Words could not begin to describe the surprise and utter joy Beth felt when she first laid eyes on that precious baby girl. She couldn't believe it, her brother had a baby. He was a father, and that made her an aunt.
"Hello...Carol-Anne." Beth leaned in to get a closer look and waved slowly to her new niece. The tiny girl looked at her curiously and then reached out a tiny hand to grab her finger. Just with her parents, her aunt fell in love at first sight.
"She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." Beth said.
Carol-Anne started to wriggle and stretch, exposing her little legs and feet.
"Hey, no fins?" Beth observed confused.
"Well since Alastor is human and I took a potion that allows me to grow legs, she ended up looking very human." Charlie explained. "But she can breathe underwater and we think she'll start sprouting a tail when puberty hits. It's only a theory though. After all, she's the very first half human, half mermaid ever born."
"You big jerk." She lightly punching Alastor. "How could you not tell me that you were having a baby?"
"This is my way of telling you." Alastor answered. "Besides, once Charlie became pregnant we had to be extremely cautious and careful. This was the first time a mermaid had ever carried a half human child."
"I spent most of the pregnancy on land." Charlie explained. "There was an island just above where my father's kingdom lay and there Alastor had built a small house for himself to do his radio broadcast and to take a break from living under water. I could be more leisure on the island than in the sea."
"When was she born?"
"Three weeks ago."
"What was it like?"
For a moment, Charlie trembled and went pale.
"A nightmare. I don't think I had ever felt anything so painful in my life. It felt like something was ripping me in half from the inside. I don't know how my mother could have gone through all that seven times."
"Was there a doctor or midwife?"
"We couldn't risk bringing one of them into this." Alastor said. "What would they say if our child came out with fins and a tail?"
"So it was just Alastor and my mother coaching us from the shore."
"Wouldn't it have been easier to have it underwater?"
"Maybe but I wanted the sun and the sky to be the first thing my baby saw." She said kissing her daughter tenderly provoking a pleased coo from her. "And I didn't my screams to be the first thing she heard. I wanted her to hear me laugh. I wanted to know how happy I was that she was coming. So I laughed."
"And I laughed." Alastor said. "Even when Charlie was gripping my arm so hard that she could have broken it if she twisted."
He showed Beth the half-healed bruise on his wrist.
"Oh God! You really were in a lot of pain!" Beth gasped.
"Again, sorry dear." Charlie said. "I really tried not to squeeze so hard, but it was my first time having a baby."
"I know, I know, and I did give you full permission to squeeze as hard as you needed to. And in the end, it was all worth it."
He leaned over to kiss Carol-Anne's soft, little, head. She cooed and reached out to her father who carefully switched took her from her mother.
"So what did your family say about all this?" Beth asked Charlie. "About you and Alastor? And the baby?"
"Well when we first arrived, I was scared to see Dad because I was so sure that he was going to explode into a tsunami. But the very first thing he did was hug me and tell me how glad he was that I was alright. Then he did something I thought he'd never do, he apologized. He said he was sorry for losing his temper and forcing me to go against my beliefs. He just wanted to do what was best for me. Then I told him I was sorry for running away and that I never meant to hurt him."
"Then she introduced me as her husband and mate." Alastor added. "And well he got angry and threatened to throw me into an endless whirlpool."
"But Mom spoke up and insisted that he control his temper and listen to me. I told him the whole story of how we fell in love and how he risked his life to save me and how he had been willing to give up everything to be with me. And my sisters backed me up. But what really got him to finally consider my views was when I told him about Celeste. It was the first time I had ever seen my father cry, he told me that deep down he had always blamed himself for what happened to her. That he thought if he had been more strict, she wouldn't have met Prince Arthur and went to the sea witch for the potion. But I assured him that no one was at fault for what happened to her and that she was still here. He finally agreed to let go of his hatred toward humans."
"And he blessed your marriage?"
"Not quite." Alastor said. "His majesty still had reservations about me and he wanted to put me to a test. He wanted Charlie to remain in the sea fir an indefinite amount of time and if I would still remain faithful and devoted through all that, we'd have his blessing."
"I thought it was unreasonable." Charlie said.
"Me too but I accepted the challenge and I found that I didn't mind it all. With my wife, I could breathe underwater and we could also travel anywhere in the world by ocean."
"So that's how you were able to get all that information for your radio show." Beth deduced.
"After two years he finally gave his blessing and Charlie had permission to go back to the surface world if she wanted to. But then she became pregnant and again, we had to be careful."
