Author's Note-Dog Poll

My Heir is going to adopt a dog and I narrowed it down to three different dogs.  I can't decide between them so I'm holding a poll to see which one gets the highest results.  Please make your choice on the right hand side.

Admiral the Chesapeake Bay Retriver

Commodore the Golden Retriver

Nautical the Labrador Retriever

Thank for all the help and support.

Edit-I spelled Nautical's name wrong on the poll and I'm not able to change it so the last choice is Nautical.

Chapter 80-I've Just Seen Paradise

The sun was rising and Bae didn’t get one wink of sleep. He knew today was going to be difficult and there was only one thing that would allow him to think straight. He got dressed and left for the beach. His parents were still sleeping and he didn’t want to wake them so he left them a note. With him being a merman they understood he needed to be near or in the ocean water as much as possible. As long as he left word as to where he would be they were fine with him leaving early in the morning. He ran down the stairs, filled up Cheech’s bowl with food and out the door he went.

It was still early and the beach was quiet and deserted. Bae always found this time of the morning to be comforting at the beach because all he would hear was the sound of the waves as the softly hit the shore and the call of the seagulls made as they flew high above. The water was calm this morning and he jumped in for a morning swim. As the salt water hit his scales his legs they transformed into a tail and he was able to swim faster. He swam and he swam and before he knew it he was far deep into the ocean.

He used this time to think and he knew what he had to do today. His Dad was right he should have never broken a promise to Shanta and he knew that no matter what he needed to talk to her today. He wasn’t sure what words he would use but hopefully he would find the right ones to make it up to her. If only he could use Grandpa Emmett’s time portal to go back and change things he would. Grandpa Emmett would give him the speech about how the time portal was not to be used frivolously for our own purpose so that was out of the question. He really did like her and still wanted to see her so this was something he knew he had to do regardless of Cassidy being home for the weekend. At this point Cassidy visit didn’t mean the same to him anymore as he seemed to be joined at the hip to this Javiera witch.

Bae knew that he couldn’t put this off much longer so he swam in and planned to go straight to find Shanta. He started to swim back to the beach he seen that someone was there. As he got closer he knew exactly who it was. Cassidy was there and this time Javiera was not with him. He tail transformed back into legs and he walked out of the water and straight over to his best friend.

“I was looking for you and I had a feeling you would be here,” Cassidy said.

“How did you know I would be here?” Bae asked.

“This is where you always come when you have a problem. I seen you walk away last night and I could tell that something is wrong.” Cassidy said.

“I had a fight with Shanta last night.” Bae answered.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to talk about it?” Cassidy said.

“No, I’m going to try and fix that today.” Bae said. “Cas how long you been seeing this Javiera?”

“A few months now. We first bumped into each other in class and we started studying together and then we started dating.” Cassidy said.

“So it’s not that serious yet? I guess that is why you never mentioned her to me.” Bae said.

“No Bae it’s quite the opposite. It’s hard to explain because I never thought I would ever feel this way about a girl. The more I get to know her the more I want to be with her.” Cassidy said.

“Then why did you wait until now to tell me about her?” Bae asked. “I consider you to be more like a brother to me than a friend. In the past we always told each other everything but all of this just came out of the blue. I’m beginning to feel as if I don’t know you anymore.”

“I’m sorry for surprising you like this but I’m kind of surprised by all of this myself. One day I thought I had my whole life figured out the next I found this wonderful woman who changed everything. Now I can’t imagine a life without her in it.” Cassidy said.

“But if you just met her a few months ago. Don’t you think you think this is going too fast?” Bae asked.

“You just don’t understand. I think about her all the time and when I look in her eyes I feel like I've just seen paradise. I know you really haven’t had the time to get to know her but when you join us I’m sure you what a wonderful person she is.” Cassidy said.

“I guess we will see about that when I get there but right now I have to go find Shanta.” Bae said.

