Falling in Deep Collection Box Set

by Pauline Creeden

  She stared at me intently. “You aren’t going to like what I have to ask?”

  “Well, I didn’t like being called back here, either. I especially didn’t like worrying that my husband might be dead or finding he was kidnapped.”

  “I apologize for the drastic way I went about getting your attention. I needed to be sure you would come.”

  “Then you were right to do what you did. I wouldn’t have come otherwise. I have no need to be here, Diana. I never wanted to come back, so I hope you don’t think that I’m enjoying any of this.”

  “I understand,” she said as the tears began again.

  I knew her well enough to realize that tears twice in an hour were not something she faked. Something was truly bothering her, but that didn’t make me more likely to help.

  “Laura, we suffered a horrible fate five years after you left.”

  I interrupted her at this point. “After you made me leave.”

  “Yes, after you were told to leave. The entire tribe suffered from a horrible illness. Other tribes faced it as well, but not the the extent that we did.”

  “I’m sorry for that. But I still don’t see the connection.”

  “Well, the illness left us unable to procreate. None of the mer of breeding at age at the time of the illness are able to conceive now.”

  “What does that mean for you? There haven’t been children born in ten years?”

  “There have been babies, but we count on the new breeding mer and they are young. Many of them are not conceiving either, and some are conceiving too young and not making it through the birthing process.”

  I knew enough to understand that no mer babies meant no tribe in the future. And while Lunarians would mate with mer from other tribes, they always had female children. That kept the gender-specific tribe continuing. Mer from all male tribes had to procreate with mermaids from mixed tribes with the idea that any female offspring stayed with their mothers and males went with their fathers. It was a complex system, and sometimes it made it difficult to find a merman willing to procreate with a Lunarian. He immediately knew she would have a female child. He also knew the child would add to her tribe and not his own. At other times Lunarians were lucky enough to find mer who merely wanted a night of fun and had no concern about adding to his tribe.

  While I understood the issue, I didn’t see how I could help.

  “What do you need from me then?” I asked with honest confusion.

  Diana opened her mouth to speak, but the words didn’t come. She tried again, and stuttered just a bit before saying, “I need, well, I need you to have a baby, Laura.”

  “Me? You want me to have a baby?” Shock showed in my face and sounded in my voice.

  “Yes, you. You’re old enough and the only one who wasn’t hit by the illness. You’re healthy enough to have a baby.”

  “But, I can’t have a baby. My husband is a human, and you know that won’t work.”

  “I didn’t mean a human baby. I need you to have a Lunarian.”

  Thirteen

  I sat on a large rock in the corner of the cave. The polished stone glowed silver in the small patch of sunlight that made it through the ocean and into Diana’s den.

  “I’m not sure I heard you correctly. What did you say?” I asked.

  “I need you to have a Lunarian baby in order to keep our tribe alive. Without this, we will die out in the next fifty years, sooner if we face a war or another damaging ailment.”

  “How is one baby going to help you, Diana? I truly don’t understand.”

  She apparently knew I’d need some patience and was prepared to offer it.

  “It wouldn’t be one baby. It would be one right now.”

  She swam to me and took my hands in hers in an act of solidarity or maybe concern.

  “You always wanted children, Laura. Has that changed since you took to a human form?”

  Her words made me flinch. Of course it hadn’t changed, but my expectations had. I knew I couldn’t have a human baby, and since I had no want to be mer, I resolved to not being a mother at all.

  But rather than explain that to her and the tears and time it had taken to settle with that outcome, I shot back instead. “That isn’t your concern. It never was now that I think about it.”

  “It may not be, but let me explain what I’d like you to do anyway.”

  “If it means I can take my husband home, please do.”

  “I need you to conceive before you leave here with Tom. Then you can give birth on land and raise your daughter as you’d like. And when you’re ready, you can conceive again. We can do that as many times as you are willing or able.”

  “And what about Tom? How do I explain that I’m not having his children and that our daughters may one day need to return to the ocean and their tribe?”

  “He already knows you’re mer, doesn’t he? That makes the rest even easier.”

  “He does, but that doesn’t mean he’ll want to hand over his daughter.”

  “What if I said he may not have to do that? I only ask that you tell your daughter she is mer, which you’d have to do anyway, and bring her to us to learn about her tribe one week a year when she turns 12 years old.”

  The idea became a bit more palatable as she explained. But I had no idea why I’d consider it. The tribe hadn’t been my tribe for years. I wasn’t going to gain from this at all. Or was I?

  If I went through with Diana’s plan, I would have a child. Tom and I would be able to raise a child, maybe more than one. That was something we both wanted and had talked about repeatedly. Maybe this was the answer.

  “And who have you chosen for me to conceive with, Diana? I’m sure you wouldn’t leave that to chance.”

  “No, I wouldn’t. Korian, you’ll remember him from the Vernuvian tribe, has extended his services to other of our young mer. We know he offers strong genetic material and has a high conception rate.”

  “How very scientific of you, Diana.”

  “Well, there is no use in procreating if it will not end in strong mer.”

