When they surfaced in the cavern, Lana noticed what a smile Rose had and she knew that it must have been a wonderful experience for her just as it was with Lana the first time she rode on Titus’ back.
Rose saw the little mer being held by his mother and couldn’t believe how tiny he was. She especially couldn’t believe that he was already swishing his tail as though he were going to take off, just as Cole had told her. “He is so sweet Lana. He really is trying to swim on his own isn’t he?” asked Rose.
“Yeah Mom, so you better hold on tight,” Lana said as she handed little Tarrock to her.
“My what a strong little guy you are to be so young,” said her mother as she kissed his cheek.
Little Rose swam up to her grandmother and wanted her to hold her also.
“Rose, wait and let your grandmother get to visit with little Tarrock first,” said Lana.
“I can hold you,” Cole said while holding out his arms to her.
“But I want Grandma Rose to hold me,” she pouted.
“That’s alright, I’ll hold you first,” said her grandmother as she passed little Tarrock to Cole and then held Rose. She beamed a bright smile.
“You’re gonna spoil her doing that you know,” Lana laughed.
“Yes, but that’s what grandparents are for.” Smiled her mother.
Little Talei walked to the end of the ledge and also wanted Rose to hold her as she put out both of her arms.
Rose grabbed her with her other arm as she struggled to keep afloat with the two girls.
Cole shook his head and laughed at her.
“Mom, I think you better sit on the ledge,” Lana said as she and Tarra began to laugh.
“I think you’re right; these girls are getting heavy. I’ve always considered myself a pretty good swimmer, but like your father, I’m no mer.
Cole handed little Tarrock to Lana and took the girls from Rose so that she could climb onto the ledge and then he gave them back to her as they were both still wanting her attention. “Well, I guess grandpa isn’t as important anymore.” He grinned.
“I think this little guy wants his grandpa,” Lana said as she handed her son back to him. Once more, Tarrock flipped his tail back and forth and tried to get loose of Cole’s grasp.
“I don’t know, he probably wants his grandma Rose too,” he chuckled.
Makoa swam over to the pool where Micah was sitting and watching it all. “So, what have you been doing Micah? I have not seen you in a while,” Makoa asked him.
“I have been keeping pretty busy helping Cole down at the Marina. He is a good man to work for,” said Micah as he winked to Cole.
“Yeah, you better say that if you want to keep your job,” Cole chuckled.
“Well, at least you do not have Titus for a boss.” Makoa grinned to Micah and then to Cole.
“Yeah, I’d say I’m a little easier on Micah than Titus probably is on you.”
“Micah really likes working for you Cole; thank you for giving him a job.” Tarra smiled.
“Believe me; he’s been doing me a favor. I’ve had a lot of extra work and it’s been good to have his help.”
“Wow Dad, are things really that busy down at the Marina?” Lana asked.
“Well yeah; tourists are coming and going and I’ve had extra work at the lighthouse since the storm.” Cole glanced to Micah and Micah grinned and turned away.
Lana could tell that there was something that her father was keeping secret. He’s getting good at guarding his thoughts around me lately and it’s beginning to annoy me. Now she knew that Micah also must know what it is. She thought that a surprise visit to the Marina was in order as soon as she could make the trip.
~~~
It was two weeks more when Lana finally felt like she could leave little Tarrock with his grandmother Princess Cassandra.
Titus was not so sure that it was a good idea for Lana to surprise her father and Micah at the Marina; but he knew all too well that he could not talk Lana out of it. He at least escorted her to Micah’s boat.
When it seemed clear, Lana surfaced and swam to the back of the yacht and climbed up the ladder.
Titus went for a swim nearby.
Lana was surprised that no one was on the Island Traveler. In fact, it didn’t look like anyone had been on her in a while. She was mostly covered up by various tarps. Where could dad and Micah be and what are they up to?
Lana sat down on the bench along the aft of the yacht. She remembered the last time she sat there. It was on her journey back to Safe Harbor and then it made her realize how quickly the mer would be leaving for the South Pacific. This was going to be another hard goodbye. I just got used to having dad and Rose back in my life and I love little Jedediah so much. Will he even recognize me the next time we return to Safe Harbor?
Lana couldn’t help but hear her father’s laugh; she turned to see him and Micah on a ship next to her. It was a wooden schooner and she was beautiful. What are they up to and whose schooner is it? “Dad, what are you and Micah doing on that ship?” Lana called over to them.
“Ah oh, you’ve been spotted,” chuckled Micah.
“Hey Lana, what are you doing out here?” Cole asked with a smile.
“I knew you were up to something; what is it?” Lana looked with raised brows and crossed arms.
“Well, come on board and find out.” Cole waved her over.
