My name is Princess Melody, and I am 16 years old.

I have quite the story to tell, for those who have never met me. As the first child born of both sea and shore, I have a unique heritage and identity.

You see, I have a mermaid heritage. What does that mean? My mother met my father when she was 16 years old and he was 18, but unfortunately, she was a mermaid and could not be with him. Even worse, my maternal grandfather, King Triton, had a great fear of humans and in his eyes, they were nothing more than barbarians, and he forbade my mother from going to the surface. Things came to a climax when he discovered that my mother had fallen in love with my father, prompting him to destroy her collection of artifacts from the human world.

My mother ended up seeking the help of the Sea Witch, Ursula, who was trying to usurp power from my grandfather. With her help, she became a human, although her voice was taken.

Long story short, after a fierce battle which ultimately defeated Ursula, my mother and father were permitted to reunite on land and get married, and shortly afterwards I was born.

At 16, I possess the traits of both of my parents, but my personality aligns more with my mother, who was quite the rebellious teen. For the first 12 years of my life, my parents forbade me from going into the sea, and even built a wall between the castle and sea.

You see, when I was just a baby, my parents took me out into the sea by boat to celebrate my birth, and when my grandfather was gifting me a locket, I was captured and nearly killed by Morgana, the sister of Ursula, the sea witch. This prompted my parents to try to raise me as a normal child on land, away from the water.

Still, I found myself drawn to the sea, for reasons I could not understand. On land, I found myself out of place, being able to communicate with sea creatures. Meanwhile, I myself delighted in disobeying my mother's rules when I was just a bit younger, sneaking out into the sea.

My 12th birthday party proved to be a turning point. At the party, I was mocked and laughed at by other kids for talking to a sea creature, and ran to my room in tears. When my mother tried comforting me, I accidentally revealed the truth when I showed her what I had found, a locket. The locket happened to have my name on it, and played a tune I recognized. My mother was furious when she found out, and scolded me, refusing to offer any explanation for why I could not go into the sea.

After that argument, I rushed out into the sea, and transformed into a mermaid by the magic of Morgana, Ursula's younger sister.

Long story short, just like how my father defeated Ursula by impaling her with a ship, I helped defeat Morgana by stabbing her with my grandfather's trident, and he imprisoned her in an iceberg, ending her threat. It was then that he offered me a choice to live with him and my aunts in the sea as a mermaid, or on land with my parents.

I, however, decided that it would be better to destroy the wall using his trident, allowing merfolk and humans to unite. It was then that I could really embrace myself for who I was, the first person born of land and sea.

If that was not enough, I should add that at 16 years of age, I became pregnant myself after doing it for the first time. With whom? It was a young man named Archer Leopold, who is just a few years older than I am. In the months that followed, I began to feel nauseous regularly, especially in the mornings. As my belly grew in size, I could not hide the fact anymore that I was pregnant.

My mother asked me one evening what had happened. She knew that I had been in love with Archer, but it was then that I confessed what really happened. Tears flooded my eyes, as I was scared of how my mother would react. To my surprise, she hugged me tightly and assured me that she would be there no matter what.

I immediately felt that the sky was lifted off my shoulders. But little did I know what I was in for. My daughter, Chanel, was born one sunny morning in my room. Below is the story:

I woke up early as usual. I was feeling groggy and nauseous, and let out a low moan. This was it, I thought. This was the day my daughter would be born. I got up, and slowly walked over to my mother's room.

"Good morning, sweetheart. What's up?" she asked.

"Mom, I think the baby might be coming soon," I said.

She nodded, and helped me to my bed. She spread several towels over it, to prepare for the arrival of the baby.

"Make yourself comfortable," she said.

My mother herself had given birth to me in her own bed well over a decade ago. I wondered how it all began.

I lay in bed, groaning. My mother sat beside me, stroking my hair and assuring that all would be well. She herself had given birth over a decade ago, and knew what it was like.

An hour later, I threw up next to my bed.

"Oh my God," I groaned. "I can't do this!"

"You've got this, honey," my mother calmly assured me. I could tell she was nervous; she did not know exactly what would happen. Even after giving birth herself, she knew that it was an unpredictable thing.

"Mom!" I wailed. "It hurts so bad!" I cried

"I know it does, but you'll get through this," she said, gently.

I lay in bed, groaning. Feeling hot, I wore nothing but my bra, and I was sweating profusely. Was this what every laboring mother went through? I should have known before choosing to do it.

"I'm never having sex ever again," I moaned.

My mother laughed. "I can see that, Melody. After having you, I decided that was enough to last me for a lifetime!" she giggled.

"I want to be done with this," I groaned. "Pain, pain, go away. Come again another day," I sang.

"Poor girl," my mother smiled, stroking my hair. "You now know what it feels like to have to give birth, don't you?" she said.

"I don't think I can do this," I said.

"Melody, you have to be strong," she said.

I nodded, knowing she was right. I wondered how it felt when my mother had me; did she cry in pain? My mother assured me that all was normal and that she felt horrible pain when birthing me, but the reward was worth it all.

"I screamed when you were born," my mother laughed. "It was terrible!"

It was around noon that I began feeling the urge to push. Feeling a terrible urge from my body, I pushed into my bottom with all my might, clenching my teeth.

"UUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" I growled.

I pushed again with all my might, "UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! Get it out of me!" I screamed.

"I think you're ready to push," my mother said.

I gave another push, lying in bed on my back.

"Why don't you get on your hands and knees, Melody?" my mother suggested.

