Authors Note:
Sorry for the long delay. Writers block sucks. I had everything planned up through Will's competition and then the last chapter, but I suddenly realized I didn't have anything worked out for in between the two. I also got further delayed by the necessity of holiday shopping.
However I have now worked out something that I'd been hoping I'd find a time and place for and needing something to fill a few good chapters I decided to go with it.
Also I haven't gotten any questions for the bonus chapter. That tells me either there is nothing you want to know or you all think I'll cover everything anyways. Well I plan to try but there are probably many things I'll end up forgetting and your questions would give me points to focus on.
But for now on with the story.
Chapter 10:
Surprise Visit
It had been two weeks since Will's victory in the dive meet, and things had more or less returned to normal. Well normal for us anyways. Cleo and I were working with the rescued dolphins, still, and they were doing much better. We had high hopes that in a few weeks we could let them return back to the wild. Lewis had made it a personal project to map out how much of Mako was a dead zone for technology and what types as well. He seemed very excited by something he had found, but had yet to tell us what.
Will was looking for steady work, and, thanks to the prize money, he was in no rush. He wanted to take his time to find something he could earn a decent wage at as well as enjoy. Bella was helping him with the paper work and offering some good suggestions when she though of them. Beyond that the band had increased their rate of performances to twice a week now, demand for her singing being high.
Zane and Rikki were currently debating if it would be worth it to shut down the cafe for a few weeks to enlarge the guest area. Business was up and they were finding they didn't have enough room for all their customers anymore. Their other option was to enlarge the outer deck area and have more out door seating. They couldn't decide which would work better for the feel of the place.
Ash and Emma continued to be a really good management team, proving they were the exception that proved the rule of couples don't work well together, and they had suggested a third option of knocking down one wall and making the cafe a sort of open air type place. They had also suggested putting it to a customer vote. Zane and Rikki had liked it but wanted to fully consider each option and then decide the best one. They did decide to go with the customer vote though, if only to see what kind of preference their regulars had.
Byron had decided that since I couldn't do traditional surfing he'd teach me the variant that used a body board. It had been no where near as easy as I'd assumed it to be. My being a mermaid actually being a disadvantage for once. Steering was more difficult for me due entirely to the fact that a mermaids tail was not structured to twist very well. Despite that I loved it because it let me share a part of his life that he loved. In return he had started joining us on the days when the boys would come swimming with us around Mako. He did that about about as well as could be expected of anyone with out Will's training, but he loved seeing the underwater world that was our second home as much as the others did.
And so it was that on that Friday morning I got the best surprise I'd had since, well, ever! I had just finished brushing my teeth and was gathering my purse and work tote when there was a knock at the door.
"I got it." Bella called down the hall to me. I just continued double checking to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything important for the day. "Hello? Can I help you?" Bella said to whomever was at the door.
"Good morning, is Laura here?" I froze. It couldn't be! I knew that voice. I just didn't want to believe it. I slowly walked to the door to my room, afraid to look and find out I was wrong.
"What do you want with her? Really! Can't people just let her be?" Bella demanded.
"I'm sorry maybe I should have mentioned I'm her..." he didn't get to finish as at that moment I'd looked around the corner and down the hall to the front door. I'm sure my face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning.
Breaking in to a mad dash down the hall I screamed out an excited greeting, "Dad!" I didn't even notice if Bella had moved out of my way or not as I literally threw myself into his waiting arms. He caught me and spun me around like he'd always done.
"Hey sweetheart. How are you?" He asked me.
"Oh! So much better now." He put me down and I got my second surprise of the morning, one just as good as the first. "Mom! You came too?" I quickly caught her up in a hug as well.
"Hey there honey, it's so good to see you." She said returning the hug and pulling me down to kiss my forehead.
"Oh, my. Oh I'm so sorry." We turned to see Bella looking completely mortified at her assumption.
"Oh right? Where are my manners." I said as I guided my parents inside along with my very embarrassed roommate. "Dad. Mom. This is my roommate Isabella Hartley, Bella for short. Bella this is my Dad, Adam, and my Mom, Susan."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Bella said still bright red. "I'm soooo sorry for how I greeted you. I should have asked who you were first. Please forgive me."
"It's OK." My Dad said holding out his hand to her. "I should have introduced myself right off. We've heard some rumors but nothing solid. I guess there is some truth to them." His expression had turned grim as he finished speaking.
"Are you one of her 'sisters'?" My mother asked holding out her hand in turn to Bella.
She shook each of their hands in turn. "Yes," she said. "To both. The rumors are true and she already let us know she told you about us." She smiled warmly to my parents. "It's OK since all our parents know about all of us too so its fair all around."
"That's good." My Mom said. "We're so glad she met you all. After it happened she felt all alone and it was only small comfort when she worked with that researcher to try and secure a normal life."
"Yes." My Dad said removing his suit jacket and taking a seat. "When we heard from her that she'd met you we could tell, even over the phone, just how much of a difference it made for her knowing she wasn't alone."
"Even though at first we weren't very welcoming. We're sorry about that but at the time we didn't know her very well." Bella said. She kept looking between my parents. "I should have known though. She looks like a mix of you two in your hair and eyes." Bella smiled, starting to relax. "And unless I miss my guess she splits the difference in your height as well."
I smiled and took a seat between them. It was probably much easier for her to see it then. My Dad had a deep brown hair, honest blue eyes, and stood 5' 6". My Mom had bright, fiery red hair, bright green eyes, and stood 5' nothing. I had rusty red hair, a weird mix of the two, warm hazel eyes, and I stood 5' 3". So even with us sitting it probably looked like stair steps as you slowly phased from one end to the other.
My Dad was wearing a nice suit, he was a lawyer after all, and Mom was in a nice floral dress in several shades that brought out her eyes and contrasted beautifully with her hair. I was of course dressed for work and as I realized that I also realized that I was going to be late if I delayed too much longer.
"Oh shoot. I have to get to work." I jumped up and ran to get my things. "I'm so sorry. I wish you'd told me you were coming. Not that I'm upset that you're here, but I would have taken some time off to spend with you."
"I know honey," my Mom said following me as I gathered my things. "But your father really wanted to surprise you. You know how he get's sometimes."
"I know," I said with a genuine smile. "And I'm very surprised, pleasantly, but I'm going to be so busy I won't get to see you much."
