It was incredibly disorienting to be this tired. Karina felt as though she had been sucked dry of all her energy as though she were a clam someone had cracked open and slurped the meat out of. She was only vaguely aware of things. The ache in her tail had been brutal initially, but it was now reduced to little more than a dull throb pinching in the back of her mind.

She remembered the fear that had clogged her gills, the pain and the tension and stress, but they felt far away now. They had been followed by the burst of relief when it was over, the joy at the success, and the tidal wave of love that had nearly ruptured her heart as Nero had held her close. She had not been sure she would survive long enough to feel it again.

Now she had very little consciousness, like a final flickering tendril of squid ink being dispersed through the water. She was vaguely aware of many things, but she could grasp no single thought or feeling to hold onto and drag herself back into a state of awareness. She was warm and could feel Nero’s strength and proximity close to her. It made her feel good to know he was near and watching over her. She was aware of the pain and the heaviness still lingering in her body. But she could also feel a new warmth. Hear the steady, rapid thumps of a young heartbeat. They beat clearly through the dull silence in her mind and resonated with her very being. It was soothing to feel the baby nestled within her fins and against her chest. A shared lifeforce that was hers to nurture.

She had not realized it would feel quite this wonderful. She wanted to wake and share that wonder with Nero. But it was so hard. Like drifting through an endless dark sea. Nero had taken her down to a middle zone of the ocean, where it was dark and chilly, but there had been such beautiful drifting lights. It felt like she was back there now, but there was only one bright light, cupped in her fins like a personal treasure she vowed she would cherish forever.

She clung to that sensation. The bright little light snuggled close to her chest. She hummed and finally managed to peel her eyes open. The dark dullness faded, and she was hit with the pain and sluggishness that came with overexerting herself. She remembered very little about her labour now. She had been barely conscious. But her sides throbbed and she vaguely remembered the sharp prick of fangs. She thought perhaps it had been Riley, but she could not fathom why Riley would attack her, so she shook herself and shoved away the presumed hallucination. The girl was bold, but she was not cruel.

Taking a breath, Karina pushed away her aches and pains and blinked a few times to clear the sleepiness from her mind. She was curled up against Nero’s torso and when she looked up, she found her mate sprawled with his tail draped over hers and his face resting on his arm. He was slumbering soundly. She smiled softly. The water around them was very still. It seemed the others were all asleep as well and she had no wish to disturb anyone, so she settled back down and sighed softly. She was comfortable and content, despite the urge to rouse Nero and share her joy with him. He had been through a harrowing experience. She knew how she faltered earlier had to have frightened him terribly. It was better to let him sleep for now.

As she laid her head back down, she felt her infant stir. Tiny fins slapped against her scales and she could feel the baby’s tiny fingers pressing and kneading against her. It tugged a smile to her lips and a hum built in her chest. She kept it quiet so she would not disturb Nero; this was just for the baby.

Karina carefully tilted her fins back just enough to sneak a peek, and she was delighted to see a set of deep brown eyes staring back at her. Her child was awake and aware of her. She did not imagine the baby would be awake long. They would sleep for long periods during the next several turns, but it touched her to have the moment of visual connection between them.

She slowly brought one arm up so as not to disrupt Nero or the baby. Reaching beneath her fins, she cradled the infant and rubbed a thumb over their shoulder. The pale skin was so soft and fragile that Karina could not help wrapping her fins tighter to her body to keep the baby well cocooned. Then she shifted her hand down to the tail. There were no scales – not that she had been expecting any – simply more thin, frail skin. She needed to be careful, but it was just as important to know before the scales grew in.

As she brushed down the limb, the baby’s fins twitched on the end of their tail and smacked against her side. She hummed in response and allowed her hand to fall away. “I would not be too pleased either,” she agreed in as hushed a tone as she could manage. “But every infant is checked so there is no sense making a fuss about it.”

It was silly, she supposed, to try to reason with the newborn Mer, who would not begin to comprehend for several moons yet, but she did want the baby to be comfortable with the sound of her voice. They were going to be intimately connected for a while still.

She winced as her gut twisted into a knot, and she brought a hand to her belly. The previous swelling was all but gone, but it was more than just the lack of an unborn child making her feel hollow. She was famished. Karina chewed her lip and glanced around.

The others were all fast asleep. Ixion and Rebecca were cuddled up back to front with one another, and Karina had to bite her lip to keep from chuckling as she caught sight of Luna sprawled over the top of them. The girl had her head resting on her crossed forearms on the ground, and her belly and tail stretched up over her parents’ tails as she slept sideways on them.

It was cute and it made Karina wonder if her baby would ever do something silly that would make her want to laugh and roll her eyes. There would probably be many moments like that in her future, and she looked forward to each and every one of them.

She let her gaze wander a little further and found Katie curled up in a ball. The violet Mer had tucked her tail up close to her chest and had her arms wrapped around it. She looked small and it made Karina’s heart sink. She was not sure if Katie was lonely or simply having a bad sleep, but neither would surprise her given everything that had happened. They were all stressed, but Katie and Luna had been through the worst of it. But now Katie had lost close members of her family and Luna was making up for lost time with her parents. Karina understood Luna’s desire; she would give anything to have some more time with her mother and father, but it still seemed to leave Katie alone.

At least Riley was close by. She was half curled on the floor and appeared fast asleep, but if either of them stretched they would probably bump the other’s tail. Riley did not strike Karina as the most emotionally engaging Mer, she was a bit coyer and more reserved, but the two did seem to get along well enough and it would probably do both of them good to have a friend right now.

