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.