Ch. 37 - Under the Sea

Eldora and Elen were now high school students and considering what after school club to join.  My two sets of twins were also building special bonds with each other.

Eldora and Faysa were more the outdoors type than their twins.  The two spent more time outside swimming than on their homework.  They often spent time before bed hurrying to finish their assignments.

Feivel and Elen were homebodies, they did their homework as soon as they got home and spent the rest of the day relaxing inside.  Elen enjoyed reading while Feivel was an avid video game player.

My three little eleves were just about ready to leave the nursery.  All three were talking and potty trained.  Once Genia and Genio stated walking on their own it would be time for the three of them to move on to the next stage.

"Hey look at me I'm an architect just like Doria."  It wouldn't be too long before my two boys would be celebrating their next birthday.  Feysa and Feivel had Corey's adventurous spirit and seemed to be growing up so fast.

Speaking of growing up fast, it had been a while since I had been by to see my little grandfairy and her parents.

I'd like to introduce my newest little grandfairy Shawn Divine.

"How has my little fairy princess been?  I bet you've been keeping your mommy and daddy busy haven't you?"  Seeing my grandbabies was always such a treat. 

It seemed like only yesterday I was in the nursery tickling and snuggling their parents.  Time flies when you're having fun and I was having a blast watching my children grow up from babies to adults.  

Elen and Eldora were already preparing for their lives as adults.  They had staked their claim on a portion of the ocean reef for when they left the temple.

Eledora and Elen had decided to move to the mermaid caves after graduation to live with Cody and the other merfolk. 

The two of them were becoming fast friends with the sea creatures that shared their part of the reef.

At first I had worried about the sharks but Cody reassured me the girls can and have handled the sharks very well on their own.

So well in fact that it has gotten to the point were the more agressive sharks will swim away from Elen when they see her coming near.

Eldora has even started her own kelp garden.  She says the kelp from the super market just isn't as tasty as kelp harvested fresh from the ocean.

My two little mermaids have become very independent and have found a beautiful place of their own under the sea.  I will miss them dearly when they move out but I know are only a blow on the shell away if I want to call them back home.

Ch. 36 - Mermaid Party

It was again time to celebrate my most favorite occasion.  Elen and Eldora's birthday had arrived and my two precious guppies would become teenagers today!

I was preparing salmon for the party guests. I gave an open invitation to all mermaids who could attend so I left a little more than half the fish uncooked cutting down my cooking time considerably.

It was another beautiful sunny day on Sunlit Tides so we celebrated on the beach.  Eldora was the first to blow out her candles.

She aged into a lovely teenage girl.  I knew she was going to be even more breath taking in the water.

Elen blew out her candles next.  My girl was so excited she was finally going to be old enough to go deep sea diving.

 I have to say I do lovely work when it comes to children as Elen aged into a raven haired beach beauty.  Now that they were teens Eldora and Elen were now full fledged mermaids.  

The two now needed regular contact with the ocean and only raw fish and kelp would satisfy their appetite.  Luckly we had our own private beach and the mermaid reef was a short swim away.  

Fasya and Feivel would soon celebrate their birthday as well and my dear little elves were growing so fast.  All three of them were already potty trained and Gene was nearly walking.

I took a break from the triplets to have Kelly come over to the temple to babysit while I went out for the afternoon. 

He had recently graduated and received a houseboat for his graduation gift from Octavio.  He was really taking to life on the sea and spent much of his time fishing and snorkeling.

While Kelly was home with the babies I went down to the grocery store for fishing lessons.  I wanted to have more fresh fish on hand for Eldora and and Elen. I also hoped to have more merbabies someday so the skill would be very useful.

After my lesson I had Alcander show me around a good fishing pond for beginners.  He gave me a few pointers and talked about how Greggory and he loved going deep sea fishing on Kelly's houseboat.

I didn't make any big catches at the pond but I did bring home a bucket full of excellent minnows for the girls.  They were thrilled and offered to take over bedtime duty for the triplets for the night. 

I spent the evening relaxing watching romantic vampire movies.  Vampires were all the rave now that sightings of them were more frequent.  

Sunlit Tides was steadily becoming a prosperous island community so our vampire population was growing as the nightlife was becoming just as active as the day. 

I returned to the pond the next day to continue refining my fishing skill.  I was daydreaming about finding a handsome vampire to neck with when a little dog dove into the water and stole my bobber.  "Hey you drop that right now you fuzzy thief!" I yelled after the dog.

"I'll take that you little trouble maker," said a handsome redhead as he took the bobber from the dog.

"I'm really sorry about that miss.  Pluto is just really playful and got away from me.  My name is Rene by the way."   Rene's glowing skin and eyes clearly identified him as a vampire.

Jackpot!  Not only had my daydreams come true but as a bonus Rene the vampire was powerful enough to go out during the day without smoking like a chimney.  "It's okay the fish weren't really biting today anyway."  And Pluto led me to an even better catch.  "I'm Aphrodite, it's nice to meet you Rene."

Ch. 35 - Camping Trip

Things were lovely at the Temple of Love.  The nursery was filled happy laughter and learning.

My girls were becoming talented ballet dancers.  I loved watching Elena and Eldora as they showed me the new moves they learned in class.

"That was lovely girls!  I can't wait to see you all done up in your costumes at your recital."

And my boys were steadily climbing the ranks in scouts.

"Mom look at the new badge I got for bug catching!"

"Congratulations dear!  You didn't bring any home did you?"  My skin crawled at the thought of him taking up a bug collection.

"Oh no it was a catch and release competition."

Thank the Fates

"I won the fastest swimmer badge mom," Faysa said proudly showing off his badge.

"That's wonderful son!"

I still had the occasional zombie to deal with every now and then on the full moon.  The poor creatures would continue being drawn from the earth as long as Evelyn's black soul was tied to the philosopher's stone.

Every time I dealt with a zombie I was reminded of all the suffering Evelyn had caused and was glad she was burning alive anew each and every day.

On a lighter and happier note I decided to take the children camping at the Hidden Beach.

As soon as the tents were set up the boys whipped out their poles and started fishing.

"Alcander said this was one of the best fishing spots on the island."

In the beginning the catches were quite small.

But the catches did improve as the day went on for the boys.

I offered to take the boys boating but Fasya and Feivel insisted on catching their own dinner so I left them to it.

Eldora and Elen spent the day playing in the ocean and windsurfing.

Sutter decided to join us on our camping trip surprisingly.  I had left him with plenty of fresh hay, a salt lick and a new ball to play with.  He had every thing he needed so I was sure he'd be content while I was away.

"Did you miss me handsome?  Here I know what you want."

I'd mastered gardening a while ago so all my produce was perfect.  Sutter instantly became obsessed with my apples after his first taste.

My unicorn was such a loving creature I was beginning to consider looking for a mate for him.  Having my own little herd of horses was beginning to look appealing.

When the sun set I fired up the pit for supper.

The children were still on the beach listening to Faysa tell a ghost story.

"And the last thing they saw before the darkness gobbled them up was old man Jenkin's skull laughing maniacally from the mantle."

Once the pit was ready I called them to the fire to roast their dinners.

Feivel's fish caught fire over cooking it but he refused to eat anything else.

"It's just a little crispy it's still good.  Charrd fish is actually kinda good...ugh."

It was lights out after dinner and I have to say our little camping adventure was quite fun.  Ahhh camping today and a beach party tomorrow.  Life was good.