Fish Out of Water

Chapter 6~ Territories

A few weeks in Ireland and my gills were just a few inches away on each side from fully opening. My time was running out.

Mom and dad sat across from me as we sat outside the little coffee shop, the smell of fried eggs, potatoes and sausage wafting out from the propped open door. The waitress came out with three plates of egg and potatoes and placed them in front of each of us and then a platter of sausage in the center.

"Thank you." Mom said. The waitress folded her hands over the tray she used to carry our food, a slight webbing between her fingers.

"Not a problem." the waitress went back in and I sat up trying to get the last bit of water from the patches before I changed them. Dad rested his hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded and pushed myself away from the table. "I gotta switch out my patches." I gasped as the patches suctioned to my ribs.

"Already?" mom asked. "You just changed them before you left, didn't you?"

"Yeah." I couldn't look her in the eye,

Dad patted my arm. "Hurry back, before the food gets cold."

"Got it." I grabbed my bag and headed to the bathroom. Thankfully the bathroom was unisex. I hated picking which one to use that day. Sometimes I just didn't feel like either.

Mom and dad waited patiently for me, I took a deep breath with the fresh patches on it was a little more comfortable. Dad grabbed the plate of sausage and pushed five links onto my plate.

"Thanks."

"Growing kid like you needs to eat." he smiled his presence anchoring me in a way mom's doesn't.

I stabbed some egg, potato, and meat onto my fork and shoveled the food down. I could feel mom's eyes on me, but I didn't want to see them, not when every time I looked into those cerulean blue eyes it reminded me.

"How's school going." dad asked. "Mom said you made a new friend."

"Kind of." I wiped my mouth with a napkin. "Sean's latched onto to me... he's alright I guess and he's part selkie but other than some webbing his selkie side isn't too prominent. Which kind of sucks for him because his mom is selkie and his brother turned out seal tail."

"No mermaid?" mom asked.

"No, just part selkie."

Mom's lips pressed into a thin line. "What?"

"It's a little strange for a child that's half-selkie and half-human to turn out like that. That kind of mutation only happens if there's a selkie mermaid mix."

"For real?" I asked and leaned across the table dropping my voice. "You think they're only half brothers?"

Mom stabbed at a potato. "I think that's more likely. She probably has a merman spouse in the ocean. Does she come to shore very often?"

"Almost never according to Sean."

"I see..." she forced a smile and turned ocean blue eyes on me. "If there are male mermaids around here, you'll want to be careful. They can be territorial." She took her bite absentmindedly. "I'll take a swim and scout the area."

"Should you do that if there are male mermaids around here?"

"No, they won't be aggressive to a woman." she offered a smile but she was drifting somewhere else.

"As long as you're safe." I shook my head and shoveled another bite down.

"I think I'm supposed to say that to you." she reached across the table and pinched my cheek. I rolled my eyes.