It was fortunate for Beacon that an anglerfish's skin was elastic for eating large meals. Because hir quadruplets were distending hir belly quite a bit. And even with an Animalian's above-average strength, shi was finding it to be a struggle to walk around on hir own. And with hir in hir third trimester, it was time to take hir doctor's advice and be close to saltwater for the birthing. And shi wanted to do better than just have a saline pool on handy. After all, shi and Allura are deep-sea fish, so there was only one place that was ideal for them.
==========
Even with Animalia Air's more stringent quarantine checks and the promise of an Animalian vaccine for the coronavirus, there wasn't that much travel to the Animalian colonies. Part of it was because tourist season was ending and plenty of the economy had took a big hit. Maelewano was still dealing with locusts, though they seemed to be abating a little. There was word that locust plagues were hitting Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina and were starting on the southern states of Brazil. Though it seemed very unlikely that the locusts would go all the way up to Vilcabamba, but the residents were storing up food just in case. At least locusts seemed to prefer eating crops over eating rainforests.
The point being that Mieni Atoll was less crowded than it would be this time of year, even if summer was ending. Beacon didn't want to feel crowded, shi was crowded enough as it is. Allura helped hir walk out of the airport. "Never though the ocean would look this good," said Beacon as she looked at the vast blue water.
"You think we should move here for real?" asked Allura, "It would be better if we were always by water."
"But could we ever afford it?" asked Beacon.
"Well, considering how the economy's been going, now would be a good time," said hir dad as he walked out beside her, "The housing's probably going for lower rates and you won't have much competition."
"Gee, I'm so glad I brought my dad for his real estate advice," said Beacon dryly.
"We're here because we want to see our grandchildren," said hir mother as she walked out, "Even if they do have gills, dual-sexes, and may not be able to walk on land at first."
"I'm not giving birth to tadpoles," said Beacon in annoyance.
"We don't know what's going to happen with you," said hir mother, "Your partner's species has a very extreme sexual dimorphism."
"That may be," said Allura, "But that was before we were uplifted. We're part human now and we're certain that our life cycle is closer to that of a human."
"And another thing, they're not all going to be 'we' and 'our', are they?" asked Beacon's father.
"May we remind you that we were originally two fish who merged together," said Allura, "We can't help but think of ourselves as 'us'. It's a subconscious thing."
"So shi has a bit of a tic," said Beacon, "It's not that bad. And I don't think our children will have an identity problem since we'll be here for them."
"And how long will that be?" asked hir mother.
"Oh...probably within a few weeks," said Beacon, "Maybe sooner." Shi just hoped hir body won't have been stretched completely out of shape by then. Next time, Allura can be the one who carries the kids.