  She moved to her desk made from barnacle-covered boards and sat for a moment.

  “I understand if you need time, Laura. You should consider your options, but I can tell you, Tom isn’t leaving without your participation. You can face your future together with your husband and beautiful daughter, maybe more, or you can go home alone. Take your time and make your choice.”

  With that, she dismissed me.

  I swam away from her chambers, taking time to look around my old home. The light and sounds remained the same. The sand felt cool and coarse. The water flowed past me carrying a small fish or two in its current.

  I sat alone for a long time.

  Diana had given me a chance to have and raise a child. Tom would need to know what happened, of course. Or would he? Would he ever need to accept that the child was not his own? I’d not yet told him about the inter-species conception issue, so he’d naturally assume I was pregnant with his baby. Then, when she was mer, he’d know it was because of me and he wouldn’t ask questions. And when I explained that she should go spend time with my tribe so she could learn about mer life, we’d have a discussion, but I was confident he would understand. We’d send her to the ocean for a week the way other parents sent their children to camp in the country. I’d go with her, maybe even stay to ensure she was fine, but it wouldn’t be odd.

  I suddenly realized I was actually considering Diana’s proposal.

  Part of me knew I should do whatever Diana wanted. She wouldn’t let me take Tom back to land otherwise. And since I wasn’t leaving without my husband, I supposed I was leaving with a baby. Yet another decision was quickly made without as much thought as people give to the options of chocolate or vanilla ice cream.

  Now I had to tell Diana.

  Fourteen

  I swam back to her den hoping she would still be alone. She was, and yet again she looked every minute of her almost 200 years.

  “A d
ecision so fast?” she asked as I approached her.

  Resolved to do what was necessary, I waited what would have been one deep breath had I been on land, and answered, “Yes, I’ve decided. I’ll do what you want me to, Diana. I’ll do it for Tom. But don’t for a second think I’m doing it for you.”

  “We both know you’re doing it for yourself. You can’t have children any other way, and I’m offering you a perfect opportunity in this. But if you want to claim it is for your husband, fine by me.”

  “So, what happens now?”

  “You know exactly what happens now,” she said lewdly.

  We didn’t speak as she swam with me a beach. There was nothing more to talk about. She was finally getting me to sell myself for her benefit. I only hope it upset her that while I would not do it for her love years ago, I was willing to do it for Tom’s love. However, knowing her narcissism had no bounds, I doubted she saw the correlation between the two situations.

  As she climbed ashore, I followed. We moved beyond the rocky shoal to the beach where our tails disappeared. The sand clung to my legs. The collection of shells decorating the beach drew my eyes from point to point, and small crabs scattered as we made our way across the sand.

  Further down the beach, a mer I suspected to be Korian sat next to a large piece of driftwood. He stood when he spotted us. His large frame loomed over me and he reached out his hand to take mine. His dark hair hung in his eyes and we whisked it out of the way. I could see his long-lashed amber eyes better then. He was gorgeous, but he wasn’t my Tom.

  “Laura? It’s nice to meet you,” he said in a deep but quiet voice.

  “Korian.” I smiled up at him awkwardly, not knowing how to act with a mer I just met and with was about to sleep with.

  “Great, you know each other now,” Diana said. “Feel free to get started.”

  “Here? With you here?” I wasn’t a prude, but it seemed unnecessary that we be watched like some medieval king and queen.

  “I need to be sure you do what I’ve asked of you, Laura. And I’d hate to think that you might try to lie to me.”

  And that is how I ended up rolling around in the sand with a lovely, coffee-brown mer from the Vernuvian tribe. While I thoroughly enjoyed the physical experience, guilt crushed me immediately after wards. I could only hope the joy Tom felt at having a daughter would be enough to quell the deepening feeling.

  However, first I needed to ensure that I actually conceived. Luckily, with mer it was obvious within hours of conception as our scales changed hue, lightening from their original shade. So Korian and I sat on the beach, flush from our love making which was far nicer than I’d anticipated. Diana had the decency to send for food, and we passed time talking and eating.

  “I know the Lunarians fought a horrible illness a few years back, what makes you an eligible breeder after that,” Korian asked pulling no punches. He was blunt, but kind, and any child of his would be strong and beautiful.

  “I’ve been away,” I said. I felt I should offer more of an explanation, but it seemed foolish to drag him into my past.

  “Away? Very mysterious. But you didn’t get sick?”

  “No, I’m perfectly healthy. I’ve been gone a long time. I didn’t even know about the illness until today. But I’m doing my part. And you? What’s your story?” I asked, prodding more than I intended.

  “My story. Well, my story is that I’m a strong mer who isn’t interested in raising a child, but who is willing to help someone else conceive one. That’s all.” He smiled slowly and took a bite of his lunch. I could see his lazy but brilliant grin on my daughter already.

  Then Diana jumped to her feet, clapping and shouting. “It worked. Look, Laura, look at your scales. It worked.” She ran to Korian and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek quickly. She ran to the water’s edge where I sat half submerged next. She climbed into the tidal pool and looked closely at my scales. They were a luminous turquoise rather than their usual vivid, deep blue.

