Just be there

Casey

I look at Izzie sleeping beside me and grin. She has been back home for a week, and things have generally been going well.

She and my dad have settled on generally pretending each other don't exist. When this isn't possible they are both incredibly polite and say as little as possible. It's very awkward.

Outside of that uncomfortable situation, things were going well. Izzie has been taking her medication, and she saw her psychologist for the first time yesterday. Izzie said she liked her, which was encouraging.

Later today we were going on a boat ride. It would be myself, Izzie, her siblings, Quinn, Penelope, and Sharice. It will be our first time having these three separate groups of people together, so we were both a bit nervous.

However, when Sharice had found out about the boat ride she really wanted to go, so I invited her. Than Quinn and Penelope had called and complained that Izzie and I never hang out with them anymore, so we invited them as well.

Izzie hasn't seen her siblings in over a week, and I like hanging out with Luca, despite being eleven he has a certain maturity. So of course we had to bring them as well.

Five teenagers, two preteens, and a toddler. What could go wrong?
***
Several hours later we pulled up to the dock with Izzie's siblings in tow, where we are supposed to be meeting Quinn, Penelope, and Sharice.

Sharice was already there. She ran up as I got out of the car and hugged me. I hugged her back.

We chatted as we unloaded the kids, and walked over to to the dock to wait for Quinn and Penelope.

The boat was already there, along with the guy who would be driving it.

Finally, Quinn and Penelope pulled up in an expensive Range Rover.

They hop out, and I try not to laugh at how ridiculously over dressed they both are. Sharice looks at me confused, and I just shrug and roll my eyes.

We pile into the boat, and the boat guy makes us put a life jacket on.

We all chat, with Charlie sitting on Izzie's lap. Gabi is shy, but seems to be enjoying the view.

Sharice is very good with kids, and quickly engages in a conversation with Luca about a comic book they both like.

Penelope keeps trying to include Gabi in conversation, but Gabi just blushes and shrugs off whenever Penelope asks her a question.

Quinn is complaining about her parents going to Spain without her. Her parents travel a lot without her, and even though she's ridiculously rich I can't help but feel a little bad for her. It just get lonely being by herself most of the time.

After awhile, I glance over at Izzie and realize that she has fallen asleep.

I snap a picture of her, in which Charlie makes her best "Cheese!" smile.

I post it to Instagram with the caption "🌈My babies ❤️💜"

The rest of the afternoon passes surprising easily. Everyone has a good time, except for when Luca starts to get seasick a few hours in.

Luckily, Penelope had brought Dramamine with her, so he was feeling better shortly after she gave him some. "I get seasick too sometimes" she tells him with a smile.

After the boat ride, the kids are all exhausted from the sun, and starving. We grab some food from a drive thru and head back to their grandma's apartment.

After we drop them off, I drive Izzie and I home.

As we walk in, my dad looks up. He looks uncomfortable but he asks "Can I talk to Izzie alone, please?" I eye him suspiciously, but he says "Please." Again with a pleasing look so I relent, but move just far away enough from the kitchen that I can still eavesdrop without being seen.

I hear Izzie sit down. I hear someone clear their throat. It's silent for a minute before I hear my dad speak. "Look Izzie, I wanted to apologize. It wasn't fair for me to blame you for Casey's quitting track last year. You're just a kid yourself. I just didn't want to blame myself, since I was the one who pushed her to start track in the first place. She was always running away when she was younger, and she was so fast. So I got her to join track and she thrived. I was so proud of her, and myself for helping her. Than when she got overwhelmed, I tried to find somewhere to shift the blame. That wasn't right. I'm really sorry Izzie" My dad says all this quickly, as if he is convinced that he will lose his nerve if he doesn't get it all out.

It's silent for a minute before I hear Izzie speak. "I understand Mr. Gardner, and I forgive you" "Call me Doug, you're going to be living here for the next year. No reason to be formal" "Okay Doug" I hear Izzie say, I'm able to hear the relief in her voice.

I scramble to get far enough away that it doesn't look like I'm eavesdropping when I hear them starting to get up.

Sitting casually in the living room, I look at my phone at the notifications popping up.

elsa_g_momof2 liked your photo.
queen_Sharice liked your photo.
brownsugar_doinit liked your photo.
brownsugar_doinit commented on your photo "Already starting a family chicas?"
I rolled my eyes at Zahid's comment.

penguin_sam liked your photo.
quinnnnnnnnn liked your photo.
princess_penny_p liked your photo.
easyevan liked your photo.
caseys_bestie_beth liked your photo.
caseys_bestie_beth commented on your photo "How are they both so pretty 🤩😩"
I laugh at Beth's comment, but I'm glad that she's not sending me pastry murder videos anymore at least.

"What are you laughing at?" Izzie says as she walks in and sits next to me.

Izzie smiles as I show her my notifications.
It's nice to see all the love Izzie and I get on Instagram.

As we are looking at the screen another notification pops up.

douggardner1 liked your photo. We grin at each other.