I nodded, as my mother helped me flip onto all fours. I breathed heavily, as I knelt on bed in that position, wearing only my black bra. My mother knelt on the bed behind me, and I felt her hands in the area around my birth canal opening. She began massaging my perineum with some olive oil she had brought into the room.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I am massaging your perineum with olive oil, Melody. We're going to need lots of oil to help you get that baby out," my mother replied. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"UUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" I pushed. "I can't do this!"

"Melody, whenever you feel the urge, take a deep breath, hold it, and push into your bottom with all your might! Really big, as if you were badly constipated," my mother said. She pressed a cloth against my perineum.

"Mom, I'm scared," I whimpered.

"Melody, you have to be brave," my mother said, firmly. "Push into your bottom as if you were badly constipated. I know you can do this!"

I mustered all my strength and I closed my eyes, clenched my teeth, and pushed into my bottom with all my might.

"UGGGGHHH!" I roared.

"Good, honey, that's it! Keep going!" She encouraged me.

"UGH!" I groaned.

"UGH!" I pushed again.

This was harder than I thought.

"Good job, Melody. You are doing great," my mother said, gently.

"UUUGGGGGHHHHH!" I roared, straining into my bottom. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth.

"Keep going, honey. You can do this," my mother said.

"UGGGGGHHH!" I groaned.

I kept pushing and pushing.

My mother patiently encouraged me, telling me to push into my bottom with all my energy and strength. My body was literally giving me the signal to push whenever it wanted to. I felt the terrible urge to push into my bottom with everything I had each contraction.

"Get it out of me!" I shouted. It was terribly intense.

"Keep going, Melody! You're doing great!" my mother cried.

After some time, I began to feel a burning sensation down there.

"OOOOWWWWWW! Oh my God! It burns, it burns!" I howled.

Tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Okay, I can see the head!" my mother declared.

"Oh my God!" I shrieked.

I felt fingers stretching the opening of my birth canal, before my mother let out a chuckle. "You've got this, Melody!"

She continued massaging my perineum with olive oil, as I panted. I felt fingers stretching the opening of my birth canal, and sighed. My baby was coming. And most of all, I had someone helping me through what was arguably a challenging delivery.

I was sweating profusely, breathing heavily, and my face was as red as a tomato. I had never imagined that childbirth would be like this.

Another contraction hit, and I gave all I had into my bottom.

"UGH!" I groaned.

"Good," my mother said.

"UGH!" I roared.

"UGGGGGHHHH!" I howled.

"You seem to be having a tough time pushing the head out, Melody," my mother remarked. "You need to push even harder than that."

"UGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" I roared.

"All your might, Melody! All your might!" my mother said.

"HUUUUUUMMMMMMMPPPPPPPHHHH!" I growled.

I was like a mother lion trying to birth her young. This was proving to be a huge challenge.

"Push, Melody! Push! I need all your might!" my mother said.

"HUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPHHH!" I roared.

"Good, that's it!" my mother said. She pressed a cloth against my perineum as I pushed. I could feel the head making its way out, and my birth canal opening stretching as it did.

It really felt as if I was trying to push a bowling ball out of my vagina. I was sweating profusely, and my face was as red as a tomato. With each contraction, I closed my eyes, clenched my teeth, and pushed into my bottom with all my might.

"UUUUGGGGGGHHHH!"

"You're doing it, Melody! You're doing it!" my mother said. "The baby's head is at full crown," she told me.

I again felt fingers down there, stretching my birth canal opening open. My mother continued massaging my perineum with large amounts of oil she had brought.

I could feel that baby's head being pushed forward with each push. I pushed into my bottom with all my strength, being determined to deliver my child in my own bed. My mother kept on encouraging me, as I felt her hands down there, helping me birth my own child.

"UUUUGGGGHHHH!" I growled.

"That's good," my mother remarked. "The head is coming right out."

"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPHHHHH!" I roared, as I felt the baby's face exiting my vaginal opening.

"Good job, Melody!" my mother smiled. "The head is out!"

"Oh my God," I groaned. After all that work, I had finally delivered the head. Now all that remained were the shoulders.

I looked down between my legs. There was the head of my child, covered in black hair, just like me. Tears flowed down my cheeks as I touched it; this was my child. This was the child that I had been carrying in my womb for the past nine months before giving birth. I thought about the grumpiness that I had been through, and all the moments I felt nauseous.

"Your baby has a lot of hair, just like you," my mother said. "You feel a contraction?" she asked.

"Yeah," I groaned.

I gave as hard of a push into my bottom as I could.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" I screamed. Immediately, I felt something pop loose and slide right out of me, landing on the bed.

I looked down to see a baby. A newborn baby. My baby. The most beautiful, precious thing on Earth.

"I did it!" I cried. Tears immediately began spilling down my cheeks.

"I did it! I did it!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

I was overwhelmed with elation. I had just pushed out a baby from my womb. Picking up my baby, I planted a kiss on its left cheek. Tears were spilling down my cheeks uncontrollably; I could not stop. I had succeeded.

"You did it, honey! Good job!" my mother smiled, as she laughed.

I examined the baby closely.

"It is a girl!" I cried. I planted a kiss at the top of her head. She had black hair and brown eyes, just like me, and I counted ten fingers and ten toes.

"She's perfect," I whispered.

My mother was crying too. She was crying tears of joy. "I am so proud of you, my dear!" she said, giving me a hug.

I lay down in my bed, holding my child in my arms. We had a staring contest, before I pinched her little cheeks, giggling with joy. Meanwhile, I took off my bra, going all naked, just to allow my daughter to nurse whenever she wanted.

A few minutes later, I felt something come out between my legs. It was a blob of bloody tissue.

"Oh my God," I groaned.

"Don't worry about that, Melody. That is the placenta," my mother explained. "It comes out right after the baby is born."