Rikki's café had changed over the years, but not much. It was still decorated in traditional beach chic and was still just as popular as it had been when it opened so many years ago. Sure, they'd hit a rough patch or two over the years, but for the most part it was still the hot spot in town for the locals.
"I want to stop by the marine park after this." Charlie was saying as they pushed through the beaded entryway. "Check my schedule for next week, see if maybe I can get a few days off." His eyes flickered across the busy café. "Dad must be in his office."
Zane looked up when Charlie and Callie walked in. He blinked several times, almost as if he didn't recognize them, before focusing in. "Callie, Char. I didn't know you two were stopping by."
"We… just decided to drop in." Charlie said hesitantly, noticing a palpable tension in the air.
"And we're glad to see ya." Lewis stood abruptly, making the pair jump. They hadn't seen him sitting on the couch behind them.
"Is everything alright?" Callie frowned, the stressed look on her father's face not escaping her notice.
"Oh, just fine." Lewis answered easily. "Just talking business stuff."
"Serious stuff." Callie raised an eyebrow but didn't push the topic.
"Nothing worth wasting time on." Lewis shrugged. "What are you two up to today?"
"Charlie changed." Callie blurted out, unable to contain the news any longer. "Just a little while ago, at the swim meet."
"Like, changed changed?" Lewis's voice grew slightly higher.
"Did anyone see you?" Zane paled as he stood tensely behind his desk. "What were you even doing at a swim-"
"No, no. No one saw me." Charlie said quickly. "It was only for a couple of minutes, we were alone."
"Thanks to me." Callie muttered before raising her voice so the others could hear her. "He looks great, too. Really, a top-notch tail." She nudged Charlie jokingly, but he couldn't look away from Zane's expression.
Charlie waited, but the look on Zane's race remained steadfastly grim. "So…" He continued awkwardly. "I… guess we should… tell mom?"
"Zane?" Lewis prompted after a few moments of silence.
"What?" Zane shook himself a bit, forcing himself back into the room. He cleared his throat before speaking. "I'll call your mother, you get yourself home. And be careful." He leveled his stern gaze at his son before pushing his way out of the office.
Silence fell over the office as the door slammed shut behind him.
"Well he's sure thrilled." Charlie's voice dripped with a mixture of sarcasm and bitterness as he watched his father disappear.
"Hey." Lewis clapped Charlie on the back, making an effort to sound extra chipper. "Give him some time to adjust. He's… well, he'd got a lot on his plate right now."
Charlie snorted. "Yeah, and I don't. Just, you know, the whole transforming into a merman thing-"
"You heard the man!" Callie gave Lewis a mock salute before grabbing Charlie's elbow. "Hi ho, home we go…"
"You are so weird." Charlie muttered as he followed behind her.
"Charlie…" Rikki pulled him into a bone-crushing hug the moment he stepped in the house.
"That's just cute." Callie dropped her bag next to the door and headed to the kitchen to grab an apple.
"Your Dad called." Rikki rocked him back and forth as if he were a child. She pulled back, cupping his face in both hands. "How was it? How are you feeling? Are you handling things alright?"
"Geez, Mom, I'm fine." Charlie shrugged out of her grip, feeling suddenly embarrassed, as if they were discussing something very personal. "It was… fine."
"You're going to have to be so much more careful from now on, Char, you get that?"
"I get it, I get it." Charlie rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck. "I've already heard that speech ten times, Mom. I promise, I'll be more careful from now on."
Callie cleared her throat pointedly, but didn't say a word.
"You're going to have to quit your job at the marine park, too." Rikki continued chattering.
"What?" Charlie frowned, tilting his head to one side. "Why? I'll be careful, and Aunt Cleo worked at the park for years after she turned-"
"And do you know how many close calls she had while she worked there? We're incredibly lucky we were never caught. We were silly kids, learn from our mistakes. You're quitting."
"A couple weeks." Charlie pushed. "I'll take a couple weeks off to get a handle on things. Then, when I'm a pro, I'll go back to my job. C'mon Mom, I can handle it. Besides…" He shoved his hands into his pockets, already feeling guilty for what he was about to say. "I am an adult. You can't force me to quit."
Rikki's jaw tightened as she spoke quietly, but firmly. "You live under my roof. You'll do as I say, especially when it comes to…" She waved a hand towards his legs. "All this stuff."
