Ben soon joined the rather long line at the drive-thru at the McDonalds where he and his friends usually went and spoke into a black box which had the voice of a cheery woman, who said, as he stopped near it,
'Welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order?' which made Lily lean over and look curiously at it, wondering how she could be in the box and Ben chuckled at her confused look, but in a kind way.
'It's alright, Lily, she's not in the box. She's inside the restaurant, speaking to us through a microphone and she just wants to know what we want to eat. But we better make it quick, as other people may get aggro if they're kept waiting.' Ben said and Lily nodded, slightly embarrassed about her mistake.
Obviously, she had no idea about fast food or drive-thrus and her lack of voice and understanding would make ordering difficult, especially since she wouldn't know what or how to order.
To make it easier, Ben decided that she would have the same thing as him, since it would speed up the process and he wouldn't be on the receiving end of the impatience of people behind him, which was already starting to show.
They were honking their horns and shouting for them to hurry up, along with words that made Lily blush at hearing them and realising that he needed to order before things got ugly, Ben then spoke into the box while Lily watched him,
'We'll have two Big Mac combos and two frozen Coke floats, thanks,' he said, which was what he always ordered, as it was his favourite and he figured that Lily would like it as well, because, well, you couldn't go wrong with a Big Mac, as he always believed.
Ben then drove down once he placed the order to the relief of the people behind them, before arriving at the last window as a large brown paper bag and two tall cups with slushy brown liquid and soft white toppings were passed down to him.
'Here you go, hold this for a sec,' Ben said to Lily, handing the paper bag to her as he took out a ten-dollar and five-dollar note from his wallet and paid up.
Lily gladly took it, impressed by how fast it arrived and placed it on her lap, sniffing the scent of burgers and fries and then took a sip of her frozen Coke, which was different from the lemon, lime and bitters she had at the barbecue, since it was much sweeter and colder but enjoyed it even if it made her shiver slightly.
She was also impressed by the way Ben was able to sip his Coke while driving one-handed with the round thing called a 'steering wheel', which was similar to how Daisy steered her shell chariot, only without dolphins.
After driving through the now busy highway which was fast becoming heavy with traffic, and the food getting cold, Ben turned into a quieter road and pulled up near a beach but since it was filled with people, he and Lily stayed in the car and ate in comfortable silence while music played on the stereo.
Watching people swim and surf in the water and playing cricket on the beach, Lily nibbled on her fries rather slowly and had only started on her burger when Ben had finished his in record time and she smiled at him, his appetite never ceasing to amaze her.
'That sure hit the spot,' Ben said, grinning apologetically, 'and I'm glad that you don't give a toss about my rather bad eating habits, unlike my old man as you saw this morning. Cody brags that he is the biggest eater out of all of us, but I outshine him every time!
I've always had such a huge appetite and a bottomless stomach since I was little but it really escalated when I hit puberty, as Melinda can tell you, since she always had to keep buying groceries for us!' Ben said.
'My mum used to say that I could eat an entire banquet and still have room for kangaroo on toast!' he then said, letting out a lovely sunny laugh before he grimaced which made Lily frown worriedly as she saw him pinching the bridge of his nose and looking unusually sombre, as he stared out into the ocean.
Lily felt uncomfortable as she saw Ben trying not to cry and wondered about his mother as he had never mentioned her nor had Lily seen her around the house and why talking about her made him sad and then remembered what Melinda had said to her last night in the kitchen,
He's such a lovely and caring boy, considering the life he's had and the terrible loss he suffered, which got Lily thinking. Was this the secret that Ben seemed to be keeping from her? Did his mother die like her father did?
Lily patted his hand, which snapped Ben out of his trance and he gave her a small, nervous smile as he squeezed her hand back. It was her way of saying, 'it's okay, you can tell me, I understand. I know what it's like to lose someone special,' and he knew that she would have questions about his mother as he could see it in her eyes.
'Oh, sorry, I haven't told you about my mum, haven't I?' Ben said, digging out his phone from his pocket and saw a message from his father that he had arrived safely in Auckland and was asking him how his day with Lily was going.
'The old man's arrived in Auckland, now,' said Ben, chuckling slightly at Phil's usual style of texting as he answered back and also read a few messages that Cody and Adam had sent him, asking him how it was going with Lily before finding what he wanted to show her.
He then showed her a photo of a woman with a lovely wide smile and long, flowing dark blonde hair like his, doe-shaped blue eyes and was dressed in a claret sleeveless top and jeans. It was one that he had got from his laptop and one of the few that he had of her.
