Marilyn had the worst two months of her life. It wasn't that the surgery had gone wrong, no, as a matter of fact, things could not have gone smoother, considering all. Her spine was perfect, she had feelings all over her tail, her body did not reject the artificial addition, she fattened up nicely inside the tail, she could breath underwater, her vagina was in perfect working order, proven over and over by Ursula's ministrations, but despite all that she could not move the big muscle in the tail that would allow her to swim.

They tried all kind of things once her wounds were healed, massages, acupuncture, they hung her upside down by her tail out of the water, like someone's fishing trophy. They tried shock therapy, which is quite tricky when dealing with a water creature, but the fat layer she had produced under the tail skin proved an effective insulation. They were talking about minimal invasive surgery to get to the muscle and shock it from the inside and if nothing else worked then major surgery. But first they tried hot and cold therapy which was totally ineffective, again due to the fat layer doing exactly what it was designed for. Except it didn't prevent her from getting a cold.

So now she was isolated from her friends and from her highly pregnant wife, whom she officially married just before the surgery. Who was the only light in her life during this miserable time of being an invalid basically. But the closer they came to her due date, the more panic set in. Marilyn would not be able to help during childbirth, or do her parental duties afterwards, or simply play with her child. She could not return to Disney where Ursula would have to, honoring the contract obligations.

She was lying on the bottom of the pool where they'd taken her, hiding from all and everything. There was no joy in her breathing underwater, a breath that now tickled her nose from the inside, causing an enormous sneeze. And in that sneeze her body contracted and released like a rubber band. And she shot across the bottom of the pool. Before she realized what happened she sneezed again and almost hit the side of the pool. She rubbed her nose, trying to suppress the next sneeze, and flicked her tail. It went. And it felt like the most normal thing, like she'd had a tail her whole life. It took two more flicks to reach the other side of the pool, before she realized her muscle was working.

She swam through the gate and the waterway that connected all pools to the bay. She surfaced in the lab where the pool was they'd taken her. And she called out for Kaz. He wasn't there but Sasha was. She looked dumbfounded down at Marilyn who had a huge smile on her face, saw her tail move and then she simply jumped in the water with her clothes on, to hug Marilyn tight. The two women had bonded since they had met and both were crying now.

Finally Sas said, Kaz went to get your mom from the airport. We hoped that maybe a different type of shock would get that muscle moving. And look at you now! What happened?

Just as Marilyn was about to explain her sneezing, the door of the lab opened and Kaz came in, followed by Laura, Marilyn's mother. He took one look at the crying women in the water and turned white as a ghost. But then Marilyn flicked her tail and with Sas still tightly hugging her they moved through the water and with another flick they landed on the platform that Marilyn normally used for her lab experiments.

Comprehension showed on his face suddenly when both women started laughing and he too jumped on the platform and hugged them both. Laura stood at the edge looking down at them and tears of happiness were streaming down her face. Finally Marilyn got a chance to explain what had happened, when she sneezed again and her tail trashed violently, getting them all wet. Of course Kaz became all scientist now and he started pushing and probing the tail, instructing Marilyn left and right and up and down.

Sas in the meantime got up on the side to get acquainted with Laura and explain that everything was going to be alright. Marilyn decided it was enough for now. She yelled up to Laura, Hi mom! I've gotta tell Ursula. And she dove from the platform and was gone in a second while Kaz got up and wiped water from his eyes. Pool water, he said.

Marilyn never surfaced. In the clear water of the bay she saw her friends playing a game of waterball. It was two against two with Ursula in her highly pregnant state being the referee. Marilyn popped up right behind her and said, Hi beautiful!

Ursula screamed in pleasure and wrapped six tentacles around her lover, pulling her tight into her. Your tail, it's working, what happened? she cried out. Marilyn felt the air squeezed from her lungs through her nose and it triggered another sneeze, and the jerk of her tail lifted Ursula halfway out of the water. That happened, she laughed.

The other mermaids were all screaming now, trying to get their own hug in, and soon the emotions had them all crying. Marilyn showed them how easily she moved now and already she managed to jump fully out of the water. The four other mermaids, who had slowly become two couples in the months here, looked at each other, wondering if they could be next.

