Authors Note:
I want to thank all my readers for their reviews. I know I don't send replies to each of you but I do read all of them.
You still have time to get in questions for me to answer in the bonus chapter at the end, so please do.
In this chapter I will be doing several view points. Laura's, as usual, will be first person if she's there, and anyone else will be a third person subjective view. I decided to do this after a lot of thought on how I wanted this chapter to go and this seemed to be best as a lot will happen here that is important but Laura will not always be there to see it. Also some of the other scenes will be just for fun rather then plot advancement and that is more for laughs then anything else.
So get ready for some more humor, drama, and some blackmail. This is going to be fun.
So terribly sorry for the cruelly long wait. I got three colds in a row and when I did finally get to writing I got a third of the way in and then hit a wall that took me almost a month to figure out.
Chapter 11:
Families
It was the next day after the mishap with her younger sister and Cleo was relaxing in a warm bath that morning when there was a knock at the door.
"Cleo are you going to be in there all day?" Kim whined through the door.
"I'm just in the bath." Cleo responded.
"I know." Kim said exasperated. "I need to brush my teeth.
"I said I'm in the bath." Cleo replied again sounding both frustrated and amused.
"What's the matter dear?" Sam asked from the other side of the door.
"I need to brush my teeth and Cleo's taking forever in the bath." Kim complained.
"Oh. Is that all." Sam said and opened the door Cleo had left unlocked and walked in greeting Cleo as she did. "Morning Cleo. Just going to brush my teeth and do my make up."
"No problem." Cleo said from the tub.
"But she's in the bath." Kim said attempting to rush ahead and stop Sam only to get a good look at her sister in all her mermaid glory in the tub.
"Mermaid. Bath. Water." Cleo laughed at her sister.
"Oh. Right." Kim responded dully as she mechanically went and brushed her teeth. Cleo and Sam just chuckled to themselves.
"You'll get used to it." Sam said to Kim.
I was sitting at the counter sipping my first, and only, cup of coffee for the morning while my roommate rushed about.
"What's the rush, Bella?" I asked curious.
"The band called a meeting at 9." She said as she grabbed some toast and ate it while trying on a third pair of shoes.
I looked at the clock to see it was already 8:30. "When did they bother to tell you about this?"
"They called 10 minutes ago." She complained around a mouthful of toast while grabbing a fourth pair of shoes.
"You're gonna have to swim there at this point you know." I pointed out taking another sip.
"I know." She snapped at me. "Sorry." She said more politely. "I thought I'd have a nice relaxing day until it was time to perform tonight. I didn't mean to take it out on you."
She still didn't look satisfied with her shoes and hurried off to grab more to try on. I followed her and after a quick look over he shoes I grabbed a pair for her to try. They worked perfectly.
"Thanks Laura." She said relieved. "I gotta run. Have fun with your parents today." And with that she rushed out the door.
I sipped my coffee and decided that since I still had an hour before I needed to leave I would make myself a real breakfast.
Bella found a nice secluded spot near the cafe and, after a few tries, managed to get herself dry. She hurried over to find the band sitting outside waiting for her. Nate was the only on not there yet.
"So I guess once Nate get's here you'll tell my why you made me practically run here." She said a bit annoyed.
"Nate's not coming for this." The drummer said.
"We're just waiting for your vote for it to be unanimous." The guitar player told her.
"Huh?" Bella said confused.
"Let's face it. He's rude. Obnoxious. He overplays every song and we have to overplay to keep it in balance," the bassist said. "You can't tell us you haven't noticed. We've all decided we've had enough and just need you to make it official."
"You want to kick him out?" She asked finally catching on. They all nodded. "But didn't he start the band?"
"That don't mean he owns us." The drummer said. "I don't remember signing any contract. Do you?"
"But who's going to play keyboard for us?" Bella asked them?
The guitarist waved a girl over. "We already found someone. Just need your vote to make the change official."
Bella looked thoughtful for a moment, her face clearly showing she was going over the past two years of the band with Nate in her head.
"You know something? We've been scouted no less then six times in the past year, and Nate's attitude has bombed us each time." The bassist told her. "I think we have something and can make it big, but not with him here."
Bella hung her head. She knew they were right. "OK. He's out. Now let's practice for tonight. It's going to take some adjustment with a new member."
"Don't worry." The new keyboardist told her. "This is kinda like a dream come true for me. You won't regret choosing me."
They all stood up and after exchanging names with the new girl went inside to rehearse. None of them saw Miriam off to the side frantically sending a text.
I arrived at the docks where my parents had rented a boat for the day from. After a bit of searching I found them still loading gear on to the boat.
"Hey Mom, hey Dad." I called out to them. "Need me to get out and lend a hand?"
"No sweetie we're good." Mom told me. "So where are we heading today?"
"Hey honey." Dad greeted me while lifting a pair of air tanks onto the boat.
I smiled at them as I kept myself near the surface with gentle, yet strong, flicks of my tail. "Just a little place of the shores of the island that has some really nice reefs. It's between forty and sixty meters down but you should be fine with what you guys have."
I saw my Dad load two set's of air tanks onto the boat, and saw several more still on the dock. Mom was loading a cooler onto the boat and had another two still to go. How long were they planning to be out here?
"We should be done loading soon." Dad said making another trip. "We hoped to make a full day of it."
"Ah." I replied. It didn't take them too much longer to get everything loaded and then get the boat heading out of the marina. I followed along side of it until they reached the first of the safety buoy's then I sped up and took the lead.
I had to keep my speed down so I didn't completely out distance the boat and it took a bit longer then I was used to in order to get to the spot I chose. I showed them were it was by the simple expedient of rushing ahead once we were near enough and then stopping at the spot. My Dad piloted the craft up till he was right next to me and Mom tossed the anchor over the side.
"You do realized I had this thing going at top speed the whole way here right?" I nodded at my Dad's statement. "And the whole way here I thought you were straining to stay ahead of me only to find out here at the end that you were loafing." I chuckled. "No wonder you're in such good shape." I openly laughed now.
"Get suited up and come on in. The best view is under the water." I told them and dove down to make sure their anchor was set right and not endangering anything. After that I did some exploring of my own while I waited for them to do their predive checks.
After the usual wait I heard a pair of splashes from somewhere above me and quickly swam up and greeted them. After grabbing a quick breath of my own, I'd already been down for a little over half my air supply, I guided them down to see the rocks and reefs. I pointed out the various sea life that was swimming wild and just enjoyed finally being able to share this with them.
