Over the next couple of days Rebecca and John noticed some startling changes in their son. That is… when they saw him. More often than not he was down at the beach swimming in the frigid water. Or Talking to that fish (and when he was talking to the fish, well, there was something about the atmosphere that made it impossible to interrupt. It was like he told the fish everything. Hopes. Troubles. Fears. And they thought he needed an outlet for his problems. If talking to the fish helped, they'd let him do it.)

And when Ronan wasn't doing those two things he was extremely irritable. He coughed all the time saying that the air was too dry. He started drinking more water too. A lot more. He would down glass after glass at meals and anytime in between and still be thirsty.

Every night he would spend forever in the bathroom taking a long shower. Just letting the water surround him. They figured, giving his condition, it was mostly to keep himself damp. Then he would stumble into his room where they would hear him tossing and turning all night. Several times throughout the night they would hear banging in the little kitchen area. It was always Ronan getting more to drink.

Then last night, he had given up. They heard him get up with an exasperated sigh and go into the bathroom, filling up the tub. And that's where they found him in the morning. In the tub. Completely submerged in the tub. He had the faintest dash of scales freckling the visible parts of his arms. It wasn't at all the nice smooth look that Rebecca remembered from the boat.

"Why does he look like that?" Rebecca whispered to her husband, "Last time I saw them they were everywhere."

"Last time you saw him he was in salt water," John explained. He figured it made sense. Their son was technically a saltwater, mammal?

"Is it really that simple?"

John just shrugged. One thing he did know for certain was, their son was changing faster. "Do you think we should tell him what's going on?" John suggested.

Rebecca's heart gave a painful lurch. "I…" she began again, taking a deep breath, "I think we should tell him but…"

"But?" John pressed gently.

"I just want a few more days with my son," she said quietly. "I want a few more days where he doesn't know. So everything can stay the same as it was…"

John knew how flawed that logic was but he agreed to wait for her sake. He only hoped it didn't come back to bite them in the butt.

And, of course he knew they'd have to tell him. Have to admit to their son what exactly he was becoming. They'd have to tell Ronan he was turning into a mer.

                                                        ~ODW~

Ronan woke up to both of his parents watching him with frowns on their faces. And he's pretty sure it's because he slept in the bathtub. He got up and unstopped the drain.

"Morning!" he greeted feeling well rested and chipper.

His parents frowns instantly disappeared replaced by gentle smiles. They were happy to see the return of their well-mannered son. "Nice to see you again Sea Monkey."

Yeah, Ronan supposed he hadn't really been acting much like himself the last couple of days. He climbed out of the tub and pulled off his shirt. Yeah, that's right he slept in the tub wearing his pajamas. His parents gasped their eyes focused on his stomach. He followed their gazes and saw scales peppering his abdomen. Just like the ones he had on his arms they started out the color of his skin and as they went further south they became a more intense blue before disappearing under the line of his pants.

His father cleared his throat awkwardly. "So… you going to the beach again today?"

"Yeah," Ronan confirmed almost apologetically. But… he just needed to be in the water. "You guys could come along?"

Rebecca gave him a sad smile. John wrapped his arms around her. "Nah, we're gonna go farther up and hit the shops at the boardwalk today."

Ronan nodded. "Have fun."

"You too," John smiled.

                                                               ~ODW~

Ronan rushed into the waves as fast as his feet would carry him and let out a sigh of overwhelming relief. It just felt so good to be in the water.

He looked around. The beach was empty. Apparently everyone else was busy elsewhere. Which he felt was ridiculous. Who vacationed at the shore and didn't step foot on the beach? And then he remembered up until this trip that had been what he always did.

He swam for ages. It was nearing an acceptable tome to eat dinner when he heard a distant splash. He looked around, immediately on edge. There still weren't any people around. And although the sea life he had met had all been friendly… well he was under absolutely no illusion that everything out there wanted to be his friend. Ronan had a feeling some of the animals straight from the ocean might be little bit more cut throat than the animals he had met on the whale watch.

Yup and there it was. A shark tail.

And as luck would have it, it was heading straight for Ronan.