Evermore (17 page)

“Wow. Isn’t this special,” Mrs. Lanski said.

I took Ash’s arm and led her to the back of the aisle next to Tatiana. The girls embraced before Tatiana helped me shrug on my robe and hat. Once we were ready, Oberon, the officiant of Natatoria, who stood in front, nodded to me.

“What do we do?” Ash whispered.

“Follow my lead,” Tatiana said before walking down the aisle.

“Your turn,” I whispered, nudging her to follow.

She gave me a look of fear and thankfulness.

“It’s practice for next Saturday,” I added.

A smile sprung from her lips, and she walked down the aisle behind my sister. The girls stood to the left of Oberon, and I joined alongside them.

“You may all be seated.” Oberon lifted his hands. “We are gathered here today to celebrate and uphold the graduation of studies for these fine individuals. The students you see before you have successfully passed this phase of their lives and will be ushered henceforth into the world as adults, to represent mer—” Jack coughed loudly, interrupting his mistake. “The, uh… graduated folk. May they grow in wisdom and grace and live long upon the land. May they find happiness and favor in the career of their choosing. May we all support them as they begin this new journey.”

The crowd murmured in agreement.

“Ashlyn Francis Lanski,” he called out.

Ash startled, then stepped forward and took his hand.

“Congratulations.” He then handed her a piece of paper rolled up and tied with a red ribbon.

She smiled, then walked to the other side of the stage.

“Tatiana Renee Helton Vanamar.”

Tatiana proceeded forward and received her diploma.

“Finley Samuel Helton,” he finally said to me.

I took the parchment, knowing it was a fake, but felt pride swell in me anyway. My parents had given me lessons, yes, and with our mer, I had a photographic memory, but this felt different. Like I’d been given permission to feel like an adult and was expected to act as such. That I’d become one with my mermen brothers.

Oberon held out his hand to us. “I give to you the graduated students.”

Ash grabbed onto the tassel of her hat, and then she moved it so it dangled on the other side. She signaled we do the same. I had no idea what that meant, so I just grabbed my hat and threw it into the air like I’d seen others do on TV.

Dad’s eyes radiated with pride as he stood, clapping. Badger let out a wallop, startling Desirée and the princesses. Ash’s family clapped with everyone else, eyes vivid once more.

Ash rushed me with a hug, squeezing hard. I spun her in a circle.

“Thank you,” she said. “A thousand times thank you!”

“Anything for my Ginger Girl,” I said.

Our future families embraced one another in celebration, then the hungry mob then headed for the buffet tables positioned on the grassy knoll between our houses. Tables and chairs were situated along the outskirts, and far too fancy for my liking. My sister and mother had had a field day planning and setting up for yet another party. Merriment and dancing followed, but I knew we didn’t have long until the sun set.

Ash made her rounds, hanging with her family and enjoying a large slice of cake. I noted Desirée watching on, eyeing Ash with something I couldn’t read. Jealousy perhaps. I moved to tell Ash to be sure to include her birth mother when Tatiana grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dance floor. Galadriel, Girra, and several other mermaids joined in. Garnet, though, stood pouty faced, next to her mother, and I was reminded once again of Lucy. Luckily crabby girls came few and far between, and thankfully my sister was not one of them. Where was Colin? After scanning the crowd, I couldn’t find him or Lucy. Walking the perimeter, I headed over toward Badger’s post.

“Hey, where’s Colin?”

“Aye,” he said, scratching his beard. I smirked, admiring his vest and Scottish kilt he wore. “Haven’t seen ‘em. Did you try the main house? Yer ma is giving tours now. She can’t wait for it to be finished after that big gift givin’ party Ash had.”

I knew that already. Mom had been bugging Dad every day, begging to get started on the décor for the interior.

“Yeah, right.” I glanced over that way.

Movement from Ash’s parents’ driveway caught my attention. Then Lucy and Colin cleared the side yard fence and walked my way.

I stalked over to intercept them. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Colin said.

Lucy gave me a smirk, then darted over to the buffet table.

“What were you two doing?”

Colin crossed his arms over his chest. “Nothing.”

“You were just… talking?”

“Something like that.”

My eyes tightened. “You of all people shouldn’t be taking human girls anywhere unchaperoned.”

Colin laughed. “And why’s that?”

“You know why.”

He shook his head. “I’m betrothed to Garnet.”

“Another reason not to be improper.”

“Lucy had something to show me, and there’s nothing to worry about. She is after all…
family
.”

The way he said “family,” made my skin crawl. “Show you what?”

“If I tell you, it’ll ruin the surprise.”

I furrowed my brow. “At this point, I don’t need any more surprises.”

“It’s a gift. For you and Ash.” He grinned widely.

I was confused. Lucy hated my guts. Why would she give us a gift? Had my persuasion changed her heart entirely?

Desirée lifted her hand and motioned to us.

Colin nodded to her. “If you’re done interrogating me, my soon-to-be mother-in-law wants to speak with me.”

