Chapter 99: Ocean - What Does It All Mean? Part 2
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
~~
Ocean
~~
"Ocean! Stop playing with your food and eat it."
"Yes, Mom." I had jumped at the sound of her voice and straightened up before shoving a bite of the food into my mouth.
"Honestly, I know you're hungry. You're always hungry. So why in the world would you intentionally skip a meal?"
"I..I..I'm not sk..skipping it." I fidgeted for a moment as I thought of what to say. "I..I'm just n..n..nervous. That's all."
"Why are you nervous, Son?" Dad asked me with his eyebrows raised. "You have nothing to worry about." Dad was in his calm and kind mode today. I just hoped he stayed there instead of flipping over to his jokester side. Honestly, that would probably be the death of me.
"W..w..we..we..w..we..well I..I..I..-"
"Oh, just leave him alone, Phineas." Mom cut me off. "We will figure it out after dinner. The Rivers family was nice enough to invite us so let's stay calm and be polite guests." Mom reprimanded my dad so that I didn't have to answer him.
"Yes, dear." Dad hung his head and started to eat. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Mr. Rivers was holding back his laughter after seeing what had happened.
"We will make sure that everything is explained after we eat." Mrs. Rivers smiled at my mom. "There is nothing to worry about, Mrs. Shores."
"Please, call me Steph. It's the first part of my weird first name."
"Of course, Steph, and you can call me Analise or simply Ana. And this is my husband Reef."
"Reef? As in the things in the ocean?" Dad looked excited.
"Yup?" Mr. Rivers nodded at him. "Just like a coral reef or something similar. And you're Phineas. Hey, do you have a brother? Is his name Fer-?"
"Oh, drop it." Mrs. Rivers laughed. "I knew you were going to ask that the moment I found out his name." She was shaking her head from side to side while covering her eyes.
"Nah, I don't have a brother named Ferb, I'm an only child." Dad answered him anyway.
"See, he got it." Mr. Rivers was pointing at Dad with a smile. "That's awesome."
Dinner continued in a similar way while we all ate, or tried to. I still didn't end up eating much. I was having all these mini internal freak outs every time that I thought about showing what I truly am to my parents. And it felt like dinner was just dragging on while our parents joked incessantly.
Finally though, we were done eating and my time of reckoning was about to come.
"I think the best way to do this is to just have Ocean show you what he really is. After that we can talk about everything that this means for Ocean, Makai, and for you two as well." Mrs. Rivers was obviously the more diplomatic of the two of them since she was the one who was leading this whole thing.
"Alright, if you think that is best, then that is what we will do." Mom nodded at her
"Lead the way, we're the ones that don't know what to do here." Dad smiled excitedly. "Is it wrong that I am excited to see this?"
"Oh, it's cool, trust me. And it's much better now that we got him out of the dress."
"DRESS?!" Both of my parents seemed to be in shock as they yelled that one word.
"It wasn't my fault." I snapped at them. "That form just came with the dress. I didn't put it on intentionally."
"I am so confused." Mom put a hand to her head, and Dad laughed. This was going to be strange. I just knew it.
The six of us walked back to the pool. It was the second time that I was going to be doing this today, and I was not feeling any better this time around. Honestly, I might have taken off running in the other direction if Makai wasn't holding my hand tightly. He was what was keeping me grounded. Then again, I also remembered that I told him that I love him, and that made me blush so this wasn't quite the calm walk that it could have been.
"So, what is it that we need to do?" Dad asked once we were next to the pool.
"I suggest taking a seat over there; you might need to sit down for some of this." Makai was the one to answer. "I am going to show you what I am first, so that you are more prepared for when Ocean shows you his other self."
"OK." With raised eyebrows, Dad agreed before he and Mom went to sit down.
"OK, I will do this in the water."
Makai took his shirt off and started to walk toward the pool. I worked really, really hard not to have my eyes rake over his sculpted back muscles and firm body as I watched him walk. I didn't need my parents, or his, seeing that.
He slipped off his socks next and then jumped into the pool with his shorts still on. Shortly after, though, he took off his shorts and set them on the tiled floor next to the pool.
"I will now turn into my other form." His voice was even, steady and full of the confidence that I was lacking.
It only took Makai a matter of moments to change. He let himself sink into the water and then came back up almost immediately with his hair different and scales scattered all over the place.