  She was right. I was pregnant.

  Korian finished his lunch, shook my hand again, and said good bye. Diving back into the sea, he swam away as if he had just met me while in line at the bank rather than having impregnated me on a small beach in the midst of the Atlantic.

  Diana’s excitement echoed over the waves. If her tears hadn’t reflected her actual concern, her elation did. Joy spread across her entire body and years melted from her face.

  It was at that point I realized I was smiling, too. The guilt had already begun to wash away, and I felt overcome with the idea of having a daughter. What had been anger and annoyance turned to confusion, and the confusion to guilt. But it all cleared and I considered my daughter’s name and eyes, the color of her hair and her height. I wondered about the color of her tail and the classes that would interest her in school. I contemplated whether she would choose to live on land or in the sea, and how she would react when she learned not all women had tails.

  Oddly enough, there were things I didn’t think about. I didn’t bother to worry about what Tom would say. He wanted children and I found a way to give him at least one. If he questioned the how of the situation, he wouldn’t question the why.

  As I sat in the tide, admiring my scales, I realized Diana may have finally gotten me to do as she wanted, but I did as I wanted, too. And while she planned for the Coast Guard to find Tom and sweep him to safety, I would be swimming home. I’d be in the bar tomorrow, and I’d have news to share with Tom when he returned. And finally, we’d be celebrating a baptism of our own in The Mermaid’s Den in mere months.

  Epilogue

  Three years later

  Tom watched the grill as our daughters Megan and Allison played in the yard of our new home across the street from The Mermaid’s Den. We moved into the house as soon as Megan was born, and the five bedrooms were in danger of filling up quickly considering I was three month pregnant with our third daughter. Tom had asked no questions when I suddenly showed up pregnant after so many years, but reveled in the births of our girls. It was still years from when they would need to visit the Lunarians during their summers, so that wasn’t something I’d brought up to my husband yet.

  Instead, I watched him enjoy our daughters as our family and friends celebrated our growing brood. Life was good, and I expected it would continue that way. How could it not when I finally had a fond memories of the sea and land to mix in my mind?

  About the Author

  An avid believer of saying “YES”, Ella Malone works to make the most of life in every way. She is a lover of all wonderful things: cherry blossoms, red lipstick, city skylines, snow covered countrysides, the finest chocolate, a man’s hands, a woman’s back, vodka, and high heels. She has worked in public relations, advertising, and restaurants and recently decided to make her way doing what she loves, capturing the passionate moments of life on a page.

  Keep in touch with Ella online:

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  How to be a Mermaid by Erin Hayes

  All Tara ever wanted was to be a mermaid.

  So she takes a year off between high school and college to don a fake tail and tour aquariums across the country in a professional mermaid troupe.

  Everything’s great until she meets a gorgeous real-life merman named Finn. Suddenly, what she thought was a dream turns out to be a nightmare — she’s turning into a mermaid herself. For real.

  Yet when she returns to the sea to seek out Finn and reverse her transformation, she finds herself in the middle of an impending war between the land and sea. Tara may have always wanted to be a mermaid, but now it’s sink or swim. In order to survive, she has to learn how to be one, too.

  Chapter 1

  Anyone who ever bragged about being a good public speaker never had to do it in front of more than thirty kids and their parents while wearing a bikini top and a mermaid tail.

  I’d spent the night before in our hotel room prepari
ng my answers, and I still wasn’t ready. I was sitting on a chair in the rotunda of the Houston Aquarium, looking out into a sea of faces and I’d never felt more self-conscious in my life. My friend and fellow mermaid, Christine, stood to my right, a little bit behind me with a few volunteers and ushers from the aquarium to help out.

  Every single eye was on me, and a barrage of questions came at me from all directions. I’ve performed our water ballet many times before, although this was the first time I was face-to-face with a crowd. I was a dancer, not a spokesperson.

  As a result, my first meet and greet as a professional mermaid was receiving a lot of scrutiny from a bunch of kids under the age of eight.

  “How are you on land?”

  “Do you swim with whales?”

  “Why isn’t your hair red like Ariel’s?”

  “How old are you?”

  “How did you become a mermaid?”

  My answers didn’t make much sense because my nerves were getting the best of me. Throw me in the water, and I can make you believe that mermaids are real. Expect me to entertain a bunch of kids like this, and I drown.

  “I was carried here by my helpers, that’s how I’m on land. Sometimes I swim with Beluga whales… I have dark hair, while Ariel dyes hers. I just turned eighteen, and I’ve wanted to be a mermaid since I was a little girl…”

  My voice trailed off as I realized that my last answer gave too much away, by nearly admitting that we weren’t real mermaids. Christine shot me a concerned look, like I’d raised the curtain too much and these kids would be able to see behind it.

  “What Mermaid Tara means is, she’s so glad to be a mermaid,” Christine said with a warm smile. She was a bit older than me, in her early thirties, and she was a good mentor for my first two months on the job.

  The kids seemed to take her at her word, and my secret that I’d had a normal human childhood was safe.