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The past few months had been an emotional whirlwind for Maria Solace.
Learning that her oldest son was alive was enough of a shock, but meeting him again after nearly a decade was different than how she played the scenario over in her head.
One thing that wasn’t different was the way he melted into her arms and sobbed into her embrace.
As she brought her baby boy home, she knew he was trying to hide something from her, the way how he picked at his own fingers and avoided eye contact when confronted, she remembered those habits all too well.
The changes were subtle at first. She noticed he was always so alert and perceptive, no matter where he was or who came to check in on him.
But what startled her at first were his eyes.
They were almost glassy, with a light that shone back through. They almost didn’t seem human.
Next, it was the scales. A few shed patches of scales along the bathroom floor, almost like a snake’s but ultimately resembled a fish more.
When she tried asking Sebastian, it was the same fidgeting she got before.
It wasn’t until that fateful night when everything clicked into place.
It was late at night, and Maria had a long day at work, and she couldn’t find herself falling asleep. Deciding she needed a midnight snack, she stumbled through the dark hallways, refusing to turn on the lights because god forbid she would wake up her sons, especially when her youngest had college in the morning.
As she reached the kitchen, she froze in her tracks.
Standing there in the darkness was a- She didn’t even know what! Some kind of giant fish, almost like if a science fiction writer turned a mermaid into a horror movie monster. It was massive, hunching over as it dug through the open fridge, but it could easily tower over it if it wanted to.
She felt herself gasp, as she grabbed onto her chest. The beast turned towards her in an instant. Those eyes, those bioluminescent blue eyes, they didn’t stare back at her in aggression or hunger, but rather fear. Finding the strength to look down from the beast’s gaze, she glanced towards its large monstrous hands, hands that looked to be picking at the claws on the ends.
She made eye contact with it once more, her gaze softening. Despite every instinct in her body telling her to run away or grab a knife or god knows what, she found herself carefully approaching it. She began to ease her arms out towards it as it flinched back.
“...M-Mijo?...”
It nodded.
Maria let out a shaky gentle laugh, smiling up at her leviathan son as she held her arms out, cupping his face in her hands. He even leaned into the touch, and she could have swore he began to purr.
“Shhh, it’s okay. Everything is okay. Mama is here, and no one will ever hurt you again.”
It was a shock of course, finding out her son now looked like someone did a fantasy version of The Creature from The Black Lagoon, but that didn’t mean she loved him any less.
It was only just a new challenge for her to overcome, a new way of showing him her love and support. That no matter what form he took, he would always be her baby boy.
She began buying pounds of meat specifically from the store for him to eat, as well as a few other things to help him take care of himself. She even bought a heat lamp off of one of her friends who used to take care of pet lizards, and set it up in his room.
Maria even took it upon herself to start finding shiny trinkets for him once she noticed his new fondness for them. To her, it was adorable how he had his own treasure horde, like a sea dragon.
But the one thing she loved most about his brand new changes, was the way how he would slither up to her and curl around her recliner, lying his head down on her lap as she stroked his fins, humming their lullaby.