Mako Mermaids: Rita Santos' Daughter

Chapter 27

Caitlan's POV:

"Lyla has a seaweed brain" I heard someone speak in Dolphin as I walked into the Grotto. I laughed. "You speak Dolphin?" Lyla asked angrily. "Obviously, seaweed brain" I replied in Dolphin and Sirena and Nixie laughed. "And I speak fluent Shark" I shrugged. The three of them were shocked. "No mermaid speaks Shark!" Sirena said surprised. "Well me and Mum do" I said in Shark - the three had no clue what I was saying.

"We're going to make Zac be our friend" Lyla said smugly. I laughed and left the Grotto. I bumped into mum. "I'm off to meet Zac and Cam for breakfast, see you in a bit" I smiled and kissed mum's cheek. "Have fun, baby girl" she pulled me into a hug.

I got to the cafe, Zac and Cam ordered me some chocolate chip pancakes. Cam had blueberry pancakes and Zac had prawns. "Since when do you have prawns for breakfast?" I laughed - I knew of course, but Zac doesn't know that I know. Zac shrugged and I indulged in my pancakes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy pancakes but I'm a mermaid! Seafood is my favourite.

Nixie then joined us; I knew why. I just zoned her out. She then left the table and Lyla came across. Carly came over with a box of seafood for Zac, Lyla instantly grabbed it saying she'll help. "Cait, you coming?" Zac asked, I say asked - it was basically a plea. I sighed, and finished my pancakes and left with Zac, Lyla, Nixie and Sirena.

The three of them kept insisting on being Zac's friend and mentioned that they don't go to our school. "Why? Isn't the principal your aunt, and Caitlan your cousin?" Zac asked. "Yeah Aunty Rita! She doesn't let us go though" Sirena said. I rolled my eyes. "Caitlan's your friend though!" Lyla whined. "No she isn't." Zac said. The four of us stopped in our tracks and looked at Zac. "She's my sister!" He laughed and put me in a headlock. His armpits stunk of sweat. "Dude get a shower!" I scolded. The other three just looked confused. I found it highly amusing. "I best be heading back. I promised to spend time with mum. See ya later!" I smiled and before anyone could object, I ran for it.

I made sure I was out of sight and I jumped in the water and swum home. Mum was surprised I was back so soon. I filled her in with everything. "I'm happy to help them with mermaid stuff but I don't think we should help them with Zac, I get it's dangerous with his tail and nobody has seen a merman for centuries, but you left the pod all those years ago, it isn't fair on us to put ourselves at risk." I said. "But the girls blackmailed us darling, how-?" "Trust me." I smiled.

The girls came back a bit later. They told us how Joe followed Nixie in his boat and she got trapped in the canal. "Me and mum were talking. We're happy to help you with mermaid stuff; but we're not helping with getting rid of Zac's powers" I said sternly. "We told you, we'd expose you if you don't help us" Lyla snapped. "We were kind enough to let you stay here, wear my clothes, eat our food. Mako is your home, not ours. Expose us? We won't let you stay here anymore. You'll have nowhere. Nobody. Me and mum didn't let Zac fall in the Moon Pool, YOU did. It's your responsibility, not ours!" I scolded.

Rita's POV:

Lyla, Nixie and Sirena looked at me, hoping I'd tell them otherwise. "You heard her girls. It may sound harsh, but she's right. I left the pod and mine and Caitlan's lives are here. We are more than happy for you to stay here still, but when it comes to Zac? We aren't helping" I wrapped my arm around Cait. The girls didn't look happy, but they nodded.

Me and Caitlan then left the Grotto. I felt myself tear up and wrapped my arms around Caitlan. We were stood there a good couple of minutes before the three girls came out. "We accept your deal on one condition" Sirena smiled slightly. Lyla had my model ship in her arms. I knew exactly what they were hinting at.

We went to the Cavern. Sirena, Lyla and Nixie were at one side, Caitlan at the other, the ship in the centre of the pool. "Three versus one? That's not fair at all girls!" I said angrily. "No mum! It's fine" Cait smiled at me. "No best of three, just one go" Nixie said. The four of them used their powers, the ship moved nearer to the three girls, Caitlan then managed to drag it towards her. Sirena then made a large wave, to try and scare Caitlan. Caitlan just glanced at me and had that Santos smirk. I knew exactly what she was going to do. She used her powers to make the wave look violent, which startled the girls, and Caitlan used her powers to pull the ship towards her successfully. "We've never been beaten at this!" Lyla whined. She then made a water ball and launched it at Cait, but she stopped it and made it fly back at Lyla, which she transformed. "Look, we don't have to keep fighting. You might not have Zac as a friend, but you already have me." Caitlan smiled and held her hand out to Lyla after she dried herself. She smiled and took it. "How did you do that by the way?" Nixie asked intrigued. "The wave? I had a brilliant teacher. Why use your own powers when you can use your opponent's?" Caitlan smiled at me. "I had an excellent student" I said proudly. Caitlan and Lyla smiled at each other then pushed Sirena and Nixie in the pool. The water splashed the three of us and we all fell in.