We were having so much fun that I didn't even notice how long we'd been down until my parents pointed back to the surface and the boat. I joined them as they surfaced at the rear of the boat.
"That's amazing." My Dad said a little out of breath from all the swimming. "Who knew how much there would be to see out here."
"Yes it's very beautiful here." Mom agreed.
"Thanks." I said. "This is one of my favorite spots. There are a few more not too far from here if you want some variety."
"That sounds nice." Mom said.
Dad looked at me closely. "You've swam all the way here from the docks and kept up with us for the last forty minutes and you don't even look tired."
"You forgot that I swam from home to the docks too and spend about half an hour swimming while you did gear checks." I pointed out.
Even Mom's eyes went wide at that. "You sure you don't need to rest?"
I laughed. "Did you want to spend more time here or go on to the next area?" I asked instead.
"Is there a spot where the dolphins live near by?" Mom asked.
"Sure. It's about 15 minutes that way." I pointed along the coast of Mako to the right as I faced it. "They're very friendly too."
Mom and Dad pulled themselves back onto the boat, and got it started up. "Lead on honey." Dad said taking the wheel. I laughed and took the lead.
Bella and the band had just finished up another set and were congratulating the new keyboardist when Nate stormed in.
"What are you all doing?" He demanded with no preamble. "You can't rehearse with out me here. And who's this?"
"We took a vote, Nate, and she's your replacement." The bassist said with no reluctance. "You're out."
"No you don't understand. This is my band and you can't vote me out of my band." He said starting to look angry.
"Well in that case we all quit and formed our own band." The guitarist said.
"Well see that's a problem because this gig belongs to my band. You can't have it." Nate said smugly.
"Except you no longer have a band." Rikki said having overheard the exchange. "And since we always have live music on the weekends now that means we need to hire a new one. Seeing as you can't play with out a band."
"Well we'd like to audition if you are willing." The drummer offered.
"No need. I heard your practicing and I must say I'm sold. Can you start tonight or is that too short of notice?" Rikki made no attempt to hide her grin at the prospect of finally being rid of Nate and his attitude.
"No that's just fine." Bella said also glad to be rid of Nate and his wandering hands.
Nate ran over to Zane who had passively watched the whole episode and tried to plead with him to do something. "Zane man. "Come on! We're mates, right? You can't let her do this."
"Actually I can, and she can." Zane corrected him. "She owns half the cafe and we don't have time to find another band for tonight with you not having one."
"Come on man. For me." Nate begged.
"Look we are friends, but this is business. And we need a band for tonight. Sorry it's done." Zane told him.
"You've change mate. Your not the same guy I used to know." Nate told him before heading for the door. "You'll regret this. This is my gig, and no one takes it from me. You'll see." He stormed out.
"Well he was right about one thing," Zane mused as he headed for the office. "I have changed."
"But it's for the better." Rikki told him as she hurried to follow him.
It was late afternoon when I said good night to my parents and headed over to the cafe to listen to Bella sing. I'd invited my parents, but they had politely declined citing exhaustion. I made them promise to come to tomorrow nights performance and hurried not wanting to miss the start of the set.
I was just coming in sight of the cafe when Byron caught up to me. "I'm not in trouble am I?"
"Byron!" I gave him a hug and let him steal a kiss. "Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"
"Because I've been calling you since yesterday and you haven't responded." He explained as he fell into step with me towards the cafe.
"You didn't get the message?" I was confused as Bella had promised to tell everyone yesterday.
"Obviously I missed it." He pulled out his phone and double checked his messages. "Nope. No messages from you."
"Do the others have your number yet?" He shook his head. "Oh shoot you never got told then."
"Got told what? I guess it's something good as you seem excited about something." He said.
"Oh just that my parents decided to drop by yesterday morning and surprise me with a two week visit." I said nonchalantly.
I found myself suddenly alone and turned back to see him a few paces behind looking a touch pale. "Byron?" He swallowed looking a bit nervous. "Are you OK?"
"So I'm gonna have to meet them now I suppose." He sounded a bit odd.
"They won't hurt you. I won't let them." I walked back to him and grabbed his hands pulling him on. "For now let's hurry or we'll miss the singing and I'll make sure we get your number to the others so you don't miss important stuff like this in the future."
"Your father isn't gonna threaten me or anything like that?" He still sounded shell shocked.
"He's a lawyer. He knows he can't do that." I felt like laughing, but wisely didn't. "You'll be OK. I always hoped you'd have a chance to meet each other. Now we can talk about this more later. We are going to be late."
He smiled and we hurried towards the cafe and rushed into the door – and right into Em and a tray full of half empty drinks she was cleaning up. The plastic cups went flying everywhere soaking patrons and three mermaids. Em, Cleo who had walked over to lead Byron and me to a seat, and, of course, me.
"I got this." Ash said sliding in. "You two go. Quickly. To the office." He tilted his head slightly towards where Rikki held the office door open having stepped out just in time to see the disaster. "Byron get ready to catch her."
"Come on." Emma said loudly pulling Cleo along. "I have a spare shirt in the break room you can borrow for now." They got to the office just as my mental count reached ten. I fell over backwards into Byron's waiting arms just as Rikki closed the door behind the others.
"Get her too a booth and I'll get you guys some towels." Ash said.
"Could use a little help with that," Byron said. "I can't pick her up from just holding her under her arms and I don't want to let go or she'd fall to the floor."
"I am not that heavy." I said a bit miffed.
"More to do with leverage then anything else actually." Byron said to sooth me. I puzzled it out while Ash grabbed the end of my tail where my feet would be and helped him carry me to a booth. By now everyone was starting to notice me and a lot of cheering began.
Along with a lot of idiocy too.
Soon as I was seated I grabbed Byron and gave him a quick thank you kiss.
"What was that for?" He asked.
"I figured out what you meant about leverage." I said. "Now then. Towels please."
"I'll get right on that." He said and tuned to a wall of people. "Can I help you all?" He asked.
He was answered with cheers and calls of "right on man," or "you lucky bloke" among others. For once I didn't mind being the center of attention. Everyone seemed to have forgotten Cleo and Em's quick exit with me here to gawk at. If me being in the spotlight this once helped them hide then I'd take my time getting dry if I had to. Thankfully that wasn't going to be necessary.