Lana dove into the water and went to the back of the schooner where her father was standing. As she did, she couldn’t help but notice the words that were painted boldly across her stern, BONNIE ROSE. Lana smiled brightly as her father helped her up and she had tears filling her eyes, “Dad, is this your schooner?”
“Yep, how do you like her?”
“I love her; does this mean what I think it does?”
“Well if you mean, am I planning a trip to the South Pacific, then yeah. Rose and I never really had a honeymoon and I thought it best to travel while Jedediah is young and not in school...” he couldn’t say anymore for the fact that Lana had hugged him so tightly and was kissing him on his cheek.
“Dad, I can’t believe it, how wonderful! Micah, you’ve known all along haven’t you?”
“Yes, how else do you think he got her in such fine shape.” Micah grinned.
“I did decide to sell those pearls of yours and you can say that I practically stole her from her former owner with the price he was asking. I knew with a little love, she’d be ready for a long voyage.”
“Dad, this is such a dream. I can’t believe that you’re really going.” She smiled and hugged him once more.
“You better believe it; you’re not gonna have too much privacy on that Mer Island of yours. I plan to take the three of us there and try some of those sweet bananas and coconuts that you and Titus are always bragging about.” He smiled and kissed the top of her head.
Lana visited with her dad and Micah for a short while and then she could no longer contain herself and jumped in the water and swam to Titus.
Lana had such a wide grin on her face and she went and hugged Titus and kissed him deeply.
“Well hello to you too; what is the secret?”
“My dad, mom and Jedediah are all traveling with us to the South Pacific! He bought another schooner and he named her the Bonnie Rose!”
“Lana, that is wonderful news; I was dreading the journey without them. I knew how hard it would be for you to leave once more. Who will take care of the lighthouse while he is away?”
“His friend Marty; I guess it’s gonna be awhile before his insurance money comes in and dad says that this will give him an income so he won’t lose his lobster business in the meantime. Dad’s going with us for the entire time and returning to Safe Harbor in the spring. Thank you Titus; for allowing me to give my dad the pearls that used to belong to my mother and grandmother. I know my mom would’ve wanted dad to have them,” Lana said kissing Titus deeply once more.
“You are welcome; I like this, perhaps we will have a
wonderful time after all, if you keep up this excitement,” Titus chuckled as he held her tightly and gave her a lingering kiss of his own.
~~~
After the guard had sealed up the city of Torbist and the cavern once more, King Titan began to call all the mer to line up for their journey back to the South Pacific.
Cole with the Bonnie Rose, and Micah with the Island Traveler, waited further out.
Lana found it hard to decide how she would make the first part of the journey. In the end, she knew she belonged with Titus and her children. It was enough just to know that her father and his family were coming along. She knew that there would be plenty of occasions for them to get together like they had with Micah. It was going to be a real vacation after all.
As before, Titus and Makoa brought up the rear of the pod with half of the guard. They each carried their spears as before.
Lana knew that none of them took the other mer for granted anymore. They would always have to watch out for King Thaddaeus and his mer.
King Titan was certain that there would be more trouble from them one day. For now, they all hoped that they had a bitter taste of war and would not wish to repeat it.
With Lana’s father and Micah helping to keep watch above the ocean as well, Lana felt safer than ever.
~~~
After a few days of traveling, the mer stopped in the open waters and all gathered and visited with Cole and his family as well as Micah.
Little Rose loved playing with Talei and Jedediah. Landon, Laken, Victoria and Kristina played with them also.
Uly had fun teasing the little mermaids and they thought that he was so funny.
Tempest gave rides to all of the children.
Lana visited with her mother and father; Micah joined them on the schooner.
Titus took care of little Tarrock while he visited with Tristan and Makoa.
Sirene visited with Tarra as they two sat on the bench along the aft of the yacht right next to the schooner. “So Sirene, you do not have too long to wait and you and Tristan will have a little one of your own,” said Tarra.
“Yes, we are so excited. We know that we will have our baby mer with us the next time we travel back to the Atlantic.”
“I plan to have my next one after we return to Torbist,” Tarra said as she smiled brightly to Sirene.
“Princess Tarra, are you with child?”
“Yes, but I have not had a chance to tell Micah. He has been so busy. I want to wait until we reach the grotto.”
“That is wonderful and I am glad that he cannot read our thoughts,” Sirene giggled.
“Yes, there is some advantage to that,” Tarra giggled also.
Rose made a nice lobster bisque with corn muffins and Lana was so glad to have her on the trip. “Thanks Mom, I love your meals,” she said as she buttered her muffin.
“You’re welcome, I love cooking; only I never had a family to cook for before I married your dad. He really decked out the galley for me.” Rose smiled to him.
