Oh, it's you. From the road I thought some kid had lost their beach ball.
Funny stuff, preacher boy. Be nice to the hugely pregnant girl.
Why are you down here on the beach alone, Bridget?
I'm not alone anymore, Jake, you're here now.
Where's everyone?
Still at work.
I see.
Why aren't you working?
I'm finished for the day. All my papers are written so I came out for a quick walk. Want to go for an ice cream instead?
No, thanks, it's too nice out. I just want to sit for a few more minutes.
What do you do in the winter when you come down here?
I bring a sweater. Then a parka when it gets really cold.
Boots?
No. The sand feels good when it's cold in my toes. Like if I dug down far enough the warmth would be there just waiting for summer again.
I think I have a nickname for you.
I hope it's a nice one. I'm a little sensitive these days, being wider than I am tall.
Saltwater Princess.
Sounds high-maintenance, but I like it.
No, not really. I've just noticed that when you're on the beach or near the ocean you never look at anything but the water. You don't hear anything but the surf. You're the princess of saltwater. It's as if you're surveying your future kingdom. You're barely paying attention to me.
Well, the surprise is on you then, Jake,because that's exactly what I'm doing. Except for the paying attention part. I'm listening to you.
And you're about eight million times happier when you're within touching distance of the water.
Who could blame me? She's beautiful, isn't she? That's my ocean. Mine. And I'm happiest when I'm near her.
Everything is beautiful here, princess. And I think I understand what you mean.
I tore my eyes away from the aquamarine waves long enough to smile in appreciation for how easily Jacob's new nickname for me rolled off his tongue and the meaning of his words. He was smiling back at me. He sat down behind me and put his knees up so I could lean against him like a chair.
You do realize you're going to have a mermaid baby, with a tail instead of legs.
Yes, I know.
Two weeks, princess. You ready?
As ready as I'll ever be. I hope she likes the ocean.
Oh, I'm sure she'll take after her mother.
I closed my eyes and listened to the waves crash upon the shore, and inside me Ruth matched the vibrations of the waves with kicks of her own. She always kicked a lot when Jacob was talking.
Jake? I think I'm going to head back. Want to come for supper?
Sure, princess. I'd like that.
Are you really going to call me that now?
Special girls need special nicknames. It will catch on fast.
He was right. Within a few short months the nickname stuck like glue and everyone, including Cole was using it. And I had my mermaid baby, Ruth, who was five days old when she saw the ocean for the first time, and three weeks old when she visited the beach and I stuck her tiny pink toes in the sand and showed her mommy's favorite place in the whole world.
When she was nine months old, Jacob took Ruth in his arms and walked into the ocean up to his knees at sunset and blessed her in a dedication ceremony with all of our friends and family present, the latter grudgingly coming out for the 'hippie baptism', as they liked to call it.
I have the sweetest picture from that evening. It shows Jacob standing in the surf in the glow of the sun's final light, his jeans wet up halfway up to his thighs, his white shirt untucked and billowing in the wind, his hair flying into his eyes and he's smiling up at Ruth and holding her up high up in front of him. She is smiling back down at him with her one-toothed grin, her fine blonde hair blowing straight up from her head, her little dress buffeting around her diaper. If you saw it you would see the similarities, the connection they've shared forever and it makes me happy that Jacob has this history with us, that he has been a part of our lives and every major event therein. It's a permanence that belies the honeymoon phase of our relationship now with our marriage still in it's own infancy.
It gives us a deeper appreciation for each other, a foundation on which to build our castle, because this princess finally found the prince she was looking for. He was right under her nose all along.
