Lost

Party On The Beach

For as long as Emilia could remember after her mothers death, independence day had been celebrated on the reservation with family friends. 

Everyone invited would bring something and there'd never be any leftovers. 
A bonfire would be set up on the beach where the adults would hang out most of the time.
The kids would play soccer or wade into the water, only to exit minutes later because something touched them.

It was a rather hot day, the high being 95 with a light breeze. It was one of those rare days where everyone would either be outside or huddled around their air conditioner units. 

The heat didn't faze the Gilbert children as they helped Emilia load the Impala with food and beach essentials— including sunscreen. 

"Are you all set?" Charlie asked from the top of the steps. 
"Yeah! We're about to get going. Billy said 11 and it's almost 10:30."
"Alright, I'll meet you guys there. You got everything?" He questioned, just to be safe. 
"Yes sir, we do."

"Good."

-

"The party has arrived!" Emilia exclaimed as she carried the drinks, hotdog buns, and potato salad down to the beach. She knew the do's and don'ts of potato salad.
"Oh look at how you've grown up!" Sue cooed, taking everything and setting it on a table. She pulled the teen into a hug before looking at her closer. 

"You're such a beautiful young woman." She said, leaving a kiss on Emilia's forehead. 

"Thanks... this is Jeremy and Elena, I've been watching them for a few weeks. They're the kids I stay with when I go to Virginia."

"Of course! We've all heard so much about you two! Now, why don't you kids get set up in a good spot and we'll get the bonfire going in a little bit. Sam's bringing wood."

With that, Emilia, Elena, and Jeremy went to set up. 
"Is there gonna be anyone of Jeremy's age?" Elena asked once the towels were laid out. 

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter Lena, he has us."

It was a well known fact that Emilia would act like a kid with Jeremy. He deserved to be a kid instead of growing up like everyone else wanted him to. 

Within an hour, everyone had shown up and everything was getting started. Jacob, Quil, Embry, Jared, and Paul were playing soccer. 
Charlie was two beers in.
Emilia was building sand castles with Jeremy. 
Seth was making friends with Elena.
Everyone else was eating or preparing the bonfire that got closer to happening. 

"What do you think, Jer? Does it need a moat?" Emilia questioned. 
"It needs a moat." He responded with a nod. 

They began digging around their lopsided sand castle, moving the sand into the form of a ring. Emilia took it a step further and dug a trench from the castle to the water, hoping it was deep enough to get water in.

The water didn't go far, so she cheated and used a little magic to take water to the desired spot. Jeremy got extremely excited when he saw the water in the moat. 

She grinned.

It was worth it.