"I can't believe those three were so stupid," JJ said shaking her head laughing at Alex's tale.

Jennifer Jareau worked for a small TV station in town and the two had met totally on accident. They had gotten along immediately and become pretty close over the last few weeks.

Alex just told JJ all about the incident at the college and she had already told Dave and Aaron as well. Both men had roared with laughter at certain parts of her confrontation with the three women. Other parts had made them furious. Dave wanted to go confront them, but Alex had talked him out of it.

She had told Dave that she had recorded the entire conversation and she would put the tape in a safe place. Aaron had thought it was very smart to have a recorder in her purse, but had wondered why had one, as it wasn't like she really expected to be confronted by the women that had been chasing both him and Dave for years.

Alex had explained that she used the recorder to record her thoughts for a book she was working on. That way I don't forget what I want to say, she had told them. Many professionals use a tape recorder in whatever job they do, business people for example, often use a recorder to record important conversations. I always carry mine on me.

Dave thought it was very fortunate that Alex had been working on a book and always had her recorder on her.

"Neither can I," Alex agreed, as she ate her salad. "I mean seriously they were very shortsighted, because for all they know we might have broken up in a few more weeks. They didn't know we started dating near the beginning of summer, until I told them. They had no idea we hadn't met here at college. They didn't bother to think. I mean, really, they don't know anything about me. I've only been teaching at the college for a few weeks, even if I have been here for most of the summer. I came to look for an apartment and to make sure it was mostly furnished before I started classes."

"I can see why you would want to do that early as you wouldn't want to go to the bother when you're teaching classes for most of the day," JJ agreed. "It's always good, to arrive somewhere new a little early to set up a place, so you don't have to stay in a hotel, which can get expensive."

"Expense isn't a problem," Alex shrugged. "My family is fairly wealthy," Alex explained when JJ looked at her. "Not super rich, but really well-off anyway. My dad gave me a portion of my inheritance, so I could get a place and buy furniture. He also sent me to college, no scholarship for me, so I don't have to worry about paying off any college debts."

"That was really nice of your, dad," JJ said appreciatively.

"He's a really nice person actually," Alex said. "He wanted me to get a good education, so long as that was what I wanted. I always wanted to be a marine biologist, because I've lived near the sea all my life. So many people don't pay attention to their environment, dump trash near the water, so that it goes out with the tide, or don't pick up after themselves. They pollute our source of life and some people are so greedy that they try to save money by dumping toxic waste in the ocean or somewhere out-of-the-way where it is unlikely that it will ever be found, where it can slowly seep into the groundwater, when the metal containers corrode. If you have a picnic you clean up all the trash and take it with you you don't leave it lying on the beach if that's where you happen to be having your lunch."

"I have to agree," JJ said nodded. "I think is just common sense to clean up after yourselves, pick up soda bottles or beer cans. I didn't grow up in a seaside town, but still, I was taught to respect the land and air and not too dirty it with my trash. I always pick up after myself and throw things in the proper receptacle."

"And that is one reason we are friends," Alex told her seriously, then broke into an enormous grin, causing JJ to laugh. "It's one reasons that Dave, Aaron and I get along so well. We respect the planet in which we live, even if they focus mainly on keeping the sea clean."

"So am I going to hear about engagement anytime soon?" JJ asked teasingly.

"If I tell you something will you keep it a secret from everyone?" Alex requested and JJ nodded

"Of course I will," JJ confirmed.

"Dave and I are engaged, but we're not telling anyone yet. We've been engaged since the end of summer."

"This is great!" JJ exclaimed enthusiastically. "Isn't it awfully fast though? Aren't you afraid of making a wrong decision?"

"No, I'm not," Alex said shaking her head. "Dave and I got along so well from the first moment we met. It was like we were one soul in two bodies. We share surprisingly similar views on life for instance. We've talked a lot and we never seem to run out of conversation topics. We both love the sea and all it contains. We both like to dive into the waters and search for treasures on the bottom."

This was actually not a lie as Alex had told Dave and Aaron that she was able to temporarily transform herself into a seal. She had explained that doing so had drawbacks however and what those were. She had explained that she could only stay in that shape for so long as there was too much chance of getting stuck in that form if she lost herself and actually became the seal. She had told them that it was a special ability of her family, probably going back to the selkie blood. While other magicals could transform it was harder for them and more dangerous, so hardly any of them ever tried it.

Dave had been delighted at this and the two of them often went for long swims together, but they never went to far from shore, that Alex couldn't be back within three hours just to be on the safe side. Dave would not want her to get stuck in seal form permanently.

"We've actually found a lot of old coins, that we think are doubloons, but since we don't need the money and we don't want people diving into sea just to look for pirate treasure we're not going to do anything about it. Not only could people be hurt, because most of them aren't experts and don't know to watch out for dangers, they aren't aware that you could end up with the bends or decompression sickness as it is also known, that you can get from rising to the surface to fast. It hardly ever happens anymore because divers use computers to control their rise to the surface. It is treatable at least, so long as you get to a hospital in time."

Alex described the symptoms and JJ shuddered glad that it hardly ever happened anymore as it sounded painful.

