The Coral Crown

Chapter fourteen

The next morning, I woke up to find Ethan and the girls gone. I started freaking out until I heard a swish outside the cave entrance. I cautiously swam out, ready to speed away at the first sign of danger, but what I saw filled me with joy. It was Ethan, and he had a box in his hands.

"Where are the girls?" I asked him. By the way we've been acting, it was just like we were married, and the girls were our children.

"I took them over to Morgan already. She and Andrea were going to take them and meet up with Kayla and Leanna," he said with a smug smile if his face.

"What are you smiling about?" I asked poking him in the chest.

He sat me down in the rock and pulled out the little box. He opened it and inside was a ring that someone must have lost on a beach. I gasped and he slipped it on my finger.

"You did me the biggest favor by getting me away from my parents, and I don't want to be with anyone else ever. I know that we're only thirteen, but it feels like we've been together for a long time, and I don't think we should have to wait until where older, so, Dylan, will you marry me?" He asked nervously.

I got up and looked at the ring on my finger. I was engaged! I threw the box out of his hands and kissed him. I was so happy. I smiled against his lips like I had the first time we kissed. He realized what i was doing and pulled me closer. We kissed for a while, then I pulled back and looked at the ring on my finger, the gold band glittered in the streams of sunlight, and the small diamond was sparkling like a disco ball. I took his hand and saw that he had a ring on too, only his was a wedding band. I smiled. I didn't need an official ceremony. I loved him, and I new he loved me too.

We swam swiftly towards the cave where I had woken up with the sharks. I was supposed to bring sharks and mermaids together, and I was gonna do it if it killed me. Which it might. We got to the sharks cave, and the sight I saw made me smile. I always loved sharks, and seeing them all swimming around the cave made me happy. We swam up to the shark who "talked" to me the most when I was last here. Once the guard sharks saw me, they all started swimming towards me, mouths open.

STOP! The main shark yelled telepathically. I would have to learn his name.

"We need to talk," he said to me. He swam towards the cave and I followed, Ethan never leaving my side. We entered the cave and I swam up to a chair shaped rock and sat. Ethan floated protectively in front of me.

"So, I know why your here. You heard the prophecy, am I correct?" It was freaky how he knew what was going on with me.

"Why didn't the prophecy come to me earlier?" If he knew everything, then I wanted him to tell me this.

"I'm guessing you are thirteen?" I nodded. "Well, then happy birthday sweetheart! You turned fourteen last night."

I counted the days since I had brought the girls to the mermaids, and he was right. My birthday was yesterday. I felt creeped out because having someone else in my head was weird. So I got right to business and started with my deal.

"Okay so here's the deal. You don't like the mermaids, and they don't like you. I'm gonna fix that, and I need you to cooperate." I waited as he thought about it.

"Fine" he agreed.

I smiled and got up to go.

"Dylan, I know that you know Alexis is you mom. And I think you need to know that I'm your dad.

I sped out of the cave as fast as I could. I didn't need this right now. I swam out to the secret beach I had found when I was searching for food. I was the only person who knew about this beach, and, after I had dried off, I would just go hide in the island for a bit. I didn't want anyone to come find me for a while.

When I had calmed down and was feeling better, I headed home. Ethan picked up the kids and they were all in the cave. They had fish and crabs from my shoulder bag and I knew that they were waiting for me to come and cook them. Haley ran up to me and hugged me. I picture up and handed her to Ethan. I took the fish back up to the beach and started the fire to cook them.

I got back with the cooked fish and the girls were sitting, and Ethan was telling them a story. Andrew was eating clams and putting the shells in a pile next to him. I handed out the fish and sat down on my makeshift bed. I listened to Ethan tell the story of how we met and the days we spent on the beach. I smiled and played with the ring on my finger. I raised my hand to my head to run my fingers through my hair and realized that I needed a hairbrush.

"I'm going out." I said.

They all turned and looked at me. Ethan smiled, and I knew that everything would be okay here. I swam out to the docks to get a brush. When I found one, I put it in my bag and smiled the entire way home. The girls would be happy they had something they could do their hair with.

When I got home, the cave was crowded. Alexis, Leanna, Andrea, Morgan, Kayla, and even Maria were all there. Ethan saw the surprise on my face and just came over and sat behind me, resting his hands on my waist.

"Happy birthday," he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

I smiled as I saw Maria's look of disgust at his hands on my waist. I knew she liked him and he was choosing me.

"Happy birthday!" Marissa and Haley screamed together. Haley ran into my arms and Marissa grabbed my waist, pushing away Ethan's hands. Much to my disappointment.

"Thanks guys," I said with a smile on my face. I couldn't remember the last birthday I had that I didn't spend protecting these to from our father. As soon as Haley and Marissa went off to play with Andrew I was tackled yet again by my mermaids friends. I wondered how old all of them were.

"How old are you guys?" I asked them.

"Well I'm 16," Said Andrea. "Leighanna is 15, Morgan is 14, Kayla is 14, Maria is 15, and Alexis is 29."

I was stunned. I thought that they were much older than that. The girls swam away to get some food, and I swam around the cave looking for any sign of the sharks. I didn't want them to ruin this, and I wasn't going to let them. I didn't see any sharks, but what I did see made my blood boil. Maria and Ethan were sitting on the couch shaped rock we had found and pulled in. Ethan was talking about us, and Maria was moving closer to him, inch by inch. I swam over and plopped down right between them. Maria moved to the other end of the couch, and Ethan put his arm around my shoulders his, wedding band glistened, and attracted the attention of everyone in the room, including Alexis. He picked up my left hand and started to play with my fingers, purposely positioning my ring in the sun so it sparkled around the room. In an instant, Ethan was on the other side of the room, and I was engulfed in a sea of screaming girls.

"Oh my gosh!" Leanna screamed.

"It's beautiful!" Said overexcited Kayla.

After they had all seen the ring and congratulated us, me and Ethan were finally given peace and left alone. The kids wanted to go with the other mermaids to play at a little makeshift park we'd found, so we decided they could go for a while, as long as they were home before dark. I lay down on the beach and decided that I missed my legs. So I pulled myself out of the water and waited for my dark blue jeans and my favorite black tank top to appear on my body. When they finally did, I was relieved. Haley had thrown her bunny up here, and i told her I would get it for her next time I was up on the beach. I grabbed the purple bunny and threw it back to her bed. I heard Ethan behind me and I knew he walked up on the beach after I had. I sat down in the cool sand and waited for the stars to appear. As I stretched my arms out my hand wrapped around something made of cool glass. I grabbed it and pulled it out from under a little alcove in the rock. It was a bottle and there was something inside.