Karina’s heart was fluttering in her chest like a frantic fish thrown to shore by a larger than anticipated wave. It throbbed in the confines of her flesh and she brought a hand up to her scales and took deeper gulps of water as she tried to settle it. It did not work and she wriggled with giddy anticipation as she launched herself over the sand dunes and the reef. She could not keep the gaping grin off her face, though she knew she must look like a fool to the family as she raced by. The hunting party had returned and that was all that mattered. He was all that mattered, and she had to find him.

She both loved and hated when Nero joined the hunting party, and he did it often. She was proud at his protective, nurturing instincts that drove him to hunt and support their entire family group, and he always brought her back little gifts or treats – not that she required them – but it was sweet that he sought to distract their time apart like that. And every time the hunt returned, Karina got to feel the exhilarated rush of getting to see him again. It freshly ignited all of her love for him again until she felt like giggling youngling all over again. But she hated to watch him leave, hated to be apart, and especially despised the churning fear that something could happen to him and she would not be there. So far he had never come home with more than a few scrapes and bruises, but she fretted over each one.

Nero always offered for her to come along, but she was not a skilled hunter. She was clumsy and always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She felt like a burden to the rest of the team, and she was never as comfortable with travelling away from their pod as she sometimes wished she could be, so she stayed behind. She would help Rebecca when she had patients, or sit and weave with Iliene when the perfectionist would tolerate Karina’s lack of experience. She kept busy, tried to be as helpful as she could, but she always missed him regardless. Today, she was especially eager to see him.

She darted over the reef, narrowly avoiding colliding with some of the other returning hunters, who mostly grumbled and rolled their eyes even as they smiled at her. She wove around them and tackled Nero as he was turning to face her. His dark eyes widened with surprise and he grunted at the impact as she bowled him over and hugged him fiercely. “I missed you,” she told him. Her heart was still drumming eagerly in her chest. She had been waiting far too patiently for him to get back.

His arms swept her up and squeezed her close, and she felt his chin come to rest atop her head. “I missed you too,” he agreed. He rubbed a hand down her back and then pulled away. She laced her fingers in his and he pulled one of her hands up to kiss the knuckles. “Are you alright? I just spoke with mother and she said you have been a little distant since last night. Did something happen?”

Karina shook her head and her grin grew wider. “I am fine,” she assured him. “Better than fine. I just had to see you first. Had to show you first.”

“Show me what?” he prompted.

Karina chewed her lip as emotion swelled like a tidal wave in her chest. Her eyes stung from the sheer height of euphoria washing over her. She rolled one shoulder back and raised her arm just enough to reveal the scaled sides of her chest. There, among the sunset orange of her scales – barely the size of a closed fist – was a milky translucent membrane beginning to grow. “I noticed yesterday. You needed to be the first to know,” she reported.

Nero’s eyes widened and his lips parted with silent surprise. She could feel his powerful tail stirring the water around him as he hovered. At first, as he did not say anything or seem to react, Karina felt her heart stall in her chest as she thought maybe he was not as excited as she had hoped he would be. Worry gnawed at her gut. He had to be. They had joined – had completed the final act of their bond – almost a moon ago now. They would not have if they did not want the possible outcome.

When Nero shook his head, Karina’s heart fell further, but then she watched the small half-smile that touched his lips like it always did when something stunned or amazed him. He lifted his hand as if to touch one of the tiny white fins, but hesitated.

“It is okay,” she assured him. “I cannot feel them yet, and you would not hurt me even if I could.”

Tenderly, he brushed a hand over her side as he examined the one fin more carefully. She winced when she felt him tug softly on it, and gently swatted his arm. “Well I can when you pull on it!” she scolded.

Nero inclined his head and his smile grew. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I cannot believe it…you are really….”

“Yes,” Karina agreed, and her smile grew twice as wide as it had been yet. “We are going to have a baby, Nero.”

As soon as she said it, Nero wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her close to him. She hugged him back, one hand rubbing over his dorsal before dropping to hold him too. She looked up at him and could see the joy sparkling in his obsidian gaze. She hummed in the back of her throat and found herself preening under his approving expression. She had never dreamed she could love him more, but she could feel their little miracle pulling them closer already.

