Holly walked back to her home, it was sunset and the sky was being colored with warm orange and pink. The sight was beautiful to behold but Holly's thoughts raced around in her mind too much to really appreciate it.
The woman was still going through the motions of processing the whiplash. In less than a day, her pregnancy was cut short and what came out of her body was a merboy and, before she could take her son home, her husband soon became a merman by the power of a lake.
Two-thirds of her family now belonged to the sea, leaving her alone to roam the land. In a sense, she was relieved that it was getting dark. The last thing she wanted to deal with right now was an acquaintance asking her why her belly was suddenly thin.
It wasn't long before she was now in front of her house but the walk felt long with all the mental weight on her mind. Holly entered her home and took a look around with a deep sigh.
Ever since the beginning of their marriage, Tom was the sole provider of the income for the home due to his auto shop job. Now she was wondering how she could pay for the home with her current skillset, or how to come up with excuses once Uncle Sam comes knocking during tax season.
She felt completely on her own when it comes to matters on land.
Holly walked to the bathroom and show a long warm shower. Even in her tired and worried state, the water still felt wonderful on her body. As she washed her body, she wondered why the Silver Lake specifically changed her husband and not her, she was the one who gave birth to a merboy in the first place.
With her love and previous experience of the water, it seemed to her that she was a shoo-in to be a mermaid. At least the house could be financially safe with Tom on land and she could spend her time in the water alone with Peter.
Holly look down at her chest and noticed her enlarged breasts that were filled with milk. Her hands strayed to her bare breasts and suddenly her Tom's words echoed in her head.
"I think...going by this, Peter's nutritional needs probably are a bit different."
She thought over her husband's words. Still, even if Peter was going to have a different diet due to his new body and environment, she still hoped that she could breastfeed her baby tomorrow. Peter may be a merboy, but he was still her child. It would be wrong of her to not try and feed her beautiful baby boy in whatever way she could.
Life was going to be different from here on out but wasn't going to give up, not on Peter or Tom.
After her shower, Holly laid her body on the bed, exhausted by today's events. Before she closed her eyes, she faced her head to the empty side of the bed that once belonged to her husband and the empty crib that was supposed to be where she would lay Peter every night before tucking him to bed.
It took Holly all her remaining strength to not break down crying right then and there at the sight. After spending all of her energy, she finally dozed off to a relaxing sleep.
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Tom dove down beneath the waters of the Silver Lake with Peter in his arms, flicking his new tail deeper and deeper towards the bottom of the lake.
"Alright, where is the exit point?" He wondered. Looking around, it was as if the pool's bottom floor was nothing but rocks. However, Tom's glowing eyes soon caught sight of a large rock that seemed to reflect a glint of blue.
Tom swam towards the rock and looked closer. The rock had little bits of an aquamarine texture that sort of resembled the sapphire walls of the cave. With a swipe of his hand, Tom realized that it wasn't an ordinary rock but it was a giant beautiful aquamarine gem, just dirty after likely years of being on the pool floor for who knows how long.
He would have taken a picture if he also didn't remember that his wife took his phone along with her as she left for the entrance. After slapping his forehead with his hand, Tom noticed the eyes of his son staring at the gem. He found it cute but after following Peter's eyes, he soon found out why his son was staring.
The giant aquamarine gem wasn't merely a big piece of jewelry, it had illustrations and markings on them. Squinting his eyes, Tom could see that the illustrations resembled that of an Aztec Codex but with a few differences, mainly that the human figures were depicted with fish tails instead of legs.
Tom then looked at the markings and, while he couldn't read it, he could tell that it was some sort of writing system. His mind of racing with implications until he saw some sort of handprint on the corner of the gem. Tom placed his hand over the print and his eyes widened.
The print matched his hand. From the placement of the webbing between his fingers and everything. Tom's eyes widened at this.
"There's more of me out here…" He whispered. Peter curiously looked at his father, prompting Tom to chuckle. "Okay, more of us, I mean." The merman corrected.
Looking back at the gem, he could see that it was slightly transparent as well. From there, he could see a hole that leads to a light at the end of the tunnel.
"What a minute, the exit point!" Tom exclaimed. "The ocean is just on the other side!"
Excited, Tom let go of Peter and swam to the left side of the aquamarine gem. The merman cracked his knuckles and readied himself to put these new muscles to good use.
Tom pushed against the gem with all of his might. His teeth gritted as he trusted with all of his might against his jeweled obstacle. As Tom heard the gem slide against the ground, he also heard another guttural sound not coming from him.
Looking down, Tom saw Peter trying his best to exert force on the gem with his baby body. While Tom knew that it wasn't much, the adorable sight put a proud grin on his face.
With one last powerful force from the merman and some tiny help from the infant merboy, Tom managed to push the giant gem away, revealing the giant exit point.
"There it is, Peter! The ocean is just that way!" Tom said with a smile.
Taking Peter by the hand, Tom swam towards the exit to the ocean. Looking back, Tom noticed the silver appearance didn't seem to spill out towards the ocean, as if the pool's magical properties were contained in the cave, with or without a gem covering the exit.
Regardless, soon after following the light of the exit, Tom and Peter soon feasted their eyes on the ocean in its glory. Even in the dark, the sea was teeming with life, and the two watched in wonder.
Looking around at what to focus on, Tom laid his eyes on a group of small fish, not noticing the two within the distance. The merman licked his lips.
With one strong kick from his powerful tail, several fish in the group were immediately caught in Tom's grasp. In one motion, the merman had his first meal in his right hand. He ate the fish greedily and loved the taste. As a human, he wasn't one to eat fish raw but now he found himself quite fond of the taste.
Tom was about to take one last bite of a fish's tail when he felt a gentle pulling on his tail fins. Tom turned to see Peter looking at him.
"Oh hey there, sport!" The merman smiled. "What did your think of your old man hunting out there?"
Peter stretched out his right hand. Tom wondered what it meant until he realized Peter was mimicking the same motion he did to catch the fish.
Peter wanted the little fish and eat like his dad.
At first, Tom was a bit worried about his son eating solid food this early in his life but he soon concluded that a little part of a fish won't hurt.
Tom gave the fish part to Peter and the merboy ate the fish tail in one gulp. He smiled and cooed.
Tom grinned at this. He embraced his little baby and flicked his tail to explore more of the sea.
Eventually, Tom would retire to a small cave he found and curled his body around Peter. The merfather and merson would fall asleep in blissful slumber.
Tom dreamed of experiencing this new life with his son. Thinking of ways Tom could explore his merhood while still teaching his son how to be a man. All the while, his wife would still be there, loving and caring for her two men of the sea.