Catalina Rodriguez

At the question of a hot tub, Fer made a slight face and shook her head. “Oh, no. Artie and I agreed those end up causing more trouble than they’re worth and she relies on ice-baths to help with her muscle strain from soccer and all the other outdoor shenanigans she gets up,” she noted before looking up at Cat and saying, “I genuinely do not know where she and her friends all get the energy to be so active all the time and still manage to do things like work and chores. My job is an office, and I’m barely managing.”

“I don’t know.. They’ve always been active when I met them.” She giggled, “It really, really surprised me at the beginning. I also learned that I was very bad at Phys Ed, and I couldn’t go when they decide to take a field trip to the pool. Everyone knows I suck at sports.. so.. I don’t know how they manage either.” Catalina hummed, “Half of them are also wolves.. maybe it’s that?”

The thought was upsetting Fernanda as well, so she shook her head and said, “Let’s focus on the ones that are given a safe space to still swim, and the ones that will be helped and sent back instead. Kind of like, an exchange program.” It wasn’t much, but the last thing she wanted was to have Cat start the waterworks in the midst of their planning.

“I feel like there are likely already waterproof versions of most boardgames available, and if not, it shouldn’t be too hard to have them custom made,” she noted. “I definitely think the wading pool will be a hit both with the boys and with some of the less apt swimmers,” Fer noted, once again avoiding directly pointing out Artie’s lack of skills… “Oh I think there may be some that are regulation, but if not, the beauty of this project is that anything can be custom made…we just have to talk it out with Artemis and Aunt D first.”

As naive as Catalina seemed to be, she understood there was a chance that these creatures might never get the chance to go home and that alone upset her so much. She was thankful for those who are solely focused on helping sea life but the rest. Oh those just boiled her blood. “Hmm.” she nodded, not saying more on the subject. 

The mermaid instead just kept sketching out where things could potentially go, ripping out the page and redrawing the place but with different options to see how the space could look different if done this way instead. “...I don’t really like going in it myself, but will we have a hot tub?” 

“Yeah, it was the most awkward daddy-daughter date I’ve ever experienced,” she said. “Not all aquariums are depressing. Some, like the one in town, are focused on rescue and rehab. They give our fellow sea-dwellers a place to safely live that won’t leave them out to be easy pickings in the wild.” Fer knew it would hardly do much to better her cousin’s mood as she was the biggest fan of open water but, it was something, right?

 “I was thinking that we could have some games set up out there for when we entertain the gang, maybe an indoor patio set for meals.” At the mention of the boys she added, “Oh we can definitely add a recessed wading pool of their own. Though I’m sure Julían will be the first to encourage Krylon into the big pool, we don’t want to risk it with Kobra.”

“It’s good that there’s places that does rescue and rebab.. But the ones where it’s purely to showcase their collection...” She wrinkled her nose in distaste. Catalina hated feeling trapped, and could only sympathized with the creatures in those aquariums. “Some of them look so sad..” She was getting upset just thinking about them. Everyone deserved to swim freely to wherever they want. 

“BOARD GAMES! Though we should probably get them waterproofed.. in case anything happens.” She hummed, “We should get a large table since there’s so many people.” Catalina squealed, “A kiddies pool! People can wet their feet there too if they really don’t want to be in the pool. Are we going to have a deep and shallow end - is that regulation?” 

“To be fair, I think they just expect us to hang to the dorsal fin like most humans do with whales in SeaWorld,” she said, her face scrunching up at the memory of the show. She knew there hadn’t been a mean bone in her father’s body, but what on earth made him think that would be a good place to take his half-merfolk daughter was beyond her. “I don’t know, I think Julían fills that role pretty well,” she chuckled.

Fer took a look at the page, and nodded as she said, “Yeah, that looks about right as far as proportions. I think we’ll want to look at how much of a ‘border’ of solid ground we want to haver around the pool itself so that we can have lounge chairs, and other stuff. Swim like us? Hon, some people can’t even swim at all.”

“SeaWorld? Have you been there? I’ve never been. I think it’s weird... The ones we’re used to get to swim anywhere and whenever they want.. The ones in the aquariums are like.. trapped forever - that’s just so sad.” She mumbled, feeling upset at the thought alone. 