Makai pushed off the floor of the pool with his tail, raising himself out of the water and showing off his body. After a moment or two, he slid his body out of the pool using his arms and was sitting on the tiled floor.
"This is what I am."
"K..K..Kai!?" Mom looked shocked. "A..a...are you a M..M..Mer..Mer..Merman?" It was good to know that my mom could stutter too.
"Holy shit. That is awesome!" Dad was looking at my boyfriend with newfound excitement. Actually it wasn't so much newfound since he was already excited; it was more a resurgence. "Are you a Merman too?"
"No, Ocean is slightly different from us." Mrs. Rivers answered for me. "He still hails from the sea though, so he isn't that much different than us when we get down to it all."
"OK, I am a little confused. What is Ocean if he isn't a Merman like you, Kai?" Mom was looking at me with curious eyes.
"I will show you." I started toward the pool next but I realized that I had a bit of a problem. "Oh, I need to take these off first."
"You can take them off in the shower room over there. Wrap yourself in a towel before you come out to the pool." Mrs. Rivers instructed.
I did as she told me to, folding my clothes into a neat little pile and wrapping a towel around my waist. Without saying anything I walked back out to where everyone was and stepped into the pool. When I was sufficiently hidden by the side of the pool, I took the towel off and set it next to Makai's clothes.
Once I was in the water I let that feeling start to wash over me again. I didn't try to hold it back. I let the power come to me and felt my body begin to heat up. It only took a couple moments before I felt myself start to change.
I did as Makai did and pushed myself under the water, and once I felt the explosion inside of me I swam back up. However, unlike Makai, I couldn't stand on my tail so I climbed out of the pool.
"Ocean!" Mom covered her mouth when she saw me. I hurried to check that I was wearing the shorts that I had thought about instead of the dress.
"Oh, thank God." I was wearing them, and they looked just like I had made them look before. The dark green shorts, too bad they looked like they were made of kelp or something like that.
"You look beautiful." Mom gasped.
"He doesn't have a tail." Dad sounded a little upset. "I feel gypped."
"Haha. Yeah, he's not a Merman, so no tail. He's also not a Sea Serpent or a Selkie." Mr. Rivers joked back with my dad.
"I'm guessing those are other types of people like you guys. So if he isn't any of those, what is he?"
"He's a Siren." Makai was the one that answered as he looked at me; his eyes were full of love and acceptance.
"He looks amazing." My mom was walking toward me with her hand outstretched. "My baby looks so beautiful."
"Mom." I blushed, but she got close enough to touch me.
"Ocean, my little boy. You're all grown up now, and you're a Siren. I should have known something was different about you, with how much you love the water. And you were found on the beach as a baby. There were so many signs, and I just ignored them all."
"Mom?" I was looking at her with eyes that were still uncertain. "Y..y..you don't think that I'm some kind of f..f..freak?" That had been worrying me since the day I found out that I wasn't human. I felt like my world was going to end, and that my parents were going to disown me.
"No, honey. You're beautiful, and you're still you." I hugged her then, not even thinking about the fact that I was still covered in water. She didn't seem to care either.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
~~
Ocean
~~
"Ocean! Stop playing with your food and eat it."
"Yes, Mom." I had jumped at the sound of her voice and straightened up before shoving a bite of the food into my mouth.
"Honestly, I know you're hungry. You're always hungry. So why in the world would you intentionally skip a meal?"
"I..I..I'm not sk..skipping it." I fidgeted for a moment as I thought of what to say. "I..I'm just n..n..nervous. That's all."
"Why are you nervous, Son?" Dad asked me with his eyebrows raised. "You have nothing to worry about." Dad was in his calm and kind mode today. I just hoped he stayed there instead of flipping over to his jokester side. Honestly, that would probably be the death of me.
"W..w..we..we..w..we..well I..I..I..-"
"Oh, just leave him alone, Phineas." Mom cut me off. "We will figure it out after dinner. The Rivers family was nice enough to invite us so let's stay calm and be polite guests." Mom reprimanded my dad so that I didn't have to answer him.
"Yes, dear." Dad hung his head and started to eat. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Mr. Rivers was holding back his laughter after seeing what had happened.
"We will make sure that everything is explained after we eat." Mrs. Rivers smiled at my mom. "There is nothing to worry about, Mrs. Shores."
"Please, call me Steph. It's the first part of my weird first name."
"Of course, Steph, and you can call me Analise or simply Ana. And this is my husband Reef."
