The First Merman.

{VI} Mermaid Mate.

Vanessa smiled when she walked out of the auditorium and saw her father her grandparents and Raphael waiting for her. She put her diploma in her right hand and ran over to her dad, hugging him. He tightly wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up.

He kissed the side of her hand, "So very proud of you, Nessa."

"Thanks." she said as he set her down. She hugged her grandparents and kissed all four of their cheeks. She giggled when Raphael held out a punch of roses and she took them, kissing his cheek, "I love them."

Once they got back to the house, Adalyn had a table of food waiting for them. It was mostly healthy stuff like vegetables, fruit, and pasta but her dad put some burgers on the grill while they waited for some more of Vanessa family to come which they soon.

And Raphael and Vanessa was dodging water accidents here and there. Always cautions and worried they might even get a drop on them.

Vanessa watched awkwardly as Adalyn brought a piece of watermelon up to her father mouth and told him to open widely. He seemed a little weird out at first but shrugged and chuckled, opening his mouth to let her put the piece in his mouth.

"Hey, don't freak out." Raphael said. "You're dad smart."

"And Adalyn beautiful. Her tail being off doesn't mean she's any less beautiful. I said she was a distant cousin, what if . . . I don't know, ya know do something with each other?" she asked.

He chuckled, "Nessie, relax. You're over thinking this. So she's flirting, no harm. But I was thinking, why don't you come over tonight?"

"Come over?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My family is going out of town over the weekend and I was able to get out of it. My father got the family room all finished and he put in a giant TV so it'll be like watching movies in a theater. You could stay over a night or two." he said.

Her face beamed as she looked down at her plate, "Oh."

He chuckled, "You don't have to stay overnight if you don't, but we could spend allot more time now that your graduated. Make your own decisions."

She looked up at him and gave him a stiffen smile, "Sounds like a nice idea. What movie?"

"Any movie you want to order. No romance." he said.

"Awe, but why!" she said. "I love a good romance film."

'I take it you would." he said. "I can make an exception if it's good."

She chucked and leaned over, kissing his cheek. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked around her backyard graduation party.

She wrapped her arm around Raphael and looked down at the grass. She knew why he got out of going out of town with his family. Tomorrow is the big day and she knew he was nervous. When she tried bring it up, he would change the story.

"Vanessa,'' Raphael said, grabbing her attention. She looked up at him and he lift his chin toward the entrance of the yard. She followed his direction and saw two young women coming in. Something about them Vanessa knew was different and the way they looked at Vanessa and Raphael meant she was right. The two girls looked at Adalyn with a cold look and Adalyn frowned at them. ''Come on.'' he said as he got up from the chair and took her hand.

They went over towards the two women and Vanessa cleared her throat, "Queen Severina sent you?"

''Of course." one said. "Tomorrow will be the day history changes again, unless you decided to stay human.''

''No, I'm doing it." Raphael said. ''As you can see, everything is going smoothly.

''Yes,'' the other said and smiled at Raphael. She stepped forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, making Vanessa eyes widen in surprised at how bold this mermaid was to do this in front of her. ''I'm very excited to see it.''