To your surprise, Jake and you were separated from the rest of your sisterhood. At first you tried to fight it, but then Frank and the twins explained to you that, while sirens could be born on the surface, like humans, baby born this way were always weaker than they should do. (Sally was proof of this, apparently.) Frank also claimed that, while no mermaids of ‘your’ sisterhood would ever hurt you, the hormones and magic involved made his wife dangerous to Jack and you.
Thankfully, on the underground part of their abode, they did build a special room to let a human father assist to their siren-daughter. Honestly, if it wasn't for the girls being underwater and having fishtails, or the glass between your wife's hand and yours, this underwater birth was so similar to a more humanly one, it was almost anti-climatic. That said, being underwater seemed to make thing easier for Selene, somehow.
Jake for his part was avoiding the spectacle, probably not ready to see the birthing process so closely.
To your surprise, Fauna and Flora struck with you, like enraptured by the spectacle. "So THAT is what birth look like from here." They simultaneously whispered.
Without your hand from where you placed it on the glass pane, or diverting your eyes from the spectacle of your daughter's birth, you decide to ask about the table, not wanting the silence to come back. "Your dinning table, it's not only a dinning table, is it?"
"Perceptive, aren't we? I like that!" Brashly said Fauna. "That said, you're wrong in claiming it ISN'T a dinning table."
"What Fauna is trying to say," timidly clarified Flora. "is that we have ritualistic reason behind how we sit around it. You see, the bigger sisterhoods are expected to help the smaller one. Most of the time it is by housing them, be it until they found a territory of their own or, like yours, when they live a bit too far from the council's location and need a place to rest. But that's only the two main reasons to have a visit from another sisterhood."
Her shyness like erased by her explanations, the long haired girl continued. "Tradition dictate that guests from another sisterhood stay to assist one meal of our young ones. So even if some of the bigger sisterhoods don't have a table, they still sit themselves following the same rules. The first side of the table is always reserved to visiting sisterhoods, and stay unused when we don't have guest. On this side, the place the nearest to the head is always reserved to visiting head-sisters, so if said head-sister couldn't be present herself, sending a representative instead, the chair MUST stay empty."
"The head of the table is usually reserved to the local head-sister, but since our traditions never accounted for male members, when Julie became head-sister and made Frank sit at her side, everyone let it slide." Interrupted Fauna.
Flora spoke again, ending this long explanation saying "Finally, the side were my twin and me sat is reserved to young sirens, along with any trusted present. But beside the head-sister, no adult siren should be present unless serving meal to the youngsters. And even then, as soon as everyone is served, they should clear out of the room."
"I suppose there is a reason behind this?" You asked.
The twins both nodded, but Fauna was the one to finally voice it. "Rather than saying ‘we trust you’, we demonstrate it. Why else would we let potential conquerors with the weakest members of our sisterhood?"
You supposed it made sense, but you couldn't ponder more on it, since Selene gave the last push needed to free you daughter. You saw head-sister Julie cut the umbilical cord, before giving the newborn to the care of it's mother, the two falling fast asleep.
Head-sister Julie, for her part, grabbed an old hydrophone you hadn't noticed before, something that could have been used by Jacques Cousteau. Her voice was atrociously deformed by the thing, but you still understood what she said. "You should go ahead and take a nap in the guest room. With your sisters help, your little family should soon join you."
- – — – -
You were already asleep when your sisterhood, helped by Julie, deposed Selene and your daughter in the guest-room. So, when a crying baby woke you up, you were surprised to see said baby in some sort of bed with a bit of watter in it. The bottom was slightly inclined, letting your daughter's tail be immersed, but without wetting her head.
Compared to this, feeling two leaking breasts on your back wasn't so surprising. (Selene's milk was going to be your daughter's only food for the time being, after all.) Until you saw your wife get up, but still felt two boobs on your back, leaking a warm liquid, prompting to jump out of bed.
From your new vantage point, you saw Michelle, as surprised as you were to discover that she too, was milking. But, despite how hurtful felt her full of milk chest felt, when Selene offered her to feed the baby, she declined. "We don't know how Michael and me become separate. As far as we know, Florencia could have botched her transformation spell. So until we know how safe to drink my milk, I'm not offering any to our daughter."
While looking at your wife feeding the little bundle of joy, you couldn't help but let your mind wandered to Fauna and Flora, the two recently orphaned sirens… "I know we already decided on a name long ago," you said "but if it's not too late…"
"Let me guess!" Interrupted Michelle. "You want to name her after the twins late mother, don't you?" When you nodded, she added "I got the same idea, and since Julie couldn't complete the birth certificates without Selene, I ran the idea to her, and it made her happy."
"I don't know… I love the name we choose before all this mess started…" Said your wife, after helping the baby burping.
"Actually, it's her middle name I was thinking to changing." you said, your twin nodding her approval, then adding "Plus, I think ‘Amelie’ is a better choice of middle name."
"True," finally relented the young mother. Then, approaching you two, she said "Michelle, Michael, let me present you our daughter, Lea Amelie Fooller. Lea, those two are your fathers, Michelle and Michael."