Chapter 132

Hubbub, hustle and bustle were the best words to describe the dining hall that next morning. It was a week day and everyone was getting ready for work or school. Everyone ate at different intervals, then Zane and Ash started doing the dishes as the other parents helped the children to pack their lunches. Amidst this Anna briefly spoke to each adult organising a meeting after work – they would chat while the kids were playing (as they did every day after school). Each adult agreed that it would be good to chat about all that had happened and plans moving forward. Anna didn't specifically mention Katya, but it was on theme with 'plans moving forward'. Once everyone was ready, they all raincoated up and got onboard the boats to head to the mainland to start their days.

Once everyone was back home that evening, and the children were playing together, the adults met in the dining hall and made themselves coffees and teas. After a brief chat about their days, Anna started.

"Thanks for meeting here everyone," they all turned to look at her. "Cleo and I were chatting last night and thought it was important to chat about what has happened, and specifically Katya's proposal."

"Remind me what the proposal was again?" Will asked.

"We didn't have time to discuss it in too much depth, but Katya has drafted a research article on mermaids. Her proposal was that we allow her to publish it on our terms," Anna explained.

"No way." Emma interjected.

"Hold on," Anna replied. "Before we shut it down completely, let's talk through the pros and cons. I really think we should think through this opportunity,"

"Opportunity! You're talking like we should be thanking her of thinking of ways to reveal our secret to the world," Rikki said antagonistically.

"I agree with Anna," Cleo said. "Let's talk through the pros and cons. If the cons really outweigh the pros, then we can just tell Katya 'no'. She said she wouldn't do anything with it without our consent, and I believe her."

"Okay, pros and cons. Who has paper and pen?" Bella said. Lewis provided a pad and Bella tore two pages off and wrote 'Pros' and 'Cons' at the top of each.
"We'll start with the cons because that seems to be most at the forefront of everyone's minds," Bella directed. She could feel the tension coming off a few people. "This is just a discussion, not a decision. Relax!"

"First con anyone?" Anna asked.

"It would reveal that mermaids exist, making us at more risk of being exposed," Emma said. Bella scribbled this down.

"Yeah, if it is common knowledge, then more people might look out for us in the water," Rikki commented. "We could be hunted or poached – and the born-mermaids in their pods could be found out and hunted too,"

"Scientists would experiment on mermaids. Oh, they could weaponise our powers!" Ben said, eyes wide.

"I think you've seen too many sci-fi movies, Ben," Anna commented, patting her husband's arm. "But valid cons I guess," she chuckled. Bella wrote it down.

"We've kept the secret for so long – I guess it would feel like giving up to just let everyone know," Cleo said quietly. Emma and Rikki nodded in agreement.

"If our names and faces become associated with mermaids, our friends and coworkers wouldn't look at us the same, and there might be broken trust from those we haven't told. Also, fame is not something that I want," Emma said.

"That's a good point. We would want to tell the people we know before it gets out if that ended up happening," Bella replied.

"You could be exploited for more research opportunities," Lewis contributed.

"Other cons are the 'what ifs' – like what if it gets out of control, what if Katya doesn't keep her word, what if people become scared of us, and so on. There are so many what ifs," Ben said. "But I guess there are a lot of what ifs on the pros side as well."

"Can anyone think of any other cons before we move on the pros?" Bella asked.

"I think the big summary is that it could be unsafe to reveal our secret no matter how it is done," Emma replied.

"True," Bella said. "Okay then, what are the pros?"

"With Katya we could get to control the narrative – how it is revealed like keeping ourselves anonymous," Cleo started. "Most research articles never mention the participants, especially by name."

"If we were ever to reveal our secret, I think Katya is the best person to do it – from what we have seen she has a good character and regretted being part of what Ryan did. I believe we can trust her. She has a great reputation amongst the scientific research community, so her article would actually be believed," Anna said. "Since you were teenagers you have come across people who wanted to reveal to the world that mermaids exist, and into the future that will still be the case. But a big pro of revealing it by choice is that it takes ammo away from bad people who know the secret. It becomes no longer special, meaning it could lead to less danger if ever exposed."

"Valid point," Lewis replied.

