce me, we both know it. It might have worked if I didn't know you so well."

Again the pen wrote by itself : Some day you may regret treating me like this!

He shrugged. "Possible, but I doubt it." He grabbed the sheet, balled up and threw it away.

Another sheet pulled up into the air, this time slapping down on the blotter. The pen scribbled out : I only want to help! If you can relax and release some tension by having sex, it will be good for you! I have felt, Carol needs some companionship as well as you do!

He looked down on the paper and said, "You love exclamation points, don't you? Now stop wasting paper." He crumpled this one up and threw it away.

A ghostly whining growl sounded. He chuckled. She was real upset her plan didn't work. That always made him happy.