"Reef? As in the things in the ocean?" Dad looked excited.
"Yup?" Mr. Rivers nodded at him. "Just like a coral reef or something similar. And you're Phineas. Hey, do you have a brother? Is his name Fer-?"
"Oh, drop it." Mrs. Rivers laughed. "I knew you were going to ask that the moment I found out his name." She was shaking her head from side to side while covering her eyes.
"Nah, I don't have a brother named Ferb, I'm an only child." Dad answered him anyway.
"See, he got it." Mr. Rivers was pointing at Dad with a smile. "That's awesome."
Dinner continued in a similar way while we all ate, or tried to. I still didn't end up eating much. I was having all these mini internal freak outs every time that I thought about showing what I truly am to my parents. And it felt like dinner was just dragging on while our parents joked incessantly.
Finally though, we were done eating and my time of reckoning was about to come.
"I think the best way to do this is to just have Ocean show you what he really is. After that we can talk about everything that this means for Ocean, Makai, and for you two as well." Mrs. Rivers was obviously the more diplomatic of the two of them since she was the one who was leading this whole thing.
"Alright, if you think that is best, then that is what we will do." Mom nodded at her
"Lead the way, we're the ones that don't know what to do here." Dad smiled excitedly. "Is it wrong that I am excited to see this?"
"Oh, it's cool, trust me. And it's much better now that we got him out of the dress."
"DRESS?!" Both of my parents seemed to be in shock as they yelled that one word.
"It wasn't my fault." I snapped at them. "That form just came with the dress. I didn't put it on intentionally."
"I am so confused." Mom put a hand to her head, and Dad laughed. This was going to be strange. I just knew it.
The six of us walked back to the pool. It was the second time that I was going to be doing this today, and I was not feeling any better this time around. Honestly, I might have taken off running in the other direction if Makai wasn't holding my hand tightly. He was what was keeping me grounded. Then again, I also remembered that I told him that I love him, and that made me blush so this wasn't quite the calm walk that it could have been.
"So, what is it that we need to do?" Dad asked once we were next to the pool.
"I suggest taking a seat over there; you might need to sit down for some of this." Makai was the one to answer. "I am going to show you what I am first, so that you are more prepared for when Ocean shows you his other self."
"OK." With raised eyebrows, Dad agreed before he and Mom went to sit down.
"OK, I will do this in the water."
Makai took his shirt off and started to walk toward the pool. I worked really, really hard not to have my eyes rake over his sculpted back muscles and firm body as I watched him walk. I didn't need my parents, or his, seeing that.
He slipped off his socks next and then jumped into the pool with his shorts still on. Shortly after, though, he took off his shorts and set them on the tiled floor next to the pool.
"I will now turn into my other form." His voice was even, steady and full of the confidence that I was lacking.
It only took Makai a matter of moments to change. He let himself sink into the water and then came back up almost immediately with his hair different and scales scattered all over the place.
Makai pushed off the floor of the pool with his tail, raising himself out of the water and showing off his body. After a moment or two, he slid his body out of the pool using his arms and was sitting on the tiled floor.
"This is what I am."
"K..K..Kai!?" Mom looked shocked. "A..a...are you a M..M..Mer..Mer..Merman?" It was good to know that my mom could stutter too.
"Holy shit. That is awesome!" Dad was looking at my boyfriend with newfound excitement. Actually it wasn't so much newfound since he was already excited; it was more a resurgence. "Are you a Merman too?"
"No, Ocean is slightly different from us." Mrs. Rivers answered for me. "He still hails from the sea though, so he isn't that much different than us when we get down to it all."
"OK, I am a little confused. What is Ocean if he isn't a Merman like you, Kai?" Mom was looking at me with curious eyes.
"I will show you." I started toward the pool next but I realized that I had a bit of a problem. "Oh, I need to take these off first."
"You can take them off in the shower room over there. Wrap yourself in a towel before you come out to the pool." Mrs. Rivers instructed.
I did as she told me to, folding my clothes into a neat little pile and wrapping a towel around my waist. Without saying anything I walked back out to where everyone was and stepped into the pool. When I was sufficiently hidden by the side of the pool, I took the towel off and set it next to Makai's clothes.
Once I was in the water I let that feeling start to wash over me again. I didn't try to hold it back. I let the power come to me and felt my body begin to heat up. It only took a couple moments before I felt myself start to change.