"Well if you don't mind we'd like to go to where you work and see it." My Dad said as I hurried towards the door. "If it's possible you could show us around. If you're allowed to that is." He said quickly opening the door for me.
"Well I have to walk unless you rented a car," he shook his head in the negative, "well then we'll have some time to talk on the way over." They followed me out.
"You don't mind if I let the others know the good news do you?" Bella asked me.
"Nope. Please fill them in and don't feel too bad. There's no hard feelings after all." I said.
A 'Nope' from my mother, and a 'None' from my father confirmed my statement.
"Thanks. I'm so glad to finally meet you both. Have a good day with Laura." Bella said before rushing inside and closing the door. I assumed she was going to get her phone and with a nod of my head lead the way towards work.
"I'll talk to my boss," I said as we started walking. "He might be able to give me a few days on short notice, but no promises."
"That's OK dear." Mom told me. "I'm sure we can find stuff to do and see to fill the time."
"How long are you staying for anyways?" I asked.
"We'll be staying for two weeks from Monday." Dad told me. "That should give us plenty of time to visit with you and see some of the stuff that you have started to consider ordinary."
I laughed politely at his words. We spent the rest of the walk to work catching up on how things were going for him back home. I learned that he'd gotten a job in government working in international trade. His focus being on trade laws and legal prosecution of smugglers. His study in international law having paid off handsomely. It had taken him a while to get approved for the vacation time, given his position and that he wanted to come to a foreign country, as a result.
Once we got to the park I took them to the front gate and after a short wait in the lines had them page Laurie for me. We had to wait a bit longer but eventually I spotted him coming towards where we were waiting.
"Hey Laura. What's up?" He called out as soon as he saw me.
"Laurie I'd like to introduced you to my parents Adam and Susan. I was wondering if it would be OK for me to give them a tour of the park." I explained.
"You should have told me they were visiting," he said. "I'd have let you have some time off."
"We didn't tell her we were coming." My Dad said stepping forward and offering his hand. "We kind of surprised her this morning."
Laurie shook his hand while laughing. "How'd she take it?" He asked.
"Better then her roommate who thought we were there to harass her. I hope that isn't happening here." My Dad answered.
"Not by any of the staff. I can't however do much about the patrons you understand." Laurie said in a more sober tone.
"Well at least there's that much." My Mom held out her hand. "I want to thank you for offering my daughter a job here. I can tell she's happy."
"No problem Mrs. Westbrook." He said shaking her hand as well. "Actually Laura's been quite the asset to the team."
"Really?" My Dad seemed impressed. "And how does the rest of the staff feel about her?"
"I'm standing right here, Dad. You could just ask me." I said starting to get a little annoyed about being discussed by them right in front of me. They all looked a little guilty and quickly muttered apologies to me.
"Well I can't let you in for free, but Laura does get an employee discount for bringing family into the park." Laurie told my parents then turned to me. "And I don't mind if you give them a tour as long as you don't take your whole shift on it and you stay out of the restricted areas."
"Would some of the privet tanks be OK as long as they aren't the restricted rescue tanks?" I asked him.
He thought for a moment then seemed to make a decision. "If you're asking to allow your parents to meet the dolphins we moved them into Ronnie's tank this morning so that he could keep them company."
"Really! That's great. How did Ronnie take it?" I asked excited.
"Ronnie loved it, in fact Cleo's there now giving them their breakfast. You can feel free to take your parents to any of the open tanks but not any of the indoor one's. OK?" He offered
"Thanks Laurie. I ever tell you you might just be the best boss ever." I said.
"We got our tickets. The clerk heard you say it was OK to use her discount and got us all set while you two discussed where we could go." My Dad said walking up holding up a pair of admission tickets as proof.
"Well looks like you're all set then." Laurie said then turned back to me. "And yes you have. Several times now."
"Oh. Well you are. And thanks." I nodded as an indication for my parents to follow me and led the way towards where Ronnie stayed when he wasn't doing a show.
"So where are we going to first?" Mom asked me.
"I thought we'd start with the trio of dolphins we rescued a month and a half ago." I said dodging some over exuberant kids being chased by their all ready harried looking parents. "I was the first one they came to trust after we got them here."
"What happened to them?" Mom asked.
"Near as we can tell they were poisoned by someone. Don't know why and never found out who." I could hear my Dad muttering a list of charges under his breath and smiled. Even on vacation he was still a lawyer.
"How'd you get them to trust you?" Mom asked curiously. I explained what I'd done and how I got them to take food from me. My parents both laughed.
"If you wanted to try sushi you should have gone to a restaurant." Dad said between chuckles.
"It wasn't about that. It was about showing them the food wasn't poisoned." I said not liking being laughed at.
"We know honey." Mom chuckled a bit more. "It was just too good to pass up."
I just groaned. "Your lucky I love you both or I'd toss you in the water." I mock threatened them. "Anyways were here."
I led them around one last corner, and, after unlocking a gate, into a back area with an open top pool that had a short flight of stairs leading down small wooden pier. I could see Cleo was all ready there with several buckets of fish and a pair of metal tongs. She was in a wet suit as was her norm here at work, I didn't bother with the pretense anymore, and had a towel over one shoulder. She was happily chatting with the dolphins and was tossing fish to them.
I led my parents on to the docks and to where Cleo was. As we got closer we could hear Cleo trying to convince the boys that it was OK to eat.
"Hey Cleo. What seems to be the problem today?" I asked as I got closer.
"Morning Laura," she greeted me back. "Seems the boy's are being a bit foolish and are refusing to eat until Nadine's had her fill." I just rolled my eyes. "Anyways I got Bella's message."
"Oh are you, well..." Mom said carefully not sure if there was anyone near that might overhear.
"Yes. I am." Cleo answered understanding. "Say. Would you like to feed them?" Cleo offered after I'd made quick introductions.
"Can we?" Mom asked. "It's not against the rules or anything. We don't want to get you in any trouble."
"No, it's perfectly OK." Cleo said bringing a bucket over. She was reaching to offer my Mom the tongs when my Mom reached into the bucket with her bare hand. "You'll want these, that's..."
"GAH! That's cold." My Mom said pulling her hand out quickly and started shaking it to try and get it dry and warmed.
"... melted ice in the buckets." Cleo finished a bit lamely. "Here." She held out the towel that she'd had over her shoulder.
