Something to Hide **Complete**

[Ally3772]

Thoughts of the Future

"Mom?"

I turned around to see Griffin standing at the door of my bedroom. He walked over and sat down next to me.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Huh? Nothing!" I said.

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore." He reminded me.

"I'm just scared." I said.

"Of what?"

"Getting older. My birthday is shortly after Nessa's and I'll be an elder."

He took my hand and squeezed it.

"What's going to happen to you guys?"

"Well, I can't say much of what the future will hold. But mom, I got this. I promise you that I will look after the girls when you are gone."

"I don't tell you this enough Griff, but I am proud of you. Ever since your father passed away you have stepped up and at times I knew that was unfair to you, but he would have been proud of you."

He smiled, "Thanks mom."

I kissed his forehead.

"Are you gonna be okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just not ready for this next part of life because that means I am one step closer to being gone."

He squeezed my hand again.

...

"Hey Vanessa, how was school?" I asked.

I walked into her room where she sat at her desk.

"It was okay, I have a lot of homework." She told me.

"Do you need help?"

"No, I think I got it."

I put my hand on her back and looked at her notebook as she wrote.

"Someone has a birthday in a few days, is there anything you want?" I asked.

"Just to be with you guys, and maybe a family movie night!"

"Well that's simple enough!"

She never was the child that wanted a whole lot, but then again non of my children really were.



I walked out of her room and into the living room. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed work.

"Hey, it's Sierra. I'm calling to check on the progress of the water pollution."

I waited for them to look up where we were with it.

"What?! That's awesome!"

I talked for a bit more before hanging up.

"What's awesome?" Aria asked.

"We completed the tests for better water!" I told her.



"That's cool!" She smiled.

"I know, it's boring to you guys." I giggled.

"Where is Griffin?" She asked.

"I think he is outside."

We walked outside together to see him swimming in the water.

"How's the water?!" Aria yelled.

"It's really nice!" He shouted back.



A Few Days Later

"Alright! Everyone outside!" I called.

We sat down around the table on the deck.

"So, we know that today is Nessa's birthday! She has requested a family movie!" I told everyone.

Nessa smiled.

"What movie?" Aria asked.

"A Tale of Two Kitties!" Nessa said.

"Again?!" Griffin groaned.

"It is your sisters birthday, it is her choice." I reminded him.

"Fine."



Shortly after the movie we had cake to celebrate and just like that Vanessa was a teenager!



And just like her siblings, she too was a mermaid!



Who would have thought that we would grow to be a family of mermaids. Adam would have hated it only because he couldn't join in on the fun. That thought of him stewing about it made me giggle and miss him all at once.

And child number three is now a teenager!

[Ally3772]

One Step Closer

"Griffin, it is five in the morning, what are you doing awake?!" I gasped.

"I have to get extra time in." He gasped.

I rubbed my arms for warmth as it was still a bit chilly out.

"How has work been going?" I asked.

"Fine, but coach wants us all to hit the weights a bit hard this week for training."



I sighed, "You know my rules."

"Don't overwork yourself." He grinned.

"That's right."

I walked back inside and checked the calendar. My birthday was tomorrow and I was not ready for this next step.

"Mom! I can't do this!" Nessa groaned.

I walked out on the deck where she was sitting on the floor.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Some stupid electric project! It's stupid!"

"It is not stupid, let me look."



"MOOOOM!" Aria screamed.

"What?!" I called.

"I need help!" She yelled.

I looked at Nessa and then over at Aria.

"I got her mom." Griffin said.

"Thank you."

It looked like both the girls were struggling with their projects.

"I wanted mom." Aria said.

"Well, you got me so deal with it."

I chocked back a laugh.



...

"Mom?" Aria asked.

"Yes dear?" I asked.

"Do you think the people from the lab are still watching us?"

The question caught me off guard.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's been a while since we've heard anything from them. What if they are just waiting?"

"Waiting for what?"

"Their next attack, what if I'm next?"

I sat down across from her and grabbed her hands.

"I know you are worried and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't had the same thoughts. But, I've come to the conclusion that we cannot let them control us. If we think about all of the 'what if' questions then we will drive ourselves crazy and wouldn't be happy. My hope is that they got what they wanted at the expense of Griffin being in pain. I still hate that they did that to your brother, but maybe that was it."

"Yeah, maybe."

I kissed her forehead.

"Thanks mom." She smiled.

"I love you." I told her.

"I love you too."

I walked out on the deck where Griffin stood looking up at the sky.