Meanwhile back in Aurora Skies:

Age was catching up to Sandi and everyone was suggesting that she retire and spend more time with her husband. They had so many years already stolen from them but wasn’t ready to retire from the police force yet. Sandi never liked to leave a job undone and she had one case that was personal so she had to solve it herself. Years ago her birth mother Dahlia Goodfellow was found beaten to death and even though Sandi never liked her she felt compelled to bring her killer to justice. The name on the top of the suspect list was Dahlia’s husband Pip but Sandi and Caleb were never able to get solid evidence on him for the murder or any of his other criminal activities. They knew he was the joke of the mob so it was only a matter of time before another family eliminated him one way or another.

A fairy named Claudio Morrera was brought in for selling firearms illegally and he was believed to be part of the Goodfellow crime family. He wouldn’t answer any of Sandi or Caleb’s questions until he met with his lawyer.

When his lawyer arrived he advised Claudio that another family was ready to take over Pip Goodfellow’s last territory Aurora Skies. This family was willing to give him protection to anyone who turned on Pip. If Pip was in jail for an indefinite period of time there was no way hold onto Aurora Skies as he was already having trouble. Claudio told his lawyer that he would be willing to cooperate if he could work out a deal with the police. Claudio happened to be one of the goons that carried out the order from Pip to kill his wife Dahlia so he had something to offer them.

Sandi and Caleb spoke with the DA and they were able to agree to a deal which would give Claudio a lighter sentence instead of immunity due to the fact that one of the crimes Claudio admitted to was murder. Claudio accepted the deal as this other family promised him protection in prison and a whole bunch of money after his release.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Pip Goodfellow and Sandi went as she wanted to be the one to cuff Pip and read him his rights. This man not only killed her biological mother but he was the one who abandoned her on a doorstep as a baby and led her twin brother into a life of crime. The idea of Denny’s life turning out differently if Pip didn’t raise him was always on Sandi’s mind and she always blamed Pip and Dahlia for keeping her twin brother away from her and her father.

While they were searching the house Tennille entered the house with her new husband Jared Newman. She hadn't visited for a while and she just came to pick up the last of her belongings before moving into her new home.  Even though they never met Sandi knew that this girl was her sister.

Tennille walked straight up to Caleb, “What is going on here?”

“I’m Detective Caleb McIntyre and we have a search warrant for this house. You are Pip’s daughter he is at the police station. You might want to call a lawyer for him” Caleb said.

“What has he been arrested for?” Tennille asked.

“The murder of our mother.” Sandi said. “Dahlia was my biological mother so we are sisters. The best advice I can give you now if you want to help your father is to get him a lawyer.”

“I don’t want to help my father,” Tennille said. “That man killed OUR mother. I overheard his conversations ever since I was a kid but he was all I had until I got married. I’ve read all the newspaper articles and I know what this family has done to yours. You have reasons to hate our mother and I respect them but I don’t. All I ever wanted was my mother to be in my life and I don’t even have any memories of her. I doubt anything I know would be anything more than hear say in a court of law but I would be willing to testify against my father if it would help. In fact I do have some information that will help you. You might want to check out that top drawer of the desk in his office. There is a gun in there that he always bragged about. He claimed to have killed a cop with that gun in Riverview. I’m not an expert in law but I believe there is no statute of limitations on murder.”

Caleb was listening and he immediately went to the desk in the office and found the gun and bagged it as evidence.

Sandi looked at this girl differently and she knew that she was an innocent in all of this.  Sandi suddenly remembered about Pip and Dahlia adopted daughter Fawn and how she testified against the Goodfellows in the custody case for Denny's children.  "Did Pip ever hurt or neglect you?"

“No not physically but I grew up without my mother.  He treated me well and always bragged about having a fairy daughter of his own,” Tennille said.

“I wish I would have known how you felt long before now. I would have reached out to you earlier. I may not be able to give you your mother back but I am your older sister,” Sandi said.