"Thanks." Mom started to dry off her hand, flexing her fingers to try and warm them. "Guess I should have let you finish your warning first. I just assumed the tongs were because you can't reach into the water."
"Well that is one reason." Cleo admitted. "But the melted ice really is the more important one."
My Mom took the tongs and grabbed a fish. "So what do I do?"
"Just toss it to one of them and they'll do the rest." Cleo said.
Mom tossed the fish into the water where we watched as one of the dolphins grabbed it and then tossed it over to another who snapped it up and swallowed it whole. I recognized all of them by sight and could easily tell that Alan was the one that had given the fish to Nadine. Men! All fools, regardless of species.
Nadine, now content, made a few happy sounding clicks of dolphin speech and swam off. The boy's now quickly crowded the pier and clamored for their share. I shared a resigned look with Cleo and we both sighed. My Mom quickly tossed out another fish, this one Timmy snapped up, and then handed the tongs to my Dad so he could have a chance. After we'd emptied two of the three remaining buckets Alan and Timmy both swam off happy and Ronnie finally came to the center.
"Why didn't he eat any of the fish?" Mom asked. "He's not sick I hope."
"No Mom. He's not." I said with a grin. "This is Ronnie, star of our dolphin show, and he has a preference for squid."
"And the park indulges him because he's our star." Cleo finished grabbing the final bucket and bringing it over.
"Was he raised here?" My Mom asked.
"Yes." Cleo answered.
"Sort of." I said at the same time.
My parents looked a bit confused so Cleo explained. "Well Ronnie was actually a rescue. The park got him when he was very young, too young to have learned to hunt on his own, and seeing as he kept giving his food to another dolphin we rescued at the same time that was pregnant," she gave Ronnie an amused look. "He didn't improve for a while. By the time he'd gotten back up to a healthy weight he'd past the age where he could learn to hunt. So we can't release him because if we did he'd end up starving and that's worse then if we just kept him here."
"So in a way you could say he was raised here." I summed up.
"That makes sense." Dad said.
My only warning that Ronnie had gotten impatient for his breakfast was Cleo and my parents jumping quickly back as a stream of water came at each of them in turn. Unfortunately my back had been turned to him, and, by the time I had turned to face him, his shot at me hit dead on.
"Ronnie!" I swear the sound he made was a laugh. I just stood there for a moment too annoyed to make up my mind if I should just stay here or jump in. Cleo decided for me when she found a dry spot on my back and pushed me into the pool.
Once I'd returned to the surface I just glared at him for a bit. "Not. Funny." He seemed to laugh even harder.
"Does he do that often?" My Mom asked tossing him a squid.
"Oh yes. He's very playful." Cleo answered.
"Mischievous too." I added. "Sorry about this."
"Don't worry. It's not as if we haven't seen you as a mermaid before." Dad said offering me a hand up.
"Thanks Dad." Cleo took a few quick steps back to avoid the water that splashed up as I got out of the water. "I meant about how this is going to cut into our time together today."
"Oh don't worry about that." Cleo said giving a quick look around before drying me off. "See no harm done."
"Thanks Cleo." I noticed Mom had finished feeding Ronnie while all this had gone on.
My Mom then leaned down, and, after giving Ronnie a rub on his head, told him to be nice to her daughter in the future. I didn't know if he'd listen, but I was pleased with how well my Mom handled the situation.
"Come on I'll show you some of the other marine animals we have here." I offered.
"Sure." Dad said.
My Mom just nodded and then turned and gave Cleo a hug. "Thanks for being such a great friend to her. She's always been a bit of a loner due to her interests. I'm glad she's found such great friends."
Cleo blushed a bit, but smiled all the same. "Thanks Mrs. Westbrook."
"Oh, you can call me Susan, dear." Mom told her.
"Susan. Enjoy your day and I hope we'll get to see you again before you leave." Cleo said.
"We'll be here for a couple of weeks so that shouldn't be a problem." Mom told her.
"I'll catch up with you guys later." I told Cleo. "Usual spot?"
"Sure. I'll pass the word." Cleo answered. "What time?"
"After dinner." I said. "Which reminds me. Would you guys like to come over for dinner tonight?" I asked my parents. "We can figure out activities to do while you're here and on what days based on when we have the most time for them."
"Sure." They both agreed. After waving farewell we headed off to other areas of the park. On the way my parents eventually asked, "What did you mean by the usual spot?"
"Oh that." I gave a small laugh. "The moon pool out at Mako island. It's a special spot for us. It's where Cleo and the other two that are local here became mermaids."
"That's kind of a ways for a meeting spot." Mom said.
"Takes us about twenty minutes or so to get there." I smiled at their confused looks. "I've told you how fast we can swim." I reminded them.
"You have." Dad said. "It's just hard to imagine since you've never had a chance to show us."
"Ah!" I nodded. "Well since we have some time now I'll have to show you. But later. For now how would you like to see the sharks?"
"I hope you mean from opposite sides of a sheet of glass." My Dad joked.
"Yeah. You want to swim with them we'll go out to the ocean for that. Even I don't get in the tanks with them." I said trying to hold a serious expression. I succeeded, somewhat.
"Oh? Why ever not?" Mom asked with feigned curiosity.
We all laughed. We knew the obvious reason. That the tanks were much to small for anyone to get away from the sharks if they really wanted to go for you.
I spent the next two hours showing my parents around. At each place I gave a bit of a lecture on the marine life we had, its likes, its dislikes, its natural habits, its natural waters, and when possible names we'd given to them. I ended up drawing a crowd after the first few and by the end of our fourth stop it had somehow turned into a full guided tour. It may have been a bit impromptu but I ended up enjoying it.
Once we were done I saw my parents to the main gate. "So what time should we stop by for dinner?" Dad asked me.
"My shift ends at four today." I did some mental figuring. "If you get to my place around six everything should be ready."
"Sure thing." Mom said. "See you then. Have a good day honey."
"You really love this stuff." Dad said with a smile. "I'm proud of you. You've made a good life for yourself, and that's something every parent hopes for."
"Thanks Dad." I said blushing at his honest praise. "I'm glad you liked the tour. I'll see you at dinner, but I do have to get back to work now."
"Oh of course." Dad said. "Keep that good work ethic."
"I will." I called out as they headed away. I watched until they were out of sight then turned to head back into the park.
"So those are your parents! They are so nice." Emma said from less then two feet away.