"What are you looking at and what happened to your chest?" I giggled.

"There are a bunch of birds flying in a circle." He told me.

I glanced up and sure enough, at least ten birds were flying in circles.

"Okay, and what about your chest?"

"I fell asleep in the sun in the water."

"Yikes."



"I have some lotion I'm going to put on it." He said.

"That's good."

...

Tomorrow was here.

Which meant I was now an official elder.



"Happy Birthday mom!" The kids said in unison.

I giggled, "Thank you."

They were sitting around a cake.

"Is this for me?" I asked.

"Of course!" Aria said.

"So, how does it feel?" Nessa asked.

"Like I'm one step closer to what I'm afraid of."

Griffin came over to us and hugged me.

"Who wants cake?!" I asked.

Later that night I spent some alone time in the water.

"I don't know Ellie, I know they will be fine but I am not ready." I told her.

She wiggled a little.

"Here you go!"

I gave her a fish.



"What are you gonna do without me Ellie?" I asked.

She nudged my hand.

"You're getting older too, but maybe the kids can look out for you, yeah?"

She chirped as I flipped on my back.



"Getting older is no fun Ellie." I sighed.

My days were numbered, and I just hoped I had enough time to do what I wanted to do.

I am NOT ready for Sierra to go </3

[Ally3772]

Out of the Blue

Griffin's POV

They're going to love you! -G

I don't know... -N

Trust me! -G

I'm scared. -N

Don't be! I'll text you when I've told them! -G

I walked out of my room and into the kitchen where everyone seemed to be at.

"Hey Griffin!" Nessa said.

"Hello." I said.

"What's up?" Mom asked.

"Um, well. I actually do need to tell you guys something..."

I was pretty cool, excited even, up until this point.

"Oh god, he got someone pregnant!" Aria said.

"Aria!" Mom scolded.

I chucked a bit.

"You didn't- Griffin!" Mom scolded.

"No! Of course not!" I gasped.

"Whew."

"I did meet someone though."

"WHAT?!" Nessa asked.

"Her name is Nadia and I met her at work."

"How long?!" Mom asked.

I tried to tell if she was mad or just shocked. I would have to guess both.

"A couple of months."

"You have been talking to someone for months, and you didn't tell us?" She asked.

"I didn't know if anything would come of it!"

"Are you dating?" Aria asked.

"Not officially just yet." I told them.



"So, when do we get to meet her?" Mom asked.

"Whenever you're ready." I told her.

"Now!" Nessa said.

I looked around to the others and they seemed to agree.

We're ready. -G

I don't think I am. -N

It'll be fine! -G

I waited outside for her to arrive.

"I'm so nervous." Nadia said walking up.

I giggled and gave her a hug.

"So, are you ready?" I asked.



"Can we just stay here? For a moment?" She asked.

"Of course."

She smiled.

"Were they happy? When you told them?"

"They were a little upset that I kept you from them for so long."

"Great, already have a stack against me."

"Stop it!" I laughed.



We walked into the house and I led her into the kitchen.

"Well, everyone, this is Nadia." I introduced.

"Whoa." Nessa said.

I could tell by their expressions that they were a bit shocked by her outfit.

"Hi Nadia, nice to meet you." Mom said, with a strange tone.

"Hello ma'am." Nadia smiled.

"You may call me Sierra."

Nadia nodded nervously.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Aria asked.

"Well, a few of my friends and I went to the game. I happened to bump into Griffin at the end of the game. I mean literally bump into him, my slushie went all over his jersey. I felt so bad!" She told them.

"I see, and ever since then you've been talking?" Mom asked.

"Yes ma- I mean yes, Sierra."



"Can you give us a moment?" Mom asked.

"Oh, um, of course!" Nadia said.

Mom grabbed me by my arm and took me outside.

"Mom? What is going on?" I asked.

Mom shut the door behind her and then turned to me.

"Griffin, you cannot be serious." She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Do you see how she is dressed?" She gaped.

"Okay now you can't be serious mom."

"I am serious Griffin!"

"Times have changed mom. Just cause someone may be dressed one way does not mean that it is how they are as a person!"

"I don't know Griff, what would your father say?"

"Dad is dead."

Mom gaped and covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, but he is. He isn't coming back mom, and I miss him, but I cannot keep living my life based on what dad may or may not have done or thought."

"I see."

"Look, I know your feelings on her clothing, but I think I really like her mom."

She sighed.

