Five Months Later

Aphmau hugged herself, feeling the cool winter air blow against her. Her sweatshirt could only do so much against the bitter cold of the shore when it came to the winter months but, she didn't mind it too much. It was refreshing in a way, especially after so many months of non-stop heat. She had the day off of work and she wanted to enjoy it outdoors anyways. After being promoted, it seemed she never had time for herself. Both she and Aaron. Dr. Vick was fired after his methods of research were mysteriously exposed to the public...and let's just say Dr. Smith was impressed with Aphmau and Aaron's final report that was turned in after the "creature" was taken by protestors. Aphmau was finally doing what she always wanted to do. Real research, real findings, real results. Everything she could have imagined.
Unfortunately, this led to a little downtime so she took every ounce of it she could get. She decided this time she wanted to walk the boardwalk before having a nice dinner with her mom that night. After everything with Ein, they both decided that mother-daughter days needed to be more frequent. Eric came along as well when he could.

Her phone dinged and she pulled it out of her pocket to see it was a text from Katelyn. She was planning on coming to visit again away from the city. I mean, it was almost the holidays, so Aphmau expected it. Besides, her and Zianna needed an opportunity to set her and Vylad up. Can't do that over phone calls. Aphmau responded with a smile and a heart emoji before putting it back in her pocket. She re-positioned her tote bag on her shoulder that held her sandwich and continued on.
She found a quite spot on the beach, pulling out her blanket and sitting down. She took a few deep breaths and took in the beauty of the ocean. The water had turned grey due to the weather, but the sun was still shining, it warming her face. She pulled out a book and her sandwich, ready to enjoy her lunch. She noticed from the corner of her eye, two men walking down the shoreline, bundled up as well. She didn't mind much, just a couple of guys enjoying the beach on a November day. Nothing really to see. She went back to her book, enjoying the story about two lovers. The male protagonist had blonde hair and blue eyes that were described as a sandy beach that reaches the deep blue waters. Was it a coincidence that he also happened to be a merman? Yes. Just a coincidence. Besides, the female protagonist was a pirate. Completely different. She just wanted to read a romance novel and it just so happened to involve a merman.

Still, she wonders what ever happened to the creature she met five months ago? At this point, she could probably chalk it up to some strange dream. Even Zianna and Vylad didn't really bring it up, just said they missed him. If he was real, he was probably busy...you know, running a kingdom or whatever. She was just hurt that she never even received a thank you card or anything. She giggled to herself and said under her breath; "Selfish prince."

She continued to read, pulling up her hood to possibly get more warmth, her laying back flat on the blanket, book up towards the sky. The seagulls cawed in the background, waves crashing against the sand. She heard the men's voices in the distance, them laughing and having a conversation. They seemed to be discussing their trip, confirming to her that they were tourists. Maybe a relative lived her, she didn't know. The wind could only pick up so much. Soon, their voices disappeared, Aphmau assuming that they just were far enough away that she couldn't hear them. She didn't care, her book was getting to the good part. The captain has met up with the merman in secret, like they always do, and were about to kiss. She had been waiting ten chapters for this moment and wasn't going to let some background noise mess this up for her. Aaron was also waiting for this moment as well, even though he insists he wasn't interested in her ridiculous romance novel. She could tell he paid attention...somewhat.

"Excuse me, miss?" She heard a voice ask. She looked up and her eyes went wide. The man's eyes went wide too. "Miss Aphmau? Why are you out here in this freezing temperature?"

"Z-Zane? Why are you out here is the more important question!" She exclaimed, quickly getting to her feet. He tried to explain, saying; "Well our mother said that a human holiday was coming up soon and she wanted us to be here-"

"Wait, wait...us?"

He blinked for a moment before a sly smile came onto his face. He placed his hands in his pockets, tilting his head towards the direction of the shoreline. She turned her head and her heart skipped a beat. Garroth was looking down the shoreline, towards the carnival that was right of them. He had a small smile on his face and his hard blew so perfectly in the breeze. She glanced at Zane as if to ask if it was okay and he only chuckled and said; "He was going to find you anyway."

She brightly smiled and started sprinting over to him, shouting; "Garroth!"

Garroth turned his head towards the direction of the voice and his face lit up, see who it was. She looked just, even more beautiful than when he left. He couldn't make out the words before she almost tackled him to the ground in an embrace. "I can't believe you're here," She whispered into his coat. They still didn't separate as he buried his head into her shoulder, smelling her hair that reminded him of everything good. He asked; "My mom didn't tell you?"

That's when she parted from him, giggling; "No!"

"Of course she didn't," He laughed, rolling his eyes playfully.

Then they were quiet for just moment, gazing at one another as if to see if anything changed about the other. Garroth though, wanted to hear her laugh again, just once, asking her; "Did you miss me?"

She responded a bit differently than expected, gently grabbing his cheeks and pulling him down to her level to kiss his lips. He was surprised, sure but, not disgusted. He returned the gesture, kissing her back while wrapping his arms around her waist, picking her up slightly. When they parted, she combed his hair back saying; "Of course I missed you...I love you."

His eyes seemed to glimmer from pure joy as he replied; "I love you too..."

They kissed again, the world melting away from them for a moment. Just a moment. When they parted again, Zane came up to them and said; "As much as this warms my heart and all...I'm not used to the cold so, could we start heading over to Mom's?"

The two laughed and agreed, Aphmau grabbing her stuff before taking Garroth's hand, guiding the brothers towards the town. "You're going to love it here baby brother, just like I did."

Ocean Blue Eyes
July 5th, 2020
~
November 11th, 2022

Thank you all so much for sticking through this story! I call this my COVID story because you really get to see my mental health through this book with how many large gaps there were between publishing. I went through not only the pandemic with this book but my first year of college and all the drama that goes with that. But all of you stayed patient and I couldn't be more grateful! I hope you think it was worth it! Love you all!