With no warning Bella had the band kick off their performance for the night. It didn't take long for the catchy dance beat to get people moving and distracted from me. I mouthed a 'thank you' to her and she bobbed her head while looking right at me, then continued to bob as if getting into her song to cover it up to anyone else.
Byron, bless him, took the distraction of her music as an opportunity to go and find me some towels. He got back with them just as Cleo slid in to the booth across from me. She was dry and wearing a different shirt. Not bad. She was playing along with Em's excuse.
"That was too close." Cleo said to me over the table.
"Sorry that one was entirely on me. I should have known better then to just barge into a crowded room like that. Especially knowing you guys were going to be here." I said sheepishly as I dried off my arms and front.
"This shirt is horrendous." Cleo complained.
"Not surprised." I said. "Em's a good bit taller than you after all."
Cleo went from glaring at me to laughing by the time I'd finished.
"So how was your day?" She asked.
"Can I tell you later when the others are all here?" I countered. "I'm sure they'd like to know too."
She nodded her acceptance of that and we turned to listen to Bella's singing.
The next morning Bella met the rest of the band outside the cafe. The cafe wasn't open for business yet but the band hoped to get some more practice in before too many customers arrived for the day. Zane and Ash met them at the door as the opening staff for the morning.
"Morning Ash. Morning Zane." Bella greeted them. "I though you stayed in the office these days? Why are you out here?"
"I had to find a different place." He said with a yawn. "Something about it being against health regulations for me to be living here. Morning Ash."
Ash just waved and yawned while waiting for Zane to get the door open.
He got the door opened and they all walked in and stopped dead.
The place was trashed. Completely.
The refrigerator units behind the counter were all propped open and unplugged. The juice and smoothie blenders were on the floor in shards. The free standing stools were in pieces. But it was the instruments on the stage that had suffered the worst.
The guitars had had their strings cut, the tension screws were removed and filed smooth, and the fret boards were sawed through in at least 3 places each. The drums had all been ripped open and all of the cymbals and the stands had been sawed through with a hack saw.
"I told you that you'd regret it." Nate said from off to the side. "You shouldn't leave the spare keys where just anyone can get to em mate."
Zane just turned around and walked out side. Bella hurried after him.
"Are you just going to let him get away with this?" She demanded.
Zane pulled out his phone and started dialing. "Just don't let him leave." He told her as he lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello. Yes I'd like to report a break in and vandalization"
Bella caught on and went back inside. "Keep him gloating." She told the band and Ash. "Zane's calling the cops."
Ash seemed a bit surprised at that but nodded. "Can you guys handle that? I'm going to see what else is damaged."
As it turned out it was easy to keep Nate gloating. He was so pleased with himself that he actually needed no prompting. He was still parading around when the cops showed up to arrest him.
"Come on Zane. What is this?" Nate demanded as they came for him. "You can't do this to me. We're like brothers man."
"No, Nate. We were, once. But not after this." He said. "This is all I have other then Rikki. Why would you think doing this would be OK?"
"We used to pull pranks like this all the time mate." The cops grabbed him and cuffed him. "You can't do this."
"Yes I can. You crossed a line Nate. I don't know you anymore." He waved the cops out. "Nate don't ever come back in here. You are no longer welcome."
"Who are these other sir?" One of the officers asked him.
"That's Ash my store manager." Zane said pointing to Ash who had just come from the back store room with a grim look on his face. "And these five are the band we employ for entertainment. They asked if they could come in before the morning crowd and rehearse. I agreed."
"And the extent of the damages for the report?" The officer followed up.
"That's still being determined. I'll file a full report once I do a full inventory."
The officer nodded and left them too it.
"How bad is it back there Ash?" Zane asked him once the officer had left.
"He shut off all the refrigeration and propped the doors open, slashed all the dry goods in packages and smashed everything else. We have nothing useable." Ash said with a dead tone to his voice.
"Everything over here is useless too. He even erased the presets for the songs from the keyboard." Bella said in the same tone. "Even though he left it in one piece it would still take us a week to program them all back in."
Zane let out a sigh as he hung his head. "OK. Here's what we are going to do. First: The only ones other then us here that will be told who did this are Emma and Rikki. Second: The band is free to go for now unless you want to help us do a full inventory of damages." Only Bella offered to stay. "And third: Ash you need to call the staff and tell them what happened. All supervisors need to come in; the general staff does not."
"I'll get started then. I guess I should call Rikki first." Ash said heading for the work phone.
"No." Zane stopped him. "That one is on me. You don't have to do that."
For the first time Ash looked at Zane with something akin to respect and gave him a short nod.
Zane took out his phone and dialed Rikki's number. "Sorry love. I know it's early, but it's better you hear this from me..."
Rikki practically ran the whole way to the cafe. She didn't believe Nate would have ever gone this far, but she didn't believe Zane was pulling a prank this time either. She took a moment out side to catch her breath before walking in to see just how bad it actually was.
Rikki just stood there in disbelief as she looked around. "Rikki." Zane ran over to her. "You OK?"
"H...h...how? Why?" Rikki was almost too shocked to speak.
"I don't know why." Zane answered her. "As for how; he stole the spare key."
Rikki watched dully for awhile, unable to accept what her eyes were showing her, before slowly walking over and helping.
I decided to take my parents to the cafe for a quick lunch. We planned to go back later for Bella's performance that night. They seemed excited to hear her sing and I knew they'd enjoy her singing. So it was a big surprise for us to see the 'Closed due to damages' sign outside.
I walked up and stuck my head in the door anyways. I was hoping that since I was a really good friend they'd fill me in with some details.
"I'm sorry we're not open today." One of the staff that was sweeping broken glass off the counter called out to me.
"It's OK." Rikki told her. "Come in Laura. Everyone you can go take lunch now."
The general staff filed out, they all had a defeated look, and shortly I was left with just Rikki, Emma, Bella, Ash, and Zane. I came in and my parents followed me in.
"What happened?" I asked delicately as Rikki led us over to a clear table.
Zane shared a look with her and at her nod he let out a breath and told me. "Nate happened. I don't know why he'd to this."
"Has he ever done anything similar to this but on a smaller scale before?" My Dad asked him.
They all sat silently for a bit before they all nodded. "What exactly has he done?" Dad asked.
