Chapter 11
"Guys, you wouldn't believe what I've found about mermaids reading the mythology book today," Rikki said to them once everyone was home.
"You, reading? That's a first," Emma laughed.
"Ha ha, very funny," Rikki replied sarcastically, "But really, listen to what I found."
"Okay, we're listening," Emma replied.
Rikki listed off what she had found and then decided to show them the secret text behind the original lettering.
"Wait! What are you doing Rikki?" Lewis had exclaimed as she tipped a glass of water onto the book. "You'll ruin it!"
"No, I won't." She said simply. "Watch carefully," she began to evaporate the water - the words appeared. Lewis rubbed his eyes. "Am I seeing things?" he asked carefully.
"Nope. It's secret text talking about mermaids in detail – the stuff that humans shouldn't read."
"That is so cool!" Bella said.
OoOoO
The next morning...
Bella and Will were taking an early morning stroll through the well-known forests of Mako Island. They had gotten Cleo to make sure that Jacob was up and ready for school on time.
Bella and Will were holding hands, their arms swinging as they went along.
"Will? Do you think that Jake is fine at school? He doesn't say much. Do you think that he has made friends aside from our group's kids? I think my colleague's son is one of his friends, but Jake never talks about it."
"I'm sure he has Bella. How about we tell him that he can invite some friends over, he knows he can't bring anyone usually to the island."
"Will?"
"I mean to Rikki and Zane's old place."
"Yeah, that sounds good," she replied. Will kissed his wife's cheek.
"Bella, I'll race you over to that tree."
"Wait which tree...?" Will had already sprinted off. "Will!" she yelled before sprinting off after him. "No fair, you started too soon," Bella said crossing her arms when Will had yelled that he had won. He uncrossed her arms, holding her hands and he then kissed her passionately. When he pulled away, Bella just stood there, her eyes still closed.
"Am I forgiven?" He asked.
"Mhmm," she nodded, slowly opening her eyes. Will chuckled; he seemed to have taken her breath away. He pulled her close before kissing her cheek. "I love you," she mumbled.
"I love you too," he replied. He let go of her.
"Bella, I'll race you back." She was suddenly alert.
"You're on!" she replied.
They ran back towards their water village giggling and laughing.
OoOoO
That afternoon when the kids had come home from school, Bella and Will confronted their son.
"Hey Jake, how was your day?"
"Good."
"Come on Jake, how was school?"
"You really wanna know?" he asked. Bella nodded sitting down on the couch. Jacob encouraged by his mother started into a very long narrative of his day, much to his mother's delight. Bella was astounded by Jacob's word choices. Jacob said that his teacher thought he should move up a grade along with Jennifer, Charlie and Leila.
"Jake, do you want to invite some friends over?" Will asked.
"I thought I wasn't allowed to bring friends here?"
"You aren't, but you could invite them to our house on the mainland,"
"Oh! Okay, I'll ask them tomorrow," he said excitedly.
OoOoO
A few days later, with Bella's help Jacob had organised three friends to come over after school. Jennifer, Charlie and Leila were also invited. There were two boys and one girl. Holly Gareth was a shared friend of the girls and Jake. She was a tomboy, her light brown hair cut in a bob, her face covered in freckles. Pierre Jackson, who went by Perry, was the son of Bella's colleague from work. He was a thin boy with dark brown locks. The final child was a dark skinned boy with a mass of curly dark hair, Aaron Phillips.
"Mum, Dad, these are my friends, Holly, Perry and Aaron." Jacob said.
"Nice to meet you all," Bella smiled warmly, "You can go down to the beach and..."
"We don't have to swim do we?" Perry asked worriedly.
"No, no, not at all, I was actually going to say, don't go swimming, don't go in the water. You can play in the sand though, have fun,"
After building sandcastles, Aaron suggested playing tag. The group of boys and girls played for a couple of hours until their parents picked them up. Once the last human was gone, Bella took her son, Jennifer, Charlie and Leila back to Mako Island. Will locked the house up and then drove his boat back over to Mako. (Lewis, Zane and Will moored their boats in a secret cove on the far side of the island so that they were hidden well, the only way they could be spotted would be if they were looked for)
Charlie and Leila had recently mastered their powers. Rikki had been quite strict on getting it right, although on the surface she looked like she could not care less. The twins dried them all off and they made their way back to the village.
A/N: Please review :D