And a Diamond in the Middle

"Sam, I'm a water fairy, not a human. Our times are not the same, so I am older than you know." She looked at the sun getting close to setting in the west. "I must return to the water now and you must go. May the road rise to meet you, Sam, the wind be ever at your back, and the sun always warm your face and bring you smiles."

She kissed me softly before I could object or reply with the version of the Irish blessing that I knew. Soft and tender, I felt myself practically floating, as if in heaven, before she drew back and said, "Goodbye, my Sam. Now go."

Niela turned and dived, again almost noiselessly, into the pool and I saw her no more despite searching the water for her. Dressing quickly as the temperature was dropping despite it having been a warm day, I soon picked up my pack, shoving Kathy's hat into a pocket, and made my way downstream to the road where I'd parked my car. After a very thought-filled, even troubled, dinner at a pub not too far away, I made my way to the bed and breakfast where I'd stayed the night before.

Minutes later, as I showered, I realized I was still under the effects of Niela's pheromones, my dick as hard as steel and throbbing. Thinking of her and what we'd done earlier in the day, I began to stroke my rigid erection and it wasn't long before I felt it coming, another incredible ejaculation that sent rope after rope shooting into the spray. It was an incredible feeling but it wasn't enough. Two more times I had to relieve myself before I was relaxed enough and could fall into another deep sleep.

***

It was an old stone farmhouse, one story with dormer windows in the attic where the children of no telling how many generations had probably slept as they grew up. I trudged up the cobblestone walk to the front door where I knocked. Hearing something inside, I knocked again, louder and longer.

The sound stopped and a woman I assumed to be the farmer's wife, wearing an apron over her sweater and pants and a scarf tying her hair up in back, opened the door looking more than a bit vexed, pensive even, opened the door.

"You're the American with his wife's ashes," she accused. "Don't tell me you brought them here. My Hoover's getting enough of a workout as it is."

Seeing the old vacuum cleaner sitting on the floor behind her, I gave my name and told her she didn't have to worry about the dust, that I'd spread them and put Kathy to rest (in more ways than I told her) the afternoon before. "I would like to talk to you about something though."

She'd smiled when I told her about not worrying, but that worried look returned when I added that.

"Well, don't just stand there. Kick off your boots and come on into the kitchen for some tea and you can tell us all about it." As she led me that way, she reached into her apron pocket, pulled out a cell phone that I suspected was a version or two newer than my own, and did something on the screen. Looking up at me, she added, "Mr. O'Haire will be here in a few minutes, by the time the tea's ready. He'll want to be here to hear this."

Riley and Saoirse O'Haire were roughly my age or a bit younger, but were as different as two people could be. He was about six and a half feet tall, about sixteen or so inches taller than her, and was built like a strong but lanky farmer whereas she was what is sometimes known as delightfully plump. His dark brown eyes, nearly black hair, and short-cropped beard were quite a contrast to her blue eyes, pale features, and strawberry blonde hair tied up in the scarf.

When we were seated around their kitchen table with tea in our cups, I said, "Mr. and Mrs. O'Haire, thank you for letting me let Kathy go at your pool. As I relayed in my letter to you requesting permission, we discovered it while exploring the stream several years ago and she fell completely in love with it. In fact, I think she was probably more at peace there than anywhere else she'd been in her life. When she knew she wouldn't be recovering, that was her wish, for her ashes to be spread there, so I thank you, and Kathy does from beyond, too, I'm sure."

Mr. O'Haire nodded but cupped his bearded chin with a hand as he looked at me under his bushy eyebrows. "That pool in the stream harbors mixed feelings for me and my family, so I haven't been there in many years. What's it like now? Did you see anything...interesting?"

Son of bitch! He knew! I could see it in his eyes but, for some reason, I felt I could trust him. I hoped so, since I had to if my idea had any chance of working.

"Niela was there," I replied barely above a whisper.

Mrs. O'Haire gasped as her gaze shot to her husband and both of them stretched out a hand to grasp that of the other.