"Gah!" I jumped in surprise. "Em! Hi. Nice to see you too." My heart was racing from the shock.
"Sorry." She apologized to me. "Anyways I wanted to ask you if you minded me hosting a dinner party to welcome them here?"
"This is why you gave me a heart attack?" I asked with heavy sarcasm. "I don't mind, but you could have asked me this tonight you know."
"Well I need time to get everything worked out if it's going to be this weekend." She said falling into step with me as I walked into the park.
"How about a going away party instead. They'll be here for two weeks from this coming Monday so that'll give you way more time to plan." I suggested instead thinking that a welcome party tomorrow night would just be too much to work out so quickly. I should have remembered that I was talking to Emma. I'd just given her Carte Blanch to plan what ever she wanted and given her a two week window in which to work out said details. I wanted to kick myself when I saw her eyes light up with excitement.
I was about to tell her to forget I'd said anything when she called out "Deal!" And took off at just short of a run.
"Rikki is going to kill me for this one." I said to myself. "So are the others. I didn't even remember to set limits." I started walking again. "Oh yes. I'm so dead." I was talking to myself now, but I guess I couldn't get anymore insane then what I'd just agreed to with Emma.
The rest of my work day was uneventful beyond a brief conversation with Laurie about the possibility of having me do more tours. It had been a big hit and people had loved it. The fact that I was a mermaid wasn't even a factor this time. People had just enjoyed the information I'd shared. I'd told him I'd consider it as a part of my duties but that I didn't want it to be all I did.
He'd agreed that was a valid reason and suggested rotating the knowledgeable staff around for it. I liked the idea and though it would be good to get more interest in the park and in the marine life we kept here. He'd work out the details and keep me informed of the progress. Final decision would be up to the park director though.
After work I texted Bella and let her know my parents were going to join us for dinner. I asked her to stop and get anything we were missing for what I had planned. I'd get the main course myself. Which is how I came to be at the docks when Cleo's Dad was just finishing up for the day. I'd come to ask him for a favor.
"Hey there Mr. Sertori," I greeted him.
"Now lass I've told you it's OK if you call me Don." He said with a smile.
"It seems a bit odd to call you that." I confessed.
"Ha!" He laughed. "You're one of my daughters best friends and a sister to her in a way. It's like you're family. So there's no need to be so formal all the time."
"OK. Don I need to ask you a favor." I said.
"It have anything to do with that beaut of a tuna you have there?" He asked pointing.
"Yeah. Actually it does." I said holding up a tuna that had to be at least two and a half feet long and weighed enough that my arms were getting tired. "I need to borrow your tools to clean it."
"You know how to do that properly?" He asked.
"Uh..." Actually I didn't.
"Thought so. I know how if you catch it you clean it but just this once I'll help you out." He said taking the fish from me and leading me over to a work bench. "Where'd you find this monsta' anyways?" He asked as he started working.
"Over by Mako near where the sea turtles are." I said.
"That area's of limits you know." He said.
"It's of limits if you use nets. It's off limits if you use a rod and a reel." I gave a sly grin. "It however is not off limits if you dive into the water and chase the fish down and drag it back bare handed. No risk of grabbing a turtle by mistake that way now is there."
He laughed wholeheartedly at that. "I guess you make a good point." He said once he calmed down. "So what's the occasion?"
"Cleo have a chance to tell you about my folks coming into town yet?" I asked him.
"Nah. I haven't had a chance to talk with her yet today." He smiled at me. "But its odd that she wouldn't have mentioned they were coming before now."
"I didn't know." I explained. "They surprised me on my doorstep this morning. So I couldn't have told her about it at all."
"Well that sounds like a right nice surprise indeed." He'd finished his work and was wrapping the fish up for easier transport.
"It was. I accidentally told Em she could plan a going away party for them though." I wanted at least one person forewarned. "She took off before I could set any limits on her though. I haven't had a chance to tell the others yet though. I was kinda hoping you'd fill Cleo in?" I asked with a wince.
He might consider me to be like family to him, but he knew it was better then to be the one to spill that to his daughter. "Sorry lass. You're on your own for that one. Anyways there's a sink over there where you can wash up." He finished tying off the string that held the wrapped fish closed. "This is ready for you."
"A sink?" I raised an eyebrow. "I can wash up?"
He caught my look and gave a sheepish look. "Oh right. I forgot about that."
"And you live with Cleo too." I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Too true." He laughed with me. "I tend to forget with you others I mean. I'm kinda getting used to it with her. Still a bit of a shock some day's though." He handed me the wrapped tuna. It seemed to weight a bit less now that he'd cleaned it and removed it's head. Still felt heavy though. "Just one question." He said as I took it from him. "Why go through all the trouble to get this sucker?"
"My parents are fanatic's about sea food." I told him. "They have yet to find something from the sea they won't eat. So I thought I'd treat them to something fresh for dinner tonight." I gestured with the fish to indicate it. "This is about as fresh as you can find."
He looked thoughtful for a moment then grabbed a pad of paper and made some notes. "Here try this when you cook it tonight. You should have most of these things and the rest you can pick up easy at the market. Trust me on this one."
I looked at the paper he handed me. It was a list of herbs. Most of which I knew I had at home. The last few would be easy to pick up. "Thanks." I said. I figured he did know his stuff when it came to fish. It was his career after all.
"Welcome." He said and waved me off. "You better hurry if you want that to finish cooking in time."
"Right." I answered and after a wave I hurried off. I had to do a bit of balancing to get a text off to Bella to get the few herbs we were missing while holding the fish but I pulled it off. I got home just as she did with the last few things I'd asked her for.
"You owe me for this." She said.
"I'm good for it you know that." I said staring at the door. "Uh. This is going to be a bit tricky."
We both had our hands full. Me with this giant fish that I was now to tired to even try holding on one arm and Bella with several grocery bags. She solved the problem by simply putting one set of bags down and opening the door.
"You could have just held that in one arm you know." She said placing the bags on the kitchen counter. In answer I dumped the fish on her. "Oh!" She slumped under it's weight. "You carried this all the way from the market? How much did this cost?"
"Nothing actually." I said taking it back from her and putting it on the counter. "And I've been dragging this sucker around since I caught it out at Mako. With a brief stop at the docks to get Don's help cleaning it."
She put a towel and some gloves over my shoulder. "Go wash up. You smell like tuna."
