Hi All, I hope you are doing well, and enjoying this story so far. How are you enjoying it? Side note: this week I went to 3 different Walgreens and found the Tik Tok famous Disney snow globes! I found both TLM collectables, and suffice it to say, one is on my desk, playing Part of Your World as I publish this chapter. It really sparked my creativity for this story. Well! Here we are, chapter 9. This is where the story gets its first taste of spice. As always, I own nothing except my creative license with these characters. All TLM content belongs to Disney.

Chapter 9 "Sing The Song Of The Sea With You"

Max met them at the door with a familiar scamper of paws, wagging tail, and a cheerful yip. "Heya mutt, whatcha doin'? You miss us?" Eric asked the overjoyed canine even though the question was answered by the glow in his eyes and the wag of his tail. Once he deemed Eric welcomed back, Max went over to Ariel and repeated the same greeting. "Okay, boy Okay!" Ariel said laughing as Eric offered his arm and they began walking up to their bedroom to change. Before they knew it, they were being ushered into the dining room and seated at the table right as the first course was being brought in. Ariel and Eric just looked at each other, raised brows, shared a giggle, then took their place at the table.

After almost an entire dinner of telling Grim and Carlotta of their travels, Ariel and Eric decided to relax, meandering through the halls, arm in arm. In their typical fashion, the two did not leave each other's side and found themselves wandering into the library. "Darling, you know what we should do? We should make a book" Ariel said as Eric gave her his full attention as he turned away from the bookshelf. "That sounds like a great idea," Eric said, making his way toward her and joining her by the coffee table. Eric grabbed a stack of paper, some markers, and three separate book spines as Ariel sat down on the large circle rug only using the small table to place the markers down.

"Which one do you want to use for our book?" Eric asked her as he set the materials down, offered her the trio, and sat next to her. "I like…this one," she said pointing to the jewel-encrusted one, "but what are we going to put in this book?" he asked. "Well, we could put pictures and other sorts of things, you know from our life together, like the tickets from that concert we went to last summer" Ariel suggested with a shrug. "Oh a scrapbook!" he said, she nodded, causing him to smile, put his forehead to hers, pecking her on the nose "My little collector" he started, "I'll be right back" he said as he got up and with Max following quickly, hurried out to his study. He knew the best thing to begin the book, and Max knew it as well. Back in the study, Ariel began sorting pieces of the paper with different pictures and captions within the binding when Eric returned with something that was about the size of the paper. "So…" he began as he rejoined her on the carpet, "you said this book is going to have things from our life together right?" "Yes," she said brightly. "Well, we should start at the best part." With that, he took their wedding photo which he made a copy of for the book and placed it as page one. "Oh Eric, that's perfect!, it just needs one thing" She quickly retracted the book and a gold marker away out of Eric's view and wrote in a special message. He chuckled and cocked an eyebrow at her while Max brought his ball over and insisted, through nose nudges to the elbow, that Eric throw it. She made quick work of binding the book and placed it in his lap. She then snuggled into the crook of his neck, wrapping her arms around his torso as he opened the book. She felt his cheek on the crown as he happily sighed and read;

"Now & Forever Part Of Your World."

At this he sighed happily, "It's perfect" he said, and they cleaned up, placed the book on the mantle. She returned the markers to their rightful place in the desk drawer, then focused her attention on admiring their handiwork that sat atop the mantle. After a few minutes, he noticed this and he quietly snuck up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her torso, causing her to jump slightly. His cheek then brushed against her delicate red waves. She let him wrap himself around her like a blanket at a campfire. Only this time her skin felt alive, dare she say excited. "Go upstairs, and wait for me…" he whispered seductively, kissing the spot below her ear. She melted into his touch while desire bloomed in her eyes, as they both looked intensely at the other in the mirror in front of them. She bit her lip, blushing as red as her hair, she pecked him on the lips and then made her way to the staircase leading to their bedroom.

In response, he grinned and raced off to find Carlotta and Grimsby, with Max breaking into a run to follow him. He glanced at the grandfather clock as he practically flew across the foyer, 7:45 perfect! he said to himself, as he made it to the servants quarters. Grimsby, Carlotta, and Louis were sitting around the table drinking tea and chatting when he entered. "Eric my dear, what's the rush, where's the fire?" Carlotta asked, alarmed as the young ruler's heart rate returned to normal. Eric responded after a moment and a few ground breaths, "Calm down Lottie, there's no fire. But I want to give the three of you the weekend off." The trio's eyes shot up and Grimsby was the first to speak, "Are you certain your highness? We'd be more than happy to stay here with you and Ariel." Eric shook his head immediately refuting the notion. "Oh come on Grim, don't start, we will be fine. Now go and enjoy yourselves, all of you." Before he could wish them a good night, Louis was rounding the corner toward the docks, calling for Carlotta to follow him. To this day, Eric still could not fathom how they ended up marrying each other. Carlotta was calm and level headed, while Louis, well Louis was the complete opposite. Knowing they would not argue with him, Eric then went through the kitchen and headed to the wine cellar. Tonight he was going to show his true love just how much she meant to him, and that meant not missing a single detail.

As he emerged from the cellar, and gathered the necessary items, he looked to his four-legged friend. "Now listen ya mutt, I want you to behave and relax out here while Ariel and I spend some time together, got it?" He said while he ruffled the dog's ears and getting him a cookie from his jar on the shelf. Max had been a constant in Eric's life and was truly Eric's best friend. As Eric proceeded up the stairs Max went over to his bed by the fireplace and settled for the night. Now, Eric thought to himself, to find my little mermaid.

In their room, Ariel had begun lighting candles and dimming the lights. Tonight's the night she thought to herself, her heart racing at the thought. She loved spending time with her family, but she had urges that, according to her sisters, were only satisfied by the love of her life. At that moment, she heard footsteps fast approaching, and she grew more excited with each passing second. She quickly changed her clothes, draped her hair into cascading locks, lounged across the bed, and awaited her prince.

As he approached their bedroom door, he combed his hair with his hand, unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt, and pushed the door open. "Ariel I think you're really gonna enjoy this..." he said with his voice trailing off, lifting the champagne and reading the label closely. Almost immediately, he noted the lights were dimmed, and the faint smell of vanilla filled the room. He let out a shutter then quickly closed the door and locked it, and placed the champagne on the table near the door. When he turned around again, he went weak at the knees, eyes dilating with desire…

Oooooh a cliffy! I'm sorry I am an Aries, and what can I say? I love the drama, at least in my writing, haha

I know it is open to a realm of possibilities, but I already have the next chapter on deck and being edited, and its a spicy meat-a-ball ;)

Until next time, as always:

Peace, Love, and Happy Reading

~xoxo DisneySoul4996