Mr. O'Haire simply slumped down, becoming almost small as a tear rolled down his cheek. There was silence for a time as he stared at me before he whispered, "Niela. That's the name I've tried to recall for so many years. When I was little and my seanathair, my grandfather, was old, he told me the mother's name was Niraena and that the daughter's name was Niela, but I'd forgotten her daughter's name. He never got to meet the girl, but Niraena told him her name. He died when I was only five, and my father couldn't remember her name either. My parents used to take me to the pool to look for her, but we never saw her and eventually gave up hope of spotting her, just like my aunts and uncles had when they were kids. Dad was the only one who still believed, and he's been gone now for nigh on twenty years."

"Twenty-one, dear," whispered Mrs. O'Haire, squeezing his hand again.

We continued talking for over two hours and when we were done, we had developed an idea if not an actual plan.

***

Late the next afternoon, when the sun was well past its peak and wouldn't be as likely to dry Niela's skin too quickly, I returned to the pool, waiting and watching, hoping to see her again, or perhaps her daughter. I should have asked about her that first afternoon but it was only after the pheromones wore off that I realized how socially inept I'd been. The afternoon passed and I saw nothing.

It was the same the next day.

On the third day, I brought a chair and sat in it overlooking the bank. The water never stirred beyond the tiny ripple where the water entered or the equally small one where it exited downstream. Of course, Niela never made an appearance either. When I left, I folded the chair and wrapped it in its waterproof case, leaving it hanging on a tree limb for the next day. She didn't show up then either.

On the fifth day, I brought my laptop and a spare battery with me. I spent part of the afternoon and evening reading and editing what I'd written that morning at the bed and breakfast where I was staying. When I was happy with the result, I called out to Niela. She didn't appear but I read it aloud for her, hoping she might enjoy it.

The next day, I added a folding table, a small camp version that was light but big enough for my laptop. It went back in its plastic case and on the tree limb next to the chair when I left.

The following day, I read a poem that I'd written for her. Again, she didn't appear but I hoped she liked it.

Another week passed, with each day being a little different but much the same. The day that followed that period was different though, with my concentration on my work having gotten better over time as I spent less time pining away over my missing Naiad in the pool. The approaching shower surprised me and led to a mad scramble to get my laptop and backpack covered in time and get my poncho on before I got too wet. I saved my work and the laptop from the water, and I kept the backpack from getting more than a few drops on it but I ended up soaked.

Therefore, with the rain falling steadily, I sat in the chair watching the drops hitting the pool and feeling them hitting me; it was probably the most relaxed I'd been in years until I started shivering. When it finally ended, I stripped naked and started drying myself. I breathed deeply, loving the smell of the wildflowers and a fresh, crisp wind after the rain—

I jerked around toward the pool a split second before she spoke.

"Hello, Sam, thank you for the poem. It was lovely," said Niela, still in the pool but her elbows resting on the bank, her chin nestled on her hands. "Why do you keep coming? I told you that we can't be together. I won't be here much longer."

"Maybe, Niela, but are you certain? You mentioned your daughter when we spoke last, saying she would take your place. Where is she? I'd really love to meet her."

"You can't."

That was the answer I'd come to expect, but there were two possible reasons I could see. I decided to go with the important one. "Has she been born yet?"

Niela's look turned to a frown. "No, but I expect to feel her growing in me soon."

I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled up my pants. Throwing on my dry sweater, I went over to the bank and sat down on my unused poncho on the ground next to her.

"Niela, I've done some research but there's not a lot on your kind since you're believed by most to be mythical. You're called various things by various peoples, but I think the Greek Naiad, as I suggested, is the most common; the Naiads were supposedly found all over Europe and the Celts, the ancestors of the Irish, knew of them as well. From what you said and what Riley O'Haire, the current farmer—he's your father's grandson and your nephew, by the way—told me, it sounds like you mate, you have an offspring, and then, and this is the part I'm confused about, you die shortly thereafter?"

"Yes," she said, looking sad. "That is our way and why we can't be together."

