The Heart's Content

Chapter 124

Words could not begin to describe the surprise and utter joy Beth felt when she first laid eyes on that precious baby girl. She couldn't believe it, her brother had a baby. He was a father, and that made her an aunt.

"Hello...Carol-Anne." Beth leaned in to get a closer look and waved slowly to her new niece. The tiny girl looked at her curiously and then reached out a tiny hand to grab her finger. Just with her parents, her aunt fell in love at first sight.

"She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." Beth said.

Carol-Anne started to wriggle and stretch, exposing her little legs and feet.

"Hey, no fins?" Beth observed confused.

"Well since Alastor is human and I took a potion that allows me to grow legs, she ended up looking very human." Charlie explained. "But she can breathe underwater and we think she'll start sprouting a tail when puberty hits. It's only a theory though. After all, she's the very first half human, half mermaid ever born."

"You big jerk." She lightly punching Alastor. "How could you not tell me that you were having a baby?"

"This is my way of telling you." Alastor answered. "Besides, once Charlie became pregnant we had to be extremely cautious and careful. This was the first time a mermaid had ever carried a half human child."

"I spent most of the pregnancy on land." Charlie explained. "There was an island just above where my father's kingdom lay and there Alastor had built a small house for himself to do his radio broadcast and to take a break from living under water. I could be more leisure on the island than in the sea."

"When was she born?"

"Three weeks ago."

"What was it like?"

For a moment, Charlie trembled and went pale.

"A nightmare. I don't think I had ever felt anything so painful in my life. It felt like something was ripping me in half from the inside. I don't know how my mother could have gone through all that seven times."

"Was there a doctor or midwife?"

"We couldn't risk bringing one of them into this." Alastor said. "What would they say if our child came out with fins and a tail?"

"So it was just Alastor and my mother coaching us from the shore."

"Wouldn't it have been easier to have it underwater?"

"Maybe but I wanted the sun and the sky to be the first thing my baby saw." She said kissing her daughter tenderly provoking a pleased coo from her. "And I didn't my screams to be the first thing she heard. I wanted her to hear me laugh. I wanted to know how happy I was that she was coming. So I laughed."

"And I laughed." Alastor said. "Even when Charlie was gripping my arm so hard that she could have broken it if she twisted."

He showed Beth the half-healed bruise on his wrist.

"Oh God! You really were in a lot of pain!" Beth gasped.

"Again, sorry dear." Charlie said. "I really tried not to squeeze so hard, but it was my first time having a baby."

"I know, I know, and I did give you full permission to squeeze as hard as you needed to. And in the end, it was all worth it."

He leaned over to kiss Carol-Anne's soft, little, head. She cooed and reached out to her father who carefully switched took her from her mother.

"So what did your family say about all this?" Beth asked Charlie. "About you and Alastor? And the baby?"

"Well when we first arrived, I was scared to see Dad because I was so sure that he was going to explode into a tsunami. But the very first thing he did was hug me and tell me how glad he was that I was alright. Then he did something I thought he'd never do, he apologized. He said he was sorry for losing his temper and forcing me to go against my beliefs. He just wanted to do what was best for me. Then I told him I was sorry for running away and that I never meant to hurt him."