Definitely not the Little Mermaid

Never a normal day

Chapter Eight

I don't know why I thought allowing Laiken unlimited access to the bathroom was a good idea. He was always in there and took forever to get out. And I really needed to go. I knocked on the door again. There was a splash that told me that Laiken was getting out of the tub.

"Morning," Austin stumbled out of his room, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey," I nodded weakly at him.

"How long have you been waiting out here?" Austin asked, yawning.

"Too long," I replied, knocking on the door again.

The door opened. Laiken stepped out. I spared him a scathing look. He offered me a nervous smile and adjusted the towel around his waist. I rolled my eyes and entered the bathroom. I closed the door and locked it. Skirting carefully around the puddle on the floor, I peered into the bathtub and was slightly taken back by the sight of scales sitting in the drain. Suppressing a groan, I began to clean the tub.

Mom and Dad were all smiles when I finally headed downstairs. I paused on the last step, eyeing my parents carefully. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know why they were smiling like that.

"Sweetheart, come here," Mom held out her arms.

I hesitantly approached my parents and allowed Mom to envelope me in a huge hug. Slowly, I reciprocated the hug. I had no idea why she was suddenly hugging me. This was the woman who had refused to hug me once I turned seven on the grounds that I was too old. My mind immediately jumped to the worse possible conclusion.

"Is Jett okay!?" I all but shrieked, pulling away from the hug.

"What? Sweetie? Jett? Yes, I'm sure he's fine," Mom looked stunned.

"And Rachel!?" I moved to the house phone, ready to phone my friends just to make sure.

"Yes. Darling, come here," Mom gently gestured for me.

I paused, glancing longingly at the phone. Dad gently guided me back into the waiting arms of my mother.

"We have good news," whispered Mom, a smile on her face. I paused, mildly stunned as I tried to remember when was the last time Mom used that tone of voice. I couldn't.

"I'll get the boys," said Dad, getting up and heading upstairs.

Mom made me sit down at the counter and busied herself making tea. Dad returned moments later, the twins trailing behind him. Both of them looked like they'd just woken up and Austin still had a toothbrush in his mouth. They joined me at the counter, Austin slowly resuming the brushing of his teeth.

"And Laiken?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Oh, you guys can tell him later. I think he's still sleeping," Mom said.

"Okay..." I said slowly. In the few days that Laiken's been staying with us, he'd been included in every family discussion. He had no idea what was happening in every discussion but he was still included. I found myself wondering what the topic would be this morning if it was a Friday, my parents weren't at work and they didn't want to include Laiken.

"Get ready," Dad squeezed the twins' shoulders. Gareth winced and wiggled out from under his hand. Austin lazily removed the hand from his shoulder and went back to brushing his teeth, a glazed look on his face.

"I'm pregnant," declared Mom.

I choked.

Gareth fell off his chair.

Austin lowered his toothbrush.

"Pregnant!?" spluttered Gareth, picking himself off the floor.

"How?!" I asked in disbelief.