'That's my mum, Lara Burgess-Steele,' Ben said, as Lily looked at the photo, in awe of the beautiful woman and saw some of the resemblance between her and Ben, as he kept talking,
'She was a famous model in the eighties and early nineties. She modelled for Cosmo, Marie Claire and Vogue and travelled around the world with her modelling. Everyone loved her for her warm, caring and friendly personality, as she was always willing to stop and sign an autograph or have a photo with a fan, no matter what mood she was in.
She and Dad met at a function after the '89 State of Origin decider which Queensland won, where she and her friend went along just for the heck of it, since neither of them really cared for footy but ended up enjoying it and her friend decided to introduce her to Dad and you could say it was love at first sight for Mum, since she was a hopeless romantic.
Dad, however, was a bit reluctant since he was fully focused on his career and didn't want to be a relationship just yet and thought that a glamorous model like Mum wouldn't be interested in a footy player like him.
But Mum didn't care, she liked him for who he was, not because of his fame and he warmed up to her, flattered that he was the one she wanted when she could have had any guy in the world and their love blossomed for each other as well as Mum's love of footy!' Ben said, fondly remembering how much in love his parents were and how the public and media adored them.
Everything about the family and the significant events in their lives such as Phil and Lara's wedding, which had been dubbed 'The Wedding of The Decade' by the media, Ben's birth, Phil's retirement from league, Lara's death and memorial service, as her funeral had been a private family affair, had always been in the women's and footy magazines.
There wasn't a single person in Queensland and Australia who hadn't gushed admiringly at Lara's wedding dress, cooed over Ben when he was a baby sleeping in his mother's arms with his father looking on proudly and shared the grief and loss of the former model with her family.
Like it was in Aquaria and Lily could relate to Ben since it was similar to what she had dealt with and she looked at Ben, hanging on his every word, so keen and curious about his life and his mother, as he kept talking,
'According to Des, after four years of dating, he proposed to her after the '93 grand final, in which the Broncos beat the Dragons and retained their title, in front of the team and thousands of fans, who cheered really loudly and sang, 'Here Comes the Bronco Bride!' around the stadium!
Dad had always said that it was one of the best days of his life and a double celebration, getting engaged and retaining the premiership! After that and the day I was born, he never had another one like that again,' Ben said, chuckling as he had heard the story many times from Phil, Des and from the magazine articles he had read.
Lily liked hearing the story as well, as she thought about her own mother and father and how much they were in love and how happy they were before the pirates killed her father and destroyed their happiness.
'Mum retired from modelling after I was born as she wanted to be a full-time mother to me as Dad was finishing off his career. She and I were very close and did everything together and it really felt like we were in our own little world since Dad was away a lot, but I didn't really mind, as long as I had her.
She read and told me many stories about mermaids as we loved them so much and it's one of the few precious memories I have of her. She was more than a mother to me, she was my best friend and I always believed that she would be there for me..' Ben said, taking a deep breath, as he was about to say the part of the story he was dreading.
He sighed heavily as the painful memory of his mother's losing battle with cancer, which claimed her as quickly as it appeared, came back to him and Lily held his hand again, her own heart aching for him and his mother, in spite of not knowing her. It was the pain she had felt when her father had died.
'When I was five years old, Mum was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump which she believed was harmless but Dad insisted she had it checked and it was done too late to save her life but she fought it bravely until she died seven months later.
It was a huge loss not only for us but to the public as they had followed both Mum and Dad's careers and they mourned with us by holding a public memorial service for her since her funeral was private and for family only,' Ben said, as he remembered tossing a white rose into his mother's grave and crying into his father's suit, while Lily looked at him, sadly.
'After that everything had changed for us, as Dad was now a widower and a single father with a very demanding career, as he had started his coaching with the Broncos. He did his best to care for me but struggled to cope since Mum had done everything in his absence. I wanted to reach out and talk about Mum, since I needed him as well as I was missing her too but I couldn't since he cried all the time and went away a lot as well.
He threw himself into his coaching as a way to cope with his grief and he hired Melinda to take care of me. I mean, she's great and all and I like her very much, but she'll never replace Mum and she knows it.
Dad hardly ever talks about her anymore but I know he loved her a lot, since he didn't remarry and had our yacht named after her, the one that got destroyed on my birthday and I visit her grave on her birthday and the anniversary of her death every year.
Even though it's been thirteen years since Mum died, I still miss her very much but I know that she's still with me.' Ben said, tapping his chest and blinking back a few tears.
Lily felt her heart break at hearing the sad story. If only she had her voice, she'd tell him how sorry she felt and how she understood what he was feeling. Instead, she placed her hand over the photo.
