The little Mermaid and her prince

Chapter 23

Ariel and Eric swim over to the gift table. Ariel starts to open one gift. Ariel gasps as she opens it. It was a baby rattle. It had a sea shell on the top of it. "Oh Eric this is perfect for the baby." Ariel says as she sheds a tear. "Thank you." She tells the crowd. "Ooh. Ariel open ours next." Arista says as she hands it to her. Ariel smiles and takes it from her. Eric opens it this time. He pulls out a beautiful mobile for the baby's crib. Ariel gasps. "Oh my goodness. Arista! It's beautiful!" Ariel says as she starts to tear up.

It was a beautiful mobile with different kinds of sea creatures and sea shells. Eric was impressed as well. Eric knew they were making something but he wasn't sure exactly what they were making. "We all helped make it." Attina says to her sister. Ariel continues to cry. "Oh girls. It's beautiful! I love how even Sebastian and flounder are on here. Now my baby can see my two best friends." Ariel puts the mobile down and goes to hug her sisters. "Oh you guys are the best sisters ever!" Ariel says as they pull out of their hug. "Well you are a pretty good sister yourself." Attina says as she wipes Ariel's tears away.

Ariel smiles and goes back over to her husband. Ariel and Eric continue to open gifts until they got to the end. Ariel and Eric smiles at the crowd. "Thank you everyone for the gifts. They are all wonderful." Eric says. Ariel nods. King Triton then takes the floor. "Alright everyone. Let's have some cake." King Triton says. The mer people bring out the seaweed cake. Eric looks at the cake with curiosity. Ariel noticed this. "Ariel?" Eric asked. "Yes darling?" Eric continues to look at the cake. "Ariel what kind of cake is this?" He asked as he gets a piece. Ariel smiles. "It's seaweed cake." Ariel replied.

Eric scowls at the cake. "Seaweed cake?" He asked. "Yeah it's better than it sounds." Ariel replied. Eric still wasn't sure about eating it. Ariel looks into his eyes. "Trust me." She says with a smile. Eric then takes a bite. Eric likes it at first but then had a terrible after taste in his mouth. Eric make a disgusted face. Ariel looks over at him. "Well it's better than I thought it would be but I don't think this cake is for me." Eric says politely as he hands the cake to her. Ariel smiles sweetly. "That's ok. I guess you have to like seaweed in order to like it." Ariel says as she takes the cake from him and starts to eat it. Eric laughs. "It's all yours darling." Eric says. Ariel smiles and eats it.

Ariel soon was getting full and getting tired. Ariel yawns. Eric noticed this. Eric swims over to King Triton. "Sir. Thank you so much for the lovely party, but Ariel is getting tired and I think it's best if we head home." Eric said respectfully. King Triton looks at his daughter. Ariel was about to fall asleep. King Triton laughs. "Of course Eric. Let us say goodbye and you can go back home and rest." Triton says as he swims over to his daughter. Ariel smiles. "Hi daddy!" She says as she yawns again. "Hi Ariel. You are very tired. You need to go back home and rest." King Triton replied. Ariel looked concerned ."But what about the party?" She asked.

King Triton looks her in the eyes. "Sweetheart, we have all had a wonderful time but we understand that you need more rest than you normally do." King Triton says. "Are you sure Daddy?" Ariel asked. Triton caresses her cheek. "Yes sweetheart. You need to get some rest." Triton says as he hugs her and kisses her cheek. Ariel smiles. Ariel is then greeted by her sisters again. "We love you Ariel." The sisters say as they hug their sister. Ariel smiles. "I love you too girls." She says as they hug each other. Everyone else said their goodbyes and Eric helped Ariel to the dolphin chariot. King Triton they goes and gets something.

Ariel and Eric were about to head back to the shore. "Wait!" King Triton says. He swims right over to the couple. Ariel and Eric were already seated in the chariot. Triton gives Ariel a music box. "Here Ariel. I want you to have this." Triton said as he hands her a small box. Ariel gasps. "Oh Daddy! Is this what I think it is?" She asks. Triton nods. "It's your mother's music box." Triton says. Ariel gasps as she takes it from her father. "But Daddy, You love this music box. It's the only thing you have left of Mom." Ariel replied.

"Yes but I think you need it the most right. You are going to be a mother soon too and I think you should have a piece of your mother with you to help guide you." Triton says. Ariel jumps and hugs her father tightly. "Thank you Daddy I think our child is going to love it." Ariel says as she kisses him on the cheek. King Triton nods. Ariel then sits back down next to Eric. Triton then looks to Eric. "Thank you Eric, for taking such good care of my little girl. Please continue to take great care of her." Triton says as he puts a hand on his shoulder.

Eric smiles. "Sir. That is my biggest pleasure and highest honor to take care of her." Eric says as he shakes his hand. Triton nods. Ariel then smiles and leans against Eric's shoulder and starts to nod off. Eric sees this. "Sir, I think we better go." Eric says. Triton nods. Then Sebastian pulls the reigns on the dolphins. Ariel waves to everyone. "Bye everyone. Bye Daddy!" She says as they head to the shore. Soon they reached the surface. Max was sitting there waiting for them.

Eric helps Ariel out of the chariot. Ariel was falling asleep fast. Sebastian waved goodbye and took the dolphins back to the ocean. Ariel started to stumble as she walked with Eric. Max starts to bark and runs up to the young couple. "Hi Max! Why don't you meet us in the bedroom? Alright boy?" Eric asked. Max barked happily and ran inside. Ariel was now asleep and started falling towards the ground. Eric quickly catches her. "Gotcha." Eric says as he caught her. He then picks her up and carries her into the palace.

Grimsby walks by as Eric walks in with Ariel in his arms. "Oh welcome back Prince Eric. Oh my goodness what happened to Ariel?" Grimsby asked. "Oh she just got wore out is all. I'm taking her up to bed now." Eric replied. Grimsby nods. "Ah. I understand. Well let me know if you or Ariel need anything." Grimsby says. "I will. Thanks Grimsby." Eric says as he walks up the stairs. Eric finally made it to their room and finds Carlotta in the room. She looks at him as he entered the room. "Oh Hello Prince Eric. I just made the bed and don't worry I left the extra blankets and pillows on there for Ariel." Carlotta says. "Thank you Carlotta. I really appreciate it." Eric says as he takes Ariel to the bed. "Oh my goodness. Let's get that poor child to bed." Carlotta says as she pulls back some of the covers.

Eric walks over and tucks her into the covers. Max then jumps up on the bed and lays down next to Ariel. "Thank you Carlotta. I really appreciate it." Eric says. "Oh you are very welcome. Now you be sure to holler if you need anything alright?" Carlotta asked as she starts to leave. Eric nods. "I will. Thanks." Eric says. He looks at Ariel. She was completely passed out. Eric then gets into the bed with his wife and dog. He then pulled Ariel and Max close. Then he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.