"Mom," Charlie took one step closer to her. "I like my job. It's all I've got."
Rikki tapped her fingers on the counter anxiously. "I'll have to talk to your father about it. We'll discuss it later."
"Sooooo, Mrs. B." Callie took a big bite of apple as she dropped into a kitchen chair, clearly ready to break some of the tension that was steadily building. "Ol' Fins here, and me were thinking about heading out to Mako later-"
"Absolutely not. Not yet." Rikki shook her head vehemently. "He needs more practice before he heads out into the open ocean."
"Hey." Callie shrugged. "Just saying, the full moon is only two days away. He should probably get acquainted with the Moon Pool, maybe the pull won't be as strong."
"No, it'll be stronger." Rikki rubbed her temple with the back of her hand. "He isn't ready to handle the moon-"
"Excuse me?" Charlie piped up. "You two do know I'm standing right here, right?"
"You can practice in the pool for a couple hours. With supervision." Rikki said firmly. "We'll talk about going out in the ocean later."
"I can handle that. Won't let him out of my site." Callie hopped up. "Sound like a plan, Ariel?"
"Sure." Charlie smirked, flipping the bird at Callie when his mother wasn't watching. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he did want to get back in the water as soon as possible. He was anxious to actually swim with his fin. "So?" He looked at Callie. "Out to the pool?"
"Wait ten minutes. I'll come out with you." Rikki checked her watch. "I need to make a call."
"C'mon, Mom…" Charlie groaned. "Callie can 'supervise' me." He rolled his eyes. "Do I really need parental monitoring? I'm twenty years old…"
"And you've been a merman for less than a day." Rikki was still preoccupied with her phone. "My house, remember? I'll parentally monitor you all I want. I'll be right back." She hurried to the study, pulling the door closed behind her.
"I didn't think they could get any more over-protective than they already were." Charlie sighed, dropping onto the couch. "Now I can't even go swimming at my own house without my Mommy. Great."
"Oh lighten up." Callie sat beside him, leaning against him. "She's just nervous."
"She's been nervous my whole life." Charlie rolled his head on the back of the couch until he could see her. "You'd think that now I've final changed the pressure would be off."
"Eh." Callie shrugged. "My parents still call Lucy every single day. One time, she didn't answer and they drove all the way out there to make sure she was ok. She was in bed with her boyfriend when they barged into her dorm. Man, she was pissed…"
Charlie sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Was this his life now? Only allowed to venture outside when his parents gave him permission to leave the house? Was this worth it? They were trying to avoid being captured, or discovered, but what was the point if they had to be so caged?
"This is bullshit." He ran a tired hand through his hair, feeling his muscles twitch with desire. He wanted to get back into the water now.
"Aw, poor baby." Callie mocked him. "Suck it up, everything's going to be just fine."
The pair looked up as Rikki reappeared, tucking her phone into her pants pocket as she walked. "Change of plans. We can hit the pool for a bit, but no longer than a couple hours. There's a meeting here tonight."
Callie perked up. "Can we come? I mean, we're all in the know now."
"Ah…" Rikki bit her lip. "You know, I actually think that's a good idea. There've been some developments in our situation."
"Something other than me turning into a full-on merman?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, actually." Rikki sighed anxiously. "But it does have to do with us mer-people. There's… a lot you two are going to need to hear. Cleo, Will, Lewis, and Bella will all be here at nine."
"We'll be here." Charlie nodded.
"Good." Rikki's phone chimed. "I have to take this." She flipped her phone open, holding her hand over the speaker. "Fine. You two go on ahead. I'll leave you to it for ten minutes. Be careful." She gave each of them a pointed look before stepping back into the study.
"C'mon!" Charlie didn't need to be told twice. He caught Callie's elbow, practically dragging her behind him as he dashed for the back door.
The sun had only just set, the stars reflecting like tiny diamonds off the surface of the water.
Charlie stood at the edge of the deep end, taking in a long, deep breath as butterflies kicked up in his stomach. He let the breath out slowly, suddenly nervous.
"Um, Charlie?" Callie called from the gate hesitantly, a thought occurring to her. "Do you, um, want some privacy? I mean, I can 'supervise' from the pool shed or something if you want a few minutes to-"
"Stay." The word escaped his lips before he'd even realized he'd said it. "I mean," He looked down at his feet. "You can stay if you want. Either way."
"Ok then." Callie latched the gate, but stayed back to give him a bit of space. "You ready?