Back in Isla Paradiso:

Bae knew exactly where to find Shanta. If she wasn’t at the Sweet Water Pool taking in the sun she was at the cafe with some of her friends. Sure enough that is exactly where she was at the cafe. He was happy that she was there because that was a special place for them. The first time he asked out for a date was in the cafe and he asked her to go steady here also. He hoped that the sentimental memories of this place would work in his favor.

She was sitting by herself reading a book when he walked over.

“Babe, mind if I join you?” Bae asked.

“Don’t Babe Me!” Shanta said in a loud and angry tone. “What you are not with Cassidy today? Isn’t his visit more important than anything else?”

“No it isn’t,” Bae answered. “Please Shanta can we talk about all this?”

“What more is there to talk about? I know where I stand in your life and I have this selfish need to be important in my boyfriend’s life.” Shanta said.

“That is where you are wrong as you are important to me,” Bae explained. “I’m here today with you because I don’t want to lose you.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before” Shanta said.

“You are right I should have thought about that before. I made a promise to you and I admit that I was 100% wrong for breaking it. When I see that look on your face last night I couldn’t believe that it was me that hurt you like that. If there was anything I could do to change that I would but I can’t. All I can do is apologize and hope that you can somehow forgive me.” Bae said.

“Cassidy is going back to school isn’t he? How do I know you won’t toss me aside again when he comes back?” Shanta asked.

Bae looked straight into her eyes and said, “I have always been honest with you about everything. I give you my word that I will never break another promise to you ever again.”

He did indeed sound sincere to her and it was hard for her to stay angry at him. She smiled at him and said, “I think I can give it another chance.”

Bae kissed her and asked, “It’s still early and we have the whole day free. What would you like to do?”

“Why don’t we just hang out at the pool for a while,” she answered.

They spent the rest of the day together and Bae felt as if he had a new appreciation for her. He really liked her and he already knew he would be asking her to the prom next year. As much as he knew that he liked Shanta he still didn’t get what Cassidy said earlier. All afternoon he tried to see that same amazement that Cassidy described when he looked into Shanta’s eyes but he didn’t. Bae decided just to let things be and enjoy the rest of the afternoon with his girl. Maybe he would see paradise in her eyes another day or at the prom.

After Bae took her home he went to the beach as it was a hot day and his scales were starting to bother him. The sun would be setting soon so he needed to get there right away. He turned and looked at the mighty deep blue water of the ocean with its shimmering waves and he felt as if he had just seen paradise.

Authors Note:  I would like to thank Pinksparkles3475 for Jared Newman.

Chapter 79-Whose Fault is it Anyway?

A girlfriend? Did he actually bring a girlfriend with him? This was supposed to be a weekend just for the guys. No girls were allowed. He understood why Cassidy wanted a girlfriend but he should have left her behind where she belonged. Shanta was pissed at him because he made sure she wouldn’t be around but Cassidy just had to bring that Javiera person with him. Didn’t Cassidy realize that girls would come and go but best friends last forever? Bae couldn’t even believe his best buddy didn’t even tell him that he was seeing someone. They always told each other everything that happened in their lives but that was until now. Cassidy never said one word about her.

“It’s nice to meet you Bae,” Javiera said as she extended her hand to shake Bae’s hand. “Cassidy has told me so much about you.”

Bae paused for a moment as he didn’t want to shake her hand. He didn’t know why but there was something about her that he just didn’t like. After a few moments had passed, reluctantly he grasped her hand and obliged. “I wish I could say the same as Cassidy has not said anything to me about you” Bae answered.

“Bae I’m sorry to surprise you like this but I couldn’t wait for the two of you to meet each other. She is majoring in Oceanography, we met in Marine Biology class,” Cassidy answered.

“Cas told me you will be joining us as soon as you graduate,” Javiera said.

“That was the plan Cassidy and I had talked about. We planned on studying together.” Bae said.

“Well now there will be three of us studying together,” Cassidy said.

This day seemed to be getting better and better for Bae. Now she was going to study with them! Bae knew it would be difficult as Cassidy would be ahead of him but now there would be two of them ahead of him. There was still a year and a half before Bae left for university so maybe Cassidy would come to his senses by then and dump her.

