Chapter 4

After Ariel waved goodbye to Eric and Melody, she carefully crossed the सड़क, स्ट्रीट to meet up with her brother. Her sandy-colored haired brothers was holding a carton of दूध that he bought from the Deli.

"Ariel, what was going on? Who was that man आप were talking to?" फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि asked.

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

"Really?" फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि asked.

"It's a long story," कहा Ariel. As they walk away from the Deli, Ariel told फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि the details of the story such as saving Melody, standing up to Eric, and a रात का खाना with them. When she finished, फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि was amazed. That was a ब्रेव thing his big sister did!

Ariel and फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि 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 फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि 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 पढ़ना the Daily News. Attina, Andrina, and Adella, both came घर early from their jobs.

"Daddy, we're home," कहा Ariel.

"Oh, good! I was beginning to worry about आप two," कहा 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 आप so long!" Adella कहा impatiently, who just came out of the रसोई, रसोईघर 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," कहा Ariel.

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

"Yeah! There was a little girl who was running in the सड़क, स्ट्रीट 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," फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि 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!" कहा Ariel, blushing. "The man was the father of the girl I rescued from. He invited me for रात का खाना 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, दिखा रहा है 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!" कहा Andrina in a "duh!" tone.

"Ariel, where are आप 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 तारीख, दिनांक with him. Especially after hearing from फ़्लॉन्डर, अशुद्धि that Eric had expressed interest in Ariel.

"Yes, daddy, I want to. We're having रात का खाना at his house," कहा Ariel.

"His house!" Tirton exclaimed.

"Father, Eric is a decent man so, he won't touch her," कहा 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 दिखाना up at his house for dinner. He sighed.

"All right, Ariel. आप can have रात का खाना with him tomorrow. But be careful," Triton said, still worrying.

"Daddy, I'll be fine," कहा 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," कहा Eric as tucked Melody in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, Daddy," कहा 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," कहा 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 तकिया अगला to him. He fell asleep dreaming about a certain lovely red-haired woman that still left his दिल burning for her.