"It makes me think that it could lead to the creation of a world where our children no longer need to be in as much fear of being found out at school or their future work places, because the world already knows that mermaids exist and some live among them," Zane said. Rikki looked at her husband in surprise. "And as someone who once tried to prove the existence of mermaids, if it had been already proven, I definitely wouldn't have continued because people might have believed me that I was saved by one," he nodded at Emma with a smile. The original group all smiled knowingly.

"More pros anyone?" Bella asked.

"If our names are not attached to the mermaid reveal, would it really be so bad? We could keep our secret the way we always have, just without the same pressure," Cleo said. There was a pause in the flow as the comments stopped. Everyone seemed to be thinking deeply.

"Okay, I think we have enough to compare the pros and cons," Bella said.

"Great," Cleo replied. "I think before we go to Katya we should also talk through our decision with Jessie and Fred, since they are mers too. It would be good to get their thoughts as well,"

"Good idea," Lewis said.

Bella read out the cons, then read out the pros. There were a few more comments that were added to the lists, but their main thoughts had been captured.

"Ash, you've been quiet during this," Emma said. "What do you think?"
He took a moment to respond.

"From what I gather, not agreeing to this proposal means that things will stay the same," Ash started thoughtfully. "There will be threats like there always have been, maybe we'll thwart them again, or maybe they'll actually win next time and expose you. Agreeing to this proposal means taking the only chance to ever reveal the secret on your own terms, with someone who appears to genuinely care about our wellbeing. It means that there is potential for change, a change where being a mermaid may not be as dangerous as it currently is. Maybe nothing will change if mermaids are proven- maybe it will be better, maybe it'll be worse. But won't you always wonder what could have happened if we worked with Katya now, while we still have a choice?"

They all stayed silent as they processed what Ash had said.

"That was very profound, Ash," Emma replied.

"Earlier I was really against it," Rikki began. "But I think I'm convinced now. Ash is right. We have a chance to do this on our own terms, where it hasn't been put on us without a choice, and where it isn't a bad guy trying to out us without consent."

"I'm willing to talk it through with Katya and see where it goes," Emma said. "You are very convincing, honey," she smiled at Ash. He laughed.

"Ok, let's vote. All in favour?" Cleo initiated. Everyone lifted their hands.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting that," Cleo said surprised, "Um, what now?"

"Let's invite Jessie and Alan, and the Jacksons over for a barbeque this weekend," Anna suggested. "And I'll text Katya and tell her that we are considering her proposal, and will let her know our decision on Monday."

OoOoO

The next day, Bella invited her colleague Fred and his family over to the barbeque, and Anna spoke to Jessie at work to invite her and Alan along. The barbeque event also doubled as a birthday celebration for Ariana, Leila and Charlie. Leila and Charlie turned 10 a few days after Alex, Jay and Andy were rescued, and Ariana turned 6 a few days after that.

Katya was excited to see Anna's text, but she wouldn't start getting her hopes up until Monday.

OoOoO

Zane set up the barbeque and supervised as Jacob and Eric took turns with the tongs, turning the meat.

Everyone set up bean bags and beach chairs on the lawn at the open space between the houses and the dining hall. When Fred and his family arrived, the kids wasted no time to start playing games together. The atmosphere was light in a way it hadn't felt for some time.

Alan and Jessie arrived together shortly after the Jacksons did.

Emma and Bella had organised some kids party games like pin the tail on the donkey, a pass the parcel (with a wrapped chocolate between each layer) and brought some of the kids board games to the dining hall for easier access.
Anna had baked three cakes the previous night (with the help of Jenny and Cleo), and was finishing decorating them. Having multiple cakes was great for making each child feel special, but also very necessary - there would be 29 people partaking – 10 adults plus Alan, Jessie, Fred and Kelly, and 15 kids over 2 years old (including Perry). When Fi and Hayden were older, Anna was sure that they would also be getting stuck in to the cake. It really was a village of mers.

Emma rallied the children together about thirty minutes in and played and stopped the music for the 'pass the parcel'. She made sure to stop the music so that each child participating got a layer with a chocolate (so that there were no tears) and then fully looked away for the remaining three layers and for the main prize (the prize was a few parachute men and a plush dolphin toy). The music stopped on Andy. She eagerly unwrapped the last layer. Her eyes lit up when she saw the three parachute men toys. She liked the little dolphin soft toy as well, but Andy had always been into toys that were interactive, that had a purpose. Emma had got a few parachute men so more than one child could enjoy them at the same time.
Andy led Daniel, Ariana, Amelia, Stefani, Maddie, Alex and Jay towards the climbable trees west of the dining hall. Will moved closer to supervise (just in case), and the children took turns climbing up and standing on the lower part of the best tree, dropping the parachute men to watch them float down.
The older children got out the 'Throw Throw Burrito' game – the dodgeball card game. There was raucous laughter as the played the cards and reached for the soft burritos to throw at each other. Fortunately the wind was not strong that day, so they had no issues with the cards blowing away.