I shook my head at his insinuation that I was interrogating him and looked to find Lucy. She stood off to the side, trying her hardest to gain the attention of one of Badger’s guards, but looked none the less harmed.

“Yeah. Whatever,” I said.

He sauntered off, but I still had my suspicions that the fruit hadn’t fallen too far from the tree.

A motorboat zoomed overhead, and I woke up, encapsulated in Fin’s arms, our tails twisted around one another’s. I shook my head to clear the fog.

The sun flickered down from up above and brushed its warmth against my skin. My body jolted. I’d be late for school!

Then it hit me — no more teachers, no more books. All I had to worry about was the wedding. My heart zoomed again, this time in fear and anticipation. Four days and a wake up.

“Good morning, sleepy head.” I wiggled my hips to free myself from Fin. “Time to get up.”

“What time is it?” He yawned and stretched, then reached to pull me close.

I allowed him to but then looked down at my watch. “Holy carp. It’s after 10.”

“10?” Fin’s eyes opened wide.

We kicked our tails simultaneously to propel us to the surface. The bright morning sunlight temporarily blinded me for a moment. Where were we? A tugboat horn sounded to our left while another boat chugged in our direction. We’d somehow drifted over to the harbor during the night.

“Ash, come on.” He grabbed my hand and we plunged down, just avoiding the spinning propellers.

“I don’t get why we can’t sleep in our pool,” I said after we neared our side of the lake.

“Only five more nights.”

I pushed out my lip. “That’s too long.”

“Well, you have to have something to look forward to. I promise it’ll be worth it.” His lips pulled into a grin.

We swam through the tunnel to the porthole and phased in his parents’ basement. As I walked over to my cubby on the wall, the nightgown I wore dripped puddles around my feet. I started tugging off my nightgown when I caught Fin’s gaze.

He sat on the rim of the porthole, fastening the Velcro of his board shorts all wrong while his hungry leer undressed me. I let the gown fall back into place, snagged my stuff and walked behind the changing curtain.

“Where are you going?” Fin jumped up and tried to follow.

I held out my hand. “Uh-uh. You have to have something to look forward to, and I promise it’ll be worth it.”

“What?” His jaw dropped. “Technically we’re married.”

“No, we’re promised. Five more nights and this is all yours.” I flared out my hands to gesture the sides of my body.

His eyes tightened. “You don’t play fair.”

“Technically this was your idea,” I reminded him before I shooed him away.

Once I changed into street clothes, we walked up the basement steps into the kitchen. Dust and tools lined the wood floors. The cabinets were in, but no countertops.

“There you are!” Tatchi ran in with Nicole in her arms. The babe was hanging upside down, fighting to get free, her tail flipping in her face.

“Uh… do you need help?”

“No, I’m ok—”

“Love you, Ash.” Fin gave me a quick kiss before he left. “I need to finish the cottage. Make sure you check in with your parents.”

“Oh, right.” I watched him disappear outside, longing for more time with him.

“Okay, so… Ouch!”

I turned to see Tatchi hold her hand over her eye, just as Nicole smacked her in the face again. Her grip on the merling slipped. I lunged forward to catch the babe before she hit the floor. My fingers snagged on her tulle skirt, and we tumbled into a heap onto the floor. The girl threw up her arms and giggled, then blew raspberries at me.

Tatchi watched us, mouth pulled in a grin. I tried to hand her back, but Nicole’s little hands gripped hard on my wrists.

“Mama,” Nicole said.

“Oh. My. Starfish.” Tatiana gasped.

I blinked, unsure what had just happened, but didn’t want Tatchi’s feelings hurt either. “I’m not your mama, sweetie. Here’s your mama.” I tried to hand her back.

“Mama,” she said again, then blew another raspberry. Spittle fell on my face.

“She said her first word. She said it! Me! I won the bet!” Tatiana ran to the doorway. “Jacob! Jacob! Come quick!”

Slightly disgusted, I wiped off the spit.

Nicole shifted into legs and sat next to me, staring at me with eyes framed by long dark lashes. My countenance softened.

“You’re kind of cute. You know that?”

She cooed. “Mama.”

Then something thumped in my stomach. Hard. I leaned over. “Ouch.”

Nicole rolled to her feet, reached over and touched my hand.

“Yeah. My little joey is in there, your cousin,” I said. “You’ll have someone to play with soon enough.”

With a huge grin, she rolled to her feet, then tugged my hand. I stood and let her lead me outside.

Tatiana followed behind us, mouth agape. “Wow. She likes you.”

Jacob walked up, chest bare and jeans slung low on his hips, and it wasn’t hard to see what Tatiana saw in him, though I knew he had a good heart, too.

“Hey, babe,” he said, kissing her.

“Watch this.” She leaned over and smiled at Nicole. “Say Mama.”

Nicole reached up and tweaked Tatchi’ nose and laughed.

