When my phone wakes me in the middle of the night, I reach for it with a start. Only one person is allowed to call me at this hour.

I read the text that just came through.

“It’s go time! Meet us there.”

A grin breaks across my sleepy face, and I roll out of bed. A few minutes later, wearing a pair of leggings and a hoodie, I tiptoe into my mom’s bedroom to let her know where I’m going.

“Sorry,” I say, waking her. “But it’s Chloe. It’s time.”

My mom sits up in bed, and presses a finger to her lips then points at my dad who snores beside her. She pulls on her robe and follows me down the hall, into the kitchen.

“Drive safe,” she says. “It’s two AM.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I know, Mom, but you don’t have to worry. I just knew you’d freak out if I wasn’t in my bed when you woke.”

“I know, I know,” she says, plodding over to the sink and filling a mug with water. I watch her put it in the microwave, and grab a bag of chamomile tea. I’m anxious to leave but know waiting a few more minutes isn’t going to change the outcome of anything.

And Mom’s been so worried about me over the last few weeks, ever since I came aboard the emergency boat.

“It’s just if anything happened to you, Harlow, I don’t know what...”

I wrap my arms around her, more grateful than ever to have a mom who looks out for me, especially after finding out my birth father was perfectly fine with the idea of locking me under the sea for all of eternity. Not exactly the paternal figure I thought I was looking for.

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, even if--,”

I cut her off, waving my hand, not wanting to get into that conversation. “Even if.”

I told her and dad a few days ago that I was leaving. She is nowhere close to accepting this reality.

“Okay, well, text me with updates,” she says, taking her mug from the beeping microwave.

“Of course, you’ll have to come when she’s born.”

Mom smiles softly, worried about me, but right now I know her mind is on Chloe. She thinks my best friend’s relationship with her child’s fathers is insane, but that’s okay.

If she knew about Kai, West, Crew and I’d relationship, she’d be livid; but still, I know that she’d find the concept of her daughter being a Siren a little more disturbing.

I’m keeping that part of my deep-sea adventure under wraps from her and dad for now.

She’ll hate the plan we’ve been hatching, but that’s okay too. It has to be. It’s part of me learning to leave the shallow waters and find my place in the depths.

I kiss her good-bye, and she stops at the door.

“Harlow, I know losing your friend Eric was awful, but maybe Pearl’s birth is a new chapter. You know, how a birth can be a fresh start?”

I nod, I know.

In fact, I have a feeling I know that all too well.

I pull the front door shut, and get in my car. My period isn’t even late yet, but it feels like something is different.

Like something is growing.

---

FYI: birth is messy and loud and really good birth control. Though, like previously mentioned, it may be a little too late for that.

“She is perfect,” I say, looking over Chloe’s shoulder as she holds her newborn in her arms.

“She better be. My vagina is permanently ruined.”

A nurse in the room clucks her tongue. “Not true. Things always have a way of going back to normal.”

I twist my lips, wishing that were true. Not everything goes back to normal though. Eric is gone, forever.

I look at Chloe’s men who are in various stages of post-delivery shock. There are a whole lot of baby daddies in this room.

“I’m gonna go makes some calls,” Noah says, leaning over to kiss Chloe on the lips, then Pearl on the forehead. What a lucky baby to have so many men smitten with her.

Enzo and Mason leave on a mission to find food, and Ethan asks the nurse about some paperwork. I sit on the hospital bed next to Chloe.

“You were so brave,” I tell her, marveling at her strength. Childbirth was not as easy as the movies make it seem.

She scoffs. “Says the woman who managed to lock Posi--”

“Chloe,” I say, stopping her. “It’s not the same.”

She lifts her eyes, meeting mine. “You keep saying that, but I don’t know how to make the loss of Eric any easier except to remind you of how strong you were.”

“Can this moment be about you and Pearl?” I sigh, looking at her baby with so much tenderness. “Chloe, she’s literal perfection.”

“I know,” Chloe says, exhaling, as she touches her baby’s tiny fingers. “But now that she’s here, it means...,” Chloe blinks back tears.

“I know.” I swallow. Kai, West, Crew, and I made a plan the night we lost Eric. We were going to get on a boat and sail the seas, looking for my sisters. The only clue we have is that we each have a golden ring. Not a lot, in the way of clues, but I am also hoping the elusive Gaia will show up again and give us some direction.

“Is the boat all ready?”

I nod. “Yeah, the sponsors were willing to work with the guys, but they declined since Kai’s dad agreed to his offer. The boat was paid for in cash a few days ago.”

“Wow, so you’re just going for it?”

“Yep, I need to be on a boat. My skin gets itchy if I’m too far from the water for too long.”

“And you’re just gonna hope it works out?”

I bite my bottom lip, leaning down and kissing Pearl’s perfect cheeks. “A few weeks ago, you told me the alternative was to worry and second guess everything. But like you said, that’s no way to live.”

“I said all that?” she says, a smile playing on her lips. “Guess I’m pretty smart.”

“You are. Look at this life you’ve created for yourself.”

Pearl begins to stir, and Chloe pulls her to her breast and helps her daughter latch on. “Do you have any doubt that these men are yours?”

I shake my head, brushing away a tear. Watching Chloe is so beautiful, so inspiring. “None. But our first days together were so intense and losing Eric was so hard. I think to leave, even though it will be hard, is really important for us. I need to figure out what being the Siren means, and I can only do that on the ocean, with them at my side.”

“We’ll come meet you somewhere in a few months,” Chloe says, squeezing my hand. “Noah was already talking with Crew about where we could all go. Maybe the Greek Isles.”

“Greece?” I snort, letting go of her hand to hold my belly, cracking up.

Chloe laughs, her finger brushing against her daughter’s cheek. “I honestly didn’t think about the fact that you’re the daughter of Poseidon when they mentioned it.”

“I bet Crew did. The guys are dead set on us going back to the beginning, to help me figure out who my mother is.”

Chloe’s eyes meet mine, crinkling at corners. “Sounds like you have some really wonderful men then.”

“I do,” I tell her, a smile spreading across my lips and warmth filling my heart. “And they love me, tail and all.”