Once all the food was ready, it was laid out on a few tables they had moved outside. The parents took the younger children through and helped them add food to their plates, and then the older kids followed to get their food. The adults then loaded their plates up and sat down together. The chatter from a variety of conversations happening at the same time together with chill music playing in the background created a really nice atmosphere.

"Can we go up for seconds, Mum?" Jake asked with a gaggle of children eagerly standing behind him.

"Yes," Bella replied, "But make sure you don't eat too much – there is cake for dessert remember!" She chuckled as they caused a murmur to ripple throughout the children. She was pleased to see that the kids added a moderate amount to their plates, obviously saving space for the desired cake.

They waited a bit for their food to settle before bringing the cakes out. Anna walked out of the dining hall kitchen with three cakes balanced on three carefully controlled water tentacles with one hand, and the other hand holding three cake knives. It was a comical (but very cool) sight. The sun was setting, so with the low light, the lit candles stood out beautifully. Expertly, Anna laid the cakes on the table. Charlie, Leila and Ariana quickly moved to their cakes, grins on their faces.

"Alright everyone, time to sing!" Bella announced, and started to lead the familiar 'Happy birthday' song. Everyone joined in.

"…happy birthday dear Charlie, Leila and Ariana, happy birthday to you!"
Everyone laughed at the mess of everyone trying to fit all the names in. The birthday girls blew out their candles, everyone cheered, and the cakes were cut up and dished out.

A campfire was set up and Rikki lit it with her powers. Marshmallows were passed around and the kids eagerly started to load marshmallows onto their toasting sticks. A few of the first marshmallows were quite blackened, one even fell into the fire. With some instruction and demonstration from Ash, the well-toasted marshmallows started happening.

"Look, this marshmallow is toasted perfectly!" Eric proclaimed. He blew on it before taking a bite. "Mmm perfectly gooey," he bragged, still with marshmallow in his mouth.

"I bet I can do one just as good," Charlie replied with a grin.

"Alright," Eric replied.

Charlie's grin got bigger as she loaded another marshmallow onto the stick. However, instead of holding it against the fire, she lifted her hand up and squeezed her fingers into a fist. A small flame engulfed the marshmallow and after a short time, she blew it out.
"Hey that's cheating!" Eric said, pointing his finger at her accusingly.

Charlie took a bite. "Mmm perfect,"
Leila chuckled at the string of gooey marshmallow that fell against Charlie's chin.

"No need to show off Charlie," Rikki piped up from where she was packing up the food table. "Everyone knows that our powers are the best," she winked.

A chorus of indignant "hey!"s responded, and a ball of water hit Rikki squarely on the cheek.

"What the – " Rikki began.

"Ten seconds," Anna grinned, tossing Rikki a dry towel. Rikki quickly wiped her cheek.

"Good on you Jessie!" Cleo laughed. Even Rikki started grinning when she realised the unlikely source of the splash in the face was Jessie. Calm and collected Jessie.

"Joking, joking," Rikki acquiesced, before turning to the kids and mouthing secretly 'fire is still best' with a wink. She turned to take the plates from the table inside.

Charlie, having made her point, returned to toasting her marshmallows the same as everyone else, enjoying the campfire.

With the table cleaned up, food stored, the kids busy and the dishes done, the adults sat down all together. At a natural pause in the conversation, Jessie spoke up.

"Since we're all together, I thought I would announce something exciting," Jessie started. She took Alan's hand.
"I'm pregnant – Alan and I are having a baby!"

A round of 'congratulations' were given with genuine excitement from the group.

"When are you due?" Emma asked.

"In December - six months to go,"

They continued to chat to Alan and Jessie about their plans and Jessie's experience being pregnant so far, and all things babies.

Once this line of conversation and the next one about the recent rugby game tapered off, Cleo decided to bring up the serious, potential mood-ruining topic - the reason why only people who knew the secret were invited.

