Authors: Sheri L. Swift
“Titus, you know why it would be best for us all if he does.”
“I just wish that it could be me taking you on the island,” he said sadly.
“I will never stay long; my place is here with you and Rose and our new little one
.
”
S
he smiled as she looked down and rubbed her tummy.
“Yes it is and do not forget it; we need you. I need you,” he said sincerely looking into her eyes.
“I like being needed
.
”
S
he grinned and
then nestled into his arms
.
They both smiled to see Rose cuddled up with Tempest and they all drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~
The next morning, Titus came and woke
Lana. He knew that Cole, Rose
and little Jedediah were already at
Gull
Island
in the dinghy. Her father had spotted Micah’s yacht and couldn’t wait another minute to see Lana and his new granddaughter he had heard about.
Lana could hardly contain herself; she quickly combed little Rose’s hair and followed Titus as he led them to the surface. She could see the dinghy just above and her heart was pounding.
Cole, Rose
and little Jedediah sat in the small boat waiting for s
ome sign of the mer. Then
they l
ooked to see Prince Titus, Lana
and little Rose surface.
Rose couldn’t believe the sight of the tiny mermaid in Lana’s arms and knew that it was her granddaughter. She had long light blonde hair, sparkling little silver eyes, and a bright smile. Her tail was a glistening blue-green. S
he was somewhat small for a
two year old. Rose s
aw Titus with his crown of
shells and Lana now wore a crown of grey pearls. Rose co
uldn’t believe how beautiful Lana’s
emerald necklace was. Cole had told her of the gift that Titus gave Lana for their wedding.
Both Lana and Titus smiled to them as they swa
m up to the boat. “Hi Dad, Mom
and little Brother
; t
his is our little Rose,” said Lana as she handed Rose to her grandfather.
Cole
beamed with pride.
“What a precious little thing you are Rose,”
he
said as he kissed her on top of her head.
“She is that
.
”
Rose
smiled
with tears filling her eyes. “Thi
s is your little brother
Jedediah,” said Rose as she brought him closer to the side of the boat so Lana could see him better.
“Hi Jedediah, I’m your sister Lana
.
”
S
he smiled as she kissed his cheek. He was such a cute boy of one and a half years. He kept staring at little Rose and wasn’t so sure that he liked his daddy holding her.
L
ittle Rose blew him a kiss and it made him smile.
Jedediah had the thick black hair of his mother and father, and the blue eyes of his mother. He smiled brightly at Titus as he came closer to meet him. He took to him right away and held out his arms for Titus to hold him.
“I am not so sure that your parents would like you to get wet,” said Titus
with a grin,
looking to them both.
“That’s fine; he loves the water,” laughed Rose.
Then Titus took him and he kept smiling as he stared at Titus’ eyes and then he tugged on one of his braids.
“You must think that I am quite a sight to see
.
”
Titus
smiled
to Jedediah.
“Yeah, he’s ne
ver seen a mer before,”
Cole
chuckled
.
“Neither have I, and it’s so good to finally meet you Prince Titus
.
”
S
miled Rose.
“It is good to finally meet you Rose Perry, or should I say, Prentis. I have especially loved your oranges over the many years
that
you have brought them to my people
.
”
“Then I’m glad I brought some more with me today,” Rose said as she handed the bag to Lana.
“Thank you so much Rose; I’ll make sure that Titus gets at least one of them,” she
giggle
d to Titus.
“So Lana, I see you’re expecting another little one. When are you due?” asked her father.
“I’m due in about a month and I’m glad to be having this one at
Safe
Harbor
where you can be a part of it
.
”
S
he smiled to them both.
“Lana
that’s wonderful; how exciting to be able to see both of our grandchildren,” said Rose.
Then the water began to ripple and Tarra swam up with little Talei. She hopped onto the ledge with her daughter.
“This is Princess Tarra; she’s also the one who married Micah, the Chief’s son. Where is Micah?” Lana asked.
“He is coming now with Makoa. He
wanted to make sure that the yach
t was secure and get some more supplies. It is good to finally meet you Rose Prentis
.
”
Tarra
smiled to her
.
“
It’s good to meet you also
.
”
Rose
smiled
.
Then Micah swam up and went to the ledge with Tarra and Makoa swam next to Titus. “Bula, you must be Lana’s father; I am Micah, Princess Tarra’s husband.”
“He
y
Micah; I’ve heard a lot about you. I sure do love that yacht of yours. I saved you a slip down at the
Marina
on the other side of the island. I’ll take you there later if you like,” said Cole.
“That would be wonderful, and by the way, Lana insists that I pretend to be her husband
.
”
Micah
grinned
.
“Really, how do you feel about that Titus?” Cole asked him
with a
half
grin
.
“Not very good, but I understand why it is best,” said Titus with a stern expression.
“Yeah Dad, that way Micah and I can come and go from the island a little easier,” said Lana.
“Well, if that’s the way you guys want it; I guess I can understand it. If
it
’
s
okay with Princess Tarra and Prince Titus, then it’s okay with me,” said Cole still not so sure about Titus.
“It is fine with me
.
”
Tarra
smiled
.
“It is alright
with me, as long as Lana does not stay away for too long
.
”
H
e smiled to her.
“You know I won’t my love,” Lana said as she kissed him and it made Jedediah laugh.
“Makoa, is that a crown I see on your head?” Cole asked.
“Yes it is Cole. Your son-in-law decided to name me his successor if he and King Titan should die in battle. Then King Titan had no other choice than to
name me a Prince,” Makoa chuckled
.
Both Lana and Titus quickly looked to each other
; they hadn’t told Cole
of the battle yet.
Then Makoa looked
to them
with understanding and was sorry that he had spoken of it.
“What battle, what do you mean his successor?” Cole asked
with concern.
“We had no other choice but to go to war with the others. King Titan named me his successor should he die in battle, and I then named Makoa should I die,” said Titus reluctantly.
“How bad was it?” Cole asked seriously.
“It was very bad and if not for Micah and his villagers helping us, we might not have survived it,” answered Titus as he looked gratefully to Micah.
“I hate to hear that. Boy you guys have been through a lot,” said Cole shaking his head.
At that moment, the water rippled once more and Tristan and Sirene surfaced.
Cole took a look at Tristan and wasn’t sure who he was or even what he was. Then he recognized Sirene.
Lana read her father’s thoughts and quickly said, “Dad, this is Prince Tristan and Sirene. You remember Sirene; she was the one who took me to the cavern. What we didn’t know then, was that her parents were being held hostage by Darious. She and her family were taken to Tiselius by Damon; that’s the city of the others. They kept them under guard for three years and, in fact, Prince Tristan was one of her guards,” laughed Lana realizing how it must sound to her father.
“Hello, it is good to meet the guardian
.
”
Tristan
smiled
as he swam closer. Sirene kept her head down as she was somewhat ashamed of what she had done.
“Well, what a story. It’s good to meet you Prince Tristan. I’m sure you have many stories that you could tell us. It’s good to see you again Sirene, and believe me, I know how ruthless Darious was,” Cole said trying to comfort her.
“Thank you Cole. Both Prince Tristan and I are learning to live a better life than the ones we had before,” she said as she smiled slightly.
“It is good to meet you Sirene and Prince Tristan, and all of you,”
said Rose as she looked to
all
the mer
and was still amazed by it.
Tempest swam up and made his clicking
and whistling
noises to little Rose in the dinghy.
“It is alright boy; you know Cole. He will not h
arm
her; he is her grandfather,” Titus said to Tempest.
“Rose and Tempest are hardly ever apart
.
”
Lana
smiled
to her father.