Chapter 101 - Ocean - What Do We Do Now

~~

Ocean

~~

With all the talk of weddings finally over, we moved to the living room and got back to the serious discussion. I was glad that our moms were at least semi-responsible in this aspect; however, they were starting to find this all really fun and funny, just like our dads were.

"OK, OK, OK. Let's talk about all of this a little more. What do we do from here on? What can Phineas and I do to help Ocean?"

"Well Steph, for starters, it's protecting the truth of who he is. Does he have siblings?"

"We have three other children that are all older than him. They don't live at the house anymore though." Mom answered Mrs. Rivers calmly with an immediate response.

"Good, so they won't know what has been going on with him. For the time being, it is best that they don't find out. Keep this a secret from everyone. Our world is supposed to remain hidden."

Mrs. Rivers' words made my heart start to race, and I could feel the blood draining from my face.

"I..i..i..if it's s..s..su..sup..supposed to b..be a..a..a s..s..se..secret then i.is it O..O..O..OK that m..my p..p..parents know about u..u..us?"

My heart was pounding a mile a minute while I was trying to figure out if we had all made some sort of grave mistake. I imagined someone taking us all away to some sort of underwater prison. My parents drowning and me being locked up for the rest of my life.

"No. It's alright, Ocean." Mr. Rivers started to fuss in front of me like he didn't know how to calm me down.

"It's OK." Makai wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side, he squeezed me tight and rubbed my arm at the same time. "It's OK, Ocean. Your parents needed to know. They are your family, and that is an exception to the rule."

I tried to process Makai's words, but I was still panicking.

"Ocean!" Mom called out to me. "Since when did you panic about stuff like this?"

"I don't know. It's just something that started to happen to me over the last month or so. Blame him." I pointed at Makai and tried to contain my anger.

"Good, you stopped panicking." Mom smiled. "That usually works when you go into a spiral."

"Huh?" I was confused.

"She's right, you know." Dad chuckled at me. "Whenever you went into a panic-fueled spiral when you were younger, we just needed to pull out something that trumped it. Usually that was anger or happiness. You got angry when you were called out on this, so that's why you stopped your spiraling."

I couldn't believe my ears. This means that my parents have been manipulating me for a while now. Seriously?

"That's good to know. I will keep that in mind." Makai smirked at me like he had something devious planned.

"You most certainly will not. I will not let myself become a slave to any of you. Stop trying to control me. This is wrong. You can't-."

Makai cut me off with his lips on mine. It was a quick kiss, just a peck really, but it was right in front of all of our parents.

"What the hell?"

"You were spiraling again. I thought I would try a shock route. Looks like that worked too."

"You ass hat." I rolled my eyes and scooted away from him.

"I think this is going great." Mr. Rivers sat on the couch across from me and wore a smirk that was just like his son's.

"OK, let's stop torturing my son and get back to business." Dad sat on the couch that was to the side of mine. The three couches formed a sort of C shape along with the tables at the ends of them.

"Yes, I agree. We need to figure out what we're going to do now." Mom sat down next to Dad and Mrs. Rivers sat next to her husband.

"What else do we need to figure out?" Makai was apparently just as confused as I was.

"Yeah, we know what I am now. What else is there for us to do?" I seconded his question.

"Well for one, are you coming home with us tonight?" Mom looked at me. "Have you gotten control over this? Will you be able to be on the swim team still? What is going to happen to you when you go back to school?"

"Are there things we need to be on the lookout for? Are there people we should try to avoid? What should we do if there is a problem?" Dad added another slew of questions to the ones that my mom had already said.

"W..w..well, I almost have full control over all of it."

"I think Ocean should stay another night or two at least. Or until we go to school on Monday. That will be the first real test of his control. And I will be there to keep an eye on him. If he's unable to control it, I will get him out of there right away."

"He's already been gone all week." Mom complained at Makai's words.

"It's only been four nights, Mom. I will be back soon." I tried to soothe her.

"Are you two going to be staying here?" Dad asked Makai's parents with a lot less laughter in his voice than he had before.

"We will be leaving tomorrow. We need to get back to our mission."

"Mission?" Dad looked a little more excited now. "Are you secret agents as well as Merfolk? That would be amazing."

"No, we're not secret agents." Mrs. Rivers tried not to laugh.

"That would be a hell of a lot cooler than what we are." Mr. Rivers looked like he was thinking about what his life would be like if he were a spy.

"We're diplomats. We work to help keep the peace between the three Merfolk Clans."

"That sounds tiring. And you work as well, don't you?" Mom looked like she was feeling upset now. "So you're either away for work or for diplomatic work?"

"Yes, unfortunately. It never used to be this bad, but since we're working to keep our son out of the political snafu that is happening with our clans right now, our clan leader has decided to punish us by making us do extra work. We're high up in the social rankings so there are many things expected of us; however, we don't want Kai to be forced into that. If he chooses to not be part of that world, then he shouldn't have to."

Mrs. Rivers looked sad as she spoke, her eyes aimed right at her son.

"The problem is, now they're causing problems for us for keeping him out of it all." Mr. Rivers added, looking at Makai as well. "And because of that, we're not home often enough."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. And I guess that if my son was going to mate with a Merman, he couldn't have chosen a better family to be part of." Mom looked like she was sad on their behalf. "I know that you will help us to keep Ocean safe."

"Of course, he's part of the family now, isn't he?"

"That he is." Our dads were nodding at each other as they spoke.

So the plan was set into motion that I would be staying here until I went to school on Monday morning. Makai was going to school tomorrow and then the swim meet on Saturday. I was to do my school work and swim to stay in shape.

When Mr. and Mrs. Rivers left here, they were going to contact someone that they knew in the government, as well as someone at the hospital. They were going to make sure that the secret of what I am was kept under wraps. They were going back to their place in the ocean until they were done with the peace keeping mission. They said they hoped they were home before Christmas, but they didn't know for certain if they would be or not.

Mom and Dad were supposed to just go about life as normal, especially after I got home. They were to not treat me any differently than they had before, and I was to be the same old Ocean that I was before I started getting scales and wearing that dress. Oh, thank God that dress was gone now.

After everything was decided, my parents were heading home. Just like they did on Sunday before I came back to Makai's place, they hugged me and acted like they were never going to see me again. I had to remind them again and again that I would be home in just a few days.

I have to admit that it was a little sad to watch them leave. Makai stood with me on the porch as we watched my parents' car drive down the driveway and through the gate to his place.

"Are you going to be OK?" Makai asked me as I just stood there

"It's been a lot to take in today. In all honesty, I am not sure if I am going to be OK or not." I turned to look at him as I answered him honestly.

"It's OK, you don't have to be good straight from the beginning. I am here with you; this is something that we're going to accomplish together." His eyes were shining as he smiled at me, and it made me like him even more.

"I know you will be." I slipped my hand into his with a grin. "And I am glad that you're here with me."

"There is nowhere else I would want to be. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that a little more every day."

With that, Makai leaned in for another quick kiss. It was longer than the one he gave me just a few minutes ago, but it was nothing compared to the kiss this afternoon in the kitchen. And the problem was that it only made me want more.

Too bad that his parents were here because we wouldn't be able to do anything while they were here. Nope, it was just going to be PG rated flirting and snuggling for us tonight. Yup, I can see it now, that will literally kill me. I will literally be dead by the morning if I have to sleep with him without being able to do anything. Just kill me now. 

Well, at least we were both in the same boat.. We could just suffer together in silence.