They listed off all the things he'd done in the past. Taking Zane's boat for a joy ride without permission, blaming Lewis for his jet ski and how he dealt with Lewis for that, the time he stole the emblem from Rikki's father's bike, and a host of others scattered here and there. Zane also mentioned each and every time he'd called Nate on it and made him either apologize and/or return what he took.
"He'd have done this one day anyways." My Dad told them. "It's pretty standard escalation. He's gotten progressively worse and he clearly has no respect for others property. You're calling him on it would look to him like a form of betrayal, and, in the end, this was not only a chance to get even with the band for removing him but with you for your betrayals as well."
"Then why did he stick around till someone got here then?" Emma asked. "That's the part that makes no sense to me."
"He wanted us to know it was him." Zane said. "He's always liked an audience to his performances." Zane waved his hand to indicate the whole cafe.
My Dad stood up, and after putting down his laptop case and taking off his suit coat, proceeded to roll up his sleeves and grab a broom.
"You don't have to do that, sir." Zane said going over to him quickly.
"Nonsense, young man." My Dad said with a smile. "You are like family to my daughter here. I respect you all for that. So in a way you're family to me too, and I want to help."
"Me as well." My Mom said. "What can we do."
"If you're sure?" Rikki looked at them. They both nodded. "Follow me I'll show you. And thanks both of you."
"What can I do?" I asked. They looked at me. "What? I wasn't going to leave you guys to this alone even if my parents didn't plan to stay. My Dad's right you're my family here and I don't turn my back on family. I got that from him if you can't guess."
"Thank you." Rikki said. Zane just gave a polite nod before going over and picking up my Dad's stuff.
"I'll lock this in the office for you so it's safe." He explained. My Dad thanked him and we all got to work.
"Should we call Cleo?" I asked. "She's off shift in a few hours and at this point we might as well tell her too."
"I'll send her a message." Bella said. "Will and Lewis too. Might as well have the whole family know."
"And what about Byron?" I asked. "He's one of us now too."
"Sure. Him too. Part of the family and all now." Zane said.
"Sure." Rikki agreed with a strange smile. "The family."
I'd have sworn she was about to cry.
Once Will, Lewis, Bryon, and Cleo got the message they all showed up to help. They were filled in and introductions were made for Laura's parents, though Byron did get a little pale at that point, and then they all lent a hand. It took several days of concerted effort from everyone to get the place back in order. Laura and Cleo helped out as they could around their own work shifts and the others helped when ever they didn't have other commitments they had to meet.
Zane gave his full report and filed the insurance claim and was able to get resupplied and set up to reopen the following Saturday. He and Rikki chose to make a grand event of it and everyone was glad to see the cafe back open. Many of the regulars wanted to make donations to the cafe but Zane waved them off saying it was unnecessary but the offer was appreciated. Laura's parents did finally get to see and hear Bella perform and agreed she was really good. Things seemed settled down a bit until Monday when Sophie showed up at Will's door unannounced.
"Morning Will." Sophie said as she pushed her way in the door.
Will jerked awake. After blinking and wiping the sleep out of his eyes he looked around to find a clock. "Sophie, not that I'm not happy to see my only sister, but it's 6 in the morning. Can't you come back at a more decent hour?"
"You used to get up earlier then this for training." She held up her hands to stop him before he got started on that. "I know you don't do that anymore and I'm not here about that, but I'd have though you'd still be used to getting up early at least?"
"No I'm not. And I've been busy helping out with fixing up the cafe after it was destroyed last week." He started.
"Heard about that." Sophie interjected.
Will gave her a look for interrupting and Sophie held up her hands again and backed off. "But that's beside the point," he continued. "What are you here for, exactly?"
"I'm here about Bella." She started.
"Not this again. Sophie I love her and that's that." Will told her flat out.
"Then why haven't you asked her to marry you yet?" Sophie asked exasperated.
"I'm not going to leave... Wait? WHAT?" Will stared at his sister in dumbfounded shock?
"You. Her. Married." Sophie explained. "What are you waiting for?"
"Who are you and where is my sister?" Will asked dumbly.
She bonked him on the head. "It is me you idiot.
"I though you didn't like her." Will stated.
"I didn't," Sophie admitted. "At least not at first. I've had a lot of time to think. And you're happier now then I've ever seen you. I know that's because of her."
"This has nothing to do with me not diving?" Will seemed skeptical.
"I realize now that was more my dream then yours." She let out a breath. "Sorry I pushed you so hard over the years. I just... well never mind. What I wanted is in the past." She sat down next to him. "I've come around." He looked at her. "OK, OK... so Mom and Dad badgered me a lot about it too."
"Thought so." He said.
"Well on this one I've come to agree with them." She looked at him. "Do you plan to marry her?"
He let out a sigh. "I want to, but I have no idea if she want's to. I mean what if she says no?"
Sophie looked at him like he was stupid. "That's the whole point of asking. Please tell me you at least have a ring picked out?"
"Ring?" Will asked blankly.
"Yes a ring. And make sure it fits her too. Rings do have sizes, and, yes, the size matters." Sophie told him.
"No I don't and I have no idea what 'size' to get." Will said. "How do I even find that out?"
"Well the best way is to ask a friend of hers or a family member that is willing to keep the secret. They usual do as this is a good surprise that shouldn't be spoiled." She told him.
"And you know this how?" He asked.
"I've been asked a time or two." She looked at him as he started to freak out. "For friends. I've been asked to keep the secret for friends." She started laughing.
"Not funny." He said.
"Is to me." She replied.
"So in this case I should ask Laura, her roommate." He said getting back to the main topic.
"That would be good." Sophie agreed still laughing. "Best to do it at a time you know Bella won't be there so as not to ruin the surprise."
"And you are sure Laura won't tell Bella?" He asked.
"If you tell her why you want to know and ask her to keep it quite until you ask. Then, yes, she would." Sophie said. "It's a girl thing."
"And you're here talking to me about this instead of Mom or Dad because...?" He asked her.
"I told you. Mom and Dad badgered me, you're happy, and I've learned a few things. I've come to realized she's good for you. Very good." Sophie was talking very softly. "And I've though about it and I kinda like the idea of having a new sister."
"Well I'll work on it." Will promised. "To be honest I've been thinking about doing it for a while now. I just wasn't sure she felt the same."