“Why don’t you call Shanta and the four of us can go sailing?” Cassidy asked.

Shanta was still angry at him because he told her that he was unable to go to her party which was later on that night. Wasn’t this an ironic turn of events. His girlfriend was angry at him and Cassidy brought this bimbo with him. Since she was around there really wasn’t any reason why he shouldn’t go to Shanta’s party.

“Maybe tomorrow we can do that as today is Shanta’s birthday,” Bae said.

“It’s her birthday. That is wonderful but why weren’t you planning on spending the day with her?” Cassidy asked.

“She is having a party later on,” Bae answered.

“She didn’t invite you?” Cassidy asked.

“Yes she did and she extended the invitation to you also but I didn’t accept as we planned to hang out together,” Bae said.

“Sure it would great to finally meet Shanta. Maybe than the four of us could make plans for tomorrow together” Cassidy said.

Shanta wouldn’t have a reason to be angry at him as it would make her happy that he showed up. That would get Cassidy away from Javiera for the evening too and maybe Bae could talk to him without her around. A double date sounded like a good idea for tomorrow too. The girls would probably chit chat with each other and he could spend time with Cassidy. He called Shanta to tell her that he reconsidered and would be attending the party after all. She was happy to hear this and she wasn’t angry with him any longer. Bae thought at least one problem was solved. Little did he know things were about to get worse than they were before.

Later on at the party:

Shanta was thrilled that Bae changed his mind and would be attending the party after all. She loved Bae with all her heart but sometimes she worried as he was always sending her mixed signals. Every weekend they would go out and he was always sweet to her on their dates but the minute he talked about Cassidy or the future he always seemed distant. She would always start to worry about their relationship during those times but then he would do something sweet and she would forget all of her worries. It was just like with this party he said he wasn’t going to come but in the end he didn’t disappoint her and he showed up.

“Happy Birthday Babe” Bae said as he entered. He gave her a kiss and he handed her a package. “I have a little something for the prettiest girl in Isla Paradiso.”

She smiled and blushed, “You didn’t have to as you being here is just the present I wanted tonight.”

“I hope the invitation for Cassidy was still open because he will be here soon?” Bae asked.

“Well of course it is. I know you two are best friends and as I said the more the merrier” she said.

Things changed as soon as Cassidy walked in as Javiera was with him. Bae couldn’t believe he brought her with him and Shanta noticed that Bae’s attitude changed as soon as they arrived. Shanta was gracious and greeted her guests but she was not happy at all. Everything became clear to her the minute she found out that Cassidy brought a girlfriend home with him this weekend. The only reason that Bae showed up was because she was here and this weekend was no longer just for the guys. She was sure that if Cassidy had come home alone as Bae expected him to he wouldn’t have come to the party. For now she wouldn’t say anything as she didn’t want to cause a scene. This was her party and she would be damned if anything was going to ruin it.

After the party ended and all of the other guests left, Bae stayed a little longer to say goodnight to his girlfriend privately. This is when Shanta decided it was time to confront Bae with her suspicions. “Bae, I think we need to talk,” she said.

“I wanted to ask you something also,” he said “Would you like to go out and we can double with Cassidy and that girlfriend of his?”

“So now I’m ok to be included in your weekend plans?” she asked “What made you change your mind and decide to come after all? You were so adamant that this weekend was only supposed to be for the guys.”

Bae didn’t know what to say as he didn’t want to lie but he knew if he told the truth she would be upset. “Um… well…”

“Ok how about if I make this easier on you,” she said. “Did you change your mind because Cassidy brought Javiera with him? Is that the only reason you showed up here tonight and asked me out for tomorrow?”

“Well yes and no.” Bae answered. “Javiera coming may have been the reason I changed my mind but I’m glad that I came.” He looked deeply into her eyes and said “you looked beautiful tonight and you know how much I like you. You’re my girl and this is where I should be.”

“So that does mean the only reason you came was because of Javiera and not because I was important to you!” she yelled at him.