"I might have been a bit to quick to judge, I will give it a shot."

"Thank you."

We walked back into the kitchen and Nadia was gone.

"Where is Nadia?" I asked the girls.

"She said she needed some air." Vanessa told me.

I walked out on the deck to see her sitting on a stool.

"Nadia?" I asked.

She was crying into her hands.

"Nadia! What is wrong?!"

"They hate me!" She cried.

"What? No they don't!"

"Oh stop lying! I could tell by their faces!"



I sat down on the table in front of her.

"They were just shocked."

"I could tell they were judging me based on my clothes."

"I know, and I explained to mom that it was unfair."

"I'm not that type of girl? You know? I just feel pretty in this."

"You are beautiful." I told her.

"Thank you."

...

I sat at the table later that night.

"Can I sit here?" Aria asked.

"Sure." I said.

She sat down and I took a bite of food.

"Nadia seemed nice." She said.

I knew she knew I wasn't happy with some things about the meeting.

"She is, inside and out." I told her.



"Look, I know, okay? We judged her off of the way that she was dressed. But we were just thrown off."

"That is fine, but she just feels pretty in that."

"God! Griffin, she is pretty! Very pretty and I'm jealous!"

"Of what?"

"How pretty she is."

"Aria, you're beautiful too! Anyone who doesn't see that is insane."

"Thanks big bro."

I was glad that it was out there because keeping this from everyone has been tough. I wanted to make sure that I actually liked her first before exposing her to my family for the obvious reasons. I was excited to see where this went and I hoped that we would end up with a happy ending.

Who is this Nadia? Hmmm. I also rediscovered custom content... whoopsie.

[Ally3772]

When I'm Gone

"Hello Nadia." I smiled.

"Hello Sierra." She smiled.

She was sitting on a towel applying sun screen.

"Where is Griffin?" I asked.

"He's getting some water time in."

I looked at the water, sure enough there was Griffin, swimming freely in the ocean.

"So, um, you know?"

"Know what?"

"About his, our, secret?"

"Of you guys being mermaids? Yeah, he told me last week."

I sat down next to her.

"I know I come off a bit harsh sometimes. But you understand I'm only looking to protect my family?"

"Of course. I understand the importance of your secret."

I smiled, "Good."



"Can I ask you something though?" She asked.

"Sure." I told her.

"Have you ever thought about just opening up to people about it? I mean, they've already tested Griffin so maybe they wouldn't come after everyone."

I looked at her for a moment.

"To be honest I have thought about that. It's just scary, you know? To risk your whole family even if they might not do it."

"I understand."

I smiled and stood up, walking back into the house. We just finished celebrating Aria's birthday! She joined Griffin in becoming a young adult.

"Hey! What's going on?" I asked.

"Mom! I got a job!!" Aria gasped.

"You did?! Where?!"

"Remember that writers workshop that came to my school? Well they remembered me mom! They remembered me and offered me a job!!"

"That's great honey!"



"I can't wait to start mom!" She said.

"I'm so happy for you!" I told her.

"I'm going to go work on a starter piece they gave me!"

I giggled and gave her a hug before she rushed to her room.



Griffin walked into the room.

"Done swimming?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just came in for a drink." He told me.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked.

"Sure, what's up?"

We both sat at the island in the kitchen.

"I've been thinking a lot, like normal, but after I am gone I want you guys to move out."

He looked at me strange, "What?"

"I want you guys to get out of this house. Move into a new one, something fresh so that you can make new memories without the old ones holding you back."

"But mom, we love this house." He argued.

"I know you do, but please. This will be a new chapter in your life, and you'll be sad enough, so why not add a new adventure in?"

He thought about it for a moment before agreeing.

"Now, just so you are aware I have a savings account open for you kids-"

"Mom, we don't have to have this conversation now."

"Yes we do, it's important. As I was saying, you each have your own separate savings accounts. You and Aria are free to use it as you will, but Vanessa does not get hers until she is a young adult, understand?"

He nodded.

"I love you, and I just want to make sure that you guys will be fine." I told him.

"We will mom." He smiled.

I hugged him tightly, and maybe a bit too tightly.

...

"So, what are your thoughts on Nadia?" I asked Aria.

We were having some mermaid time.

"I like her, at first she was a little quiet but I think she is just nervous." She told me.

"I have been a bit harsh on her, but I just wasn't expecting this chapter of Griffin's life just yet."

"Yeah, me either. It's weird seeing him with a girl."



"I think she'll make it. He seems happy."

