Chapter 4

After Ariel waved goodbye to Eric and Melody, she carefully crossed the 通り, ストリート to meet up with her brother. Her sandy-colored haired brothers was holding a carton of ミルク that he bought from the Deli.

"Ariel, what was going on? Who was that man あなた were talking to?" ヒラメ asked.

"I was trying to save his daughter," Ariel explained.

"Really?" ヒラメ asked.

"It's a long story," 発言しました Ariel. As they walk away from the Deli, Ariel told ヒラメ the details of the story such as saving Melody, standing up to Eric, and a ディナー with them. When she finished, ヒラメ was amazed. That was a メリダとおそろしの森 thing his big sister did!

Ariel and ヒラメ finally came upon their apartment. They went inside and took the elevator which led them to the 22nd floor.

"Daddy, we're home!" Ariel and ヒラメ walked inside their room M28. The apartment room was small but still contained enough room to fit her, Flounder, her dad, and their sisters, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana. The apartment room had a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen.

Triton was sitting in his chair 読書 the Daily News. Attina, Andrina, and Adella, both came ホーム early from their jobs.

"Daddy, we're home," 発言しました Ariel.

"Oh, good! I was beginning to worry about あなた two," 発言しました Triton. He was a little bit concerned of why his two kids were spending longer time than usual at the deli when he only sent them just to buy milk.

"What took あなた so long!" Adella 発言しました impatiently, who just came out of the キッチン along with Andrina and Attina.

"Adella, calm down!" Attina scolded. "There's no need to be dramatic!"

"But I'm soooooo thirsty and hungry!" Adella whined.

"Gee, poor Adella. She didn't eat breakfast," Andrina said, sarcastically.

"I was almost late this morning! And I didn't have time to go the cafe!"

"Whatever!"

"Calm down. I have the milk," 発言しました Ariel.

"Yeah, Ariel was trying to save a girl's life!" ヒラメ defended. Triton turned around from his newspaper with interest and all the sisters except Ariel had their eyes widened. ヒラメ began to tell the story in an excited way.

"Yeah! There was a little girl who was running in the 通り, ストリート and-then-she couldn't-the car was like 'Vroooom!'and the girl was like 'AAAAAAAAAH!' Whew! Then Ariel ran and saved her!" And then, there was this man, who was like 'blah blah blah!' at the kid and "hubba hubba hubba!' at Ariel," ヒラメ finished, imitating Eric's hypnotized trance.

Triton's expression changed from an interest to a frown.

"WHAT!"

"OOoooooooo! Ariel's got a boyfriend!" Adella teased, as Attina, Arista, and Andrina giggled.

"He's not my boyfriend!" 発言しました Ariel, blushing. "The man was the father of the girl I rescued from. He invited me for ディナー tomorrow just to repay me," Ariel explained, hopefully her dad didn't get the wrong idea and hopefully that her sisters would stop teasing.

"Whew! That is a relief!" Triton sighed.

"So, what's the man's name?" Attina asked.

"Eric Daniel Barnes," Ariel answered, 表示中 everybody Eric's buisness card.

"Eric Daniel Barnes? No way!" the sisters exclaimed.

"You know him?" Ariel was confused.

"Yeah! He's our co-worker!" 発言しました Andrina in a "duh!" tone.

"Ariel, where are あなた and Eric going to eat dinner?" Triton asked. Even though, he is already aware that Eric Daniel Barnes, he still feels uneasy about letting his youngest daughter having a 日付 with him. Especially after hearing from ヒラメ that Eric had expressed interest in Ariel.

"Yes, daddy, I want to. We're having ディナー at his house," 発言しました Ariel.

"His house!" Tirton exclaimed.

"Father, Eric is a decent man so, he won't touch her," 発言しました Andrina, calmly.

"You're sure," Triton asked, cautiously.

"Yeah, don't worry. Eric has no interest in marriage," Andrina answered.

"Daddy, I want to go. It is not a date. It is just for one night. Please?" Ariel pleaded. Triton hesitated. Despite Andrina's assurance, he still doesn't feel comfortable about this. How would he know that Eric would not make moves on her? On the other hand, he knows that it would be a great insult if Ariel doesn't 表示する up at his house for dinner. He sighed.

"All right, Ariel. あなた can have ディナー with him tomorrow. But be careful," Triton said, still worrying.

"Daddy, I'll be fine," 発言しました Ariel. Gee, her dad could be so overprotective sometimes.

Meanwhile, back at the Barnes' home, Eric and Melody had gotten ready for bed.

"Good night, Melody," 発言しました Eric as tucked Melody in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, Daddy," 発言しました Melody. He was about to leave when Melody called him.

"Daddy, please keep the lights on!"

"Why?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"I hate the dark!"

"All right," 発言しました Eric. He left without turning the lights off. He hoped that this would be the last time she requested him to do that.

Eric changed into his pajamas and climbed into his king-size bed. As he laid his head on his pillow, he looked to his left to another 枕 次 to him. He fell asleep dreaming about a certain lovely red-haired woman that still left his ハート, 心 burning for her.