I did as Makai did and pushed myself under the water, and once I felt the explosion inside of me I swam back up. However, unlike Makai, I couldn't stand on my tail so I climbed out of the pool.
"Ocean!" Mom covered her mouth when she saw me. I hurried to check that I was wearing the shorts that I had thought about instead of the dress.
"Oh, thank God." I was wearing them, and they looked just like I had made them look before. The dark green shorts, too bad they looked like they were made of kelp or something like that.
"You look beautiful." Mom gasped.
"He doesn't have a tail." Dad sounded a little upset. "I feel gypped."
"Haha. Yeah, he's not a Merman, so no tail. He's also not a Sea Serpent or a Selkie." Mr. Rivers joked back with my dad.
"I'm guessing those are other types of people like you guys. So if he isn't any of those, what is he?"
"He's a Siren." Makai was the one that answered as he looked at me; his eyes were full of love and acceptance.
"He looks amazing." My mom was walking toward me with her hand outstretched. "My baby looks so beautiful."
"Mom." I blushed, but she got close enough to touch me.
"Ocean, my little boy. You're all grown up now, and you're a Siren. I should have known something was different about you, with how much you love the water. And you were found on the beach as a baby. There were so many signs, and I just ignored them all."
"Mom?" I was looking at her with eyes that were still uncertain. "Y..y..you don't think that I'm some kind of f..f..freak?" That had been worrying me since the day I found out that I wasn't human. I felt like my world was going to end, and that my parents were going to disown me.
"No, honey. You're beautiful, and you're still you." I hugged her then, not even thinking about the fact that I was still covered in water. She didn't seem to care either.
~~Ocean~~"Ocean! Stop playing with your food and eat it.""Yes, Mom." I had jumped at the sound of her voice and straightened up before shoving a bite of the food into my mouth."Honestly, I know you're hungry. You're always hungry. So why in the world would you intentionally skip a meal?""I..I..I'm not sk..skipping it." I fidgeted for a moment as I thought of what to say. "I..I'm just n..n..nervous. That's all.""Why are you nervous, Son?" Dad asked me with his eyebrows raised. "You have nothing to worry about." Dad was in his calm and kind mode today. I just hoped he stayed there instead of flipping over to his jokester side. Honestly, that would probably be the death of me."W..w..we..we..w..we..well I..I..I..-""Oh, just leave him alone, Phineas." Mom cut me off. "We will figure it out after dinner. The Rivers family was nice enough to invite us so let's stay calm and be polite guests." Mom reprimanded my dad so that I didn't have to answer him."Yes, dear." Dad hung his head and started to eat. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Mr. Rivers was holding back his laughter after seeing what had happened."We will make sure that everything is explained after we eat." Mrs. Rivers smiled at my mom. "There is nothing to worry about, Mrs. Shores.""Please, call me Steph. It's the first part of my weird first name.""Of course, Steph, and you can call me Analise or simply Ana. And this is my husband Reef.""Reef? As in the things in the ocean?" Dad looked excited."Yup?" Mr. Rivers nodded at him. "Just like a coral reef or something similar. And you're Phineas. Hey, do you have a brother? Is his name Fer-?""Oh, drop it." Mrs. Rivers laughed. "I knew you were going to ask that the moment I found out his name." She was shaking her head from side to side while covering her eyes."Nah, I don't have a brother named Ferb, I'm an only child." Dad answered him anyway."See, he got it." Mr. Rivers was pointing at Dad with a smile. "That's awesome."Dinner continued in a similar way while we all ate, or tried to. I still didn't end up eating much. I was having all these mini internal freak outs every time that I thought about showing what I truly am to my parents. And it felt like dinner was just dragging on while our parents joked incessantly.Finally though, we were done eating and my time of reckoning was about to come."I think the best way to do this is to just have Ocean show you what he really is. After that we can talk about everything that this means for Ocean, Makai, and for you two as well." Mrs. Rivers was obviously the more diplomatic of the two of them since she was the one who was leading this whole thing."Alright, if you think that is best, then that is what we will do." Mom nodded at her"Lead the way, we're the ones that don't know what to do here." Dad smiled excitedly. "Is it wrong that I am excited to see this?""Oh, it's cool, trust me. And it's much better now that we got him out of the dress.""DRESS?!" Both of my parents seemed to be in shock as they yelled that one word."It wasn't my fault." I snapped at them. "That form just came with the dress. I didn't put it on intentionally.""I am so confused." Mom put a hand to her head, and Dad laughed. This was going to be strange. I