Diary of a Mermaid

Cousins

I must have dozed off as well, because I wake up to Steven's loud voice. "They're here!" he calls. Angel's head pops up off my lap. She bolts to the door and I follow closely.

We get to the foyer just as Steven opens the door. Standing outside are Jaclyn, Nemmy, Finn, and Cat. Steven ushers them in.

"Peter will be here tomorrow." Cat says as soon as she enters. There are tears in her eyes. Steven gives her a big hug.

"It'll be okay, Cathy." he says.

She cries into his shoulder.

I look at Jaclyn. "Are you okay with her hugging him?"

Jaclyn laughs. "Topaz, they're cousins."

"Oh." I say. I had no idea!

I take Cathrin's bag up to the Master Bedroom. Nemmy and Angel follow me upstairs and Angel shows Nemmy their bedroom. I tickle her for a bit before going downstairs. The adults are sitting around the dining room table, talking. I send the girls to play in the basement and look for Finn. I find him sitting at the dining room table.

"Hey," I say.

He turns around. "Hi," he gets up and gives me a tight hug.

Suddenly I'm crying. "How are you?" I ask him.

"Good, good." He breaks down into tears.

I hug him tightly. "I know you're worried about him. But he'll be okay. I can sense it. Can't you?"

He sniffles and says, "I bit. I feel like he's alive, but suffering."
"He'll be okay. He'll be okay." Finn is crying hard now. Really bawling. I never see him cry. He's always so serious. So professional. It's hard seeing him like this. It's really hard. I pull away from him, put my hands on his shoulders, and look him dead in the eye. "Finn look.You have me. You have Angel. You have Nemmy. You have the Cordova's. And you have the Geneva's. You're solid. You have a family that really loves you. We will get through this. Do you trust me?" He nods. "Then listen to me. It will all be okay. Somehow all of this will blow over. We will go home. We will be okay. We will somehow get above this."

He nods again. "How could this happen? We had everything! Now look at us. We're hiding from soldiers in a different world. Even if we eventually go home, we will not be the same children we were when we left. This has changed us all. I'm worried about Mom and Dad. They just lost their children. Imagine how horrible it all must be. Dad is probably blaming himself for it. You know how he is. I'm telling you. We will never forget this, Topaz."

I know he's right. We will never forget this.

"Topee, why are you crying?" Nemmy asks. She just walked in.

I wipe my eyes and squat down beside her. "It doesn't matter."

She nods and yawns. "Can I watch TV?"

I point her in the direction of the living room.

Once she's gone, I rise again and smile at Finn.

"Thanks," he sighs. "I needed a good cry."