I laughed and did as I was told. After getting dried, and getting my legs back, I pulled on the gloves and headed out to get the tuna ready for diner. It was already almost 5 and everything would take most of an hour to cook.
"So meeting later tonight." I told her.
"Yup. Cleo let me know all ready." She answered. "And I got a text from Emma too." She said. To me it sounded like a tomb slamming closed.
"Oh really." I said with a nervous laugh as I stirred the pasta.
"Something about a party in a couple of weeks." Her voice had that sweet tone to it that meant I was in so much trouble.
"I'm so screwed." I muttered under my breath. "I might know something about that." I admitted in a strained voice.
"Really." She said in a dry tone. "You thought that would be a good idea? You remember what she was like on our beach trip right?"
"Yup." I turned and checked the oven, the tuna was coming alone nicely. "I remember. She just ran off before I could stop her. And you know I have a habit of acting, or speaking, before considering all the consequences sometimes."
"Well. Just so you know I think the idea of a party to see them off is not a bad idea." She started.
"But letting Em have free reign to plan it is." I finished for her. "Given how Em tends to go overboard on planning stuff."
"Exactly. Just to warn you it was a mass text." She said. I got her meaning.
"I already know Rikki is going to skin me for this." I sighed. "I don't suppose you'd help me out on that."
"And risk my own skin?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked at me. "I know her well enough to not do that."
"Yeah!" I said while continuing to cook. "I just though I'd ask anyways. You know just in case."
Bella just laughed. "Ever the optimist."
"Right." I poured the pasta into a strainer I'd set in the sink. The water splashed up and seeing as I was holding a really heavy, really hot pot I couldn't get out of the way. I quickly put the pot down and tried to grab a towel I'd left on the counter for just such an incident. I didn't make it.
"Laura you OK?" I heard Bella ask as I hit the floor.
"Yup. Just fine." I said. I had a small burn mark on my arm where the scalding hot water had landed. "Just the usual." I was, as usual, less bothered by the minor burn then by the other consequences of getting wet. "Could you hand me the towel please?"
Bella came over and tossed it down to me. "You need to be more careful." She said and leaned against the counter.
"That counter is soaked." I tried to warn her. I didn't speak fast enough as Bella leaned fully against it.
She shot back to her feet immediately and started looking for a towel of her own. Too bad she's just tossed the only one not stored in a cabinet to me. Seconds later she was laying next to me on the kitchen floor.
"So can I get that once you're done?" She asked looking resigned. We both broke out in laughter. I got myself dried off and gave her the towel just in time to pull the fish out of the oven and start putting everything together. Once she was dry she helped me finish the final touches just as my parents knocked on the door.
Dinner was a hit with them. They loved the fresh tuna, though they did say it wasn't necessary for me to go so out of my way for them, and had several servings. We enjoyed some light conversation while eating, and once we were done we got into the topic of when I would be free to spend time with them. We immediately made plans for the weekend as I had the next two days off and I'd put in for a few days off on their second week here. Laurie had all ready approved so we were able to make some plans for then too.
"So tomorrow how about you show us some of the reefs here about?" Dad asked.
"Some of them are pretty deep down." I warned.
"We both took a diving class over the summer." Mom said. "Well our summer. Still seems strange to me that we left home in the middle of winter and here it's the middle of summer."
"I've been here for a little over a year and it still hasn't sunk in for me." I said.
"Took me a few years too." Bella admitted. "You'll get used to it."
"Anyways your mother is right. We are more then ready to spend some time in the water with you." My Dad said. "We'd just need a place to rent some gear and we'd be set."
"I'd have to ask around to find that for you." I said with a bit of a chagrined look. "I don't actually need it."
"Don't worry honey we can look it up on line you know." Mom said as Dad pulled out his personal laptop he, literally, took everywhere.
"Speaking of which, it's kind of funny," he said as he got it turned on. "Bella is number one on that site."
"Site?" I asked.
"What site?" Bella chimed in right on top of me.
"One moment. I just have to wait for the satellite to link up." He waited for a few moments. "Ah there it goes." He typed a few things in and after a click or two on the mouse pad he turned it around for us to see.
In big bold letters at the top of the page was the heading 'GUESS THE IDENTITIES OF THE MERMAIDS'. Just below that was a picture of me with the notation 'Confirmed' next to it. Just below that were pictures of Bella, Rikki, Emma, Cleo, and several other local girls we occasionally spent time with. Though most of those were just our co-workers. Next to each was a list of reasons why each one was suspected. How often they had been seen at the beach. How hard they worked to avoid getting wet. How much time that I spent with them. And several other reasons.
"Well this isn't good." I said looking over to Bella. "What do you think?"
Bella didn't answer. She was staring wide eyed at the screen and had gone as pale as a ghost. I waved my hand in front of her face. She didn't respond.
"How long has this site been up?" I asked my Dad.
"Not to long after you all went semi-public." He said turning the computer around. "Now a local rental shop for dive supplies." He muttered as he started typing again.
"Why didn't you say something to me about this sooner?" I asked.
"Honestly," Mom answered. "We though you'd have already known to look."
"Oh." What she said made perfect sense, in hind sight. We should have been looking for something like this. We'd all lived with the paranoia long enough that suspecting something like this should have been at the top of our list. I pulled out my phone and quickly sent a text to the others to look at the site. We'd have to discuss this later.
"Found one." Dad said. "They have good rates, open early, and they rent boats too. Perfect."
"When should we meet you tomorrow dear?" Mom asked me.
"Ten." I said a bit numbly. The horror was starting to sink in on me and I could appreciate why Bella had zombied out on seeing it.
"You sure. That seems a bit late." Dad said.
"Best views are after the sun is up." I answered. "Too dark to see anything otherwise."
"Oh that makes sense." He said. "Should we meet you at the dock or out in the open water?"
"The docks will be fine." I told him checking briefly to see which docks he'd be renting a boat from. "I'll guide you out from there."
"Well it's getting late," my Dad said checking his watch. "And we're still not fully caught up from the time change so we'll call it a night for now." He stood up and put his laptop away. "It was good to see you today sweetheart." He said giving me a big hug.
"You too Dad." I said back. "Even with the shock of finding out about that site."
"Is she OK?" Mom asked pointing at Bella.
"I have no idea." I said. "But I'll take care of it. She's more than just a roommate to me."