I breathed a sigh. My research had been on the right path. "Niela, while that's relatively common among some insects and somewhat similarly with plants known as annuals, it's really uncommon with vertebrates. The only example I could find in a quick search is a marsupial known as the kaluta, where the males die soon after mating. You mated with me so you expect to have your child by me and die soon, right?"

"Yes," she repeated somberly.

I patted her hand, smiled at her, and shook my head. "Sweetheart, I know nothing of your physiology beyond your outward appearance and I'm not sure how Naiads and humans can even mate since we're so different, but I may have some news for you. When my wife had trouble carrying our son to term, the doctor said she couldn't have any more children so I had what's called a vasectomy to keep her from becoming pregnant again."

Niela tried to say the word so I repeated it for her. After she got it on her third or fourth try, she asked, "What's a vasectomy?"

In very simple terms I hoped she could understand, I explained it to her. When I was done, she looked at me and asked, "So I can mate with you but not have a child?"

"That's it in a nutshell," I agreed.

My water fairy suddenly shot up out of the water, turning in the air and plopping down in a sitting position on the bank next to me. "So I'm not going to have your child...and I'm not going to die soon?"

"No, not now, to the first part, and hopefully not on the second."

The back of her hand caressed my face and she leaned in close to me. "So what you're saying is that we can make love today and not worry about tomorrow?"

I smiled. "Pretty much," I agreed. "We can make love as much as you want."

"Oh, Sam! I want!"

She pushed me back and leaned over me, kissing my face, my neck, and whatever else she could reach as all four of our hands tried to relieve me of the clothes I'd just put on. Not wanting to lose anything else, I made sure we pitched them away from the pool, but I forgot about that in an instant as Niela threw her leg over me and mounted my erection, spearing herself on it in one smooth motion. She ground down hard on me and stopped before throwing her head around a couple of times to finish drying her hair and then started riding me, forward and back as her beautiful blonde curls settled around her, largely covering her breasts.

Fortunately, I already had my hands on her sweet little tits, caressing and massaging them with occasional focus on her nipples. She ground away on me for a while with me trying to buck up to meet her on each stroke to the rear. She switched to an up and down motion at times that allowed me to thrust up more vigorously against her.

Niela smiled at me as we made love, and continued to smile when we changed positions the first and then a second time. Despite the urge I felt within me, probably mostly due to my own desire but perhaps partly due to Niela's pheromones, I was able to resist much longer than I typically had in years past. Whether it was minutes or hours, I don't know, but when she built to her explosive peak and called out my name, I cried out hers in reply and erupted inside her.

The birds sang a melody for us as we lay there holding each other, feeling as sated and as happy as one could be. When we felt a bit rested, Niela dived back into the pool for a few moments before reemerging and joining me. I don't think five minutes passed before she had me going again.

Doctors coined the term "nymphomania" in the late 1700s or very early 1800s to apply to women who had what was then considered to be an excessive sex drive. The words came from the Greek "nymph," for a young woman or bride, and "mania," for frenzied madness. I'd never known anyone who might qualify for the term, but Niela, an actual water nymph, and her raw, sexual energy level made me wonder if I'd finally met one.

This time seemed every bit as intense as the first and I was feeling quite tired afterward. Niela jumped in the pool and was lying beside me just moments later.

"Sam, it's really nice that we can make love here; it is...wonderful...but it scares me too. I like you so much, maybe even love you, but we can't be together for several reasons. I live here; you don't. You're unable to have a child, but that means I'll never have a daughter with you and my line will end."

"Problems, yes," I agreed, "but maybe not the showstoppers you might believe..."

When I explained, Niela was smiling, so I reached in my backpack, pulled out Kathy's cute little hat with the shamrock, and placed it on Niela's head. "First, I think Kathy would want you to have this back, and second..."

To my surprise and possibly with the help of Niela's pheromones, we made love three more times that afternoon, each time with Niela wearing the little hat with the diamond sparkling in the middle of the three leaves of the shamrock pin. As we recovered between a couple of our sessions, I wondered if Niela's pool was like that little diamond, bringing Kathy, Niela, and me together in some type of perfect unity.