"Yeah, I think so too." I agreed.

Griffin's POV

"Where did everyone go?" I called out.

"In the back!" Aria screamed.

I walked out on the deck to see Aria, Nadia, and Vanessa sitting at the table.

"What's everyone doing?" I asked.

"We're telling her all of your embarrassing moments." Nessa said.

"Oh no." I groaned.

"They're pretty funny." Nadia giggled.

"Cause that is going to make you want to date me."

Nadia blushed.

I haven't asked her to officially be my girlfriend yet. But I wanted to ask her, and I would probably do it soon I just didn't want to rush her.



"Come on Nadia." I said.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise."

She smiled and took my hand. I led her to the other side of the house where the swing set sat.

"A swing set? I didn't know you had one of these." She said.

"Yeah, it came with the house and we never got rid of it." I told her.

"Push me?" She asked.

"Of course."



"I think your family is warming up to me." She said after a little.

"Yeah, they seem to like you!" I smiled.

"I'm just glad your mom doesn't hate me."

"She doesn't, she is just protective of us. She has been more protective since dad passed."

"I'm sure it wasn't easy doing it alone."

I nodded.

Truth be told, I was scared to lose her. The days were numbered and I felt more and more unprepared as each of them passed.

I think I'm going to get the "it won't be long" message for Sierra soon </3

[Ally3772]

Shattered

Griffin's POV

"I got you a gift." I told Nadia.

"Ohh, you do?!" She squealed.

"Yeah!" I smiled.

I had worked on it all week and honestly my stomach was spinning. I reached behind me and pulled out a pink box with a white ribbon, it had little hearts all over it, the typical girly things. I held it in my hands as she looked at it.

"Can I open it?" She asked.

"Of course!" I said.



She opened the box, and inside it was a little note attached to a bracelet. The note read: Will you be my girlfriend? She picked up the bracelet and held it in her hands for a moment before looking at the note attached to it. She gasped and my heart stopped and my breath hitched.

"Well?" I asked.

She looked up at me and smiled.

"Of course I will!"



I was so happy and so relieved. She came into my life unexpectedly, but now that I had her in it I never wanted her to leave.

"What took you so long?" She giggled.

"I was nervous!" I admitted.

"You're so cute."

I blushed.

"Do you think everyone will be happy?"

"I only care about if we are happy, but I'm sure they will be."

She smiled and hugged me again.

"Should we go tell them?" I asked.

"Yeah let's go."



Turns out everyone was over the moon for us. Mom almost talked Nadia's ear off for an hour about how she couldn't wait for our future to unfold and how it was going to be great.

"It's going to be soon, isn't it?"

I looked to the side of me, Aria had walked up by me and was watching mom and Nadia talk.

"What is?" I asked.

"Mom dying."

I sighed and looked at mom.

"Yeah, I think it is."

Aria grabbed my arm and laid her head on my shoulder.
 
...

"So, what are you again?" Nessa asked.

"A fashion consultant." Nadia told her.

We were sitting on the couches.

"Sweet! When you guys get married I can say that my sister in law in my own fashion consultant!" She giggled.

"Okay, I literally just asked her to be my girlfriend can we calm down?" I laughed.

"Sorry." Nessa blushed.

Nadia looked over to me and smiled. She seemed unfazed by my family's over eagerness and it made me fall in love with her even more.



Later that day I walked out onto the deck where mom was looking out into the water.

"You okay mom?" I asked.

"Yeah, just tired." She replied.

I rubbed her back.

"I'm happy for you and Nadia."

I smiled, "Thank you."

"You've done wonderful things, I am so proud of you."

I smiled and nodded as I chocked back tears. She had been talking like this for a while, and I knew that she was tired, but I wasn't ready.

"I'm going to go get dinner started, okay?" I said.

"Sounds good, I love you Griffin." She said.

"I love you too mom."



After dinner we all sat around talking.

"No, I think Aria will be the first to have kids." Nessa giggled.

"Seeing as not all of are lucky in the dating department, that won't be happening anytime soon." She told her.

"Well, I already know that I want to adopt." Nessa said.

"You do?" I asked.

"Yeah, there's too many kids out there that need homes."

"That's very thoughtful honey." Mom smiled.

"I can't wait for you to look at my book mom! It's a kids book and I'm going to publish it soon." Aria told her.

"Maybe tomorrow dear." Mom said.



Aria nodded and smiled.

"I think I'm going to head to bed." Mom said.