"But we made plans to visit you and everyone else in Chant de le Mer as soon as the baby was born." Charlie said.
"Does that mean you're here to stay?" Beth asked hopefully.
"Sort of. We worked out a compromise. During the Summer and Winter, we'll stay here on the land with Alastor's family. And during the Spring and Fall, we'll stay in the sea with my family."
"Works for me." Beth said.
"Now that being said, I should probably growing legs any minute." Charlie lifted her tail up on to the rock. "Honey could you hand me something to wear?"
"Of course sweetheart."
Alastor handed Carol-Anne to her mother and pulled the suitcase Rosie had given them from the water. Opening it up, he grabbed simple, pink, sun-dress, and some undergarments which he over to his wife. She slipped them on when her tail started to transform into legs and he helped her off the rocks so that she would get wet again.
As soon as her feet touched the warm sand, the ocean surface started to bubble and the water parted to make room for a powerful and regal-looking merman and his beautiful and equally, regal-looking wife as they were lifted up by a wave. Both of them bore a strong resemblance to Charlie so she knew right away who they were.
Lucifer and Lilith, her parents.
They smiled at Charlie lovingly, she smiled to them in the same manner. She was so grateful that they had allowed her to follow her heart's desire and to accept her human family. Her mother reached out to her, Charlie took her hand, and she was pulled into her arms and the arms of her father. The royal mer-couple hugged their daughter tight and then looked down at their granddaughter with nothing less than pride and adoration.
"She really is beautiful." Lilith said kissing the child. "Just perfect."
"Yes, absolutely perfect." Lucifer agreed, caressing his grandchild's head. "A jewel of the sea, just like her mother."
He then rubbed Charlie's cheek gently.
"Are you sure I can't convince you to stay for one more year?" He asked.
"No Daddy." She said. "Alastor has his family too and we've kept him from it for far too long. Besides, the land is apart of who I am just as much as the sea is. Same applies to Carol-Anne."
"I know." He sighed. "I just...I don't think I'll ever be completely used to letting you go."
"I understand." She nodded. "But don't worry, I'll be back in the Fall."
Charlie gave her father another big hug.
"I love you Daddy." She whispered into his ear.
"I love you too." He whispered back. "Be safe."
As the two released their embrace, Lilith gave her daughter one last kiss until they would meet again in the fall.
"I love you Mom." Charlie whispered into her ear.
"And I love you more than you'll ever know." Lilith whispered back.
Lucifer and Lilith then made eye contact with Alastor and Beth. Smiling, he bowed, and she curtsied. The in-laws returned the gesture and slowly descended into the sea, waving goodbye to their child and grandchild.
"What do you suppose they'll do now?" Beth asked.
"Probably what they've been doing since I told them about Celeste." Charlie said. "Doing good deeds in order to gain a soul, so that we can all be together in life and in death."
It had taken some time to convince her family that they could earn an immortal soul too, but they eventually came around to the idea and when they did, her father passed a law forbidding merfolk in his domain to drown humans without just cause, and they now used their siren songs to lure sailors away from potential crashing sights and willed the seas and currents to be calm and smooth for sailing. It pleased Charlie so much. It was all she ever wanted from her family and her people. To try to keep peace and harmony between the two worlds.
"So what was it like down there Al?" Beth asked her brother. "Was it dark? Was it cold? Was it pretty?"
"It was very beautiful." Alastor answered. "It had its own city, its own market place, you could hear music almost everyday."
"What were the mer-people like?"
"They all looked at me funny. I don't think they liked me very much but other people's opinions never mattered to me anyway."
"They'll get used to you eventually." Charlie said.
"It's been three years."
"Well they've spent centuries fearing humans and that's not easy to get over in three years. At least not for all of them."
"Perhaps, right now though I'm just glad that we were able to come back here. Where we first met." He took her hand. "And fell in love and got married."
Charlie smiled at him and they kissed.
At that moment Carol-Anne's face screwed itself up and she started to emit a squall. Charlie softly hushed her and touched her on the lips with her finger, and the baby seized upon her fingertip and sucked it.
"Looks like she's hungry." Charlie chuckled. "You know I think I'd like to try giving her some of that formula milk you mentioned Alastor. Where can we get that?"
"The supermarket." Alastor said. "Which is a perfect trip for us to make, because it'll allow plenty of our friends to see that we've come back."
"I wish we could have called ahead." Charlie said. "It feels kind of rude, dropping in on them like this unannounced."
"Don't worry about it my dear." Her husband assured her. "Everybody loves a good surprise."