“Mmmmm.” She hummed as she sketched out more lines onto the paper, then erased a few lines before adding more lines again. “We should figure out what we want here besides chairs though. Like what she we include?” Catalina looked up, “Oh.. right..” Her girlfriend was one of them. How could she forget? Artemis was not good with water at all. “Then we definitely need a space so that they could do something if they just want to chill... OH! We need a space for Krylie and them too! Can’t forget them.”

Fernanda’s eyes immediately brightened at the idea. “No, I think that’d be great! It would give you a bigger canvas to work with, and it would allow for us to incorporate Artie and Julian’s work too. As for Atlantis, I honestly think they might be more surprised to learn we don’t ride dolphins like Aquaman,” she said, having gotten to know the others better over the past year and a half. She wasn’t the least bit surprised when her cousin ran off and came back with a sketch book. “Well, it’ll probably run the length of farmhouse, much like a veranda but fully enclosed to keep us safe from prying eyes. Artie and I did agree that would be best as the pool would have to be at least an olympic size one to handle three grown merfolk trying to get in their required ‘enrichment’, as she put it.” Fer playfully rolled her eyes at the remark the faerie had made.

“... But the people in Aquaman have legs underwater.. We don’t, how are we supposed to ride when we could easily fall off.” She giggled, “Someone thought I have a best friend like Flounder in the Little Mermaid following me around.” Sketching a few lines onto the page, she roughly got the empty space. “Mm.. So.. that’s a really, really, really big pool.” She mumbled as she drew a parallelogram and more lines following it to indicate the depth of the pool. With the size in mind, she drew a mermaid in ratio to it so that they would understand how big it was for now before precise measurements came into play. “I think that’s how big they are...?” We’ll need an area for chairs - Lounge chairs! Not everyone can swim forever like us.” Catalina added those into the picture.  

“Alright, well while you to discuss the creative aspects of this thing, I’m going to go clean up from the dishwasher disaster before we have to head out to Sean’s,” Artie said as she began the task fo untangling herself from the younger mermaid. “Try not to go too over the top ladies, bear in mind it will most likely be me, Sean, Tomi, and a set of volunteers getting this project done, as most of Irwin Constructions is spread out at job sites out of town.”

“Don’t worry! Everything will be within the last budget we discussed and if I can find a way to cut costs down even more along the way I will,” Fer guarantted, before turning to her cousin. “That’s the beauty of it. Depending on what you’d like to do, the only real limitations will be the space itself. But, I was thinking that maybe once we get the actual pool installed, maybe you’d want to do a mural in it so that wen we fill it, it looks a bit more like home?”

“Ohhhh! What if we theme the pool house like that?! Not just the mural.” Cataline proposed, “Or.. do you think that’s too much? I think everyone’s going to be surprised that it doesn’t look like Atlantis.” The younger mermaid slipped off the couch and almost ran out of the room to grab her sketch book, then run back to her spot. “Soooooo how big is this going to be?” She hummed as she opened to a blank page. 

“Yeah! Turns out when you’re legally tied to a douchebag, finally getting to sever that tie makes people want to party,” she snarked. Artemis had obviously never been married to an asshat, but she’d dated plenty of them, so she could only imagine that Izzy’s relief was immense. “All the usual suspects should be there, except maybe Evan and Emmy. I think they went out to visit Evan’s mom.”

“Lord knows I was more than up for throwing a party when I finally got my mother to break my stupid engagement, I can only imagine a divorce clearing is a massive weight off her shoulders,” Fer noted, before turning to Cat. “I do have a few sketches, but they’re essentially blue-prints. I was hoping to get your actual artistic input on the design for the interior.”

Listening to both her cousin and girlfriend talk about breaking off engagements and divorces, Catalina wondered if her own mother celebrated when she left. Her father definitely did not, that was one thing she was certain about. While she felt the same sentiments when her own engagement was broken off with Sebastian, the younger mermaid definitely was not in a party mood when it happened. Just pure relief when it was all over. 

“Ohh!! I can do that!” She nodded, “... Is there anything that we can’t do?” Since she didn’t actually know how one went about building a pool house, she could only assume that there were going to be restrictions of some sort.. She just didn’t know what they actually were.

