The little Mermaid and her prince

chapter 18

Ariel fell asleep with her arms wrapped around max. Max wags his tail happily as they both sleep together. About an hour later Carlotta comes to check on Ariel. Ariel starts to stir. Carlotta smiles and goes back downstairs. Another hour later and Ariel wakes up. She looks at Max and smiles. She pets him. He then wakes up too and wags his tail. "Hey Max, thanks for staying with me." Ariel says as she continues to pet him. He continues to wag his tail in contentment. Then the door cracks open and Eric pops his head in. He looks over to see his wife and dog bonding quite well. Then he walks in. Ariel turns her head. She gasps. "Eric! We have missed you." She says. "We?" Eric asked. "Well yeah! Max, The baby and I." Ariel replied. "Oh I see." He says with a laugh as he makes his way to the bed. "Oh Eric, Max is a wonderful dog." Ariel says as she hugs max again. Eric sits down on the bed. He then starts to pet his dog. "Yes. I know. That's how I knew he would comfort you. He's the best dog you could ever want." Eric says as he smiles at Max. Ariel then leans against Eric's shoulder and starts to pet max too. "Yes he is, and I'm glad he is here to help me through this." Ariel says with a smile. Eric looks at Ariel. "What do you mean? I'm going to be with you throughout this whole pregnancy." Eric says as he takes her hand. Ariel smiles. "Well of course you are Eric, but let's face it. You and I are the leaders of this country. And you are going to have to go to meetings without me. So Max will have to be here to help me too." Ariel says as she caressed his face. Eric then smiles. "You're right. I never thought of that. And I'm glad he's helping you too." Eric says as he brings Ariel into a kiss. Ariel then yawns. "Come on darling. I think you need to get some more rest." Eric says as he tucks her into bed again. Ariel smiles as she closes her eyes. Eric kisses her head. Then he lays down with her and Max. She holds on to Max. Eric wraps both of them up in his arms.

2 hours later

Ariel wakes up and turns on her other side. Eric smiles at her. "Well hey there sleepy head. How are you feeling?" Eric asked as he pushes her bangs out of her face. Ariel smiles. "I'm feeling much better. I had the most wonderful dream." Ariel says. "Oh really what was it about?" Eric asked. "Well it was about us dancing in a big room where people dance." Ariel says excitedly. "Oh you mean a ballroom?" Eric said. "Yes! Yes! A ballroom! And we were dancing! It was beautiful. I forgot that when I was younger I used to dream of dancing with a pair of legs." Ariel says with a smile. "Oh wow! Well I guess your dream has come true. We danced at our wedding and on the tour of the kingdom." Eric says. "Oh yes I guess it has." Ariel says as he smiles turns into a frown. "Ariel what's wrong?" Eric asked. "Well..... Now I kinda want to dance. Do you think we could dance?" Ariel asked with hope in her voice. "Well of course, Ariel, but only if you are up to it." Eric replied. Ariel lights up. "Of course I am." She says excitedly. "Ok well slip on your shoes and come on." Eric says as he gets up from the bed. Ariel gets really excited. Max then wakes up. Ariel then pets him on the head. Max looks up at her and gives her the puppy dog eyes and a whimper. Ariel smiles as she slips on her shoes. "Oh Max. I'm not going to be long, besides I will need you again tonight when we go to bed. Don't you want to help me fight off nightmares?" Ariel asks as she scratches behind his ears. Max starts to pant and wag his tail. Ariel giggles and slips on her shoes. Eric takes her hand. Ariel smiles as Eric picks her up and carries her down the stairs. He places her back on the floor once they reached the bottom of the staircase. He takes her to the ballroom. "You stay right here darling. I will be right back." Eric says as he leaves the room to go get Grimsby. "Grimsby!" Eric shouts. Grimsby comes out of the study. "Yes Eric?" He asks. "Do you think you could play the piano for us? Ariel would like to dance in the ballroom just me and her but we need some music." Eric explained. Grimsby smiles. "Well of course, I would be delighted." Grimsby says as they head back to the ballroom. They both enter the ballroom. Ariel was sitting at the piano looking at the piano. "Ariel. Grimsby is going to play the piano for us." Eric says as he takes her hand. "Oh really? That's wonderful!" Ariel says as she stands up. Grimsby sits at the piano and starts to play.
Eric takes his wife's hand and kisses it and then gets into position to dance. Ariel smiles. Ariel puts her hand on his shoulder and holds his other hand. They started to sway back in forth in a circle. Ariel leans her head against his shoulder. They continue to dance. Ariel smiles. Eric then spins her around and then pulls her close. They continue to sway back and forth. After a while, Ariel starts to get tired again. Ariel can barely keep her eyes open. Eric notices this. Eric catches Ariel as she starts to fall. Eric looks to Grimsby. "Thank you Grimsby. I think that will be enough for the day." Eric says as he picks her up. "Very well. Let me know if you need anything else." Grimsby says as he bows and walks away. Eric then carries Ariel up the stairs. Ariel snuggles into his chest. Eric pulls back the covers on their bed and places her on the bed. She reaches for him. Eric chuckles. "Give me a minute to get into bed Sweetheart." He says as he gets in on the other side of the bed. Then she turns over and snuggles against her husband. Then Max squeezed himself in between the couple. Ariel giggles as she starts to pet him. Eric laughs. "Max. You are such a good boy." He says as he kisses Max on the head and pets him. Then Ariel yawned. Max snuggles into Ariel. Ariel wraps one arm around Max and reaches for Eric. Eric wraps his arms around the both of them. "Now Max, Don't go stealing my girl from me." He says with a laugh. Max slowly falls asleep. Eric smiles and continued to pet Max.

