crashing waves and headed home. They had come up with a
solid plan with Tempest’s sisters, who waved them off from the
water’s edge.
They felt confident in their ability to convince the pod to
visit Crescent Cove in small numbers, to get medical tests to
find the source of their fertility issues. If it was biological, or
environmental, surely Zinnia and Viola would get to the
bottom of it.
Though they had struggled to get along growing up,
Tempest couldn’t help feeling grateful to them for being able to
provide this opportunity to Reed and his family. Perhaps her
family would find the answers the merfolk had been unable to
and restore their pod to its former glory.
Selfishly, she hoped that would be the case. If the other
mermaids could safely conceive and bear children, then Reed
would feel no guilt about staying on land with her forever. Tempest would never have to worry about his family
demanding his loyalty or blaming him for their demise. Her
heart felt full to bursting with hope as she and her beloved
merman walked home hand in hand.
ONE YEAR LATER
The cry of seagulls echoed overhead as Tempest and Reed sat down at a table outside of the Driftwood Cafe. A server came by to take their order as they waited for the others to arrive. Her gorgeous merman grinned like the cat who caught the canary when they asked what he wanted.
“I’ll have my usual, please,” said Reed. “For my girlfriend, a large iced mocha and an almond croissant. Thank you.”
“Absolutely. I’ll be right back with that,” replied the server.
In a matter of minutes, she had an ice cold mocha in her hand and an almond croissant on a little plate in front of her. Reed reached for his toasty chocolate croissant and she swatted at his hand.
“So impatient,” Tempest chuckled.
He turned those hazel eyes on her, his pout in full effect. Her laughter bubbled up the way it always did around him. This ridiculous, charming man had a way of keeping her in the moment, making each day full of wonder and adventure.
Someone shouted her name and she turned, her teal braid sliding over her shoulder with the motion.
“Sorry we’re late,” Zinnia panted, one hand on her chest as she caught her breath.
“We have a very good reason for it,” added Viola with a smirk. “We have had our first successful mermaid live birth!”
Their little group squealed with delight. After months of research, medications, and theories, Celeste had gotten pregnant. All the time she had spent on land led to her falling for a selkie from Crescent Cove and the two had fallen head over fins immediately.