"The ocean around here probably isn't deep enough to worry about decompression sickness," JJ suggested.

"Probably not," Alex agreed. "It's still dangerous in other ways though. There are always predators that would take a nice big chunk out of you if they can. The thing is that most of those people that would look for those coins wouldn't do it for the right reasons. They wouldn't do it too give to charity for example, once they'd been turned into modern money. One of those doubloons is worth several hundred dollars alone, somewhere around 300, if I remember correctly."

"That much for one doubloon?" JJ asked in amazement.

"And that's only if you don't find a Spanish doubloon, as several other countries produced them between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Spanish ones are extremely rare and one sold not too long ago for several million dollars to a collector."

"Wow!" JJ exclaimed in amazement.

"If Dave and I reported the find we would soon get people who would be trying to find the ship for their own selfish ends, people who are not likely to be having money troubles. The idiots would likely get themselves killed or hurt or at least or pollute the sea. The government would probably eventually hear about it and try to claim at least part of the money for themselves."

"Which would be a huge amount depending on how many doubloons are found," JJ said.

"Probably several million dollars at least," Alex shrugged. "It's quite a large haul from what we can tell. They're ones we picked up that were scattered around where the chest burst open, probably when the ship hit the bottom."

Alex took a coin out of her pocket and showed it to JJ and JJ just stared at it.

"This is the first one I found, not too long ago and I carry it around for good luck. Dave also has one, but he had his framed. I probably should have this one framed to," Alex said thoughtfully. She put it back in her pocket after JJ handed it back to her.

"I wouldn't let too many people know you have that," JJ suggested. "They might not know the true value, but you never know."

"I wasn't planning to," Alex said. "A few of these could solve any money troubles depending on how big the debt was. Many people will never recognize the true value, but some would."

"Maybe somebody will discover the wreck someday," JJ suggested.

"Maybe," Alex said. "Dave and I could claim it if we wanted to since it's more then 3 miles from shore so the government wouldn't have any right to it, though they would probably try, as I said shortly ago."

"But you don't want the attention," JJ said and Alex nodded.

"No, we don't because it would be chaos. Not only would treasure seekers try to find the wreck, we'd have so many wackos surrounding us we wouldn't have a moment's peace. Those ladies that have been chasing both Dave and Aaron for the last half a dozen years would be after them again, wanting to marry one of them to get a portion of the money that came from that ship. To us it's just not worth it."

And for more than one reason, Alex thought, though she didn't say.

Aaron and Dave would never be able to transform into their selkie forms, because the beach would be crowded by the curious, the sightseers and those that were interested in the shipwreck. That would probably even be those with criminal intent that would like to steal a lot of the gold coins to make a profit off them. Gold was valuable and if one of those coins was worth 300 dollars, having a dozen of them would be nearly 40,000.

Nearly $40,000 dollars would pay off a lot of debts and probably leave some left over to save or spend it on what that person wanted.

"I understand," JJ agreed. "It sure would payoff some of my college loans though. Just a dozen of those things would be worth around 36,000."

"You know I was just thinking that," Alex grinned. "Great minds think alike and all that. Those debts can be rather a pain to pay off," Alex added more seriously. "That never happened to me as you know, but I've known some people that struggled to pay off their college debts."

"So am I invited to the wedding?" JJ asked.

"Well," Alex said. "Dave and I will go have it in Refuge, where I grew up near the ocean. It's going to be a small wedding and nobody invited to set family basically. I'd to invite you..."

"I understand," JJ said downcast.

"Don't be down JJ," Alex encouraged her. "Dave and I are going to have a reception after we get back and you of course, will be invited to that and so will a lot of other people."

JJ perked up with that knowing that Alex hadn't deliberately excluded her. She and Dave just wanted a small wedding, likely as small Alex's mother would let the couple get away with.

"There probably won't be more than 30 people or so tops. If Dave and I could've gotten away with half of that we would've been happy," Alex shrugged. "After all 15 is about the right number for my siblings, my parents and Aaron.

"You have what 10 siblings?"

"Seven," Alex corrected. "I'm the oldest and then I have two brothers, then another two sisters, another two brothers and finally another sister."

Alex of course counted Penelope and her brother Dadrian in that estimate.

"That's pretty big for any family nowadays," JJ said enviously. "I only have one sister Rosaline."

"Two to three is pretty average," Alex reminded her friend.

"I suppose so," JJ and agreed. "It would've been nice to have a brother."

"You can borrow one of mine," Alex told her smiling. "I have four of them after all and there's a couple of them that are around your age."

JJ laughed at that not thinking that Alex was serious.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~

"Have a good time with JJ?" Dave asked his fiancée.

"Yes, I did, she's becoming a good friend," Alex agreed. "She was rather disappointed she wasn't invited to our wedding, but then I explained if there would be no more than 30 people and if we could get away with about half that we'd be happy."

"That's the truth," Dave snorted. "Still we're lucky we got your mom to agree to such a low number, but she knows that selkies aren't usually involved in big weddings. Usually no more than immediate family is present."

"Well, at least it will take place on the beach," Alex said.

"That's where a selkie such as myself is the most comfortable," Dave said and Alex nodded.