'What is it?' Ben said and Lily gave him a sad smile as she tapped her own heart, hoping that he would understand.
'You lost your mum too?' Ben said and Lily shook her head. While she hadn't lost her mother physically, it was more emotionally after the business in the grotto, so in a way it was a loss but not as significant as Ben's.
For Ben, however after his mother had died, he had felt that he had lost both parents at once, Lara physically and Phil emotionally due to him throwing himself into his work to cope with his grief, although their relationship was better now, despite the occasional arguments, reprimands about Ben's bad habits and disrespect for authority and hardly seeing each other during the year.
'You lost your dad, then?' Ben then said, guessing and it proved to be right as Lily nodded sadly and he gave her a hug, holding her close and Lily smiled as she felt Ben's arms around her, both of them feeling their losses of a parent that they loved very much.
'Thanks, Lily, I'm glad that you're here with me and I'm sorry about your dad. He must have been a good bloke.' Ben said and Lily nodded.
Ben loved the fact that although Lily was mute, they were able to have a conversation with her speaking to him through her eyes and body language and he was clever to pick up on it right away, so he knew what she was saying, although not physically.
She always listened so eagerly to him, never losing interest or acted rude by rolling her eyes in boredom like his friends, particularly Anna, did and that was why he enjoyed Lily's company so much and was considering her to be the best friend he had always wanted.
And yet, he still didn't know much about Lily, like where she had come from or if she had a family or why she couldn't physically speak or that she was the girl that saved his life and that she was supposed to have fins instead of legs.
Once the hug had ended, Ben gave Lily a small, nervous smile and said,
'Well, shall we go to Pacific Fair to cheer ourselves up after all that and to get you some new clothes? And maybe, if we still have time and traffic isn't too heavy, we can have a squiz around Skilled Park and Bond Uni, which is where I'm going to study next month. How does that sound?'
Lily nodded cheerfully and Ben started up the car again and drove towards the mall, which startled Senna, who had been sitting in the back seat and was disappointed that Lily had missed the perfect chance to kiss Ben, but had felt saddened at hearing the story about the boy's mother and felt some sympathy for him.
'The poor boy,' Senna said, 'and I thought that humans were incapable of any feelings other than hatred as the queen had always said about them, but what I have just heard, I guess she was wrong.'
Sighing to herself, Senna snuggled up on the seat and resumed her nap only to be rudely interrupted by Sandy, who was flying alongside the car and squawked loudly which woke up the crab who muttered grumpily and said, already anticipating the question that the seagull was going to say,
'No, Sandy, they have NOT kissed yet! They had the chance a few moments ago and they didn't take it! And now she has only two days left in this suicide mission!'
'Aw, strewth, the boy really is shy, isn't he?' Sandy said, dejected and flew away while Senna went back to sleep, resuming the dream she had this morning and trying not to think about the consequences of the mission if they were not successful.
Much like she did around town, Lily twirled around, taking in the bright lights and wonderful sights of the hugest place she had seen so far in the human world, the shopping mall called Pacific Fair, feeling the coolness of the air conditioner inside which was a welcome relief from the heat.
She saw people walking around, riding up on the escalators, carrying shopping bags, browsing in the many shops, eating in the food courts and waiting in lines to get drinks, frozen yoghurt, ice creams, donuts that would have made Aurora excited and movie tickets outside the cinema and she tugged Ben's arm, eager to explore and see the shops.
Ben took her hand and guided her through the huge crowds of people walking past and towards them, so that she wouldn't get lost and he was really starting to like the way her fingers fit perfectly around his, though he didn't want to admit it just yet and how her excitement that she had had during the day hadn't waned one bit.
'Where would you like to go?' Ben asked Lily, who was looking around the busy mall and the many shops that surrounded them.
With so much to see and do, she was facing the same problem she did at breakfast and looked at Ben, shrugged her shoulders and waited for him to show her where to go.
'How about we go get you some cute new clothes and shoes? We can go to the shops that Mia, Grace and Anna love and maybe get you a charm bracelet like theirs, since I saw you looking at Mia's yesterday and she did mention that you should have one. Would you like that?' Ben said.
Lily nodded as he led her into a shop called Sportsgirl, which was Mia's favourite shop and Anna had once joked that since Mia was so fond of it, she should just bring the entire shop to her house to save money.
Ben was glad that Anna wasn't here with them as she would do more to hinder than to help with her snarky comments and displeasure at browsing the chain stores, as she preferred the expensive designer clothes from Myer and David Jones.
