The Sirens Call

37

October 10, 2007

Stevie missed her children, plain and simple. Marina would be turning 26 in the next month. She was married to a decent guy. Lindsey didn't like him. They had been married for three years and he's been gone on business trips for half of them. Not to mention she was pregnant and he took off as soon as she found out citing "business" it's been three months and he's still not back. But Marina is naive to it all. She says that he's an art connoisseur for the San Francisco Metropolitan Museum of Art, and that's why he's gone so long but Stevie and Lindsey can see right through him. He's trying to open up his own art gallery and he is really good at painting but it's just not realistic and they're killing themselves in San Francisco because they won't let Stevie and Lindsey help them. 

Crew was 22 and he had just graduated college. He was working at becoming a lawyer so he had just started Law School at Stanford. It's good though, because Marina and Andrew, her husband, aren't horribly far from him. It at least sets their mother's mind at a semi-state of peace. 

Sailor is 16, so she's at school for a few more hours, but she has a license, that's what worries Stevie, because often times, she'll go hang out with friends without telling her so she'll turn up at like 7:30 at night and Stevie's freaking out because she expected her home at 3:30. 

Lindsey is on his last dive of the year, 58 and he's still going strong. He doesn't have any plans to retire soon, but John is getting close. He is about five years older than him. Lindsey says that he's going to retire when John does but Stevie can't see that happening. He gets too antsy when he's at home for long periods of times. Stevie was reading on her back patio when she felt something. She couldn't describe the feeling, but she could definitely feel something and as she looked up there was a girl with blonde curly hair slowly trudging up the sand. She seemed wobbly, like it was her first time on her legs and Stevie was immediately concerned so she set her book down and made her way down the beach to try and meet her half way. 

"Can I help you with something?" Stevie asks.

"I'm looking for Stevie Nicks." Stevie pauses for a moment, not having heard her maiden name in years.

"I'm Stevie Nicks...who are you?" 

"Jessica Nicks." 

"Jessica Nicks..." 

"My mom, her name is Lori she sent me to come find you."

"Oh my god...you're my niece." Stevie gawks. 

"Am I..." The girl was nervous and Stevie could tell.

"Yes, Christopher is my younger brother." Stevie grabs her biceps to steady her and just like that the young girls face crumbled and the sky opened up above them and Stevie winced.

"Okay, okay...what happened?" She asks taking her into her arms and gently swaying with her.

"There was a siren attack and daddy's hurt badly." She cries and Stevie tears up as well.

"Okay, okay...um," She looks up and around and sees Sailor who still has her backpack throne over her shoulder looks at them from the patio door.

Stevie waves her hand and Sailor drops her bag and makes her way down the beach.

"What's going on?" 

"I need you to drive us to the cove, and you're going to have shift with us because I'm not leaving you here alone." 

"Awe, mom I hate..." 

"I know, Sailor this is your cousin, Jessica. Jessica this is my daughter Sailor. Something's wrong and we have to go to Atlantica." Stevie bites her lip.

"But weren't you banned...you'll like die if you go down there."

"I'll be fine." We just gotta go." Stevie sighs. 

"Fine, lets go." 

"What are we..." Jessica starts.

"Just trust me sweet girl. It'll be okay." Stevie soothes grabbing her face and then pulling her in for a hug again. 

***

The get to the Cove and as soon as Jessica sees water she shifts to reveal a gorgeous turquoise colored tail and a yellow shell bra. Stevie shifts and she notices that her tail has migrated up. As a mermaid ages, the tail slowly raises along her stomach and then molds with the seashell bra. 

"Thank God, I hated that bra." Stevie lets out a sigh of relief as she finally after about sixteen years gets to stretch out her fins. 

Sailor is shaky but when she does shift she appears in the exact opposite of her sister. A red tail and a purple seashell bra Sailor never got accustomed to the water. She's shifted before, mostly in the bath when she was little, but she just never liked the tail in the ocean. She'd much rather swim with both of her legs instead of one leg. 

"Come on girls." Stevie sighs diving into the waterfall. Though it had been so many years she still knew the waters like the back of her hand and within minutes they were at the castle entrance. 

"Princess Stephanie, how are you?" One of the guards, Tom Petty, asks when he sees her.

"I'm fine. Tom this is my daughter Sailor...I'm sure you know Jessica." 

"Yes, Your highness." He slightly bows to her. 

"We're here because..." 

"I know, go on in." Tom swims aside and they make their way into the castle.

"You grew up here...Mom this is awesome." Sailor gasps looking around.

"Yes well. Come on." Stevie rolls her eyes as they swim through the corridor to Chris and Lori's suite. Lori was pacing outside the door and when she saw Stevie she gasped and rammed right into her. Wrapping her arms tightly around her, their tails coiling each other. 

"Lori, you have to tell me everything." Stevie looks at her. 

Lori nods and leads them out to a little living area and they make themselves comfortable on the shell furniture. 

"Don Henley, fell asleep he was on guard duty but he fell asleep and a siren snuck in. God Teedee, they came into our bedroom. They were going after me and Chris rolled over me to try and protect me and he got a chunk taken out of his shoulder and then they were fighting and he was bleeding  but they were fighting and he got shot with one of their stupid puffer fish dart thingy's and now he's dying and I don't know what to do." Lori's sobbing.

"Where, where did he get shot Lori." 

"It was in his calf."

"So he's probably going to be fine. I'm assuming you got him immediate medical attention." 

"Yeah, but he's not responding well to the anti-bodies." Lori cries and Stevie just holds her. 

"Mom." Sailor looks at Stevie.

"Um, Sailor this is your Aunt Lori. You met her when you just a few weeks old." Stevie shakes her head.

Lori peers up at her and laughs lightly breaking herself out of her tears.

"You look like Stevie." 

"So they tell me." Sailor nods.

"Um, this is my daughter Jessica. The day that you and Christopher got in that big fight about Marina, as soon as we got back down here I found out I was pregnant. He wouldn't let me tell you." Lori shakes her head.

"So Jessica is the same age as Sailor then?" 

"Yeah she was born in September." Lori nods.

" I told you, you'd have a baby." 

"Yeah but I had to see you give birth to three before I got my own." Lori chuckles.

It was then that the doctor came to find them.