Sophie looked at him for a bit then noticed a small box of something on the small stand next to the bed. She reached over to pick it up but Will beat her too it and quickly stuffed it in a drawer.
"Were those what I think they were?" Sophie asked.
"Don't know what you're talking about." Will said quickly, too quickly in fact.
"Oh. My. God. You're... I mean you and her..." Sophie's eyes got wide as she though about it.
"That's none of your business." He told her.
"You're doing that and you think that she'd say no if you asked her to marry you?" Sophie was stunned.
"Uh... well..." He stammered scratching his head.
"Will as your sister I'm telling you to get a ring and ask that girl to marry you." Sophie told him. "And at least now I know why you don't wake up early anymore." She said with a smile as she headed out the door.
Will just stood there and watched her leave, his face a bright red.
There was a knock at the door. It was early and Harrison was in the middle of breakfast. He wondered who would be coming to see him at this hour of the morning. Upon answering the door he was greeted by the sight of Miriam.
"I'm sorry Zane doesn't live here anymore." He told her.
"That OK Mr. Bennett, I'm not here to see him. I have a business proposition for you. One that will bring your wayward son back into the fold. Do you have time?" She asked.
"I can spare a few minutes." He told her. "Please come in."
It was mid morning and I was still a bit sleepy. I'd only had one cup of coffee and, by my agreement, wasn't allowed another for at least an hour. I had the day off but wasn't due to meet with my parents until the early afternoon, so it was a surprise when there was a knock at the door.
I pulled myself up and went over to open it, wondering if my parents were early. I was surprised even more to find Will at the door.
"Hi, Laura. Um... May I come in?" He asked me.
"Will. Bella's at the cafe rehearsing." I said while trying to stifle a yawn.
"I know. That's why I'm here now. I need your help and I need you to promise not to tell anyone else." Will gave me a pleading look. "It's nothing bad. It's just a surprise for Bella and I really don't want her to find out early."
I waved him in and shuffled back to the couch where I dropped down and got comfortable. "Now I haven't promised anything yet." I told him covering another yawn. "And I don't intend to until after you explain." I pointed to the chair across the way. "Now sit and talk."
He took the indicated seat. "I need to know Bella's ring size so I can get an engagement ring for her."
What ever I'd been expecting him to say it hadn't been that. I was shocked fully awake and sat up straight now completely alert. "Say that again?"
He repeated himself. I just stared at him for a moment or two with my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. He snapped his fingers in front of me a few times to get my attention. "Laura will you help me out with this and keep it from Bella?"
"Uh yeah. I think this is something I wouldn't mind keeping quiet on." I stood up and went to Bella's room, Will followed me. "How soon do you plan to ask her?"
"Depends on how soon I can get the ring made." He answered.
"Made?" I asked impressed. "Going all out here. I like it."
"Well Bella is special to me. I want something that reflects that." He said.
"So who did you talk to first?" I asked him in a knowing tone.
"Sophie came to see me this morning about it. I had to chase her down to ask what type of ring would be good and she said if I really wanted it to be special I should have one specially made." He explained as I went over Bella's jewelry case.
"Ah. I knew you'd gotten input from another woman." I told him.
"That obvious?" He asked.
"It's a girl thing." I told him picking out a ring that Bella had once offered to me as she didn't like it anymore. It hadn't fit my hand but would be perfect for a quick loan to Will.
"Take this and go to a jeweler right now. Get it measured and bring it back immediately. Before Bella get's back from rehearsing if you can. If not she won't miss this one for a day or so. Oh and make sure to write down what he tells you the measure is so you don't forget." I instructed him. "Now go and hurry."
"Thanks Laura." He said. "And you won't tell her."
"Not this. This is worth keeping. Just let me know when you plan to actually ask so I can have a camera ready. That must be commemorated." I pushed him towards the door.
"OK. That another girl thing?" He asked as he headed out.
"Yes. Now go." I pushed him out the door.
"Thanks. Sis." He said with a grin as I shut the door.
I smiled as I went back to the couch no longer tired. This was a good thing. Bella was going to be so excited once he asked. I knew she loved him and had been wondering for a while if he loved her as much. Well, now I at least knew the answer to that. I just had to keep it to myself for a while longer.
It was close to nine that night when Elliot knocked on the bathroom door. It swung partially open when he hit it.
"Huh. Guess no one's in here." He said to himself and went in. "Gah!" He turned quickly away from the tub where his sister was taking a bath, she currently had her head under water and had looked to be doing something to her hair.
There was a splashing sound as Emma came out from under the water. "You do realize that due to me being a mermaid I don't have to worry about you walking in on me in the bath right?"
Elliot slowly turned around and took a good look. "Oh right. Sorry. I'd be less stupid about this if you weren't in the bath."
Emma laughed. "Don't worry too much. It's kinda sweet that you do worry about your sister. What do you need in here anyways?"
"I was just going to brush my teeth if that's OK with you." He explained.
"Sure. You mind putting a towel where I can more easily reach it? I forgot to do that before getting in." She asked.
"Sure sis." He smiled and put a towel on the floor near the tub where it would be in easy reach for her. "You know now that I've had time to get used to this I have to admit it's kinda cool to have a sister that's a mermaid."
"Thanks bro." Emma said with a smile. "I love you."
"Love you too sis." He said and started to brush his teeth as Emma pulled the drain to let the water out.
Rikki was sitting at the table with her father, having just finished sharing a late dinner, when her father looked at her and smiled.
"Rikki, honey. I don't want you to feel unwelcome here, but I have been wondering why you stay." He said to her.
"What do you mean Dad?" She asked confused.
"Well," he scratched his head, "it's just that you're an adult now. You have a successful business going, and you have all that money from the research. I just wonder why you haven't chosen to get your own place. Not that I want you to leave or anything like that." He quickly tried to reassure her.
"Because you're my father, and your all the family I have left since Mom left. I don't want to abandon you too." She said.
"You wouldn't be abandoning me, and I don't think I'm the only family you have anymore." He smiled. "I know you know what I mean."
"They are friends. Really, really good friends." Her father gave her a knowing look. "OK. You're right. They are like family. But they can't replace you."
"They don't have to replace me, Rikki. I'll always be here." He put his hand on hers. "But it gives me peace to know that you aren't alone anymore. Yes I'm your father, but you need more than just me in your life to live. I know that."
"But I only met them all because..." She started.