"That's good honey." Mom gave me a hug as well. "You take care now and I'll see you tomorrow morning."
I saw them out then came back and put away left overs. I let Bella sit there until I was done, not to be mean, but because it took me that long to come to terms with it myself. I think the only reason I had it so easy was I'd been out for a while now.
"Bella," I said poking her shoulder. "You need to snap out of it now. It's time to go meet the others."
"We're in so much trouble." She slowly said. Then she grabbed me by the shoulders, "what are we going to do?"
"Well first we're going to meet with the others, and then we'll discuss this together." I told her. "Now let's go."
She nodded dully and got to her feet to follow me out. She walked like she was in a daze, which I had to admit she was, and her color hadn't improved. I just hoped the others were better off.
Once we got in the water she seemed to snap out of it a bit more, at least enough to swim straight, and we hurried to the moon pool. Rikki was the only one there when we arrived and she pounced on me the moment my head broke the surface.
"Are you completely mental or just brain dead?" She demanded.
"This about Em, the web site, or both?" I asked.
"Em." She answered. "You had no control over the other." She glared at me. "You do realize she's going to drag us into this as help. And you never told her what the limits were or anything."
"Well if you'll give me a moment I hope to get that part done when she get's here. She kinda ran off before I could say anything this morning." I offered hoping to stall her. It was Rikki, I should have know better.
"And you didn't chase her down right then and fix this?" She demanded. "You let her have an entire day to start planning with no limits."
"She wanted to do a welcoming dinner tomorrow before I changed her mind." Strangely that worked when other more rational arguments had failed.
"OK. She didn't mention that when she talked to me earlier." Rikki shuddered. "That would have been even worse. Em planning a party in just one day. We'd have been drafted in a second."
"Wait. Me suggesting a party two weeks from now and setting no limits is better then having let her do her original idea?" I was lost.
"I forget you haven't know Em as long as we have." Rikki said. "Much worse. At least this way you can maybe salvage this mess by putting limits on her now. If you'd let her do the party tomorrow she'd have had to have free reign to get it all done in time. You still messed up, but this is much preferable to the other."
"I think I understand." I said. "So you're not mad?"
"Oh you're still in trouble, but less then you would be if you hadn't made the suggestion in the first place." Rikki told me. "What's wrong with her."
Well half a loaf was good enough when it came to Rikki and forgiveness and so I was quick to take the opening she offered to get the focus off me. "She saw the site."
"Oh that." Rikki said. "You know that's a problem. How long has that been up?"
"Since a few weeks after we became semi-public," I told her. "You know we should have expected something like that."
Rikki didn't get to answer as Emma came into the pool at that moment and said, "we need to get over to Cleo's house right now!"
"What happened?" I asked.
"Kim saw the site over her shoulder and decided to 'test' it." Emma answered.
We didn't say anything more. Even Bella responded to that and we all hit the water at top speed. Our only though on the way there was damage control. We all knew Cleo planned to tell Kim once she was a bit older and more responsible. However, that wasn't Kim yet and we all knew Kim wouldn't keep her mouth shut about something she felt was unfair. Add in how Kim still treated me when I went over to visit and this was a complete disaster.
We swam right up to the small pier behind Cleo's house. I went out first to see if any of the neighbors were about. Once I was sure it was save I gave the all clear and the others came out. Not wasting any time we had Rikki and Bella get us dry and hurried to the back door. We entered to a screaming match between Don, Sam, and Kim.
Near as any of us could make out Kim was doubly mad that they had known and she hadn't and that her sister was a fish. Don and Sam were clearly not happy with her calling her sister that and were yelling at her to mind her manners. I couldn't make much out of the mishmash of everyone yelling over each other. The local slang that I had yet to fully comprehend didn't help.
"Go find Cleo," Em told us. "I'll handle this."
"Good luck." I said heading for the stairs. "You really gonna need it." She just waved me off and we slipped up stairs.
We found Cleo in her room. She was dry except for the tear stains on her cheeks. We didn't say anything at first. We just went over and held her in a group hug. Even Rikki joined us.
"Where's Emma?" Cleo asked after a moment.
"Downstairs." Bella said. "Trying to sort it all out."
"It's all over now isn't it?" Cleo said tearfully. "Kim will never keep quiet and she won't stop until she proves it for you guys too."
"And being your sister won't hold her loyalty?" I asked.
"You've spent time here." Rikki said. "What do you think."
"Well as we say where I'm from, we're royally screwed." I answered.
"What's that mean." Rikki asked.
Bella as the only other one that had done much traveling laughed. "I'm not gonna translate that for you." She told Rikki.
"What are we going to do." Cleo asked.
"You guys are going to stay up here." I said noting that the yelling had stopped. "I'm going to have a talk with your sister."
"Don't hurt her." Cleo begged me.
"Oh don't worry I don't plan to hurt her. Just say a few things that as her family you can't get away with saying to her." I answered and headed for the door.
When I got downstairs I noticed three things first that Don looked mad, second that Kim was backed into a corner as far from him as she could get, and third that Emma was on the floor in her tail and she looked to be a few seconds away from flash freezing Kim.
"Don please help Em." I told him. "Kim come here. Now!"
"No." She said.
I was done being polite. I walked over and grabbed her and dragged her towards the back door.
"Where are you going to take her?" Emma asked me.
"The pool. I'll bring her back in the morning. Have everyone join me if they want to." I towed Kim to the pier and tossed her in the water, thankfully she had been to freaked out by me to have made a sound up till now, and I dove in.
I caught her up in a tight grip and took off staying on the surface so she could breath. I didn't go slow either. By the time Kim thought to raise any protest we were half way to Mako.
"LET ME GO!" She screamed at me, hitting me in the back for good measure.
I stopped. "OK if your sure." I told her letting her go. "But I'd look around first if I was you."
She did and it didn't take her long to realize she was out in the middle of the ocean between Mako and the mainland. "Take me back now."
"Sorry can't do that right now. You can try to swim for it but even you should realized just how far we've come in so short a time." I told her. "I'd catch you easily."
"Where are you taking me?" She demanded.
"You'll see." I told her catching her up again and taking off this time ignoring her hits and screams. Once we got to Mako I stopped one last time to tell her to take a deep breath.
"Why?" She demanded.
"The entrance is underwater. But if you don't want to take a deep breath first that's fine by me." I told her. By now she believed me and quickly gasped in a deep breath and I took her down into the underwater entrance to the moon pool.