just knew it.The six of us walked back to the pool. It was the second time that I was going to be doing this today, and I was not feeling any better this time around. Honestly, I might have taken off running in the other direction if Makai wasn't holding my hand tightly. He was what was keeping me grounded. Then again, I also remembered that I told him that I love him, and that made me blush so this wasn't quite the calm walk that it could have been."So, what is it that we need to do?" Dad asked once we were next to the pool."I suggest taking a seat over there; you might need to sit down for some of this." Makai was the one to answer. "I am going to show you what I am first, so that you are more prepared for when Ocean shows you his other self.""OK." With raised eyebrows, Dad agreed before he and Mom went to sit down."OK, I will do this in the water."Makai took his shirt off and started to walk toward the pool. I worked really, really hard not to have my eyes rake over his sculpted back muscles and firm body as I watched him walk. I didn't need my parents, or his, seeing that.He slipped off his socks next and then jumped into the pool with his shorts still on. Shortly after, though, he took off his shorts and set them on the tiled floor next to the pool."I will now turn into my other form." His voice was even, steady and full of the confidence that I was lacking.It only took Makai a matter of moments to change. He let himself sink into the water and then came back up almost immediately with his hair different and scales scattered all over the place.Makai pushed off the floor of the pool with his tail, raising himself out of the water and showing off his body. After a moment or two, he slid his body out of the pool using his arms and was sitting on the tiled floor."This is what I am.""K..K..Kai!?" Mom looked shocked. "A..a...are you a M..M..Mer..Mer..Merman?" It was good to know that my mom could stutter too."Holy shit. That is awesome!" Dad was looking at my boyfriend with newfound excitement. Actually it wasn't so much newfound since he was already excited; it was more a resurgence. "Are you a Merman too?""No, Ocean is slightly different from us." Mrs. Rivers answered for me. "He still hails from the sea though, so he isn't that much different than us when we get down to it all.""OK, I am a little confused. What is Ocean if he isn't a Merman like you, Kai?" Mom was looking at me with curious eyes."I will show you." I started toward the pool next but I realized that I had a bit of a problem. "Oh, I need to take these off first.""You can take them off in the shower room over there. Wrap yourself in a towel before you come out to the pool." Mrs. Rivers instructed.I did as she told me to, folding my clothes into a neat little pile and wrapping a towel around my waist. Without saying anything I walked back out to where everyone was and stepped into the pool. When I was sufficiently hidden by the side of the pool, I took the towel off and set it next to Makai's clothes.Once I was in the water I let that feeling start to wash over me again. I didn't try to hold it back. I let the power come to me and felt my body begin to heat up. It only took a couple moments before I felt myself start to change.I did as Makai did and pushed myself under the water, and once I felt the explosion inside of me I swam back up. However, unlike Makai, I couldn't stand on my tail so I climbed out of the pool."Ocean!" Mom covered her mouth when she saw me. I hurried to check that I was wearing the shorts that I had thought about instead of the dress."Oh, thank God." I was wearing them, and they looked just like I had made them look before. The dark green shorts, too bad they looked like they were made of kelp or something like that."You look beautiful." Mom gasped."He doesn't have a tail." Dad sounded a little upset. "I feel gypped.""Haha. Yeah, he's not a Merman, so no tail. He's also not a Sea Serpent or a Selkie." Mr. Rivers joked back with my dad."I'm guessing those are other types of people like you guys. So if he isn't any of those, what is he?""He's a Siren." Makai was the one that answered as he looked at me; his eyes were full of love and acceptance."He looks amazing." My mom was walking toward me with her hand outstretched. "My baby looks so beautiful.""Mom." I blushed, but she got close enough to touch me."Ocean, my little boy. You're all grown up now, and you're a Siren. I should have known something was different about you, with how much you love the water. And you were found on the beach as a baby. There were so many signs, and I just ignored them all.""Mom?" I was looking at her with eyes that were still uncertain. "Y..y..you don't think that I'm some kind of f..f..freak?" That had been worrying me since the day I found out that I wasn't human. I felt like my world was going to end, and that my parents were going to disown me."No, honey. You're beautiful, and you're still you." I hugged her then, not even thinking about the fact that I was still covered in water. She didn't seem to care either.