"Because of that accident." He raised her eyebrows at her. "I don't think it was a bad accident. It was the best thing that could have happened." He gave a chuckle. "Though I'd bet it didn't look it at the time."
Rikki finally let out a smile. "Yeah. You'd win that one." They shared a laugh. "I guess you are right though, about it being good."
"So back to the living arrangements. Why do you stay? You can tell me." He prodded her.
"I like it here. And I really don't want to leave you alone just yet. I'll move out if I ever get married. Until then you're stuck with me." She smiled at him with a tear of joy in her eye. "Besides if I did leave who would ever clean up after you?" To prove her point she started collecting dishes from the table and taking them to the sink where, after pulling on a pair of rubber gloves that went up to the middle of her upper arm and a rubber apron, turned on the water and started to wash the dishes.
"Here. Let me help." Her father said coming over to stand next to her. Rikki looked at him surprised. "I'll have to learn how sooner or later." They shared a smile and some quality time. Just father and daughter.
It was Tuesday night when my parents took Bryon and me out to a formal sit down dinner. They'd gotten a chance to talk to him during our impromptu meetings during the clean up. They'd taken a liking to him quickly, but they still insisted on a proper, formal meeting with him. So that was how we ended up in a seafood restaurant tonight.
My dad had made reservations for a table early last week and had asked for something in a quite corner so we could talk. I didn't thank him for that. I knew he planned to grill Byron.
Once we got seated and placed our orders my dad started in on him. "So, Bryon, what are your intentions towards my daughter?"
"Dad!" I hissed at him.
"No, no. It's OK." Byron told me. "It's his right as your dad to make sure I intend to treat you right."
"Well he's got my vote." Mom said with a smile while sipping her wine.
I just groaned. I'd known this was going to be bad, I just hadn't known how.
"Actually, I already knew that. After all the time we spent talking last week." Dad said. "I just thought I'd get that question out of the way first."
"So now that that one's out of the way what would you like to know?" Byron asked.
"Mostly just what your goals are? What you plan to do with your life? The usual concerns of a father looking out for his daughter." He said as our meals were delivered.
"Well that's easy. I want to teach." Byron said. "I'm currently going to school to get a teaching degree. I did take a three year break to surf professionally to earn the money to pay my own way."
"Do you still surf?" My Dad asked.
"Would you think less of me if I said I do?" Byron asked in return.
"Not at all. You are a professional athlete, and not a 'beach bum' as they would say." My Dad replied.
"Then you have no problem that I spend at least two to three hours a day practicing?" Bryon asked. "Even when I'm burned out and would rather just stay home."
"That's what make's the difference between someone just dabbling and someone that is committed to a sport." Dad told him.
"So a teacher?" My Mom asked him.
"Yeah. I like the idea of passing on information. Right now I teach surfing classes since we are currently between school terms." He said with a smile.
"He offered to teach me, but for obvious reasons I couldn't." I said finally relaxed enough to join the conversation.
"We did manage to find a suitable alternative though." He said.
"One that's hard as all get out for me." I griped.
"Really?" My Mom seemed surprised. "I though everything water related would be easy for you."
"Not this." I said.
"It's body board surfing." Byron explained. "And you steer by twisting your body."
"Something that I actually can't do easily. Tails don't like to twist." I said taking a sip of water. The clatter of silverware hitting the table made me look up.
"Honey, how did you do that?" Mom asked.
"First Ash and now you. Well done Mom." I said with a smile. "You know that I can move water around, I showed you that a long time ago. " Mom nodded and now I had both Byron's and my Dad's interest too. "Well I simply use that power to hold the surface of the water firm so that I don't get wet when I drink. Helped me to blend in for years."
"Bryon just to warn you, my daughter is very, very smart. Don't expect to slip much past her." My Dad said with a wry grin.
"I'm more worried about what she might try to slip past me." He replied.
"Nothing bad I assure you. They raised me better then that." I said with a smile for my parents. "But if I ever want to throw you a surprise party, I promise you will never see it coming."
"That would be kinda nice. A good surprise now and again that is." Bryon said with a smile. "So do I pass the test?" He asked in a joking tone.
"Yes," Both my parents said.
"Good! Can we just eat now?" I asked cracking open my lobster.
"Of course sweetheart." Dad said. "There's always time after we eat to talk some more."
I wanted to hit my head on the table but felt this was too nice a restaurant for that. I didn't dare hope they were done. I did hope they would hold to the 'until after dinner' part. Thankfully they did, but that turned out to be embarrassing stories about Laura time, despite my best attempts to divert my parents. By the end I just wanted to curl up and disappear. Thankfully Byron endeared himself to me by sharing a few of his own embarrassing stories about himself.
Later I asked him why he'd done that. He answered he didn't want me to suffer alone and if it could help me feel less singled out then a bit of personal revelation was well worth it. If he'd asked me to marry him right then I'd have said yes on the spot. He didn't, but from his actions I knew one thing. He was the one.
The next day we decided to take it easy and have lunch at the cafe. We were just enjoying the atmosphere and chatting with my sisters when ever they had a spare moment. It was during a brief after lunch lull while Zane and Rikki had joined us for some light conversation that Zane's father walked in.
"Zane we need to talk." He said with no preamble. "Right now."
"What do you want?" Zane demanded. "Last I checked you didn't want to see me anymore."
"Well that's what we need to talk about." He said. "I have your contract here from when I lent you money to start this business, and I think it's time I invoked a few of my contractual rights."
"What are you talking about?" Zane asked.
"Just that the contract states that I'm your silent partner with controlling interest." He smiled. "So that means you either do what I say or I'll sell this business off and liquidate the profits."
"Y... you can't do that." Zane stuttered. "That wasn't in our contract."
"Yes it is. I have it right here." He held up a bundle of forms. "So you're going to do what I say or I'll close this place down and sell it off. First off I'm going to take over this place and make sure it's run properly. Second off you will date and marry the girl I pick out for you."
"What is this the middle ages?" I burst out. "Who does that these days?"
Zane was looking through the contract his father had presented to him, flipping pages quickly. When he got to the last page he let out a bark of a laugh. "You're full of it old man. This contract is a fake." He turned it around to show us all the last page. "Rikki? Notice something that's missing on this copy from ours?"
"Yeah." Rikki said after a moment. "My signature isn't on it."
"What do you mean your copy. You never keep copies. I know you." Zane's father said.
