Page 9 of Interlude

My father was an asshole. I’m not sorry he’s dead, Nikos says without looking at me, so I grab his chin and make him.

Hey, it’s okay not to be sad. Can’t say I am either, and if Cronus hadn’t killed him, I would have done it myself, or Cas or Xavier. Nobody treats our can of tuna like that, I tell him, smiling, and he rolls his eyes, but he cheers up slightly. What is a phadoll or a jimble gem?

He said both of these things earlier, and I have no idea what he meant, but I want to know so much more about him than I do now, and it’s a great way to start.

Those are jimble gems, he says pointing to the gorgeous, brightly colored stones in the cavern of the walls. Well, that’s certainly my favorite of all of his names. As for a phadoll, you met one. Sweetpea is a phadoll.

He’s talking about his turtle seal cross creature that my kids have had so much fun chasing around the tank. We left her back on Aquilia at Nikos’s request. He said with the new babies coming and moving into our suite that she would be better off with his sister.

Are you sure you’re okay with moving into our home once these babies are born? I ask him, putting my hand over his bump again. I smile when I get kicked. I was told you didn’t socialize with the crew very often. Are you not comfortable on two feet?

It makes me so happy that you want me to be a part of your family. I will probably have to come for a swim every day, but I am just as comfortable without a tail as I am with one. Despite my father’s prejudice, a lot of mers had dry homes below the ocean and spent a lot of time without fins. My rooms in the castle were like that, and so were mother’s and Nixie’s. It ensured we didn’t need to spend much time with Father because he abhorred legs, said it was a sign of weakness.

Well, as long as you’re comfortable. We have a pool in our room now, but I’m not sure it’s going to be big enough for five krakens and three mers to regularly take swims, let alone Tirrian’s water dragon. I think about the size of the dragon I saw back on Fluxx, and I’m pretty sure it’s even bigger than my kraken. We’ll probably all need to make use of this pool. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that there isn’t going to be a mer show anymore.

This gets a reaction out of him, and he flicks his tail and swims upright. There won’t be? Why not?

Well, with the fallout on Aquilia, your mother wasn’t willing to commit to sending any new merpeople yet, and we’re going to have the babies. Once Grandma Lili is rescued, I am going to arrange for auditions. My grandpas told me it’s part of my job now.

That isn’t right. I will speak to my mother as soon as the babies come. It’s advantageous for the Aquilians to have an act in the circus. It shows the galaxy we aren’t as secular as they believe we are. It definitely helped my father, not that he would ever admit it.

That’s fine, but I’m still going to audition more performers just in case. It won’t hurt to have a couple of new acts as a draw, especially because I don’t know what’s going to happen with the Vilaxians either. We have to go to Vilux and sort out Saxon’s clan dissolution as well. I don’t think his brother and his two clan mates were willing to join the circus permanently. It was just as a favor for the queen.

My poor little coolmy, you sound like you are going to be very busy. He sounds sad and wears a pout with puppy dog eyes.

Don’t worry, I will make sure to see you every day, I promise him, and as much as I’d like to stay and cuddle, I need some sleep. We’re busting my grandma out tomorrow.

Yes, Link told me you found her. That is wonderful. I am so happy for the Adams brothers. Make sure you are safe and come back to us. I don’t think it will be long before our babies are here, he warns.

How will you know when they are ready?

I will get contractions just like a normal pregnancy. Link has left a communicator in the bottom of our house so I can let him know as soon as it happens.

Okay, good. I flick my tail and give him a kiss. He looks surprised, and I realize we really haven’t done much kissing. I can’t give him an open-mouthed kiss in the water, so instead, I press my lips to his and kiss him a little more forcefully before pulling away.

I can’t wait for you to get your legs back so I can kiss you properly, I tell him. Now be a good boy for me and get some rest. I’ll check on you when we return.

He still looks surprised, but a grin creeps across his face as I swim away. I feel a sense of relief that Nikos and I have started sorting everything out. It’s one less thing to worry about, though there is still the matter that we’re going to be parents any day now. Grandma first, new babies second. Shit, I didn’t ask how old they will be and how rapidly they will develop. We will need more clothes and beds and everything. Hopefully we can source these. I might give that job to Echo, since he’s already doing it for his babies. It’s not like Nik can do it underwater.

Seriously, how did my life become this? I’m not upset, but it’s a lot, and sometimes a girl just needs five minutes to breathe and down a couple of shots of tequila.

I allow the change to wash over me once I get to the surface, where I grab a towel out of the basket kept near the elevator and dry off before putting my clothes on again. I take it with me to throw in the laundry basket at home. It’s getting pretty full now that there isn’t any crew to do the washing, so I’ll probably have to ask someone where the ship laundry is and do a few loads. Then again, maybe I’ll just ask Xavier to show me how to use our warlock powers to clean everything with magic. God, I love magic.

When I return to our family suite, I find Link, Cas, and Xavier sitting around having a drink.

“Hi, how did it go with Nikos?” Link jumps up and hurries over to our fridge, grabbing a bottle of rilaxious before returning and dragging me to the couch to join them. He pops the top and hands it to me.

I take a long drink before sighing and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Thanks, I needed that,” I tell him, even though I have a craving for a Jack and Coke. Hmm, I wonder why? “Nikos is good. He looks so much better, and we were able to have a little chat about a few things.”

“Hmm, I believe chatting was not all you did, phoeall.” Xavier has an annoying little smirk on his lips.

“It’s rude to read other people’s emotions without permission, or that’s what you keep telling me.” I glare at him, and he shrugs.

“But we are one now. Your feelings are my feelings, my beautiful intimate,” he says without shame.

I huff. “No, you’re right, I bit him so the mating wasn’t one-sided,” I tell them, waiting for their reactions, but none of them show any sign of distress.

“We had no doubt, sweetheart,” Cas says, swinging an arm around my shoulders and tucking me in closer to him.

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