Chapter 73

Zane watched Rikki as she told him about all the amazing things that had happened in all the time he was missing. He felt himself swell with love for this girl every time her eyes lit up and when a smile covered her face. At the same time, he felt guilty. She should not have to fill him in on his own life. But then again, he couldn't have helped what happened.

It was nice to be able to reminisce, Rikki thought. As she began to relay more recent information, she felt herself beginning to get emotional. Was she going to have to tell him the same stories repeatedly? Was he ever going to remember them for himself again? She was talking about Fi's first smile and heard her voice break, stopping abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Zane asked concernedly.

"I love you so much," she replied quietly. A tear escaped her eye. "I don't know, I don't think I can keep doing this. My emotions…"

"Shh," Zane comforted, bringing her to his chest. "I'll get better," he tried to reassure her. He hated seeing her cry. He was used to seeing her as a person with resolve as strong as rock. At the same time, he was thrilled. She had said that she loved him. He lifted her chin up and gave her a sweet kiss.

"I love you," he said firmly. Rikki gave a half-smile as tears poured down her cheeks.

"I'm going to have to reintroduce you to your kids again," she sniffed. Zane frowned slightly. If this was having this much effect on their mother, how would they cope with relapses?

OoOoO

Zane and Rikki walked hand in hand up the beach on Mako Island.

"So remind me where we live?" he asked. They passed the tree line and began to follow a well-worn path.

"In our village," she smiled. "We made it with our powers, and a bit of Lewis' ingenuity."

As they arrived and Zane took it in, his eyes widened. If you didn't know that the girls were mermaids, the strangely shaped houses would look like they were made out of glass, or some other unusual substance.

"Amazing," he breathed. "So which is ours?"

"That one," Rikki pointed to the first one on the left.

"Sweet,"

OoOoO

Zane was looking around like a little kid, eyes wide, taking everything in.

"You're incredible, Rikki," he said. "You and your friends are amazing." Rikki gave a small smile in return.

"Super-powerful mermaid, remember?" she said lightly, a Rikki-typical look on her face – half smirk, half grin.

OoOoO

Rikki and Zane sat on the couch, just talking.

"Leila and Charlie are nine and Alex and Jay are five, and Fi is almost seven months old," Rikki replied.

"So we have five kids?" Zane asked. Rikki nodded. "Awfully keen weren't we?" he laughed.

"To be fair, we had two sets of twins, and when you're in love…" she trailed off. Zane grinned, catching her drift.

"It's funny though, I never pictured myself with more than two, if any," Zane said.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Rikki said. "Sure they're a handful but…they're ours,"

Zane squeezed her hand. "Are they like you or me?"

"I'd like to say a mixture of both," Rikki replied.

"I mean, do they have tails?"

Rikki nodded smiling, "They've been swimming since they were babies. Actually, that's how they get to school each day – they swim with one of us adults with them."

"Wow! When do I get to meet them?"

"They should be home from school soon. Zane, I'm not sure how they're going to react to you not knowing again,"

OoOoO

About fifteen minutes later, the noise of children chattering could be heard approaching the village. All the kids old enough for school, ten in all, had just come up from the moon pool. Rikki and Zane heard the farewells as each child went into their homes.

"Mum! Leila hit me!" Alex whined as soon as he put his foot into the house.

"Alex!" Leila exclaimed. "Mum, it was hardly a hit, more like a tap. He was being so annoying!" she replied. Rikki got up. Zane followed suit. He was in awe. Two mini Rikki's had just walked in. The boys were an almost equal mix of both of them.

The bickering stopped almost immediately as they saw their dad.

"Daddy!" Charlie exclaimed, running over and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Hi…" he said, patting her on the back. He looked at Rikki for help with the name. Charlie she mouthed.

"Hi Charlie," he said. The other three soon were embracing him. Rikki smiled at the sight. Charlie detangled herself from her father and siblings. She fell down on the couch and turned on the TV. Leila followed suit.

"Girls, do you have any homework?" Rikki asked them. Zane grinned. At school, Rikki never did her homework. She was a proper mother.

"No, mum. Remember, we finish school for the year in a few days," Leila replied, eyes still glued to the screen.

Alex and Jay were playing with a few sticks they had picked up on the walk home. They were using them like swords.

"Boys, what did I say about sticks inside?"

The twins smiled sheepishly before running outside. Rikki sighed and then grabbed Zane's hand and led him to their bedroom.