"You can thank Rikki for that one." Zane said with a smile. "She told me to always keep a copy for myself. She has one too. And her signature is on both of them. Yet it's not on this one, only one thing that could mean."
"May I see that please, Zane?" My Dad asked him.
"Uh. Sure. I guess." Zane handed it over.
"Would you be so kind as to retrieve your copy for me, please?" My Dad asked him next.
"Sure. I have it in the office. I'll be right back with it." Zane hurried off to the office. He came back a short time later with a binder. "Here you go, Mr. Westbrook."
"Thank you, Zane." My Dad said quickly flipping to the final page. After looking at the two forms for a brief moment he reached into his bag and pulled out a pen and a pad of paper.
"Zane and Rikki," my Dad said to them, "would you both be so kind as to make your signature on this page. But please do it as if you've been doing a bunch of forms. I don't want you to think about it too much."
"OK." Zane said. "Seems odd but I'll do it."
"Me too." Rikki said.
They both quickly made their signatures and my Dad held them up next to each of the two forms he had in front of him.
"I assume you are young Zane's father Mr.?" My Dad looked at Zane's father.
"Bennett. Harrison Bennett." He answered.
"Ah! Well Mr. Bennett you seem to be in a lot of trouble here." My Dad said with a grin I'd only seen him use the one time I'd gone with him to a court session. He'd nailed his case so well the defense had plead out to avoid an unwinable trial. "Not only is your copy of the contract missing Miss. Chadwick's signature, but, and I'm no expert, the signature of your son doesn't match the one on his copy or the one he just provided for me."
"What... what do you mean?" Mr. Bennett said nervously.
"I'm not finished." My Dad flipped to the front pages and quickly scanned over them both. "I fully believe your son is correct. Your copy of the contract has be altered and his signature forged in a blatant attempt to blackmail him into doing your bidding."
"You can't possible know that. Or prove it." Mr. Bennett said lamely.
"Actually I can. To both." My Dad said gathering up both forms. "See I'm a lawyer. My main area of law is international trade. As such I'm fully informed of all major business laws of every country that does trade with the U.S., Australia being one of them, and thus I am fully aware of the transgressions made here as well as being fully able to prove them."
"Wow." Rikki said. "Your dad is so cool!"
"I know." I answered with a huge grin.
"I'll make you a deal, Dad." Zane said. "You walk away now and I'll forget this ever happened."
"Not that easy Zane." My Dad said. "As a lawyer I am required to bring this to the attention of the local authorities. If I don't and it's later found that I had knowledge of this and did nothing I risk being disbarred. If you don't wish to press charges that is fully your prerogative, but you'll have to come with me to make that statement when I report this."
My Dad started towards the door. "Coming Zane?"
"One moment." Zane turned to his father. "Who's idea was this. I know you normally wouldn't stoop to this."
"You can't do that." Mr. Bennett called after my Dad, completely ignoring his sons question.
"Actually I can and, more importantly, I'm required to." My Dad answered him.
"You'll ruin me." Mr. Bennett pleaded.
My Dad just continued to walk out the door. "You should have thought of that before you tried this."
"This wasn't even my idea." He called out. "It was that girls idea."
"That girls idea." Zane said. Then realization hit him and he grabbed his father by his collar and yanked his father around to face him. "Miriam. She put you up to this to force me to marry her. Didn't she?" He practically screamed in his fathers face.
"Yes!" His father exclaimed. "Yes it was."
Zane let him go and started towards the door. "You disowned me once. Now you're dead to me. I never want to see you again." He went out the door. "I'm going with you. I'm pressing full charges." We heard from outside. Then he stuck his head back in, "Rikki, sorry to do this, but could you watch the store for a bit."
"No problem. I've got it covered." Rikki said with a feral grin. "Ash would you mind removing this trash for me please?"
"With pleasure." He came over and to Zane's father. "Will you walk out or do I have to drag you?"
"I'll be ruined." Was all he said in a weak voice. "I never should have listened to that idiot girl."
"I was hoping you'd need to be dragged." Ash said grabbing his arm and forcefully leading him out the door.
"Did I tell you that your dad is cool yet?" Rikki asked me.
"Yes but I'm sure you could say it again." My Mom laughed.
"Well he is." She said again.
"OK that's done." Ash said coming back inside. "It's so cool that your dad is a lawyer. I think we'd have been in a lot of trouble getting this sorted out otherwise."
"Well I think it's more my husbands desire to help his family and friends that caused him to speak up in the first place." My Mom said. "It's one of his best qualities."
"Well it was very helpful right now. Anything you want, it's on the house." Ash said.
"I agree." Rikki said. "Anything you want. And you don't get to say no for this, Laura."
"Fine. Fine." I said surrendering. "But I'll would like to redeem that tomorrow when Dad's back. Fair?"
"Fair." Rikki nodded after a moment of thought.
"Do you think that Miriam girl is going to do anything else stupid?" I asked.
"With her anything is possible when it comes to stupid." Rikki said heading towards the office. "Like Zane said back on the beach that day. She hasn't grown up at all."
I would find out later just how true that was.
Rikki was the last one to arrive at the moon pool that night. Emma, Cleo, and Bella were already there.
"OK. Good Laura isn't here." She said once she surfaced.
"Why did you want us to make sure she didn't know about this?" Bella asked. "She'll have to know something is up when I'm not at home."
"Well it's because I wanted us to talk about something important that concerns only us." Rikki said.
"And that is?" Emma asked.
"Why we've stayed hidden and let her deal with all the fall out alone." Rikki said. "You've seen that list. Despite our best effort there are even more reasons pointing to us now."
"No kidding." Cleo complained. "I check that every night now. It's been the bane of my existence."
"So what should we do." Emma asked.
"We do what we should have done on the day she got injured and found out." Rikki looked at each of them. "We reveal ourselves and support her like the sisters she considers us to be. It's the right thing to do."
Silence greeted her announcement as each of them thought over what she had said.
"She's right you know." Cleo said at last. "Laura does consider us to be family."
"And as family we've let her down." Bella added. "We've let her carry this alone."
"Well she did want us to stay hidden." Emma said. "And that speaks loads about her character, but you're right, by doing that we've taken the easy way out and left her to bear the full burden alone."
"So, are you with me?" Rikki asked.
"Yes." They all agreed.
"The only question left is when?" Emma said.