After a couple of hours, there is a BANG against the window. Ariel wakes up immediately and sits up Eric looks over to the window. Then the loud noise does it again. Ariel looks and sees that it's scuttle. "Oh Eric! It's scuttle! Please let him in." She says sweetly. Eric nods and gets up and opens the window and ducks as scuttle comes flying in with Sebastian in his claw and hits the wall. Ariel gets out of bed and walks over to Scuttle and Sebastian. "Scuttle! Sebastian! Are you alright?" She asked. Scuttle slowly gets up. "Oh yeah. I'm fine sweetie." Scuttle says as he salutes her. Sebastian gets up and scratches his head with his claw. "Geez man! Can't you learn how to fly without killing your passengers?" Sebastian asks. "Sorry little man." Scuttle replied. "What are you guys doing here?" Ariel asked. "Well, Your father wants to see you. He misses you very much." Sebastian says. "Oh I miss him too." Ariel says. "Unfortunately, Ariel can't go to the ocean anytime soon." Eric says as he holds her hand. "And why not?" Sebastian asks. Ariel smiles. "Well, You see Sebastian, Eric and I have some great news but I would like father to be here when we make the announcement." Ariel says as she looks up at Eric and smiles. "Ooh this is so exciting!" Scuttle says. "Sebastian do you mind going down and asking Daddy and my sister's to come up to the surface so we can make the announcement?" Ariel asked. "Absolutely! I will go down and ask de king!" Sebastian says. "And I shall take you back to the sea!" Scuttle says as he goes to pick up Sebastian with his claw. Sebastian dodges him. "No way man! I'll just walk down the walls." Sebastian says very grouchy like. Sebastian walks out the window and down the wall. Ariel looks at Eric and giggles. Eric laughs too. "Ok Ariel. Let's get you back in the bed until they come back." Eric says as he takes her hand and helps her get into bed. "Oh Eric! I can't wait to tell my Daddy that he's going to be a grandfather." Ariel says excitedly. "I know! I'm pretty excited too. I mean, can you imagine you and I and the little one swimming in the ocean with all the fish and mer people?" Eric asked. "Oh Eric that is going to be wonderful!" Ariel says as she imagined it. Then Ariel yawned. "Alright darling. You get some rest. I'll let you know when your father gets here." Eric says as he kisses her head. Ariel snuggles against his chest. Then she falls asleep.