Once we surfaced I let her go. She quickly scrambled out of the water and stood looking around for another way out.
"The only other entrance requires a rope to use." I lied to her. You could get up the slope with out one it was just really difficult.
"Why'd you bring me here?" She asked starting to shiver. I didn't want her to get sick just to finally listen so I started to dry her off.
"Because this is where about four years ago now your sister and her friends became mermaids." I told her. "They didn't know what was going on. They didn't know if they could ever trust anyone with it. They only had each other and a secret that could ruin their lives if the wrong people found out."
"How are you doing this?" She asked pointing to where there was a bit of steam coming off her clothes. It wasn't that I'd made it hot enough to be scalding yet, just that the air in here was getting a bit chilly.
"We all have the power to manipulate water in different ways." I said giving her a hard stare. "You're lucky. Emma looked like she really wanted to flash freeze you."
"She could do that?" Kim looked terrified.
"You'd be in something similar to cryo-stasis, but yes she can do that." I said.
"What can you do?" She asked.
"I can do anything they can just a whole lot slower." I said. "Hence why it's taking so long to get you dry and warm. But my real power it to amplify the others so they are far, far stronger then normal."
At that point the others arrived. "Was this really the best idea?" Cleo asked me.
"Well I needed a place where she couldn't run from." I said and looked at Kim. "That way she'd have no choice but to shut up and listen for once. Rikki you mind? This is going to take me forever and it's starting to get cold in here. I don't want her to freeze. I just want her to listen."
Rikki rolled her eyes but got Kim dry in moments. Kim's eyes just got really wide and she backed up against the wall.
"Now Kim. Back to my original point. You get why they didn't tell you? Or do you need them to tell you about the first time they met my friend Denman?" I asked.
"Huh?" Cleo asked me with a glance.
"I was starting out with how telling people back when this all began for you could have been bad if the wrong people found out." I answered her unspoken question. "I figure the truth of what happened might get through that immature head of hers."
Kim responded exactly how I predicted she would to my words. She got mad. "I am not immature!"
"Really?" I asked in that too sweet tone Bella had used on me earlier. "So your out burst earlier and the way you treat me all the time are the actions of a mature adult and not the immature, selfish actions of a child?"
"Well..." she started.
"Save it." Rikki said. "Nothing you can say will help you right now."
"Rikki. Stop." Cleo said as she pulled herself out of the pool. "Help me get dry please."
Rikki got her dried in a flash and Cleo went over to Kim. "Can you guys give us some time alone please. I should be the one to handle this."
I nodded. "We'll be right outside if you need us." The four of us headed out and around to the nearby beach we had used as a secondary meeting spot when the pool had still been damaged.
"Are you really sure this was a good idea?" Rikki asked me once we were all on the beach. "What if she had walked out of the cave? You can't get dry fast enough to follow her."
"I lied a bit and told her she'd need a rope for that." I said.
"And she believed you?" Emma looked surprised.
"We're on Mako. You told me she's been here on camping trips before so I'm pretty sure she knows better then to wander off at night here." I said. "That and the bluff that the underwater entrance was the easier one would be enough to keep her in place."
"Not bad." Bella said.
"Well not much we can do now but wait." Emma said. "That site is going to be a problem."
"We'll get to that later once Cleo is here," I said. "But about the party."
"Please don't say no." Emma begged me.
"Don't worry. Having the party is a good idea. You just need to promise not to go overboard." I told her.
"What do you mean by that." She got a bit defensive.
"Simple. You keep all of us in the loop on the details." I said.
"That's not too bad." She conceded.
"And if any of us say no to something you listen." I added.
"What?" Emma didn't look pleased.
"I can go along with that." Rikki said with a cat like grin.
"But... but... that'll mean I can't do much at all." Emma complained.
"Well what did you want to do?" Rikki asked her.
"I just wanted to invite all of you, your families, and the guys. Nothing fancy. I know it would be crowded but I know they can all attend with that much notice." Emma said. "I was worried that I couldn't have everyone be there if it was going to be tomorrow."
"So that excited look earlier was because everyone could attend and not because you could go crazy planning this?" I asked a bit surprised.
"Wait." Emma said starting to laugh. "You were all worried that I'd go overboard on decorations and other stuff?"
"Well you do kinda have a track record for that." Bella chimed in finally.
"I might have to go a bit over the top to get enough food and get it all cooked but that's really all." Emma said snickering. "I was thinking small and simple for this."
"Small?" Rikki asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well relatively." Emma admitted.
We all laughed.
"That many people won't fit in your house you know." Bella pointed out once we'd stopped.
"Oh shoot. Hadn't though about that yet." Emma said. She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Rikki?"
Rikki groaned knowing what Emma wanted. "Fine I'll get it all worked out." She said.
"I'll handle the food though." Emma said. "I just need the space."
"I hope you don't want me to sing." Bella said catching on.
"No." Emma assured her. "I really don't want Nate there for this."
We all shuddered at the though of that. "OK. I'll get it worked out that you can have it there." Rikki said.
"What do you're parents like to eat?" Emma asked me.
I pointed to the ocean. "If it comes from there they'll eat it." I told her.
"Anything seafood they don't like?" She asked.
"Haven't found anything yet." I said. "And they've even tried some of the more exotic stuff too."
"Well that makes it easy. Guess I'll have to put in an order with Cleo's Dad then." She said mentally ticking something off her list.
"We'll have to continue this later." Bella said pointing to the water. "Cleo's here with Kim."
"A little help here please." Cleo called out. Kim, in a move that surprised us all, reached down and placed one of Cleo's arms over her shoulders and then proceeded to drag her sister out of the water towards where we were.
"So how'd it go?" Rikki asked.
"We came to an understanding." Cleo said giving her sister a heavy look. "Didn't we?"
"I'm sorry." Kim said. "Cleo told me everything. I get it now why you wanted to keep this a secret."
"Really?" I said dryly while raising one eyebrow. "Forgive me if this change of heart seams too sudden."
Emma, Rikki, and Cleo all snickered.
"What?" I demanded.
"Isn't that what we keep saying about Denman?" Emma pointed out.
I barely controlled an impulse to bang my head on the rocks. I got their point.
"OK. OK. OK, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. For now." I conceded. "But you'll have to prove to me you mean what you say."