"Okay, goodnight mom. We love you." I said.

"I love you kids too, very much." She smiled.

I saw Aria grab her plate of leftovers and head to the deck. I finished up saying goodnight to mom before sneaking outside.

"Hey, what's up kiddo?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"What's next?" She asked.

"After mom?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, it's been on my mind a lot lately too. She wants us to move out into a new home."

"Move to a new home?! Griffin this is our childhood home!" She argued.

"I know! That's what I said, but she was persistent about it. She wants us to make new memories and not let the old ones hold us back."

She sighed and looked out into the water.

"Why did I think that she would live forever?" She asked.

"Because we don't want to think of her anywhere else but here."

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it.



The Next Morning

"It's almost done, do you wanna go wake mom up?" Aria asked.

"I'll grab the orange juice." Nadia offered.

Vanessa grabbed the plates to go set the table.

I walked into moms room and opened up the blinds to let the sun and fresh air in. I breathed it in for a moment before smiling and turning around.

"Mom, it's time to get up." I said.

I walked over to the bed.

"Nadia and Aria made breakfast! Your favorite too! Scrambled eggs and bacon!"

I glanced at the book she had been reading that was on the bedside table.

"Come on mom."

I gently placed my hand on the blankets and pulled them off of her. I gently shook her before realizing that she wasn't sleeping.

"Mom?"

I shook her some more.

You hear about shock, and how it just paralyzes you, but you never believe it. I believed it now.

She was gone.

I walked back out of the kitchen to the three girls laughing. I clenched my fists in order to keep myself together.

"Is she coming?" Nessa asked, with a big smile on my face.

I looked at Aria, and I knew that she understood.

She stopped in her tracks as the plate fell from her hands and shattered to the ground.

The broken plate lay in pieces as if a strange metaphor to how our life felt at this very moment.

RIP Sierra.

So, I've been debating with myself on what to do now. I don't necessarily want to drag this story out until everyone of the kids are elders and their kids and such. But I also don't want to start a new story either because I am hoping I get University for Christmas. So I think I'm going to keep going on this one with the kids until around Christmas and wrap it up in a way that makes sense. I even debated on making another thread for just the kids, but decided not to in the end. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter even though it was sad.

[Ally3772]

So, I know that I said that I would keep going. But Christmas things have prevented me from even playing, let alone creating chapters. So unfortunately I think I'm just going to create one more post to wrap the story up. I'll probably work on it today and hopefully get it out by tonight. I'm SUPER excited to try University and to make a story along that, so excited that I created my sim already! I hope I didn't disappoint anyone!

[Ally3772]

Something to Hide

Griffin's POV

Five Years Later

I sat on the couch reliving the last five years.

Losing mom hurt, it was honestly the worst paid I had felt my entire life. It all was a blur, but at the same time I could remember each moment vividly. We did as mom asked and moved into this nice house down the block. However, the girls didn't join us. So Nadia and I moved in the house while the girls started their own adventures. I was hurt a little at first by their decision as I didn't understand, but they just wanted to see what life had in store for them. That and I think they wanted to give Nadia and I some space to ourselves. It was never brought up that Nadia and I would move in together, it just kind of happened like that. We made it a point though to have family night at someones house every two weeks. Normally we would cook a meal, watch a movie, and then end with some games while we caught up one what was happening in each others lives.

What was happening in my life?

Nadia and I married a year after mom passed. I dived heavily into work using the field as my get away from facing my pain. Eventually it all caught up to me and I had to take some personal time off of work to deal with it all. I was the highest you could go in my career and I still loved it til this day. Nadia came to every one of my games, and she even tried to be at the practices when she could. Nadia never failed to blow my mind in more ways than one. She was head of her department as a fashion consultant, she even had a few celebrities from time to time come to her for advice. She had many late nights where it was almost morning before she came home, only to sleep for a few hours and do it all again. We were both pretty well into our careers, but something else was missing. Shortly after the wedding Nadia became pregnant. It became a huge surprise when we learned that we were having twins! Nine months later Ella and Elizabeth were born. Aria and Vanessa stayed over for a week and helped us with the girls and I would have died if they hadn't. I was nervous about becoming a father but now I had two kids for the price of one. I learned how to work sleep deprived and shower when I could, and I had mastered the art of diaper basketball. To the displeasure of Nadia though because sometimes I would miss the trash can and the diapers would come undone. Fast forward four years later to present day, and the girls were now four years old. They grew up so fast and were developing into their own little people with their own littler personalities. I loved watching them grow, and in a few months I would get the pleasure of watching the next one grow as well. Nadia was six months pregnant with our next child and thankfully it was just a single one this time. We found out last week that it is a boy and we decided to name him Adam after my dad.