They all went back to the lab, so Marilyn could show off Ursula to her mom. There was the beginning of a party going on with cake and pizza as the main ingredients. Laura couldn't believe how radiant Ursula looked and she held her daughter in law in a long hug. That's when the contractions started.

When you're an octowoman and about to give birth, there's no rushing to the hospital. And although Kaz is a doctor, a neurosurgeon that is, it was in medschool many years ago that he witnessed a life birth. Truth be told, he had read up on it lately, but he was mighty glad Sas's friend showed up, soon after they called her. Kelly was her name, and she'd been around a few times in the past weeks to get to know Ursula and to get the birthing room ready.

Kelly winked at Kaz when she hugged Sas, then switched into professional mode and looked for Ursula. Ursula was in very good spirit, she was ready and all she needed was her best friend, wife and lover, to be okay, and she could handle anything. And though they had prepped for some highly complicated scenarios, it was one of the easiest births ever. As Kelly would say afterwards, Kaz could have delivered that baby girl easily by himself.

The baby was beautiful and healthy and they named her Savannah. Someone had suggested they call her Ariel, but it just didn't feel right. The few weeks they had until vacation was over and they'd go back to Disney, were exhausting, like all new parents experience, yet the best of their life's. A decision had to be made though, as Kaz explained. He suggested Savvy grow some more first before replacing her legs by a tail. In the meantime they could give her the Disney tail, as he called the original wrap around the legs. He wasn't sure though how Disney would react.

The first impression was positive. When the park reopened Savvy was quickly a crowd favorite. Where a baby her age could not even crawl yet, she could move her tail and swim from mom to mom, with a big smile on her face.

But soon the questions started coming, obviously from people who have no affinity with mermaids. Was it healthy for a baby to be underwater that long? Would the tail not cause deformation of her legs? What about the exposure to such a large audience? And really, should our kids see a baby have two mothers, one of them having tentacles? Such a dysfunctional family! Complaints went up all the way to congress.

Disney got in an embarrassing situation. On one hand the mermaids were the biggest success of the new park the previous year, partly because of the mystery if the mermaids were perhaps real. This year people were protesting at the entrance, holding signs about child labor, molestation and illegal experiments with human DNA.

When the truth came out about Marilyn and Ursula being only half human by now questions were raised if they were even protected under human rights laws or could they be put down like a rabid dog or a wild bear, or perhaps an injured horse? Or could they be hunted or caught like a tuna fish or octopus and turned into sushi or calamari? Some of this clearly went too far, considering there was still human brains and hearts involved. But one congressman stated that length wise Marilyn's human part was perhaps only a quarter of her total length and the same applied to her weight. And it was not much different with Ursula.

Disney separated ties with Kaz, stating he used Disney technology on a person not under contract and thus not approved by Disney. They canceled all mermaid contracts and forced all to go back to their normal human state or lose Disney's responsibility to get them back to normal at a later time. Only four mermaids declined, the four that had stayed with Marilyn and Ursula during the vacation period. They put their future in Kaz's hands, hoping to go the same road as Marilyn but with the chance they would never walk nor swim again if things went wrong.

Disney continued the mermaid shows, but with so obvious fake tails, easily taken off each night, that people lost all interest. And with no more Merlympics the new show didn't even last till the end of the season.

Kaz's place was still a welcome haven but with the negative publicity the overall mood was down. Disney had canceled the funding of the bionic leg research as well, so Sas had had to let go all scientists that were working with her. Kaz had the beginnings of a few more tails but there were not enough funds to finish them and it did not help the mood. The only one ready was for little Savannah and not knowing their own future Marilyn and Ursula held off with that surgery. And while congress was debating their legal status a small message of hope arrived.

The tiny island of Saba, in the Caribbean, had formally declared to recognize human based water creatures as a legitimate sub-species with the same legal status as "normal" humans. They invited any such creature to their island to develop an off-coast underwater community. The first twenty participants would be paid to clean and maintain all coral reefs in the region.

And just like that Kaz and Sas knew what to do. They started redesigning the oxygen producing organ into a more commercial shape, that could be strapped on someone's back together with a high end battery, allowing the wearer to stay underwater for days in a row, or indefinitely if they could charge the batteries underwater as well. At ten thousand dollar a piece they couldn't produce them fast enough. The money this generated was used to start a factory on Saba and the whole lab was relocated as well.