That just left Nero, who Karina was most concerned about disturbing. He had shifted slightly and his tail had fallen to the side, so she should be able to get up without waking him if she was careful. She just wanted to see if there was anything to eat. She rolled over and sat up, and then gazed back down. Nero had not stirred, and she smiled softly as she watched him for a moment. She knew she had scared him. He deserved to rest.

She pushed herself off the floor and took slow, deliberate strokes so she would not rouse him as she swam away. Karina gave Riley a wide berth as well. She had observed how light a sleeper the sandy-tailed Mer was.

It took her a little while, but she crossed the pool successfully without waking anyone. When she was just beneath the surface, Karina parted her jaws and scented cautiously. All the human scents were stale, but it did smell sharply of fish and her stomach rumbled.

Her heart thudded nervously in her chest as she poked her head above the water and looked around. The room was dark and empty. Karina breathed a sigh of relief and flicked her fins to bring her to the edge of the pool. There was a strange white box with a blue lid that was chilled to the touch and smelled strongly of food. Karina tightened her fins around her baby and raised her hands to pull the container closer. The lid was sealed tight and she gritted her teeth in annoyance as she fussed with it, trying to figure out how to get into it without making a ruckus.

As she wrestled with it, a pair of hands grabbed her around the waist and Karina had to clap a hand over her mouth to cut off her startled shriek. Nero pulled her away from the edge and she twisted to face him only to find his eyes blazing. She frowned. “Nero?” she inquired.

“Do not ever do that again!” he snarled in a hushed whisper.

Her frown deepened and her heart stalled. Nero was frightening when he was angry, but there had been very few instances where his anger had been directed at her, and never like this. She chewed her lip. “I do not-”

She was cut off as he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. It made the entire moment even more concerning until she heard his heart hammering in his chest. “You were unconscious,” he whispered. “Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to wake up to find you gone after everything that happened? Do not ever do that again.”

She relaxed slightly and wrapped her arms around him. “Not too tightly,” she reminded as he squeezed her closer. “I am sorry to have worried you. I just did not want to wake you. I just got hungry is all.”

Nero pulled away just long enough to cup her face in his hands before he leaned back in. She flicked her fins to raise herself a little higher and meet him halfway as he kissed her. It was warm and passionate, but there was a frantic energy coming from him that concerned her.

She broke the kiss and looked up to find tears in his eyes. Her heart squeezed in her chest and she reached up to wipe one of the tears away with her thumb. “Nero?” she inquired.

He bowed his head until their foreheads met. “I almost lost you; I thought I was going to…” he whimpered. Karina had never heard him sound this broken down, not even when they had made it to his pod and he had been told of Kera’s death. “Please never scare me like that again,” he begged. “I cannot lose you. You are my world.”

Karina tilted her head and kissed him tenderly. She cupped his face and hummed softly. “I was scared too,” she agreed. “But I am alright, I promise. Just a little tired and more than a little hungry, but no worse than that.”

Nero’s smile was small and shaky, but he nodded. “Then I suppose we should get you some food,” he murmured. His hands moved to the sides of her tail and she squeaked in surprise as he boosted her out of the water and onto the side of the pool. He hauled himself out next and pulled the white container over. She scowled when he popped it open with little trouble, but her focus quickly shifted to the container. She reached out to grab one of the slices of fish draped over chunks of frozen water. Before she could grab it though, Nero tugged the container away and covered the top with his hands.

Karina’s attention snapped to him with narrowed eyes. He was grinning at her and he crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue when she looked at him. He reached into the container and pulled out a strip of fish. He held it out towards her, but when she reached for it, he tugged it back and waggled his eyebrows at her. “That will cost you a kiss,” he taunted.

Karina huffed but shifted her weight and leaned in close. He closed his eyes and leaned into the meet her, but instead of kissing him, Karina grabbed him by the ear and pulled. “Nero? Give me the fish,” she growled.

He chuckled and shook his head, so she tugged harder until he winced. “Oh, alright,” he relented. He raised the meat up to her face and she bit into it without hesitation. She gave his ear one more yank and then kissed him before pulling away.

“Ruthless,” he teased as he straightened up once more and pulled out another piece. She rolled her eyes, but caved and allowed him to feed her. She could do it herself, but she did not blame him for desiring a moment of intimacy after everything, and she was so hungry that the delivery method did not matter so long as there was an intake of food. The fish was tender and juicy, and she purred as she gulped down as much as she could.

When she had finally sated her ravenous appetite, Karina felt full and heavy, and she hiccuped softly. “Thank you,” she purred.

Nero draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. “It might be best for you to get some more rest,” he advised. Karina nodded her agreement, but he was so comfortable and warm that she felt no inclination to move. Nero chuckled and pulled her into his lap. He kissed the crown of her head and she hummed happily. “Alright, I will take you,” he agreed while a deep rumble rose in his chest.

He slipped into the water and held her close as he began to swim down. Once they had hit the water, Karina felt the baby stir again. She did not need to worry about the baby making the switch from water to air since they would breathe neither until their gills opened for the first time, but it seemed that the environmental switch had been startling.

Karina put a hand on Nero’s chest. “Wait,” she requested quietly. When Nero paused in the water, Karina responded to his quizzical gaze by loosening her fins and tilting them forward just enough to see the infant. It gnawed on her nerves to do it, their child was so small and fragile and needed to be tightly cocooned, but she wanted Nero to see.

The wide-eyed look of wonder that spread across Nero’s face made it worth all the stress of exposing the newborn. Nero glanced at her with a hopeful question sparkling in his gaze. Karina took a breath and nodded.

Nero reached a hand down between the gap in her fins to press his hand to the side of the baby’s face. His hand was huge compared to the infant’s tiny skull, but he was incredibly gentle and it made Karina’s smile grow. He was going to be a wonderful father and she was incredibly lucky to have him.

“Nero…meet your son.”