“Wow, you came with receipts and everything. Although, speaking of Sean we’re apparently invited over to the ranch to celebrate Izzy’s divorce. What a time to be alive no?” she laughed, the concept of such a thing probably serving as the cause of a few heart attacks if it got around town. “Might be a good time to bring up that pool house idea of yours,” she slipped in.

Fer furrowed her brow a bit, and pulled her face into a look of concentration as she figured how to best put this. “Well, Cat…hon, it’s actually…nope, nothing like that. I genuinely should have known better, but I suppose what’s done is done and her only option is to walk or deal with Julian.” The older mermaid wasn’t exactly sure what the small girl was getting at with zoom dates, but she also didn’t want to know. So instead she focused on Artie’s news. “Pool house! Yes! Okay, so you’ve come around? I’m cool with whatever you best decide.”

“Celebrate a divorce? Is everyone going to be there?” She asked without looking up. The mermaid was comfortable exactly where she was. “It’s a party right??” She peeked up before looking over to her cousin again once the pool house was brought up again. 

Catalina giggled at how her cousin’s face just lit up once she realized Artemis had finally accepted the idea. “Have you sketched up an idea of how you want the place to look like?” She asked out of curiosity, maybe because she wanted to help too. 

Artemis could only laugh at the attempt of a defense Cat sent Fer’s way. “Oh no, honey, I am very mean. Just not to you,” she clarified. Turning back to Fer, her smile softened and she said, “It’s perfectly normal to be blinded to someone’s flaws when your focus is drawn to how bright their good attributes shine or when you’ve even become accustomed to their flaws yourself. Happens to the best of us.”

Fernanda found herself thinking for a moment, before her brow furrowed and she almost looked offended as she said, “Actually, you know what, she’s not. I can’t think of a single time that woman has been genuinely nice to me. I guess I just got so used to her being her obnoxious self that I took her not being as obnoxious and mistook it for niceties. God I need to find a way to get out more. This is what happens when the only interactions I have are with relatives and coworkers.”

“You’re not mean.” She repeated, “You’re nice to Fer, and Julie, and.. and Sean and them. You’re not mean.” Cataline genuinely believed that Artemis was anything but a bitch and was not letting anyone call her that. 

Her attention went back to Fernanda and probably shouldn’t find it amusing as she did that the other was stressing out so much about this ‘Dylan’ lady. “So.. she’s not being as obnoxious to you.. Isn’t that like Artie claiming she’s only nice to me?” Catalina loosened her hold on Artie just enough for her to sit up straight. “I hear.. zoom dates are a thing?” 

“Bob. Dylan. I was close,” she said offhandedly, before trading spots with Crayola and letting her own personal koala grab hold of her. At this point it was pretty much understood that being within arm’s reach of Cat would ultimately lead to Cat just latching onto her. “Seriously though, this town is full of hot people, why on earth would you pick one that’s a bitch?”

“She’s not- no, yeah, you’re right. She’s a bitch. But so are you, and Cat somehow managed to work around it,” she pointed out, the sight of her cousin having practically whipped the faerie right before her. “I mean, I’m not saying I’m aiming to work around it or anything. I just- I don’t know. Maybe quarantine has messed with my brain more than I thought.” Fer looked out the window once more. “Yeah, she’s earned her banishment.”

Her feet was now returning and Catalina made good use of them to wrap them around her girlfriend’s waist. Perhaps she was a koala in her past life. “Artie’s not mean.” She defended her faerie, resting her face on the other. The younger cousin observed her relative, mulling over what they’ve said so far about the woman outside who seemed tormented by their youngest cousin. “Is she nice to you?” Not that it’s a good thing that Dylan should only be nice to Fernanda, but it was a good start in Catalina’s eyes. 

“If Fer brought her home, maybe she’s not so bad? She’s rude though.. because Aunt D kicked her out. But she didn’t set the wards on her..so... maybe there’s hope?”

“The Ice Queen of Fallcrest apparently has the hots for her business rival,” Artie added, “What a salacious headline that would make.” It wasn’t often that they got anything to tease Fernanda over, so maybe she was getting caught up in it again when Cat brought it back around. They would all get over it. “I think it was something basic, like Bob or something.”

