A Fishy Tale, The Sequel - Fanfiction for H2O Just Add Water

Chapter 137

Chapter 137

The following month passed by with seeming normalcy. The adults went to work and the children went to school, preschool, daycare or stayed at home with an adult who was off work. There was an air of anticipation that was bordering on excitement. The article was going to be publsihed soon. There were nerves and worries, but eagerness to see what the public might think. They wondered about how the news would be taken, about whether people believe straight away or write it off as being fiction or an exaggeration of facts.

The article was due to be published online on the 21st September 2026. They submitted the article on the 1st of August and the peer review took around nine weeks (this is a standard length of time as peer reviews typically take 7-12 weeks). In 2023, like many of its peers, the Journal of Animal Science and Zoology made the move to a continuous publication model, rather than only publishing for journal volumes. This meant that articles can be published as soon as the production process is completed and they become more easily accessible. The group were uncertain about whether broadcasting the article as more 'easily accessible' would be a good idea, but they also knew that the media would pick this up in droves regardless of where or how it was published, naturally drawing attention anyway.

A few birthdays occurred in this period of research and waiting for the article to be published (July – September). Cleo turned 34, Ben turned 35, and Madeline turned five years old. She was very excited to be starting at kindergarten.

Jessie was now six months pregnant and was very much looking forward to meeting her baby - likely in early December. Jessie and Alan had decided to wait to find out the sex of their baby (even though they could use the ultrasound machine Lewis got over ten years ago) – the couple were excited for the surprise. Jessie was planning to go on maternity leave at the start of November. It was such a blessing for Alan and Jessie to have their friends on Mako. Having 16 mer-children in the group already, their friends were very experienced when it came to delivering mer-babies. As this was Jessie's first, it was so great to be able to ask questions to people she didn't need to hide her secret from. She did wonder about the mermaid research they were publishing and whether it would ever mean mers would be able to go to hospitals safely. That kind of progress could be incredible for all mers.

Through this same time period, Katya and Linda with Vera's help, had been working closely with various agencies who could work to provide the best possible protections for mermaids once their existence was known to the world. This was all spoken about in-confidence and could be made public in the days following the publishing of the article. Katya and Linda started by talking to the Australian Department of Conservation to consult around protections for mermaids in Australia, who introduced them to key people who could help them talk with other groups. Soon there was a working group including representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme, World Wildlife Fund, and the Australian government. The representatives were all very excited to be part of the discussions. They understood the concerns that Katya and Linda had about potential exploitation. Mermaids would be covered under existing Australian acts such as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (protection of threatened, migratory and marine species, including whales, dolphins and seals) and were included in the United Nation's stance against the illegal trade of wildlife. They discussed how mermaids could have an official conservation status making it illegal to exploit or trade mermaids for any reason. Katya and Linda agreed about this, but also asked the others to consider having a unique status for mers. Katya and Linda shared how mermaids were just like humans. They shared about the mermaids that had been involved in their research study. They were mermaids who lived on land, working everyday jobs just like any other human. Katya and Linda were very careful with their words so they did not reveal too much.