Nero’s grip on her was tight, protective, and he bent his head to rub his nose against hers. She laughed and leaned her head on his chest. “You made me wait,” she teased him. “I have been itching to tell you since last night.”

“I will have to make up for that,” he agreed. She peeked up at him and he pulled her ever closer so he could kiss her. Her fins ruffled and she purred her content at their embrace. Nero always made her feel safe and loved and wanted.

“Are you happy?” she checked.

“I am always happy with you,” he mumbled into her hair as he buried his nose in it. “But in this, I am overjoyed.”

Karina smiled softly and nuzzled him. “Good. I wonder how your parents are going to react.”

“You know my father,” Nero responded. “He does not show what he feels, but you can bet he will spoil the little Mer like no infant has ever been spoiled.”

“And Rebecca?” Karina glanced up again. Rebecca made her nervous. She had been so accepting and incredibly warm to Karina, filling the void left behind by the loss of her own family. She had never blamed Karina or held any ill will over her son’s prolonged absence. Karina hated the idea of ever disappointing the woman, but children were sometimes a sore subject with her. She still grieved the loss of her younger offspring. Karina had never met Nero’s sister – who had died many years before they joined up with Nero’s birth pod – but she knew that it made the topic of children a somber one. “You do not think she will have a hard time with it, do you? I would never want to disappoint her or seem as though I am bragging or rubbing something in her-oh!” Karina was cut off as Nero captured her lips in his.

“You worry too much,” he whispered. “She will not take it that way. You know how she is going to react.”

Karina sighed, though her exasperation was fond. “I am never going to get a moment’s peace until after the baby is born, am I?” she inquired. Though it was still too early for her pregnancy to show, Karina found herself instinctively hugging her belly with one arm.

“She will fuss over you,” Nero agreed. “You know how she is. But take heart; between my mother and I, you will never be lonely or at risk. My father will spoil our baby, but I am going to spoil you.”

“Oh?” Karina poked her tongue out between her teeth and lifted her free hand to run through his thick waves of hair. “How do you intend to do that?”

Nero lifted a small woven net of seaweed strands and handed it to her. “This might make a good start,” he mumbled as he leaned forward and nuzzled her neck. It tickled her gills and she chuckled.

“You do not have to bring me things,” she protested softly. Her protests went ignored however as Nero continued to simply hold her. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her and she peeked. There was a small pile of prawns at the bottom of the bag and Karina’s breath hitched. Nero knew that she savored crustaceans above all other foods, and had a taste for shrimp. Prawns were her absolute favorite, however, and she rarely ever got to eat them because most hunting parties veered away from deltas and other brackish environments where they lived. Nero had gone out of his way for these.

“You did not have to do this,” she whispered.

“I wanted to,” he replied.

“Where did you even find them?”

“I was not expecting to,” he admitted. “But the school we tracked took us past a large island with a river cutting through it. It should have been ocean water, logically, but there is enough rain here that the island core is fresh. There were not many, and I left most I found alone in hopes the population will swell. But you deserve a treat.”

“You are too good to me,” she hummed as she hugged him tightly. She required no gifts from him, simply treasuring his presence above all else, but Nero continued to lavish her regardless.

“We should tell my parents,” he decided. “If you feel comfortable. Then you and I will have to celebrate.”

Karina nodded. “I do not think we could keep it a secret for long anyways. Rebecca always seems to know.”

“She has a talent,” Nero agreed. “We will tell them then, and then I think we should take to the caves this evening.”

Karina nodded. “That sounds nice.” Their new reef was nestled off the deep shores of an abandoned island. No boats or water traffic came near, and there were no other pods despite the abundance of prey. Beneath the island was a network of deep-reaching tunnels and caverns. Karina was never the most fond of the dark, but there were crystal veins in the rock that glistened beautifully down there, and it would allow them to be alone with one another’s company. With Nero, light or dark, there was no place that was not her favourite to be. His company was all she ever craved.