"I don't feel like we should tell them yet," Rikki said. "I don't know, you might remember everything tomorrow."

"Fair enough." He replied. He knew that it would probably throw a spanner in the works and the kids would probably become awkward around him or something like that. Rikki had told him about the first time – he had not exactly been cordial. "It was awesome to meet them, Rikki," Zane said. "Do I get to meet baby Fi?"

Rikki hesitated. "She is staying with Cleo at the moment. It might just be silly but…" she trailed off.

"But what?" Zane asked puzzled.

"They last few times you have been around Fi, something weird has happened. I just don't want to risk anything – you getting worse for one."

"Okay then," he said, sitting down on the bed. Rikki went over to their dresser. She retrieved a photograph. Sitting on the bed next to him, she passed it over.

"This was taken a month ago – it's me and her in the moon pool."

He smiled as he took it in. A confused expression took over his face.

"I thought you said our kids were mers? Fi has legs,"

"She wasn't born with a tail like the others. She takes after you," Rikki said. "In fact, I had quite a rough pregnancy with her – it was like my body was rejecting the fact that she wasn't a mermaid."

"Oh," Zane said simply.

"Anyway, do you think you can act like nothing has changed around the kids?"

"Well, I can try. Not that I know what has changed though," he said.

"Just be friendly and engage them in conversation. I'm sure you'll know what to do –I know you think you're a teenager but it's always been in you – they wouldn't have turned out so good without you."

"I'd say that it was all you," Zane said pulled her into an embrace. "I wouldn't be anything without you."

OoOoO

'Mum?' Rikki heard a voice in her mind.

'Yeah honey?'

'Where did you go this morning?' Charlie asked concernedly.

'We went to the hospital with Daddy. Didn't Auntie Cleo explain?'

'She did, she said Dad had a relapse. He's fine though isn't he?'

'He's as fine as he can be,'

'What does that mean?' Rikki groaned. There was no deceiving an inquisitive nine year old.

'He is fine; he just can't remember a few things, okay? It's nothing too bad, so don't worry,'

'Does he still remember us?' The question Rikki had been trying to avoid.

'He knows who you are, he just might get you and Leila muddled up. It won't be long until he is better, Charlie. He still remembers most things.'

'Okay then,'

Rikki could tell that Charlie was still concerned but she was satisfied by that answer. Zane waved a hand in front of Rikki's face.

"Hello, earth to Rikki? Are you okay?"

Rikki's eyes snapped up and looked at him.

"You kinda zoned out for a minute there,"

"Yeah, I was talking to Charlie." Rikki said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"In your mind?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, mermaids can communicate telepathically to other mermaids,"

"Since when did you find this out?"

"A while back - I forgot you didn't know. It makes communicating underwater easy,"

OoOoO

Rikki and Zane changed into their sleepwear that night. Rikki slipped into their bed. Zane was hesitant.

"Are you sure?"

"We're married, Zane. You've been sleeping in this bed for over a decade,"

"Right," he said. "I'm sorry, it's just, it feels like last week you were telling me to take it slow,"

"If you're uncomfortable, I can go sleep in the guest house?" Rikki said, sitting up.

"No, no. I love you, I just…no don't worry," Zane got into the bed.

Rikki leaned up and kissed him gently.

"Thanks for your concern, but I love you and want you here, by my side."

"I love you too," Zane replied sincerely.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I have been so busy with University work. However, since to Mermaids Forever and Acgisme reviewing yesterday, I got my act together, and have created this chapter for you. I was intending to update A Prince, a Curse and One Solution first, but this one was in more demand I guess :P I must warn you, the next update, unless I find an amazing amount of time, will be after the 21st of June. That is the date of my last Final exam for Semester A. So around three weeks. I hope you can hold on until then. I purposefully made this chapter not a cliffy :)

I know not too much happened in this chapter, but with my story line at the moment, I do have to explain thoughts and feelings and can't leave huge chunks out. Never fear, it will get more interesting in the future.

Thanks so so much for all your support. I really appreciate it. You really are the reason I keep writing. (Reviewers in particular. I take all comments into consideration.)

Thanks especially to Acgisme, Mermaids Forever, Sjolsen12, The Writer Es, CrazyHayniac, HybridsRose, charmedhpgirl, zikki 3 and YaleAceBella12. Love you guys!

Signing off,

Krystalslazz