“It’s Dylan,” Fer corrected almost at once, and no sooner had she done so than she realized that had been Artie’s goal. “Cat, you think everyone is pretty, hon….but I won’t disagree.” There was something about Dylan’s bright blue gaze that often held her attention for just a beat longer than it should…at least, when she wasn’t busy running her mouth at the same time. “Uh, no. She honestly shouldn’t have been rude, so she can save herself.”

“But it’s true though.” She says with a shrug, “I’m not lying. She is pretty. The whole town has very pretty people!” Catalina waved over to Artie, suddenly deciding that it had been too long since she last hugged her girlfriend. “You think she’s pretty too.” She observed for a little longer before turning to look at her older cousin, " Mmm. So.. You’re just going to leave her out there?”

Artie nodded as she said, “Yeah it means your cousin isn’t immune to the thirst of her human side.” Not wanting to rub too much salt in the wound, she went to change topics when she noticed movement through the window and climbed over Crayola so she was now between the girls as she peered through the blinds. “Looks like your friend didn’t feel like walking back, and now as to deal with the Floofy boys.”

Fer could only smack the girl with a couch cushion as she made her way in between herself and her cousin. Her brows furrowed at the description the faerie gave, before it clicked and she turned herself around to also peek out the blinds. “Oh no…I mean, I have no doubt in my mind that Krylon can defend Julian and vice versa, but I think we all know who’s really going to need saving…”

“Oooooh!” She teased as if she just heard the juiciest gossip ever. “Fer has a crush on someone?!” She was so excited to hear the news that she was basically vibrating on the spot as she clapped her hands to express it. “What’s her name again?” Catalina latched onto her cousin’s waist, looking up with curious eyes but was then distracted by the mention of the Floofy boys. 

With great motivation, she twisted around so she could kneel and peer over the couch, “Ohhhh Is that her?” She went silent as she observed the sulking woman on the porch whom their other cousin decided it was a good idea to introduce himself to. “She’s pretty.” The shortest mermaid surmised as she watched the guest look back at Julien with Krylon lodging himself inbetween the merman and the other. “...Are you going to save her then?” 

As the front door closed once more, Artie led them both back into the living room where she was sure Cat was probably just dying to know what the hell had just happened. And being as helpful as ever, Artie simply took her seat back on the coffee table and simply said, “Turns out Fer doesn’t have the braiincell after all.”

For her part, the blonde had simply followed her cousin-in-law into the living room without saying much and taken up residence on the couch next to her cousin. “Okay, well, she made it all the way through the ‘path’ without spontaneously combusting or whatever. I figured she’d be fine. I guess I maybe put a little too much faith in her because I was kind of hoping she’d make an effort. I have no shame in admitting that I was clearly wrong.”

Catalina could only listen in on the conversation since she was stuck here on the couch. It was only now that she was beginning to get dry so her tail would turn back soon. With a pout, she sat there as she waited for her family to come in but they never did. Instead, she heard Artie’s voice, a stranger’s voice, then Aunt D’s voice telling them to leave before the door opened and close again. 

“Maybe she’s not that bad?” Said the girl who didn’t even see the guest in person, “Fer invited her here so.. that must mean something?” The younger mermaid leaned into her cousin, “Mm.. I was a bit excited when we heard you brought a guest though.. I wanted to meet your friends.”

Artie nodded along, admitting that the mermaid some fair points. “Yeah, and I’m sure Sean will work it out to where we get a fair cost on everything. Dude hasn’t graduated high school yet, and he and Tomi have been left to pretty much run that company themselves for the most part. I suppose I could always bargain my way into having some of my woodwork be a part of the finished-” She was cut off mid-sentence as a blur of red fur decided to make itself known and then proceeded to calmly pick a spot. “Crayola, you spastic little fucker. You’re almost as bad as your brother. Which, if you’re here now can only mean-” she stopped as sure enough the tiny pit-pats of scrambling ferret’s feat could be heard fast approaching. Kobra hopped onto the coffee table, did one of his awkward little dance numbers, and then climbed onto Artie’s shoulder. Turning back to Cat she finally said, “Yes. Once she’s home form work, I’ll go ahead and talk to her about it.”

