Stolen Lullaby

*Epilogue*

"Has anyone seen my hat?" Joe came into the room looking under the seat cushions and under the coats folded on the couch. The man and his beloved blue Yankees ballcap had a relationship that was longer and more devoted than his marriage.

"Looks like someone called dibs on it." Taylor nodded her head over to the other side of the room. Maisie had claimed the hat and was wearing it turned sideways while wearing a pair of sunglasses. Lately she was really into hats and would take on a new identity depending on what kind of hat she was wearing.

"Hey kid can I have my cap back?" Joe reached over to retrieve his hat off of the little blond head.

"No! Me is Daddy" Maisie clapped her hands over top of her head keeping the cap firmly on.

"Very funny, c'mon I need that if we're going to the beach. You have your own hat right here that actually fits your head." Joe advanced toward her holding her white frilly beach hat with an under-chin strap. Maisie ran away holding her hands over her head.

"Oh come on Joe let her keep it I'm sure she'll get tired of it and take it off eventually." Taylor reasoned while zipping the last of the beach bags shut. Joe had a film that was on location in Rhode Island so Taylor had flown with the girls to visit him while he had a few days off. Before they headed to Holiday House to decamp for summer vacation they took a day trip to Cape May first so Taylor could show them around the beach area where she vacationed as a child. With careful planning they chose the time of the year right before tourist season really took off so there wouldn't be too many people that would cause privacy issues.

"Where are we going again?" Sophie asked as she buckled herself into the booster car seat and the van pulled away from the curb.

"We're going to the beach at Cape May where we had a vacation house when I was little. It's a neat place I think you'll like it.'

"Cape May..." Sophie said slowly trying to recall why the sound of the place was so familiar. Before she could give it much more thought Maisie tapped her on the shoulder handing her a package of fruit snacks. It was so comical because she was still wearing Joe's hat with her heart shaped sunglasses, it made Sophie laugh out loud.

"Open please?" Maisie asked smiling at her reaction.

-----

When they arrived at the beach and unloaded the car it was still very early in the morning. It was the plan to have breakfast and have enough playtime with the kids and be ready to go before the higher volume of people started arriving. Loading Maisie into the stroller with their beach bags they started their walk down the boardwalk toward the shops. Every once in a while Taylor would point something out to Joe or Sophie that spurred a childhood memory of hers.

"I used to randomly come up to strangers on the beach and ask if they wanted to hear a song. I must have been so annoying..."

"What's changed?" Joe joked.

"You're lucky I'm pushing a stroller otherwise you'd be in the water right now Mr. Alwyn." While they playfully bantered back and forth Sophie had slowed her pace and was walking a distance behind them.

"Is there something wrong honey?" Taylor paused when she noticed that Sophie was lagging behind them. Sophie stopped walking and kept her head down looking at the cobble stone pattern under her feet.

"Mmm..." she hesitated holding back what she wanted to say. Concerned, Taylor passed the stroller to Joe.

"Can you go ahead and take Maisie to the ice cream shop. I think Sophie and I need to have a talk with just the two of us." Joe nodded and continued walking down the boardwalk playfully trying to grab his hat back from Maisie again. Taylor watched them walk away for a beat before turning back to Sophie who was still looking at the ground with her hands behind her back.