A Watery Web

Chapter 11

Peter and Mera were preparing dinner together. It had been a few nights since the little spat between the two and things have been going well for them since. And to add onto that, There has been no criminal activity going on, so Peter could take a rest and focus on his actual job.

"Peter?" Mera asked as she cut the vegetables.

"Hm?" Peter asked, turning to her from the pot on the stove.

"So......still nothing on Tombstone?" Mera asked.

"Nada. It has been a little while. Tombstone's not exactly the quiet type. Something will come up." Peter responded.

Mera just shrugged and continued to cut up the veggies. Once she put them in a bowl and went to the couch, she looked around the place. In almost the whole year, the apartment had never been Mera's focus. For she was far more interested in the person occupying the apartment. But looking at it now, she almost cringed.

The walls were staring to wear and there seemed to be a whole bunch of scratches on them along with the floors. Not to mention that the space was not big at all. Now the size would not be a problem for one person to live in here. Hell, two people can manage living in this space. But as Mera subconsciously put a hand to her belly, she started to think.

'Is this the type of place that I want to raise out daughter in? It's not ideal, and there's barely any room for the two of us. I would love to get a bigger place, but how do I say that to Peter without upsetting him? Does he even want to move out?' she thought.

Mera then took a big chance as Peter set the plates down onto the table in front of the couch and sat beside her. "Peter?" she asked again, catching his attention. "I was just wondering......um.......would you be willing to..........move?"

Peter blinked in surprise at Mera. "Move? Move where?" he asked. "Move to Atlantis?"

"No, no. Not that. Just move to some place bigger." Mera said. "Like a house."

Peter thought for a moment. 'What on Earth would make her think to ask-' his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Mera's hand which was still on her stomach as she awaited his response.

"You don't want this as our daughter's home." Peter said. Mera winced at his words. Even though that is the message that she was trying to get to him, she didn't want it to come out like that.

"Well......I wouldn't say it that way." she said. "I would just.....it's just that, well it's been a nice spot for us to live in for all these months. And it's not like it's a terrible place to be in. It's good. It's just that when I think about how it will do in trying to hold three people......it's not exactly ideal is all."

Peter looked around the apartment himself to gauge Mera's words. "Huh. Yes it is very small. But you know Mera, when I did get this apartment, I wasn't exactly planning to have company anytime soon." he said. "Plus Mera.....houses are expensive to get. I don't think I'll be able to make enough to get a brand new house.....like EVER. New York houses are extremely expensive to get compared to houses of other places in the US."

"Well maybe I can help with that." Mera said with confidence.

"You can? How?" Peter asked. Then a light bulb clicked in his head. "You're gonna use your royalty status aren't you?"

"Well, not exactly. I don't know how much Atlantean money equates to on land yet. But what I do know is that pearls are extremely valuable right?" Mera asked.

"You have pearls?" Peter asked. "How? Those things are very rare to find!" Mera then gave him a rather flat look.

"Peter, I'm an Atlantean. I live underwater. And we Atlanteans have a long history of collecting pearls. Some more than others. You humans just don't look in the proper spots for them is all." she said. Peter just blinked, completely speechless, so Mera kept talking. "So I'd be happy to help get us a new place. And it doesn't have to be a grand mansion or something, just a normal sized house. Something bigger to live in."