Authors: Sheri L. Swift
“Good morning Dad and Mom and little Brother,” said Lana as she climbed up the rope ladder that her father had put out for her.
“Good morning, just in time I see
.
”
Cole grinn
ed.
“Yep, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I even left Titus with the children and Tempest won’t leave them for anything.”
“Well, sounds like you’re on your own
.
”
Rose
smiled
.
“Yeah, I can’t talk Titus into trying human food; I’ve pretty much given up.”
“You never know, those kids of yours might develop a taste for it someda
y
.
”
Cole winked
.
“You know, they just might at that
.
”
Lana smiled as she sat down and began to butter her buckwheat pancakes that were one of her dad’s Sunday specials, along with sausage, eggs and hot coffee. “Do you know
just
how good hot coffee tastes when you’ve spent the
night underwater?” Lana
giggl
ed.
“No, but I can imagine,” laughed Rose.
“Yeah, I can too,” chuckled her father.
“More pannycakes!” Jedediah cried out to his father.
“I can see he’s definitely taking after his big sister
.
”
S
miled
Cole
.
“Yeah, how can he not, when he gets the best breakfast in town.”
“I’d have to agree; I’ve become pretty spoiled over the last three years. I love a man that can cook me breakfast,” said Rose as she kissed Cole on the cheek.
“With thanks like that, who wouldn’t want to cook
.
”
H
e smiled and kissed her back.
~~~
Later that afternoon, Micah came in his little fishing boat to
Mer
Island
where Cole and
many of the mer were visiting.
Rose and Jedediah were napping on the
Bonnie
R
ose
.
Andrew had come earlier and he and Fianna sat on the rock next to Lana and they flirted with one another. “Hey Micah, what brings you out here?” Andrew asked.
Micah smil
ed to Andrew and then to Cole and said, “I came to send Cole an invitation from father. We are having a luau homecoming celebration with roasted pig and sweet potatoes and all sorts of my favorite dishes. He wishes to meet you, Rose and Jedediah. He has even sent an invitation to any of the mer that might like to come.”
“Th
at sounds wonderful; I kn
ow that Rose,
Jedediah
and I
would love to come
.
”
T
hen Cole looked to all the mer gathered around the rock and they all smiled.
Titus looked to Lana and let his thoughts tell her that she could go; he knew how much she loved roasted pig and sweet potatoes.
“I’m coming too!” Lana shouted as she jumped off the rock and into Titus’ arms. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big thank you kiss.
“I will miss you; but I understand.”
Titus grinned.
“Titus, you can come too. You know that your parents would watch the kids
.
”
S
he smiled
teasingly
to him.
“I suppose I could; Tarra might like the company
.
”
H
e grinned
once more
.
“Fianna will be coming too
.
”
Andrew
smiled
to her and she kissed him.
“I guess I could come too,” said Makoa with a half grin.
“Then we will come also,” said Sirene as she smiled to Tristan and he smiled back and shook his head in agreement.
“That would be wonderful; my father and Tarra will love to hear it. We will eat at sunset; see you all then
.
”
Micah smiled and
waved,
then drove his boat away.
“Thank you Titus; I know it means a lot to Micah,” said Cole seriously.
“You are welcome; but do not try and get me to eat your foods, unless they are having coconuts of course”
H
e smiled.
“Yes, I agree
.
”
Makoa
grinned.
“We shall have a feast li
ke you’ve never seen,”
Andrew
announced proudly
.
“Speaking of; I’ve not tasted any of those coconuts
myself,” said Cole with a grin
to Andrew. Then Andrew and Cole headed off towards the trees
to get some
.
Lana went to go and Titus wouldn’
t let go of the grip that he had on her
.
“Titus, I have to go and help my dad.”
“Your father does
not need your help
.
”
H
e smiled
.
“Titus, you know that I have his knife,” she said a little agitated that he was still not releasing her.
“Your father does not need y
our knife
.
”
H
e continued to smile
.
“Titus, I wanna
at least help him open the coconut.”
“Lana, your father does not need your help,” he said as he smiled even brighter and kissed her.
Lana turned to see he
r father heading back with
a coconut in his hand that he
began crushing
and then
drinking
the milk
.
“Dad, how can you do that?” Lana asked surprised that her father seemed to have the strength of the mer.
“Well Lana, I guess you could say that’s another secret that we male P
rentis’ have to hide. The men
of our line inherit some of the strength of the mer whereas the women; well, they seem to inherit some of the slower growth
,” said her father with a wide grin.
“And mom and I were worried about the mer playing too rough wi
th you. Is there anything
else you wanna tell me?” Lana said with a grin
and raised brows
.
“Yeah, well
I explained it to her that
night and no, that’s about it,” Cole chuckled as he continued to rip apart the coconut and began eating out the meat.
Lana looked to Titus a
s she realized that he knew
all along; he only chuckled and kissed her once more.
~~~
All of
the mer and the
Bonnie Rose
arrived as the sun was beginning to set.
Ratu Daniel and Kalea welcomed them all to
Kaloki
Island
. They had their drummers playing and their torch dancers put on a show for the celebration. There was so much food brought out; Lana was in heaven to have so many choices.
Rose loved all of the native culture; she had Cole take lots of pictures so that she could show them to her kids at school next year.
Micah enjoyed telling them all about
Kaloki
Island
. “You see our island has many of the Kaloki trees. They are also known as the butterfly trees and that is what our island is named after,” he said as he pointed to the many nearby trees.
Rose and Cole couldn’t believe how many
delicate flowers with
brilliant colors there were; now they understood why they were known as the butterfly trees.
After dinner, Ratu Daniel gave Cole a tour of the meeting house with some of the men
.
Rose visited with Kalea and some of the women. She was especially glad to meet
Micah’s
Grandmother Nalani that she had heard so much about from Lana and Micah. She was a dear sweet woman and Rose could tell that she had the wisdom of her years.
The mer played in the lagoon with many of the island children. They were so fascinated with them. Levu had told the children many stories of the mer once Micah and Tarra had married. He knew much of their history for the many years of talking with Prince Titus. He told them how the mer once lived in the
Mediterranean Sea
over two thousand years ago.
Tarra knew that it was
important for little Talei to get to know the island children. Many were distant cousins to her. Talei loved running in and out of the water with them. It made Tarra smile to see it and that she was happy for her daughter and her new growing baby to have two large families to be a part of.
Andrew and Fianna swam together and all knew that they were falling in love.
~~~