"We have something that we would like to talk to you about," Cleo started, making eye contact with Alan, Jessie, Fred and Kelly. "Somebody has made us a crazy proposal, and crazier, we are seriously considering it. But before we pursue it, we want to talk to you about it, because it will also impact you,"

"Okay, consider our interest piqued," Alan said, leading forward in his bean bag. This was not the easiest task, it took a few attempts to lean forward without slumping back again.

"Katya, a scientist and researcher, has a proposal to share the existence of mermaids with the world through a research article she has drafted. All the terms would be completely decided by us – the mers," Cleo continued.

"And why would we be for this idea?" Jessie asked, genuinely curious.

"Because this is the first opportunity we have ever had like this – having the option to work with someone who is good and who is not out to exploit us," Anna replied. "If we do this right, we could create a better future for our children. A future where they don't have to live in constant fear of exposure, because once it is common knowledge, maybe the whole 'proof of mermaids' thing, won't be a big deal."

"The thing for me is that if we do nothing, nothing will change. We will still have crazies like Ryan coming after us, and no protection to fall back on," Rikki said. "If we do this, we could make some positive change, or it could back-fire. But we might always wonder 'what if?' I reckon there is no harm in talking it through with Katya. We can always back out,"

The group explained their pros and cons list that they had made earlier in the week.

Fred and Jessie and their significant others listened intently, understanding how important this conversation was.

"Any thoughts?" Lewis asked after all the points had been explained.

"It makes sense to me," Alan said. "Remember how once I also wanted to find proof of mermaids existing? If a research article had been released on mermaids, I would've enjoyed that I had seen one and found my own evidence, but I would not have had any drive to prove it. I imagine that my aunt Linda would have had a similar response back in the day if they weren't a new discovery. Remember that her drive to prove it and release the research is why she did what she did. If you have full say over how the article is released, I think it could be great. What do you think, Jess?"

"Because I've been hiding the secret my whole life, my instinct is to say 'absolutely not!' but I'm hearing the pros and cons, and the pros are making a lot of sense to me right now. Fred?"

"I think it is definitely a risk, but a good kind of risk. As you said, you'll be talking it through with Katya first. We haven't committed to anything yet." Fred replied.

"Okay, raise your hand if you agree to organising a meeting with Katya to discuss the proposal," Cleo initiated.

It was unanimous.

"Well, sink or swim, we're all in this together," Jessie commented.

They all nodded.

"Is anyone opposed to us having the meeting with Katya here on Mako?" Anna asked.

"She already knows our secret, and we do now have buildings made of human materials… and there is less risk of eavesdroppers…" Bella pondered.

"It makes sense to me," Cleo replied.

"Great. I'll call Katya tomorrow and set up a meeting," Anna smiled. "For now, we'd better rescue the kids from eating any more sugar!"

A/N: Hi everyone! This is my longest chapter in a long time haha! I finished the first half a month ago, but wanted to give you more within the chapter, so here is a much longer one :) Sorry for the wait, but I hope you've enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts. I really enjoyed writing the barbeque scene.
(I recovered well from COVID, thanks for the well wishes :D )

Thanks so much to Icy-Petals, Eleanoodle, CrazyHayniac, Sammiloveschoc, and dannyphan2 for reviewing. I really appreciate it. I always love reading your detailed comments, each one makes my day :D

Responses to review comments and questions:

1. NZ Covid isolation is 7 days from positive test. And expectation that you remain at home until you don't have symptoms anymore (or if ongoing symptoms, leaving when you test negative). I honestly really enjoyed the break from work - I didn't like being sick ofc and it took to get energy back, but overall it was a much needed rest.

2. I love it when you guys reread and tell me about it. It gives me that really nice appreciated feeling :) And it is definitely not spam when you review chapters multiple times - I enjoy it and it encourages me to make time to write. As long as the messages aren't "Give me an update" only or demanding, it should be fine haha

3. Ash and Emma's horses are kept elsewhere - on the mainland.

4. Cool story ideas Icy-Petals :) I have a clear plan for the rest of this story (we are in the home stretch people!), but I'm not opposed to considering them for if I write the follow-up story to this one I have thought about (involving another time skip to where the kids are older).

5. Thanks, I had fun making the new cover art :)

Thanks again everyone! See you next time!