"We'll take the first opportunity that shows or we'll do it after the party this Saturday." Rikki said. "That sound good?"
"Yeah. That sounds good." Bella said.
"Yeah. I like that too." Emma said.
"Cleo?" Rikki asked.
"Well it was nice while it lasted, you know being hidden and all, but I agree." Cleo said.
"Well let's go before Laura comes here looking for us." Emma said. "You know she will eventually when she can't find us or call us."
"Your right about that. She's very clever about stuff like that." Bella said.
They all shared a friendly laugh and then left the moon pool.
The next morning I got up dreadfully early and went in to work. The rescued dolphins were finally up to weight and were clear of all toxins. We were going to release them on Friday so I came in today to do one last check on them.
"You didn't have to come in this early." Laurie told me as I stumbled my way along in a half asleep daze.
"I wanted to check on them one last time before the release tomorrow." I said with a yawn. "I've grown kind of fond of them and will miss them even though I'll be happy for them being back where they belong."
"I know what you mean," he said grabbing a pair of buckets and nodding at another two for me. "Even though letting them return to the wild is the right thing to do you can't help but wish they could stay."
"Yeah. That about covers it." I mumbled following him to the docks.
"Did you want to swim with them one last time?" He asked.
"Sure." I said after thinking about it for a bit. "I think that would be nice."
"Might help you wake up some too." He said with a cocky half grin.
"Watch it or I'll take you in with me and you can swim too." I mock threatened. He just laughed knowing I was bluffing.
"Let's get them breakfast then you can swim with them for a while." He said tossing fish to them.
"Yes." I agreed. "Let's."
We finished feeding them and then I spent the next hour swimming around with them. By the time I was done I was more awake and the dolphins seemed happy. I was regretful to leave but I had promised to be at the cafe so my parents and I could redeem our free lunch offer. I wanted to get there a bit early and try to wake up some more before they arrived.
It was mid morning by the time I finally arrived and sat down. I'd texted Cleo and asked her if she wanted to join us. Bella, Emma, and Rikki were already there either rehearsing or working and I was hoping to make it a group event. Cleo replied that she was already on her way and would be there shortly.
"What would you like, Laura?" Em asked me.
"Any chance you'd let me have some caffeine?" I asked. She shook her head. "Then get me a fruit thingy with something to boost energy that isn't caffeine based."
"A fruit thingy." She laughed. "You really aren't a morning person are you."
"After a knowing me for more then a year you only now figure that out?" I tried for sarcasm, I barely managed to not sound drowsy.
"I'll get you something that will perk you right up without the caffeine." She promised and left to collect a few other orders before returning to behind the counter to fill them.
She'd barely gotten back to the counter when an angry blond girl came up to my table and glared at me.
"Can I help you?": I asked listlessly.
"This is all your fault." She hissed out between her teeth?
"I'm sorry. I'm still half asleep so you'll have to forgive me if I don't know what you're talking about." I told her.
"Zane is mine and you and your father ruined everything." She hissed at me again.
"Oh. You must be that idiot Miriam." I said finding myself more alert now that I had something interesting to focus on. "I don't know why you're blaming me for your own ineptness, but I couldn't care less. Shoo." I waved my hand at her in a dismissive manner.
"Oh no. You won't pin this on me. I had everything planned out perfectly until your father knocked it all apart." She snapped at me.
I laughed and stood up. "Oh? And how is that my fault that you planned so poorly that my Dad was able to topple the whole thing without even trying hard. Actually seeing as Zane had kept a copy of the contract sooner or later he'd have gotten out of it on his own."
"I could have gotten rid of that copy once he was mine. Like he should be." She was almost yelling now. Bella had stopped singing and I noticed that Emma had alerted Rikki to what was going on. "I'm the girl for him. I'm from the same social class. My family has money. Unlike that piece of trailer trash."
Insult me, fine. Insult my friends, never. "You want to leave now." I told her in a low voice. "Before I decide to do something I'd regret." I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Emma was forcibly holding Rikki back at this point.
"I don't think so." She snapped at me. "This was my home before it was yours. You're the one who should leave, you damned fish!" She grabbed a glass of water off a nearby table and hurled the contents at me."
I'd like to say I stood there and took it. I'd like to say I was unmoved and resolute. But in truth I flinched away throwing up my arms to vainly protect myself from the water. It took me a bit to notice that not only was I not wet but the whole room had gone completely silent. Once I did I slowly peaked out to see an amorphous mass of slush floating in the air between me and Miriam.
A quick glance around the room was enough for me to know exactly what had happened. Each of my sisters had attempted to stop the water from reaching me and the result was a mix of things.
Cleo had arrived in time to catch the water in the air. Rikki had tried to flash boil it making it into the amorphous blob. Bella had tried to turn it to jelly and Emma had tried to freeze it and the result had been slush.
"Wha... what?" Miriam sputtered.
They all walked over to me and stood next to me. "I've got it guys you can stop now." Cleo said as they approached.
Emma, Rikki, and Bella all lowered their hands and Cleo was able to put all the water back into the cup.
"Guys." I hissed quietly to them. "What are you doing?"
"What we should have done months ago after the storm," Rikki started..
"Standing along side our sister." Bella finished.
"Wait." Miriam said finally catching on thanks to Rikki's and Bella's clues. "You're all... fish?"
"We're not fish." Cleo said annoyed.
"That's right." Emma said. "We are..."
"Mermaids!" We all finished together.
Suddenly there was thunderous applause in the cafe as every one, except Miriam and us, stood up and clapped or cheered for us.
"Now leave here." Rikki said. "I never want to see you again. If I do you won't like what I do. This is you're only warning. Stay away from me, and stay away from Zane!"
Miriam spun around trying to find someone, anyone, in the crowd that would support her. However everyone was too busy cheering us on to spare even a glance at her. He facade broke as she realized that she was terribly, horribly alone. She broke into tears as she ran for the door. She never looked back.
"You guys do realize that you are never going to get any peace now. Right?" I commented.
"We know." Rikki said. "But we all decided that we couldn't let you continue to bear that burden alone."
"We wouldn't be good sisters if we did." Bella said.
"But just so there are no mistakes." Cleo dumped water on us all, including herself. "We'll make sure they all see the truth."
"I hope you know what you're doing," I told them."Cause there's no going back now." And we all fell over as our tails formed. The cheering got louder, and cameras flashed.