What Happens on the Cruise

12. Rockin' Robin

"Woohoo!" Austin shouted as soon as he got off the phone. "I'm in! I'm in! I am in!"

"I think he just got some bad news," Dan said.

"Yeah, he does look really upset," Sarah nodded.

Aisha giggled. "I think maybe it's about his grandmother."

"Hey," Austin stopped his celebratory dance. "Don't you go jinxing my Nana." He swooped over and gave the three a huge group hug. "I have never been more excited that a man got his lady pregnant. Thank you, Matt Atwood's little sperm cells!"

"Austin!" Sarah shrieked.

"You are so weird," Dan said shaking his head.

"Come on, let's go celebrate," Austin said. "On me."

"Yay! Austin's leaving us. Let's go be happy," Aisha said with mock cheerfulness.

"Hey, I'm finishing this cruise. The cast is always changing."

Sarah grabbed her bag. "Yeah. Every cruise, different faces."

Dan threw his arm around Austin's shoulder. "And we were getting tired of his infectious positivity anyway. I mean, good riddance!"

"Yeah!" the other two chimed in.

"Y'all are awful."

"Besides, from what I hear we couldn't hope to compete with your bae," Aisha said.

"He's not my bae," Austin answered.

"Suuure, girlfriend. You just haven't dated anyone since."

"I've gone out a couple times. Dan, tell them!"

"He has," Dan answered. "But there's a box in his bedside drawer every trip that hasn't been touched."

"And I repeat, y'all are awful."

"We are," Sarah responded. "And yet you're buying us all dinner and drinks."

***

"So is he cute?" Ericha asked, dropping a peeled egg into the bowl.

"Austin? Yeah. He's almost..." Adam considered for a moment while he picked at a piece of shell that had stuck. "I guess I'd say pretty." He dried his hands and reached for his phone. "Here, I think I've got a couple shots." He scrolled through his photos till he was back to the pictures he'd taken on the cruise. "Hm. He's still a bit bruised here, but..."

Ericha leaned over and looked at the picture of Tim and a man with longish curly hair mugging for the camera on a beach somewhere. "Oooo, momma!" she said, eyebrows waggling at her husband.

"Hands off, or you'll have to fight Tim for him."

"You think so?" she asked.

He shrugged, putting the phone away as she reached for another hard-boiled egg. "It's up to them. But Chris has already given the 'It's none of our business as long as you're professional on stage' speech to Tim."

"Oh, I love a good romance," she sighed. "They'd be really cute together."

"You're just an incurable romantic." He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her body close to his. She slipped her arms around his neck. The two stood swaying to music no one else could hear. "You think we have enough time?" he whispered to her.

"Maybe," she answered. "Let's get these deviled eggs done first and we'll see."

"Slave-driver," he complained, picking up another egg.

***

"Hey, man, good to see you again," Austin greeted Tim, giving the bass a warm hug.

"Good to see you," Tim answered, smiling a genuine smile.