“You deserve the best babe!” He kissed her.
“Anyone who can cook this well does deserve a Chef’s galley,” said Micah.
“I don’t think I ever really thanked you Micah. I know that Cole might not have been able to complete it all in time if it wasn’t for your help,” said Rose.
“You are welcome; it was fun and it gave me a fulfilling purpose.”
“You’ll have purpose enough just trying to help guard the mer; trust me, it isn’t easy,” chuckled Cole.
“We do try and keep a low profile.” Makoa smiled as he swam up to the schooner.
“Yeah, well for nearly an entire summer, your head guardsman hung out at my dock every day,” Cole chuckled once more.
“When you have a daughter that looks like that; who could blame me. And by the way, it paid off.” Titus smiled brightly as he came and reached up, handing little Tarrock to Lana while giving her a kiss.
“Yeah, yeah, but you put a lot of new grey hairs on my head doing it,” said Cole while shaking his head with a grin.
“I told you that you got older,” said Makoa with a half grin.
“Just wait till you have a daughter that comes of age Prince Makoa; then you’ll understand,” said Cole.
“That will be many winters from now; first I have to find a suitable mate.” Makoa smiled to Lana.
She tried to ignore his implications of her daughter Rose.
“Who would ever want a guy like you?” Titus teased as he jumped on top of Makoa taking him under the water and splashing everyone on the schooner.
Tristan could not stand to just watch and he dove down and wrestled with the two of them and then all three came up laughing.
Micah could take it no longer and he too jumped in with the mermen.
Then Cole, feeling his old self coming back to life, jumped in too.
All of them began to play a game with a large conch shell much like humans play football. Cole had played it with Titus and Makoa before and they taught it to Tristan and Micah.
It wasn’t long and many of the other mermen also joined in and all of the mermaids cheered on their mate or intended.
Rose and Lana cheered from the schooner and Sirene and Tarra cheered from the yacht where the mermen had moved it further out to make two equal boundaries.
“Do you think that your father will be alright? They look like they’re playing a little rough.” Smiled Rose.
“I think he’ll be fine; they all know to be careful with him and Micah, but at least they’re in the water.” Lana grinned.
“Yes, I guess I can be thankful for that.”
~~~
Cole had been a good teacher; Micah learned how to sail his yacht while at Safe Harbor. Now the two of them enjoyed a little friendly competition as they raced their boats side by side. Cole was able to follow the mer by reading their thoughts and kept them on course. He loved being in the open sea again.
That next week, Rose had asked Titus to find her some crabs. She had a stuffing recipe that she wanted to try.
Lana left little Tarrock with Princess Cassandra and she took her daughter along, of course Tempest was her taxi. Makoa joined them as they all began to fill their net bags.
Lana had Tempest stay close beside her with Rose while Titus and Makoa ventured further out.
Suddenly, Lana noticed that a school of blue marlin was swimming quickly past her.
Titus and Makoa swam to her. “Something is frightening the fish. Where is Tempest and Rose?” Titus asked with concern.
“He was just here!” Lana cried as she frantically looked all around.
“I will go!” Makoa said as he quickly dropped his net bag of crabs and swam off in the direction of the fish.
Both Titus and Lana heard the sound of a large ship’s engine and looked up to see a cruise ship passing far above them.
Makoa swam back with Rose in his arms and Tempest was following cautiously behind. “She is fine.” Makoa smiled.
“Tempest went fast Mommy!” Rose said to Lana.
“Yeah, I bet he did.” Lana smiled with relief to Titus and he just smiled and shook his head. They both realized that they would have to be more watchful in the future.
They all began to swim back with the crabs and before they knew it, King Thaddaeus and two of his guardsmen were swimming up to them.
Lana saw that their King wore an ornate golden crown and the two guards wore the golden circle. One of the guards was dark haired and Lana sensed that Titus was angry that he and their King had seen her.
“Makoa, take them to Cole quickly!” Titus said as he gripped his spear with both his hands.
Makoa gave a quick bow of his head, dropped his bag with the crabs, and grabbed Lana and placed her on his back while holding Rose in his other arm and quickly swam away, Tempest sped off with them.
Titus stayed and held firm to his spear; he was not sure why they had come, but he would do anything to protect his mate and little daughter.
; Lana was afraid for Titus as they were leaving him behind. Soon they passed King Titan and some of his guard heading towards Titus; they must have sensed the others’ presence, Lana thought.
Makoa gave a quick bow of his head to King Titan and then swam on and went right up to the Bonnie Rose where Cole quickly met them.
“I must return to Prince Titus; Ahanu is now head of the guard for King Thaddaeus,” said Makoa coldly and then he quickly dove below.
LEGEND OF THE MER Page 25