Epilogue
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1 Year Later

"There!" Sammy took her picture. "That looks good."

Sammy turned the phone around to give Cindy a good view. She was lying in the sand, wearing her new green mermaid tail that she'd gotten for her birthday. Now she had a green tail for Ariel and a red tail for Melody.

"I like that one," Cindy said as they looked through the pictures. It was one that didn't show her face, but just showed her gazing out at the ocean. "It looks reflective, and interesting."

"Sure, whatever," Sammy said with a laugh. "Do you wanna get in the water or what?"

Cindy pulled off her tail, adjusted her swimsuit, and left the tail with her stuff. All of her friends were waiting for her, and after taking Liam's hand, they charged into the waves.

Sadly, the ocean was a little too rough here for tail-swimming. Figures. But it was going to be a fun day nonetheless. Cindy hadn't been to the ocean in ages.

Her family, Liam's family, and a lot of her other friends had gone on a little day trip to the coast to celebrate Cindy and Sammy's eighteenth birthday. It was starting to cool down from the summer heat now that it was labor day weekend, but the water still wasn't too cold.

Cindy would've loved to go swimming in the ocean last year on her and Sammy's birthday, but the opportunity just hadn't been there, at least, not for all her friends to come.

She still could hardly believe that she was eighteen, and going into her last year of high school. But if her senior year was anything like this past year, it was going to be great.

Although Cindy had been really scared going into Aspen Ridge High for the first time, her mer-friends had been there to help. As had Sammy. And she'd really needed their support. Going to school, where she suddenly had to be around so many people her age... it scared her. Being around other girls who knew what they were doing way more than she did was very stressful.

But Sammy had trained her well in how to be a woman. And Liam had kept the guys away - something that Cindy had never anticipated.

But all in all, she never realized until then how hard school had been for her, even before she'd grown her breasts. She still wasn't the best at getting to know new people, but she was better, and being able to go to lunch and know that her mer-friends, and her boyfriend were going to be there made everything better.

Cindy had felt a few brief stints where she questioned if she was doing the right thing, being a girl - like before she'd gotten accustomed to her hormone replacement therapy. But her friends and family had been there, and by the time she was halfway through the year, she scarcely questioned if she was a girl anymore.

The hardest part had been coming out slowly to her extended family, most of whom lived in other states. It had been very painful when two of her cousins had come over for Thanksgiving, only to find that the male cousin that had been the closest to their age was no longer male.

That day could've gone better. Especially if Mom's brother had actually told his sons about Cindy being trans beforehand. While things hadn't been fully normalized with them yet, the last time she'd met with them had been better.

But beyond all the ups and downs, her friends and immediate family had been there. And Liam. Her amazing, mer-crazed like she was, boyfriend.

Cindy wasn't sure why, but when she'd been dating Liam at first, she'd been afraid that their relationship wasn't going to last. Maybe it was that she'd heard of her peers breaking up with people after several months. She'd also felt anxious a bit that it might be good if she dated more people, so that she could see if Liam was really who she liked.

A year on, and as she looked at his smiling face as they swam in the waves, she still got goosebumps - and that was despite the fact that Liam had been trying to grow a horrible looking beard. Maybe someday he'd look good with one, but not today.

Though it was just another day with her friends, nowhere near as exciting as last year, they still had just as much fun, and laughed just as hard.

Eventually, they tired out, and went back to shore to eat and play games.

As per their family tradition, they had birthday brownies rather than a cake. Cindy hadn't given any thought to a wish when she blew out her candles, so she just kind of generically thought "to be happy."

She had wasted her wish. She could've wished for something more creative and interesting, like that Matt and Heather would finally see that their relationship wasn't working, or that Jason would finally try wearing Liam's tail.

But being happy worked fine too.

As the afternoon was waning to a close, Liam's Dad set up his fancy camera, and everyone in the mergroup gathered for a photo.

Cindy went for her tried-and-true red tail, and she smiled as she watched Matt pull on his black merman tail, and scooch over to Heather. He had resisted first, but now he was a merman through and through.

Cindy settled down next to Liam and Sammy, and then readied her smile as Liam's Dad stood at the camera.

Right as his Dad took the picture, Liam gave Cindy a surprise peck on the cheek, undoubtedly catching a great reaction.

"If you weren't so cute I'd slap you for that Liam."

"It's the beard isn't it?" Liam smirked. "Lookin' pretty good."

"Looking like a dead animal hanging from your neck," Cindy said, "but good I suppose for a dead animal."

He laughed, and she kissed him on the cheek back.

Liam's Dad ordered them to shut up and smile, and they obliged, holding each other's hands.

When they were finished taking photos, and swapped cameras to take ones for Cindy's family, everyone got up and went back to making sand castles or whatever else.

Liam and Cindy however, stayed sitting together, with their backs to the sand dunes behind them.

"Can you believe that we only have one year left of high school?" Liam asked.

"It really is crazy," Cindy said. "But I can't wait for what comes next."

Liam chuckled. "I'm scared out of my mind."

"You're a smart guy Liam," Cindy said. "You'll get through all this crappy math."

"Life in general...," Liam said, "working a career... it's going to be strange."

"Yeah," Cindy said, "forget being adults, lets just be merpeople forever."

Liam laughed. "Why not both? There's things about being an adult that have me excited though."

Cindy smiled. "What kind of things?"

"Certain things," Liam said cryptically. "I just know that I want to be an adult with you."

"Me too," Cindy said.

They put their arms around each other.

Cindy stared down at their mer-tails.

"I can't believe how much this tail changed my life," she said.

"And it's a beautiful one," Liam said, "And I'm not just saying it because it gave me the girl I love."

Cindy snuggled up against Liam's chest, and held her gently, but securely.

~~~~~~

Cindy and Liam's relationship only became more firm through their senior year. He stuck with her through hard times - when classmates bullied her after finding out she was trans. They stuck together the following year as they struggled with adapting to college.

And he was by her side, bringing her flowers after she had her bottom surgery. Flowers were nothing to her though, compared with his warm smile and gentle hand.

That time had been exciting, but hard for her. They had discovered that she was intersex. Her breasts had developed because they were supposed to. Sadly, she was not well enough for everything inside her to work right. But still, Liam was by her side.

When they were both twenty one, they got married, with Liam pursuing a career in biological engineering, while Cindy followed her Mom, studying Radiology.

With the money from their two careers, they eventually were able to adopt four children - two boys and two girls. All of them were obsessed with merpeople, and loved tail swimming.

One day, years later, Cindy, having become a busy wife and mother, was able to have a day to relax, and go with her husband and children to the same beach.

As a teen, she'd imagined becoming a beautiful mermaid, free of responsibility, able to swim leisurely through the ocean. Her dream couldn't really come to fruition - at least, not in her lifetime.

But watching her youngest son Terry pretend to be a nice monster, protecting his sister's sand castle from the water - it all brought a smile to her face.

No dream could be better than this. Especially as Liam sat down beside her, and held her in his arms.

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