"Too bad we won't get a honeymoon, at least until after the school year is over," Alex said.

"We could take the next weekend away," Dave suggested.

"No, I'd rather wait till the summer, so we can take at least a couple weeks," Alex said shaking her head. "We can also visit Refuge during that time."

"Alright then, that's the way it shall be," Dave agreed. He couldn't really blame Alex for wanting more than a couple of days for a decent honeymoon.

"We could just get married at the beginning of summer, but I hate to wait that long," Alex added.

"Having to wait a couple of months has been bad enough," Dave said. "I've been rather anxious to get you pregnant, something neither of us want until after the wedding. If you get pregnant on your wedding night I won't complain."

"That should stop those three women that cornered me and make them back off," Alex giggled. "I can just imagine the expressions on their faces."

"So can I," Dave chuckled. "What they did by cornering you was boneheaded stupid. It just proves they don't know me at all or Aaron either. You would think they would've learned some basic facts about us, considering how long they've been chasing us. If I had a dollar for every time one of them has asked me or Aaron out I'd be a rich man. I'd probably have at least $1000 dollars in my bank account."

"That's a lot," Alex said sympathetically. "I tried to tell them that they were only driving you away, because they were annoying the crap out of you, that you didn't like how persistent they were being."

"It doesn't matter, I have you and we'll be married in a few days," Dave said with a smile. "I've been looking forward to our wedding for the last two months."

"Should we inform everyone that we're getting married?" Alex asked with the wicked grin. "You know that word will filter back to those three in a matter of hours or at most a couple of days."

"I would love to see their expressions when they find out," Dave laughed.

"I told JJ that we were going to have a reception after we got back. I know we weren't planning to, but she was so down about not being invited to our wedding, that I couldn't have her thinking that I didn't want her there."

"I think we can manage a small one on the beach," Dave said agreeably. "I wouldn't want your friend to believe that we didn't care about her. We can invite most of the university professors, though not the three that have been annoying me and Aaron."

"You would have to be insane to invite those three," Alex said letting her distaste for those women to show on her face. "How they ever became teachers I have no idea, much less at the college level. They would drive a saint to drink and while I'm pretty even-tempered I'm no saint."

"They would've been fired if they didn't teach their classes and do it well," Dave said.

"I know," Alex sighed. "Hopefully, their nasty looks will die off after we're married. I certainly hope so."

"I could have a talk with them," Dave suggested with an evil grin.

"That's okay, it's better just to let them hang themselves on their own petards. They'll either learn to leave us alone or they'll go to far one day and the dean will fire them or at least reprimand then," Alex told Dave.

"You know I didn't think about it before, but one of the reasons they might have kept chasing Aaron and me, is they might have a touch of magic. Just enough to sense that Aaron and I aren't completely human and be attracted to us. They likely don't know the reason of course," Dave suggested.

"I suppose it's possible they could have selkie blood, but long enough ago that they likely don't remember their own history," Alex considered. "If that's true it was probably 6 or 7 hundred years ago."

"Isn't it possible that they might have just a touch of magical blood. After all, most people believe that witches and warlocks were completely wiped out 500 years ago," Dave suggested logically.

"Yes, it's possible," Alex agreed after a moment. "It's certainly possible that they have magicals in their family tree, even if they don't know it anymore, as it was likely a very long time ago and most people don't keep track of their linage. They might have just enough magic to be very attracted to you, because you exude a kind of aura that is very attractive to some people. I suppose you could call it charisma or perhaps otherwordly is a better description. It's very subtle, just part of you being a magical creature."

"Well, it would certainly explain why those ladies have been so annoying over the last half a dozen years. Most people would have given up long since," Dave said and Alex nodded.

"Hopefully, once we are wed they'll back off," Alex said.

"They had better," Dave growled. "I will not put up with them threatening you again."

"I'll handle it if they do," Alex promised. "If I'm pregnant at the time they had better watch out. Pregnant witches tend to be very hard to handle, as they can be volatile, especially in the latter stages."

"I think that's true of all pregnant woman depending on the female of course," Dave suggested trying not chuckle, as that would likely upset Alex.

"You just wait until I'm over six months along and you'll probably wish that you could go far way. I'll likely become pretty hard to live with. There are certain things I can do to ease the cramps and backaches and things, so I can stand on my feet, even when I'm far along. The problem is who will we get to watch them while we are teaching?"

"Some of the selkies have already agreed to help," Dave revealed. "Some of the older females whose children are grown. They're very excited about getting some children to look after, as there hasn't been any in the colony for a long time."

"I won't ask you if you trust them because you must," Alex said. "I know neither you or Aaron would let anyone near our children that you didn't trust absolutely."

"No, I wouldn't," Dave agreed immediately. "I've been wanting children for years and there's no way I would ever let anybody that I didn't trust completely anywhere near them. There is nobody within the selkie colony that wouldn't look after seal pups for us if it was necessary, no matter the reason."

"Alright then, you'll have to introduce me to them, so we can begin to get to know each other," Alex said calmly. "I want to make sure I trust them to, you know."

"That's fine and I'll tell them," Dave promised.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~