Bae seen the look on her face and he knew she was hurt. He felt bad and he didn’t know what to do to make her feel better. “But you are important to me,” he said “There isn’t any other girl I want to be with.”

“That’s right another girl is not the problem but you will toss me aside for your friend,” she yelled. “Bae just leave and come back when I am as important to you as your friend!”

Bae walked away feeling guilty because he knew she was angry and hurt. He decided to go to talk to Cassidy like he always did when he had a problem. However when he went there Cassidy was preoccupied.  He was too busy being all lovey dovey with Javiera so he walked away without saying anything. Bae figured she had to be a witch because she cast some kind of spell on his best friend. Cassidy was not the same person anymore as it was clear she had changed him.

He was still upset when he arrived home but his spirits picked up a little when Cheech ran up to greet him.  

He seen that his mother baked some chocolate chip cookies which were his favorite. Comfort food is exactly what he needed and Mom always seemed to know when he could use some. When he walked into the dining room he saw that both of his parents were waiting for him. This was strange because they usually watched TV until they knew he arrived home safely and on time.

“Thanks for the cookies Mom,” he said. “I really needed them tonight.”

“Your mother and I need to have a talk with you,” Mickey said as Bae sat down at the dining room table.

“Sure what about,” Bae said.

“I’m sure you noticed that your mother has not been feeling well lately,” Mickey said.

“Yes I have. Mom you said you thought it was a stomach virus. Is there something else wrong?” Bae asked.

“No Bae everything is fine,” Chrissie answered. “In fact the doctor has given me a clean bill of health.”

“There is something that you need to know,” Mickey said.

“I’m going to have a baby so you are going to have a little brother or sister very soon,” Chrissie said.

Things were already bad enough for Bae and he thought that coming home would make everything better.  Now he had to deal with the fact that his parents were still doing it which is something he never wanted to think about. “Great.  Perfect ending to a perfect day ” Bae said with very little enthusiasm as he placed both elbows on the table and held his head with his hand.

“Are you ok with this?” Chrissie said. “Your father and I hoped that you would be happy to welcome a new member of the family but you look as if you just lost your best friend.”

“I didn’t lose my best friend yet,” Bae said, “but I think I did lose my girlfriend.”

Mickey looked at Chrissie and she didn’t need to read his mind to know that her husband thought it best for him to handle this situation. She went upstairs to rest and left father and son alone to talk.

Bae told his father everything about Shanta’s party, Cassidy, Javiera and he didn’t leave out any details. His parents never used their mind reading abilities as they didn't need them.  They always were able to read him like a book but they never judged him and would always help him out with all of his problems.

“Son, you do realize that all relationships are based on respect, honesty, trust and communication. You made a promise to Shanta which she trusted you to keep. Shanta was willing to compromise for you but you were not willing to do the same for her” Mickey said.

“Cassidy coming home was very important to me” Bae said.

“Shanta knew that which is why she was willing to work with you on this.  Your promise was very important to Shanta. Don’t you think you could have made some time for her and kept your promise?” Mickey asked.

“I didn't think about that at the time but now everything is a mess. I really do like her and I feel guilty about hurting her,” Bae answered “I want to keep seeing her but I don’t know if she will.”

“Then you are just going to have to consider her feelings more and convince her that you want to stay in this relationship” Mickey said.

“How do I do that?” Bae asked, “She hates me right now.”

“If she is this important to you the only thing you can do is be sincere and honest when you talk to her” Mickey said. "Just speak from your heart as that is all you can do."

Bae went upstairs to bed but could hardly sleep as the events of the day went through his mind. He paced the floor of his room the entire night.  If only he knew that Javiera was coming he would have never broken his promise to Shanta and Shanta wouldn’t be angry with him. He couldn’t even talk to his best friend because Javiera was always clinging and hanging onto Cassidy. She even had to show up at that party tonight and she caused a whole bunch of trouble. Now he had a mess to clean up and it was all Javiera's fault.


To be continued………