Having to walk while heavily pregnant was hard enough. I already felt super heavy and fat, but now I have drag to myself, my baby, and this humongous tail. I can see the water is about 20 ft away but it seems like miles. I would just roll there but I might hurt my child so I'll have to stick with this sideways crawl. My stomach seems bigger and more of a nuisance than usual, but I attest it to the struggle I'm going through right now. My new dorsal fin is starting to ache but I just need to make it to water. 10 more feet, I can practically feel the ocean spray on my tail. I try wiggling my tail to push me foward. I hop closer and closer until I feel the tide lapping at my fingertips. I pull myself into the surf and dive into the water. The water feels amazing on my skin and for the first time, I don't have to breathe underwater. I dive deep and swim away from those terrifying people. Swimming is kind of difficult with my large stomach keeping my tail from moving to fast but I go as fast as I can. I don't stop to surface until I find can no longer see the coast under water.
I float on my back and try to process everything that has happened. Today started out like any other. After he got home from the store, Mike and I spent the afternoon on the beach to relax. Then that Ken guy found me when Mike stepped away to get me some ice cream and now... I'm a mermaid. I place my hands on her hips, feeling the smooth purple scales that run down my new tail. I try to sit up to see the new fin, but my stomach and boobs are too big for me to see over. "Looks like I still can't see my toes." I flip onto my stomach and use my webbed hands to balance myself. I look back at my tail and at its widest, the fin is about 4 feet wide. "And I still have my butt. That's a plus." I roll back onto my back and rest my hands on my stomach. Feeling something different, I try to touch my bellybutton but my suspicion before was right; my belly had grown. "Mike and I were only expecting one baby, but my stomach has gotten so much bigger. That snake thing did say 'my babies will become mermaids'. Plural. But how many little ones am I supposed to have?" I stop floating and look out to the coast. It's just a small strip of beige now with little jetskis and sailboats dashing along around it. "Oh Mike. I never wanted to leave you but I guess I have no choice now. I can't be on land and you won't survive out in the ocean. I only wish I could say goodbye one last time."
I turn around to dive back into the water, but then I hear something. A loud buzzing noise is coming this way and is approaching fast. I really should swim away but then I hear a voice shout out. I can't make out what its saying but I turn around anyway. It's a little orange jetski blasting over the waves with some guy on it waving like crazy. He sees me and goes even faster. "Tori!" Oh my God it's Mike! He found me! I don't how but he found me! I wave at him, yelling his name. He gets excited and waves back at me but he is moving too fast. A wave hits the jetski and and it goes flying, taking it and Mike down into the water. "Oh no Mike!" I scream and dive down to save him. Luckily I have great vision under water because I find him quickly at about 50 feet down. I swim over as fast as my stomach will allow before he sinks any deeper. Time is of the essence. I see him struggle to swim up but he runs out of air and passes out, his hands floating above his head. I reach him and grab his wrists and pull him to me. Well next to me because of my stomach. "I hope this works." I pull his unconscious face to mine and pull him into a kiss. I breathe through my nose and out of my mouth to fill his chest with air. His eyes shoot open and he pulls away, turning his head frantically. "It's too dark for you to see down here Mike" I say to try to calm him down. He focuses on me and tries to speak, but he can't even breathe down here. "Don't waste your air. I'll breathe for you." I pull him into another kiss and start to make my way slowly to the surface. If I go too fast, he could get nitrogen poisoning and every few feet I have to pull him in for another kiss; but at least he's alive.
We break the surface and Mike finally takes a deep desperate breath of fresh air. "Are you okay Mike?"
"I am now that I found you Tori." He looks at me up and down. "I saw what they did to you on the beach. I was so worried but I couldn't get close enough to help. When I saw you..." he chokes up a little "...crawling away, I ran along the beach and grabbed some guy's jetski to follow you. I would've lost track of you if you didn't stop. But I guess you move pretty fast in the water now." He looks down into the water. "Your stomach has grown since the last time I saw it. I couldn't even hug you from the front when you swam me to the surface."
"Yeah. Ken or Sophia or whatever that thing was did this. When it turned me into a mermaid, it said 'my babies' would be mermaids too. So I guess we have a few more buns in the oven then planned. And I'm supposed to become Queen of the Mer people too!" I know this already, but saying it still feels foreign in my mouth.
"Queen of the Mer people? But Tori you're supposed to be with me on land. You're my wife." He places his hand on my stomach. "We were going to raise a family together. I love you." As if on cue, one of the babies kicks under Mike's hand. I can't tell if he's tearing up or if he's just drenched but I'm definitely getting emotional.
"I don't know Mikey. This is all just too crazy."
He swims closer and kisses me. "You belong with me on land. Screw the mermaid stuff, we'll make this work." He rubs my stomach some more and laughs. "And you know how much I love kids."
I lace my fingers with his over my tummy and almost leave with him right there. But then I feel something hit my tail. I wait a second and wait. I feel the something again, a pulse. "Mike wait. Did you feel that?" I turn towards the open sea. "I didn't feel anything Tori. What's going on?" Another pulse hits and it's feels like it wants me. The ocean is calling me. The ocean is calling for its queen.