***

Things seemed perfect. We made love two, three, sometimes four times a day, with Niela being almost insatiable. That we got along so well and cared so much for each other and each other's needs made it even better.

But maybe not quite perfect.

Based on what Niela told me, Irish water fairies apparently die not too long after their offspring is born, but if they don't have a daughter, that doesn't mean they'll live forever. While very long-lived in comparison to humans, they'll eventually succumb to natural causes just like we do.

In addition, they're as susceptible to death by unnatural causes as humans are. The O'Haires normally didn't allow anyone to visit the pool to try to help protect Riley's water fairy aunt even though, for decades, they hadn't been sure she was even still there.

Yes, water fairies are quite shy, rarely coming out to meet humans, and the differences between them and us are quite stark. While Naiads were said to sometimes marry kings in simpler, ancient times, I had my doubts about such tales if there was any truth to them in the first place. Due to their need to be in their home water, the pheromone issue, and those other differences just noted, there would have been no way for a Naiad and a human to have any type of long-term relationship in the ancient world, much less one in our modern mess.

Right?

That was the question I kept asking myself, over and over in the months that followed, but the answer I kept getting was "Those are just details!"

First and most important, did Niela and I really care for each other or was it just her pheromones making me believe it? Finding a respirator that eliminated the effects took some effort, but I found that I really enjoyed being with her even when I wore the respirator and that I missed her and wanted to be back with her when we were apart.

With Riley and Saoirse's help, we were able to get Niela a laptop, a waterproof case, and a supply of batteries that they could recharge periodically so we could stay in touch by video chat when I was away. Niela quickly learned to read English and to write by typing so she could expand her horizons. Her mind was like a sponge, helping me understand how her mother had been able to teach her so much in such a short time before she passed. As her knowledge snowballed, our conversations became more and more interesting.

Over the next few months, when I was with her and when I was away in the States, I realized that I'd come to love her even if it had actually only been pheromone-induced lust and the incredible results when we first met. With that part decided, it was time to work out the details to see if we could really be together.

It took longer to work them out than it had to reach the decision, with each part of the puzzle having to be made to fit in with all of the others. I'll admit that, unlike a jigsaw puzzle, I wasn't beyond making some modifications to some of the pieces to force a fit.

First, we needed an arrangement that would allow us to be together, even if that didn't mean twenty-four hours a day. Since Niela was bound to the pool and since I couldn't stay under water for more than about forty-five seconds without risking a trip to the ER or worse and since I needed shelter anyway, that required Riley and Saoirse's cooperation.

Under the circumstances and considering that Niela was Riley's aunt (okay, half aunt if one's being technical), the O'Haires agreed to sell me about 1.2 hectares (almost 3 acres) of land consisting of the pool, a little land on one side of the creek, and the rest on the other, at market rates. That gave us plenty of room for a house and a small homestead with a little space to expand if we ever needed it. We agreed to some stipulations including that the O'Haires or their heirs would be allowed to continue farming any part of the land that wasn't included in our homestead and what would happen if I, my descendants, or the O'Haires ever wished to sell their part.

As the land issue was being worked out, my local architect and his engineer, also found with Riley and Saoirse's help, figured out how far a house needed to be from the waterway for legal and flood control purposes. Since flooding wasn't a big issue, we set the location and designed a new home with some very special features with Niela in mind.

Though it wasn't nearly as complicated as how Bruce Wayne could have had parts of the Bat Cave upgraded under Wayne Manor without everyone in Gotham City knowing, I had to take a chance when it came to the "pipe" that connected my "freshwater swimming pool" to Niela's pool in the creek Since we couldn't find anything in the local building codes or national laws that allowed it but also nothing that explicitly prohibited it, we left it out of the drawings we eventually submitted to the building official for approval.

With the plans approved and construction underway, I had the subcontractor from Dublin who built that tunnel (that would allow Niela to travel quickly and safely between the pool and the house but explained as being needed due to my allergy to chlorine) sign a confidentiality agreement and I paid him a hefty bonus to complete the work quietly and to keep his mouth shut about it in the long term.