That night, I woke up to Caitlan crying in her sleep. "What's wrong sweetheart?" I whispered. "Just a strange dream, mum. For some reason you sent me away and when I came back you had three more kids. You wasn't really happy I was back" Caitlan said sadly. I felt myself tear up. "Baby girl, you know I would never send you away. And if I had more kids, I'd never love you any less. You'd be the best big sister. You're the one that made me a mum. But honestly? I'm not interested in having more children because even though I'd have loved for you to have siblings, you are my entire world." I said quietly and pulled Caitlan close. We fell back asleep cuddled up.

Caitlan's POV:

It's been a few days, and I've got on really well with Lyla, Nixie and Sirena. To be fair, I've started treating them like sisters rather than cousins.

My phone rang, it's Evie. "Hey Evie!" I smiled as I picked up. "Hey! We're throwing a surprise pool party for Zac! You're coming right?" "You know I'm afraid of the water" I replied. "You don't have to go in the water, pleaseeeeeee" Evie begged. "Sure I'll be there" I sighed.

I put on a white v neck sleeveless top and an orange floaty skirt, and made my hair wavy. Sirena, Nixie and Lyla came in mine and mum's room. "Can we borrow some clothes for Zac's party?" Sirena asked. I didn't even question how they got invited.

I grabbed a pile of my clothes and we took them to the Grotto. They finally chose their outfits and got ready. Lyla and Nixie were fighting over the mirror, mum came in. "You girls look stunning" she smiled. "Well, like mother like daughter" I got up and kissed her cheek. Lyla was saying they're going to get Zac to reveal his secret. Both me and mum know how difficult it is to make teenage boys open up.

We got to Zac's. Evie pulled me into a hug but her face dropped when she saw the other three. David said he invited them.

Zac came in with Cam. We shouted 'surprise'. I could tell he already knew about it. But I kept quiet. Carly asked David if he wanted to go for a swim, but he stayed with Sirena. I can tell them two like each other, but I also sensed a bit of jealousy from Carly.

Evie came back in, in tears. She had a go at Cam for covering for Zac so he can see Lyla behind her back. Ummm what? "Evie, Zac loves you. He'd never cheat on you" I tried reassuring her, but she was adamant she saw them getting all snug on the jetty.

David and Sirena were dancing, I just smiled and sat next to Evie and Carly. Lyla came in, annoyed. "Why her?" Evie asked quietly. "Why any of them?" Carly replied. "I think I'm gonna be sick" Evie said, "me too" Carly added. I stood up. "I get you're both upset, but don't talk about my family like that" I defended Lyla, Nixie and Sirena. "You've never even mentioned them before they turned up!" Carly remarked. "Because I didn't even know about them! My mum and her family sailed the world on a yacht before she met my dad, so I guess they travelled the world too. Mum never mentioned what happened" I shrugged. "You're really defending three strangers over your two best friends?" Evie stood up and tearily snapped. Everyone was looking, I just ran out and ran so far home before swimming the rest.

I was in a crying state. Mum was sat with Poseidon in The Grotto. "Oh sweetheart what's wrong?" I sat down next to her, Poseidon crawled on to my knee and purred. I told mum about what happened the party. "Evie and Carly will make up with you, they know how much of a brilliant friend you are. It wasn't fair how they treated you like that though. But I'm proud of you for defending the girls" mum pulled me into a cuddle.

Lyla, Sirena and Nixie came in all happy. "We saw Zac with his tail! We're the only ones that saw him! Well Cam already knew, but Zac trusts us with his secret!" Lyla chirped up. I smiled slightly. "We saw you defending us when you were talking to Evie and Carly, thank you" Sirena smiled. The three of them came over and engulfed us in a group hug.

Me, Lyla, Sirena and Nixie went out for a bit to cheer me up - walking not swimming. I saw a Photo Booth. I explained to them what we had to do, some fun poses. I put the money in and we had the photos done.

We were stood on the pier just watching the ocean. "Promise me something" I said quietly. "Anything" Sirena smiled. "If the pod ever does come back and you can go home, promise you'll still visit?" I asked. "I'm not sure if we'd be allowed" Nixie said uncertain. "We've already broken enough rules, and we just want the pod back." Lyla said quietly. "I'm sure Veridia would let you, if she knew" I shrugged. "You know Veridia? How?" Lyla asked shocked. I laughed. "That is a different story completely" - the four of us laughed and enjoyed watching the ocean before heading back.

We have a rather long chapter! Hope y'all like it