Blue Tang left after Nick was finished cooking. He brought it to Amber. Amber was excited to see Blue Tang return with food. She had bathed and wrapped herself with the silky cloth.
It dried quickly and was soft and extremely comfortable. She wrapped it around and tied it in the front like a sarong wrap. She thought of it as a beach cover-up, except she didn't have a swimsuit.
She still had her snake-skin tube top and underwear her mates made for her. She thought it could pass as a bikini, but she was not used to showing too much skin. She looked down and noticed a merman mate mark on her ankle.
It was beautiful. Pale skin with blue hair and eyes and a blue-green shimmery tail. She couldn't even imagine getting a tattoo this beautifully detailed in her world. This was her fourth mate mark. She would have to cover them all if she ever went back to her world.
Her mom would not be happy to know that her teenage daughter had not 1, but 4 "tattoos" and had given birth to a baby monkey. She thought about giving birth to mermen or a baby mermaid.
Blue Tang watched the myriad of different emotions across Amber's face. With the mate mark, he could also feel her emotions. It was a new experience for him and he didn't know a female had so many emotions.
He noticed how she placed her hand on top of her stomach and a sense of calmness tugged at his heartstrings. He was happy that she was calm about the idea of their offspring. He was starting to fall in love with her with each discovery.
He had been so bored these past years since he became the de-facto leader. He spent most days just watching the shore or dealing with his fellow mermen. He was excited to discover new things. Since he met Amber he had already experienced so many new things.
He met her green eyes and smiled at her. She smiled back and looked at the food in his hand. He smiled more and brought the food to her. She accepted it shyly and thanked him.
She ate in silence thinking about what happened last night. It was different from the other mates. They were more passionate, while he was more mechanical, but she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it.
She loved all her mates and guards as a family. Nick was the one she accepted in her heart as her husband. When she thought about facing Nick with this new mate, she got a little nervous.
She knew he was understanding when she mated with Tyler, but he had already accepted Tyler as her beast guardian. She didn't know how he would feel about this new mate.
She felt like a cheating wife. She knew it was normal for the females in the beast world to have multiple mates and she didn't have much choice yesterday.
She was technically "rescued" out in the water by Blue Tang. She shook her head thinking about how Nick would react to Tyler and Tom. She looked at her shoulder and noticed the Eagle mark was still there.
She sighed in relief, at least that meant that Nick did not kill Tyler. The mark would disappear if her mate died. She thought about all the single mermen in the sea and wondered what would happen to them if they never mated.
She asked, "What happens to the mermen who don't find a female mermaid?" Blue Tang was surprised by her question. They had just mated yesterday and she was already thinking about the other mermen? He didn't want to share her with more mates.
Amber sensed his jealousy and quickly informed him, "I'm not asking for myself. I'm worried about my future daughter. I have four mates and it is a lot to handle. I can only imagine how many mates she would have. I also feel bad for the single mermen who won't be able to find a mate."
Blue Tang calmed down at her explanation. He informed her, "Most mermen never find a mate. They are fated to be guardians for the female of the tribe until they die."
Amber was sad to hear that, but she thought of this world's survival of the fittest mindset. She thought it was something she could not change. She asked, "Why don't they look for females from the land? They have fewer mates."
Blue Tang turned his nose up in disgust. "Mermen have their standards. We would rather die as a single guardian protecting our tribe than lower our standards to those ugly arrogant land females."
Amber thought to herself they were too prideful. She didn't think that the land females were too bad. Queen Clara was cute with her upturned nose. She was going to argue with him but he cut her off when he noticed she had finished her food.
"Would you like to go to the island now? Your mates and cub are waiting for you." Amber instantly forgot what she was going to say and got up excitedly. She was ready!
Blue Tang smiled at her excitement and thought it was a good idea to allow her mates to wait on the island. He was glad that he could see her this happy because of him.
He blew a large bubble for her and she crawled into it. He pushed her bubble to the shore. She watched the sea around her and it reminded her of going to the aquarium. There was a glass tunnel that allowed the people to walk through the tank.
She felt like she was immersed but still separated by a thin barrier. She enjoyed all of the novel experiences since she came to the beast world. She still preferred flying to any other means of travel, but it was neat to glide through the water in a bubble.
Nick waited by the beach shore for Amber. When he saw her his heart was conflicted. He missed her so much that he wanted to keep her by his side, but he knew he had to let her go every night.
Blue Tang pushed the bubble onto the beach and popped it with his sharp nail. Amber almost fell, but he helped her up. Nick caught this entire interaction and was filled with jealousy.
He rushed forward to help Amber and pulled her into a tight hug. He wanted to hug her so tightly that he could combine her body with his forever. He knew that was impossible, but he wished it wasn't.
Eli was excited to see his mother and show off all his new toys. He let out little monkey noises.
"OO-ooo-ooo-aa-aaa-aaa"
Amber was so emotional with Nick's hug that she almost started to cry. Luckily Eli's distraction came at the right time. She wiped the unshed tears with the back of her hand and smiled down at Eli. Nick released her a little so Eli could jump into his mother's arms.
Amber caught him and smiled at him. Eli pulled out a seashell and showed it to Amber. It was beautiful with shades of pink and blue. Eli motioned for her to take the seashell. Amber asked, "Is this for me?"
Eli nodded his head enthusiastically. He loved to see the look on his mother's face when he gave her a gift. She treasured it and treated it as if it were the most precious thing in the world. He felt her love for him.
Oliver came forward to take Eli and hug Amber. He was always the calm one who looked after her well-being first. He knew after last night she might be pregnant again. It was too early to tell.
Amber smiled at Oliver and hugged him back. She looked for Tyler and the others. Tyler and Tom were still looking guilty and sulking near the back. She smiled at them as if saying she didn't blame them.
Ray was still embarrassed by his failed seduction attempt and was also near the back keeping busy. Barry and Fred were happy to see Amber and hoped to spend more time together.
Eli reached up and grabbed Amber's hand. He pulled her towards the shelter they made last night and showed her his other toys. He wanted to give the seashell to his mother, but he kept the crawling shell to play with.
He showed her the broken sand dollar. Amber told him, "Don't worry little man. We can fix it."
She used to call him baby, but Oliver had expressed the importance of Eli learning to grow up in the beast world as a man.
She couldn't help but want to baby him. He was her first child, but she also didn't want to ruin him for this world. She decided to let Oliver teach Eli how to survive and become a man. She would still love him in her way.