"This is it." Charlie looked out over the pool.
"This is it." Callie leaned her back on the fence, shoving her hands in her pockets.
The only sound in the warm night was the lapping of the pool over the concrete edges. Charlie closed his eyes, taking in one last calming breath before bending his knees and swinging his arms behind him before pushing off hard out into the black water.
The moment he submerged, he could feel the changes beginning inside him. It happened much more quickly this time, the shivers rippling through his body in waves. His stomach flipped and twisted as a wave of euphoria passed over him. A few seconds passed before the physical changes began. A tightening sensation spread across his hips and up to his navel. His shoulders hunched, shuddering, as he wrapped his arms tightly around himself. He felt his legs connect to each other, the strange feeling reminding him of the magnets he'd worked with in college. Moments later, he lost the feeling in his feet. The numbing wave spread up to his knees as he felt his body growing longer, stretching in ways he'd never thought possible. He arched his back, his legs swinging back behind him.
He startled himself when he felt something graze the back of his head. It took him a second to realize that it was his fin. He'd arched into an almost perfect circle and this tip of his flare, gossamer fin was brushing his hair. Flexing his muscles, he swung his new appendage back down and around, bending at the waist to look closely at what he had become.
Charlie ran his hand over himself in amazement, feeling the place where his skin seamlessly melded into smooth shimmering scales. His hands travelled down, lightly cupping around the satiny, flared ends. An aftershock rippled over him from head to toe as his heart slammed against his chest. The scales were smooth under his hands, delicate, over what had been skin minutes ago.
He curved his tail out in front of him, marveling at how it bent in such a smooth, unfamiliar way. It was like the bones in his legs had become flexible. Or had disappeared altogether, he remembered. These were no longer legs, they were one fin. Who knew how he was built?
He bent forward, laying his chest down on his new fin, feeling for the first time like he could move freely; unrestricted.
It was the most incredible think he'd ever felt in his whole life. He felt charged, energized. Ready to swim for miles without stopping for anything. He gave his tail an experimental flip, surprised at how easily it powered him forward. He reared back and then rolled his hips, letting his arms fall to his sides as he flew towards the pool wall in front of him. He hit hard, catching himself with both hands. He placed one hand in front of the other, walking himself up the wall to the surface. He looked around for Callie, who was already running towards him.
"Oh my god, oh my god." She was saying over and over as she slid to kneel in front of him. "Nice, man. It looks way cooler in the water."
"Thanks." Charlie gasped, shaking water from his hair. "Damn."
"Damn, just look at you!" Callie couldn't contain herself. "Is it awesome?"
"Pretty awesome." Charlie tried to normalize his breathing, but it was hard to force himself to be calm. This was all so overwhelming…
"I'm coming in." Callie yanked off her t-shirt as she jumped to her feet.
"Meet you in the shallow end." Charlie dunked back down, taking his time to work his way to the far end of the pool.
Callie plunged into the water next to him, staying underneath with her eyes open until the bubbles cleared so that she could get a proper look. She guessed Charlie was now about seven feet long from head to tail, and his entire lower half shimmered with golden scales.
The pair surfaced, rubbing water out of their eyes as Charlie grabbed onto the wall for support. There was no sound, save for their heavy breathing and the constant lapping of the water around them.
Callie's eyes were locked on Charlie's, and his on hers as they both felt themselves calming a bit.
"Funny." Charlie broke the silence a few moments later, taking in a deep breath. "I always assumed the fin would be green." He leaned back on his elbows so that he could float his fin up in front of him.
"Why?" Callie couldn't help but giggle. "Because of The Little Mermaid?"
"Shut up." Charlie splashed a wave of water in her direction.
"So?" The voice startled them. They jumped before snapping their heads to look back towards the gate.
Rikki jogged into the pool deck a moment later. "How'd it go?" Her eyes searched for just a moment before zeroing in on Charlie. "Are you… Did you change?" She crouched down in front of him.
Wordlessly, Charlie pushed backwards off the pool wall with his arms, letting his fin float up in front of him in clear view.
Rikki clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes welling with happiness. "Oh Charlie…" She spoke softly after a moment. "How do you feel?"
"Good." Charlie nodded. "I feel pretty good, Mom."
"I'm glad." Rikki could not contain the smile that spread across her face. She didn't hesitate, barely taking the time to toss her cell phone on the table before diving into the water as well.