Aria, where do I begin with her?

Aria dove deep into her writing. She didn't submerge herself in it like I did and took a different route. She saw a therapist for a few months after mom passed away until she felt comfortable to stop doing so. I was beyond proud of her for all that she accomplished in her life so far. It was crazy to think that I watched her go from writing on her laptop in her room, to seeing her books on the shelves at the local Sim Mart. I made her sign each of my copies of my books that I bought even though she told me she would give me the books for free. I had my own bookshelf just for her books, like a little trophy shelf. In the five years she hasn't met anyone to consider marrying. She had a few boyfriends here and there by nothing too serious ever came of it. She claimed that she was too busy, but I think she was just happy doing her own thing and I told her that there was nothing wrong with that. Her books weren't her only great achievement in her life though. She spent a lot of her down time volunteering at the local foster care helping with the children. Which is how she came about adopting a little boy named Tyler, he was around ten years old now. I was shocked that she decided to adopt but she loved Tyler more than the world itself and I understood that kind of love. It was true what everyone said, that you never knew love until you look at your child, or whatever the saying was. She made a selfless choice by adopting a child in need and she devoted her life to him. He was a pretty chill kid who enjoyed coming over on the weekends to hang out with the girls. I made sure to hang out with him, we called it "bro time" and I would take him out to games and throw around a ball.

Then there was Vanessa, who could forget about Nessa?

Growing up I was unsure what Vanessa was going to be. Aria and I had our minds set on who we wanted to be when we were teenagers, but Nessa never had that one dream. Vanessa had several dreams and it took her quite a while to pin it down to just one. Shortly after mom passed away she decided that she wanted to become a doctor and eventually open up her own practice. In between becoming a doctor though she met Victor. I wasn't too keen on him at first because I thought she was moving too fast and that he was taking advantage of her. The more we spent time together though I got to know him and saw how good off a guy he was. A year later they were married and were very happy together. Until about a month into the marriage when Nessa showed up on my doorstep crying. Victor and her had gotten into a huge fight and she packed her bags. She stayed with us for a few months after that, but I told her that she couldn't just hide from him. So they were working through their fight to make things better. Just when things were settling down they found out that Vanessa was pregnant. She moved back into their house and nine months later had a baby girl named Sarah Elizabeth. Sarah was three years old now and was the sweetest little girl. She followed Ella and Elizabeth around everywhere and they loved playing dolls and dress up. Vanessa was joining Nadia in being miserable and was also pregnant again. It was also a baby boy, but they were bouncing between Edgar and Nicholas for a name. In the midst of all this Victor helped Vanessa achieve her dream of opening up her own practice and it was going amazingly well for her. She was the only doctor around that offered affordable care for those who couldn't afford insurance so she was busy throughout the year.

So overall all of our lives were going pretty well. Not only did we have our own career paths, but we had our own little families to pass moms traditions down while starting our own. I was unsure if the mermaid trait followed throughout generations, but if they did I would explain to them as mom did to me. However, my speech to them would be a little different then what mom told us. You see, as busy as I was with everything going on I made sure to make time for something that was important to me. Mom's whole life she hid in fear of what would happen if people were to discover her mermaid side. Unfortunately we found out why she had to with me when I was kidnapped and tested out at the lab. We never were able to get them shut down, but I had a trick up my sleeve. I was sick of living in fear and I was angry that mom had too. After carefully discussing it with Aria, Vanessa, and Nadia we came down to a solution. We stop hiding. We stop living in fear. We just stop. So that's what we did, one day we all went out to the ocean in the middle of the day, with people all around, and we just swam. The news reporters had Christmas early that year and we were hot news for months upon months. We had so many people outside of our doors wanting to ask us questions, and we answered them. We ended up tracking the lab down finally and getting them shut down. They even were court ordered to reimburse me for what they did to me. Of course there were some haters and we dealt with a lot of backlash still, but it was over. We were finally free. Now we finally no longer had something to hide.

The End!

I hope you all enjoyed it and that I wrapped it up well! <3 Thank you all for reading my story!

[TheGoat]

Nice story, Ally! I've been so busy for the holidays, I haven't been on in weeks, but I think you wrapped it up great. As soon as I have enough time, I'm going to check out your new story. Good luck!