Chapter 13- Galen

It had been about five days since Cora left and I felt alone without her. Maybe I should go visit her… My mood lifted a little at the thought so I made arrangements to go see her that day. By the time I got to California it was little past noon. She's still in school for another two hours. I decided to walk along the beach for a while to pass the time. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going and ended up in front of my old house. One look at it made it clear that it's belonged to another wealthy family for many years from all of the changes. I wonder where Emma and Cole are...how they're doing… I shook my head to clear the thoughts. I tried not to think of them, it hurt too much. I started walking again, heading away from the house. I went back to walking along the beach and walked with my feet in the water. I sensed someone after a while but it was faint so I ignored it at first but the further I walked the stronger it got. I paused for a moment to figure out who it was and froze. It...it feels like...no...it can't be… It felt like Emma. I got my feet out of the water and kept walking. It's not her, she's not here. I may be sensing her but she's probably far away like when Grom could sense whenever Nalia got in the water even though he thought she was dead. I nodded to myself and kept walking. After a little while I put my feet back in the water and it hit me even harder than before. I looked around and walked slower, freezing when I saw someone a little ways down the beach with hair just like Emma's. She was sitting on the sand with her toes in the water and looking around. As she withdrew her toes the pulse went away. My breath caught. No...no...it can't be...it has to be a coincidence...it has to be… She looked my way and froze when she saw me. Emma… I started walking towards her again. I had to talk to her. I walked slowly though so she could get up and leave if she didn't want to talk to me. She didn't move an inch, just kept her eyes on me. I sat a little ways away from her, close enough to talk but far enough so each of us had our space."Hello Emma." I spoke softly.

"Galen." Her voice was quiet, shy and nervous. "What are you doing here?"

I didn't know if she knew Cora was here. "Just some business."

"Could that business include visiting Cora?"

Ah, so she does know. "Yes. I didn't know if you knew."

"I know. I haven't seen her but she goes to school with Cole and he told me about her. I put the pieces together. What is she doing here?"

"She wanted to attend human school. Been begging me for years. I decided she was old enough to give it a go. Figured this would be the best place since I know the area and someone she can stay with."

Emma nodded. "Makes sense."

"I didn't think you would still be here honestly."

Emma shrugged. "I like it here and so does Cole."

"How is Cole?"

"Fine."

I glanced at the time. "I need to go, Cora will be at the house soon." I lowered my voice a little. "It was nice seeing you Emma."

Emma just looked away and mumbled. "Bye Galen."

I sighed and got up and walked away. My head was spinning the whole way to George's house. I had called earlier and let him know I was stopping by. He had said he would still be at work but that I could let myself in so I went inside. I looked around and heard some voices from upstairs. I went up and followed the voices to Sam's room where her and Cora were hanging out.

Cora looked over and squealed. "Daddy!" She ran over and hugged me. "I didn't know you were coming to visit."

I hugged her back. "I wanted to surprise you."

Cora pulled away and smiled at me. She looked over at Sam. "Sam, this is my dad."

Sam looked a little nervous. "Um, hello Sir."

I smiled. "You can call me Galen."

She nodded. "Galen." She looked at Cora and I could tell some silent conversation passed between them.

Cora looked at me. "Daddy, I need to talk to you about something."

I tilted my head slightly, concerned. "Alright…"

"There are Syrena here living as humans. And I've never seen them before and they've been living here for years. One is a female adult named Emma. She has blonde hair but I'm positive that she's Syrena. The other one is her son, Cole. He has blue eyes but if he really is Emma's son then he has to be Syrena. Do you know them? Are they fugitives?"

I sighed. She knows about them, shit. What should I tell her? Maybe I should tell her the truth… I took a deep calming breath. "Cora, I need to talk to you in private."

Cora nodded and led me to her room, closing the door before turning to face me. "They're fugitives aren't they? Are they dangerous?"

I shook my head. "Cora, sit."

She looked puzzled but sat on her bed. "So they're not fugitives?"

I sighed and sat next to her. "No Cora, they're not fugitives."

Cora looked very confused. "Then what's wrong?"

I took a deep steadying breath. "Cora, I've never told you the story of why I left your mother and brother. Would you like to hear it?" She nodded with wide eyes. I took another breath. "Your mother is a half breed. Grew up living on the land, never knowing what she was." I looked at her. "You know her from the legends."

Cora blinked in surprise. "The half breed princess from the legends that saved us when Nalia returned is my mother?"

I nodded. "Yes, she is. After everything was back to normal we got married. I wanted her to live with me in the kingdom but the land was her true home and she can't shift so she got me to stay on land with her. We were married for 2 years before she got pregnant and we had you and your brother. We lived happily together for 7 years after you two were born. But then I started to get stressed. Living on land and doing things the way humans did things was taking a toll on me despite my trips to the sea since we lived on the beach. Your mother could tell I wanted to return home. I tried to get her to come with me but she refused completely. She told me to grab you and go. So I did. I went back to the kingdom with you and she continued to live on land with your brother. After that I was heartbroken. Even to this day I miss her and still love her and wish things could have been different." My voice was sad and heartbroken by the time I finished.

Cora had tears in her eyes. "Aww, daddy." She hugged me and wiped her eyes when she pulled away. "But...but what does this have to do with Emma and Cole?"

And now the final blow. I sighed. "Cora, Emma...Emma's the half breed princess from the legends…she's your mother..."