“Apparently my effect on kids is short-lived.” I shrugged when my merling punched against my lungs this time.

I leaned over gasping. Nicole looked up at me, her head twisted to the side. I tried to talk when the punch happened again.

“You okay?” Tatchi put her hand on my back.

“I’m okay. I think this baby wants to get out of here.”

“Not before you walk down the aisle.” Tatiana led me to a bench. “Have a seat.” She turned to Jacob. “Take care of Nicole, please.”

Jacob ran off after Nicole while I sat and caught my breath. My protruding belly edged out onto my lap, and I tried to imagine becoming as big as a watermelon. “True.”

Though I was finally showing, Pearl let me know that I’d grow overnight the last two weeks and that I’d need lots of food and rest.

And that’s all I wanted. Glancing over at the sheets blowing in the wind, anxiety for this hoopla to be over with sounded wonderful. I so badly wanted to get the baby’s room done.

Only five more days.

Tatchi took out a sketchbook and flipped to a page out of my view. “So… blue or green?”

“Huh?”

She eyed me over the book. “For your master bathroom.”

“My master bedroom? What is that?” I tried to pull the book forward.

She yanked back. “Don’t ruin your surprise.”

“What surprise?”

“Just tell me the color,” she insisted.

“Uh… blue?”

“Perfect.” She marked something in the book and slammed it shut. “And about today.”

“What about today?” I asked.

Tatchi rolled her eyes. “It’s your bachelorette party, silly!”

“Oh, no, no, no.” I waved my hands and stood. “I’m going to have Fin sing this away right now—”

Tatiana grabbed my hand and tugged. “Sit down, silly. It’s not Georgia’s doing. It’s Girra’s.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “How the heck does Girra know anything about bachelorette parties?”

“Well… Georgia told her.”

I huffed. The three G’s, as I’d started calling them, were a menace. I was soon distracted watching Jacob crawl around on his hands and knees with Nicole on his back. He gently bucked and she slid off, just to jump up and beg to go again.

“Cute, aren’t they?” Tatiana mused.

“Yeah.” I sighed and rubbed my belly. This would be Fin in a few short months. Would we have a boy, like I’d been calling him, or a girl?

Tatiana took my hand and squeezed. “Have you thought of names yet?”

“Names?” Other than Joey, I hadn’t given it much thought.

A tear trickled down my cheek as I watched Jacob and Nicole play. How could I not want this for us? Was there anything more precious?

Jacob sat crisscross while Nicole put flowers in his hair, and more tears fell. “I don’t know. Maybe something after my parents… my adoptive parents.”

“They
are
your parents, Ash,” Tatiana said quickly. “Just like we’re Nicole’s parents. It’s who raises you that matters — who loves and chooses you.”

“Desirée loves me,” I said in her defense.

“Yes,” Tatiana nodded, “but she also traded you because you weren’t a boy. That has to hurt.”

I smashed my lips together to withhold my tears. I’d cried enough over this, but it still hurt worse than I’d led on, and the rawness told me that I hadn’t gotten over it.

“I’m fine,” I croaked out.

“Don’t stuff it down,” she said softly, rubbing my back. “It’s okay to feel it.”

“I can’t fault her. It was either that or die. She didn’t have a choice, and we’ve changed those laws now.”

Tatiana nodded. “True.”

Then it hit me. It wasn’t necessarily Desirée I was hurt over, it was Phaleon — a father I’d never meet, a father that craved a son, and ended up creating a monster like Azor.

“Owww!” Jacob yelled.

I looked over to see his arm gushing blood out of two half-moon crescents.

Tatiana gasped and ran over and scooped up the child. “No, Nicole! No biting.”

“It’s okay,” Jacob said. “I’m fine.”

The child, completely uninjured, wailed loud and long, shifting into her tail and smacking Tatiana on the hip.

Tatiana tried to fuss over Jacob and get Nicole to quiet down at the same time, but he just laughed. “Like mother, like daughter, right?”

I creased my brow in confusion until I remembered that Tatchi had once told me that’s what happened when he tried to drag her from the palace against her will.

“That’s not funny.” Tatchi frowned.

“A love bite. It’ll heal.” He kissed her, then motioned to the water. “Take her in the lake and let her swim around. She’ll calm down there.”

Tatchi gave me a forlorn expression over her shoulder. “Sorry. I need to go. I’ll see you later at the party, okay?”

“Yeah.” I waved my hand. “Go. Go.”

She ran down to the dock, wrestling with Nicole the entire way, and after a soft splash, the crying ceased.

Jacob walked by me, bowing. “M’lady.”

“Stop that. Just call me Ash.”

He just smiled and continued on toward the cottage. I lifted my hands. Old habits did die hard.

Sucking in a breath, I glanced at the droplets of blood marring the concrete. For just being bitten, he sure handled it well. I didn’t know what I would have done if the same happened to me? Maybe I wasn’t ready for this parenthood thing after all.