Mia would be more than happy to help Lily pick out clothes, since she knew what was fashionable and Ben was sorely tempted to text her and ask her for help, but decided against it as he watched Lily browse through various shirts, tops, shorts, jeans, skirts, dresses and accessories.
With help from Ben and the friendly shop assistant, who was very helpful and had asked her how she was going when she was in the changing room, Lily picked out a few cute outfits she adored and what Ben and the assistant thought looked really good on her, as did a woman who was standing nearby while waiting for her daughter.
'Your boyfriend sure has an eye for fashion!' the assistant said when she handed over the bag with Lily's new clothes inside and Ben paid for with his card, which made Lily smile and Ben blush slightly.
'Oh, we're not a couple,' Ben said, 'we're just best friends.'
'Oh, right, I just thought you were as you two look like such an adorable couple,' the assistant said as Ben thanked her and Lily waved her thanks as they left the shop and Lily peeked into the bag, admiring her new clothes.
The next couple of hours were spent browsing several other shops and buying Lily her very own bracelet from Pandora with a few charms that she and Ben picked together and she couldn't stop looking at it on her wrist that she barely avoided bumping into a man who walked past them and Ben had to gently pull her out of the way.
Soon after, they were sitting in the food court, enjoying a healthy juice from Boost Juice and a rather unhealthy donut from the stand that Lily had seen earlier, that was called Krispy Kreme. Lily had thought the spelling was rather odd but Ben had explained to her that was how it was spelt and she quickly forgot about it as she ate her pink frosted donut.
It tasted just as good as the seaweed ones she and Aurora had back home and was like the keychain she had shown Aurora in the grotto which the little fish had admired.
Aurora herself would have enjoyed the donut if she were to try it and Lily wished that she could have brought it to her but the fish would've said that the seaweed ones were still the best even if she enjoy it, as she had said many times when they had explored the shipwreck.
Hearing Aurora's voice in her head telling her that nothing could beat a seaweed donut, Lily snickered silently, which made Ben look up as he was texting on his phone and saw the smirk on Lily's face that she had tried to hide.
'What are you laughing about, Lily?' he said and she gave him a look like a child who had been caught doing something that they shouldn't and quickly covered it up by looking at her bracelet and at her new clothes in their bags.
'That's alright; you don't have to tell me,' Ben said, chuckling and put his phone back in his pocket, while smiling to himself as Lily's antics never cease to amaze and amuse him, in a good way as she straightened up and took a sip of her juice.
'Anyway, have you had a good day today?' Ben then said and Lily nodded so much that her head felt like it would fall off but it was one of the effective ways she could communicate with Ben in lieu of her voice.
The day had been more wonderful that she had dreamed as she had rode in a car, walked around town and saw many new and exciting things, got nice clothes shoes and a charm bracelet and ate and drank new foods and drinks.
But the best thing of all was spending time with Ben and learning more about him and feeling sad for his loss of his mother, although he still didn't know the truth about her, that she was really a mermaid and a princess.
'Yeah, it has been great, hasn't it? I haven't been around town lately, so it was good to get out and go to Pacific Fair. I don't normally go there as often as the girls do, since they go there practically every day.
I only go there to see a movie with them except, get new clothes and help Melinda with the grocery shopping but I have enjoyed spending time with you,' Ben said, smiling at Lily, while trying to keep his feelings for her inside him.
'And thank you for being such a great friend to me and listening to me tell my life story and about my mum, which I haven't done for years,' he then said, patting Lily's hand which made her feel tingly inside and she had to fight the urge to kiss him, since she couldn't do it in public.
She smiled at him, which meant that she was thanking him for buying her the clothes and bracelet and Ben smiled like it was nothing, as he had been more than happy to do it for her.
'You're very welcome, Lily, those clothes will look so good on you and I'm glad that you like them and the bracelet as well.' Ben said, looking at his phone to check the time to see that it was now three-thirty and the mall would be closing soon.
'Shall we get going then?' Ben then said, getting up from his chair and took Lily's hand again and left the mall, hoping that the traffic wasn't too bad at this time of day, although the chances of that happening were very slim.
It had been a wonderful day for the both of them and Lily felt content and happy as she looked at her new bracelet again and felt the late afternoon sun bite her cheeks as Ben drove back to Mermaid Beach.
So in this chapter, you get to learn about Ben's mother, as she had only been mentioned a few times and you must have wondered about how she and Phil met, her relationship with Ben and how he and his father coped with her death. In a way, you have to feel sorry for Ben, losing his mother who he loved very much at such a young age and never really seeing his father.
And yes, there is still heaps to see and do in the Gold Coast for Lily, but that will be covered in future chapters!
Read and review!