“Ooooh I’m excited!!” She clapped. Not only were the merfolks going to get a pool to finally swim in, Catalina was excited that her girlfriend and other friends all got to work together to make this happen. “Do you think I can help? I mean.. if it’s near water, I don’t know if I can do that much..” The tail was really a handful sometimes. “This. Is. So. Exciting!!!!!!!!” The older girl was practically wiggling on the spot. “It’s going to be amazing. I just know it!” 

She reached out and scratched the fox, smiling at how comfortable Crayola was. “I think Fer’s going to come home so-”

Just as she said that, Aunt D walked past them towards the front door. “Ooooooh!” She looked down and pouted, “I still don’t have my legs.”

Artemis matched her girlfriend’s smile and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. She was just too adorable when she got excited. Leaning back, she took a breath answering the question. “No, no. It’s not that. I think the whole idea is great, and even more so knowing it would also be helping some of our other friends during this time. It’s just…” she trailed off, sparing a glance back in the direction of the broken dishwasher, “…I guess I’ve just gotten so used to it just being me and Aunt D doing absolutely everything we can to keep the farmstead and the farm itself going, it feels weird to suddenly have another source of income. Especially one that can afford things that I grew up learning to do without.” Artie took another deep breath. “But, this is now her home as well, and yours and Julian’s. And I suppose I can just use the water from the pool to help me swallow my pride,” she laughed.

Cataline smiled, reciprocating the kiss. She sat in silence as she watched her girlfriend for a moment before continuing on the topic. “We also don’t want to make you and Auntie D feel uncomfortable. Besides, you can always help out with Seanie, right? It’s not like you’re kept away from the project - I don’t think you would. We can ask but I don’t think you would. Soooo you’re also building it yourself in a way?” She let out a squeal when Crayola decided to jump onto the couch - right onto her tail before jumping once more to the back of the couch. “That surprised me!!” Her attention went back to the faerie sitting across from her, “Does that mean you’re going to tell Fer that you want to accept the offer now?”

“She did. She does. We were just talking about it a few days ago, and I understand why it makes sense. It would be a great way for you three to be able to swim to your heart’s content all year round, no risk of being spotted, and it would honestly add a lot of value to the farmstead as a whole. She even tried to bribe me with a blueprint that included an expansion to my woodshop to keep the floor plan even.” Honestly the more the said this out loud, the more clear it became the only thing keeping her from saying ‘yes’ to the older mermaid was her own pride. “Well, that’s the other thing. She wants to give the contract to Irwin construction, so even Sean would benefit from it.”

“Ooooh! The woodshop expanding is a good thing, isn’t it? More workspace for you!” She smiled, eyes disappearing into thin lines as she got excited for the other before a thought occurred to her. “Do you.. not want to? I can tell Fer to stop trying to push the idea to you if you don’t like it. Fer will definitely stop if she knew that you didn’t like the idea.” 

Artie could do nothing more than just nod and hum in response at all the appropriate points. Once Cat got into one of her rambles, it was best to just let it run its course. To try and do otherwise, would be about as useful as trying to stop a speeding train with one’s own body alone…

The faerie could only offer her girlfriend a sympathetic smile. Sure, she herself hadn’t been able to go do a lot of the outdoor activities she enjoyed -and it could be argued that being an earth faerie, the outside was her natural habitat- but being in the water was essentially who Cat and her cousins were. “I mean…” she trailed off knowing she would be opening a can of worms, “I suppose if I’m fixing the dishwasher myself, and if Fer agrees to let me pay her back at least part of the cost….I can maybe consider her offer of having a pool house added to the farmstead.”

“Fer said she wanted to get a pool house?” She looked up at her girlfriend with round curious eyes. The pool would make sense, since there were 3 mermaids in the household now. Laying in the tub to avoid dehydration just wasn’t the same. Catalina wanted to at least move her tail a bit but never said anything about it since she understood why the town was in lockdown. “That sounds like a lot of work though - to build a pool house.” She hummed, not wanting to add on extra work for Artie.