Kim looked like she was going to protest at first, but at a look from her sister she stayed silent. Instead she just nodded her head.
"Well now that that's settled," Bella said. "What are we going to do about that site?"
"Not much we can do at this point." Emma said.
"It's been up for way too long." I agreed.
"Why has no one else tossed water at you guys?" Kim asked looking confused and miserable.
"Rikki, could you?" Cleo asked with a nod at Kim who was starting to shiver.
"Oh all right." Rikki conceded reluctantly, and got Kim dried.
"How do you do that?" Kim asked looking at her dried clothes in wonder.
"Later." Bella told her. "If we answer that now we'll just get sidetracked again."
"Right." Cleo said with a nod and got comfortable against the rocks with us.
"In answer to your question, Kim, people aren't allowed to do that. It would be considered open harassment." Emma explained.
"I'm not going to get in trouble am I?" Kim asked now looking nervous.
"That's up to Cleo, as she was the victim, but seeing as she's your sister she'll probably forgive you." I told her.
"So how do people plan to prove it?" Kim asked. "I mean with that list and all?"
"We've probably been watched closely by anyone that is aware of that list." Rikki said. "The fact that only Laura has been confirmed means no one has caught us out yet."
"Though given how long that list has been up that's probably sheer dumb luck." Bella said.
"This is a nightmare." Emma groaned. "We're going to have to be even more careful then usual."
"And look like we don't have to worry at the same time too." Cleo expression saying how much she liked that though better then any words ever could.
"You being public might suck but at least you don't have to be paranoid anymore." Bella said to me sounding jealous.
"Wrong." I said. "I don't have to worry about myself, yes, but they are using me as a reference point to find out who the others are. That means all of us being seen in public together just makes them look at you more closely." I sighed. "It means I'm going to have to be careful about you guys and how often I spend time with you if we don't want suspicion to grow anymore then it already has."
"Forgive me for asking," Kim said actually raising her hand. "But why don't you all just admit it?" We all gave her a flat look. "I'm just saying."
"We'd never get any peace that way." Cleo calmly explained.
"Well how much longer do you think you can keep this hidden?" Kim pointed out. "Everyone knows what to look for and sooner or later an accident will happen. Isn't that what happened to you." Kim said pointing at me.
I groaned while making a face like I'd just bit into something sour. Kim had a point. A good one. Everyone did know what to look for. Hell, we'd told them ourselves, and I knew better than anyone accidents could, and often did, happen.
"I hate to say it, but the kid has a point." I said. Kim glared at me for calling her a kid but I just ignored her. "It's lucky that we avoided this as long as we have already."
"I am not ready for my life to turn into a circus." Rikki said.
"Well for now we just continue as we have," Emma said. "Not much we can do about it now. We'll just have to be careful."
"You should at least tell the guys." I suggested. "They might be able to help if things go wrong."
"Right." Bella said. "That's a good idea."
"Definitely." Cleo agreed.
"Speaking of which we should go get Lewis or Will." I said. "Otherwise Kim's stuck here till morning."
"Why am I stuck here till morning." Kim protested. "Can't you just swim me back?"
"Did you want to freeze?" Emma asked her catching my meaning. "It may be summer here but the water get's very cold at night and you were already shivering from the last time."
"You guys do it." Kim pointed out.
"It actually feels warm to us." Rikki said.
"We're adapted to deal with the cold. It's one reason we haven't bothered to get dry yet." Cleo told her sister. "The wind off the water would feel a lot colder to us if we did."
"Oh." Kim said finally getting it. "So I'm stuck here unless someone brings a boat out to ferry me back home."
"Yup." Rikki said.
"I'll go." Bella offered and started dragging herself across the sand. "I just hate this part."
We all laughed in agreement at that. Kim watched her as she got in the water. The sun had gone down already but there was still a enough light for her to see the wake Bella made as she swam towards the main land. He jaw dropped at the sight.
"Let's just say that after getting Will she could wait for him to get about a third of the way here and still beat him back." I laughed.
"Seriously the speed is the best part." Emma sounded like she'd just eaten her favorite food.
"Nah." Rikki countered. "It's how deep we can go. Divers can't go that deep even with the best of gear."
"I always thought it was swimming with the dolphins." Cleo offered with a wistful smile.
"And here I though it was being able to hold my breath longer then an air tank lasts." I said with a grin.
"What about the sharks and other things that might try to eat you?" Kim said with a nervous look.
"They'd seriously have to be able to catch us first." Emma said. "And even they can't go as deep as we can so we could just dive and then swim away really fast."
"So could you now answer my question on how you got me all dry?" Kim asked.
We spent the rest of the wait explaining about our powers. Kim required demonstrations before she would fully believe us. But she was suitably impressed. At least until Cleo demonstrated hers.
"That was you all this time?" Kim demanded. "The sink, my water bottles, all of it? That was you?" Kim definitely did not look happy.
Cleo gave a nervous laugh and her eyes strayed to the ocean. You could see her thinking about if she could make it there quick enough. Kim fixed that by stepping between her sister and the water.
"You so owe me for this." Kim told her. "I'm not doing any more of your chores no matter how much you beg me."
I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing at the absurdity of how Kim had chosen to get even with her sister. I laughed so hard I fell over, my eyes were tearing, and my sides hurt. And I just couldn't stop.
I eventually noticed that Rikki was laughing just as hard. We only laughed harder when both Kim and Cleo glared at us. Only Emma managed to not laugh but you could see in her face the effort that took, and that too made us laugh even harder.
We were laughing so hard we didn't even notice it when Will and Bella arrived.
"What is so funny?" Bella asked confused.
"We explained our powers to Kim and she finally figured out that it was her sister all these years." Emma answered as we were still laughing and Cleo was too busy fuming at us.
"That's hardly cause for this much laughter." Will said.
"Kim decided that Cleo's punishment for all of it was that she would have to do her own chores from now on no matter how much she begged." Emma told them.
"That's all?" Will just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Bella snickered but managed to not burst out laughing like we did.
"It's not funny!" Kim said stomping her foot. "Water has been blowing up on me every time I tried to convince Cleo to do her own chores for years now."
The foot stomp did it. Emma and Bella broke out into full laughter too. Cleo switched between glares at us and looking guiltily at her sister. Kim just fumed glaring at us all. Will just rolled his eyes and got his boat ready to take Kim home.