Book Seven: Chapter 98

“Oh.” Leilani made a face. “I’m so sorry.”

Don’t worry about it, signed Opal, which Mike repeated.

“So why is she telling you about this show?” asked Leilani.

“We were watching it together for a bit. She’s been in recovery and I made sure to go hang out with her.” His lips quirked into a grin as he thought of all the times she had pulled him into her tub. “But I missed the last season because of my son. He and I were struggling to get along, but we had a breakthrough of sorts. The last thing I wanted was to undo all of our progress by stepping away.”

“Mmm. Relationships among merpeople can be tricky. Many of us don’t know who our fathers are, so it becomes a communal affair to raise the children. Naturally, this means personalities can clash, especially if a father has decided that a specific child is his own. Or worse, numerous men claiming parentage of one child.”

“But you knew yours?”

Leilani nodded, her eyes drifting to her spear. “For the roy