Charlie watched, frozen in amazement, as he mother began to change. Like him, her lower body morphed into a long, shining fin, beginning inches below her belly button.
Charlie's eyes opened wide as he took it all in. He'd never seen his mother so free before, not in his entire life. For a moment, he fell lost in his thoughts, caught up thinking about how difficult it must have been to keep a secret as big as this one for all these years.
Rikki surfaced a few seconds later, fully transformed and sparkly-eyed. "C'mon." She gestured to Charlie. "Let's swim to the other end. Take it slow."
Charlie followed her example, holding his arms in front of him like she did, and finding that the extra leverage on the water did help him move more rapidly.
Rikki waved at him as they reached the wall, showing him how to whip around and go the other direction without stopping.
Charlie copied her clumsily, eventually getting twisted around to face the right direction to swim back. A feeling of pure glee rose in his chest as the water flowed over his skin. He loved the way this felt; he never wanted to swim any other way.
Rikki and Charlie reached the shallow end's wall at the same time, lifting their heads out of the water simultaneously.
"I'm so happy for you." Rikki reached up one hand to cup Charlie's cheek. "You're going to love it."
"I believe you." Charlie realized, for the first time, that he'd forgiven his mother for keeping the secret. The anger faded away as his imagination began to race with everything he'd be able to explore out in the ocean.
"Hello? You guys out here?" A familiar voice carried over the fence.
"It's Zane." Callie jogged to unlock the gate, then stepped back to allow him inside.
"So…" Zane shoved his hands into his pockets as he shuffled towards the pool. "Today really was the day, huh?"
"It was." Charlie felt suddenly self-conscious with his father looking down at him.
Zane nodded. "Congrats, son." He then made a decent effort of smiling before turning to head back towards the house. The door closed tightly behind him.
"He's really not happy about me changing." Charlie's statement echoed off the walls.
"He'll come around." Rikki exhaled, watching as her husband disappeared into the house, and thinking about how different he'd used to be. "Be proud of yourself." She forced a smile to her face. "I'm going to talk to your Dad." She quickly pulled herself out of the water and held her hand out over her fin. Moments later, steam began billowing from it, as the heat she created immediately dried herself.
Charlie watched in shock, unable to tear his eyes away, "Am I going to be about to do that?"
"Who knows?" Rikki shrugged, still smiling. "I guess we'll see." She shot a quick grin to Callie before hurrying inside.
"Check this out." Charlie said to Callie as she moved to rest on the wall beside him.
Charlie held his hand out over the water, his brow furrowing with concentration as he tried to make the water move. To make it do anything.
Nothing happened.
Charlie rolled his shoulders, then tried again, holding his hand out flat over the water as he supported himself on the wall with his other elbow. He tried to remember how he'd felt when he'd made the water move be accident, while he was still human. Still nothing.
"C'mon." He muttered through gritted teeth, now almost shaking with effort.
"Hey. Hey." Callie shook his shoulder gently, letting her warm hands rest there while she spoke. "It's ok. Stop, you're going to give yourself a nose bleed."
Charlie let go of the tension, dropping his arm into the water. "Fine." He sighed, annoyed. "But I could move water before, why can't I do it now?"
"Give it time." Callie let her hand slide down his shoulder to rest on top of his, her fingertips intertwining gently with his own. She realized she was close enough to feel Charlie's hot breath on her face, but she didn't move away. He swallowed hard as he looked at her, suddenly drawn to her energy. She stayed there for a few seconds before clearing her throat.
"I mean, um…" She jerked her hand away from his, wading backwards towards the steps. "You know, I think I'm going to give you some time, ok? Ok." She climbed the steps quickly, splashing water all over the tiles. "You know, to adjust and all that."
"You don't need to go." Charlie swam after her, catching the wall closest to the gate.
"Yeah… yeah I do." Callie shrugged awkwardly. "I've got… homework. I'll come back and help you out of there before the meeting, ok?" She didn't wait for an answer before pushing her way through the gate and locking in behind her.
Charlie watched her go, unsure of what had just happened. So many different emotions were swirling in his head; he couldn't seem to focus in on just one. He let go of the stone wall, sinking down into the black. He powered himself to the deep end, making wide sweeps with his tail. He completed a couple big circles around the edge before settling down at the pool's bottom. He let his mind drift, utterly content and never wanting to get out of the water.
