A Family Podcast (english)

Chapter 32

Taylor

"Shhh, it's okay" I held Susan close to me and soothingly ran my fingers through her hair.

After finally arriving at the hotel, I fell asleep right away. But I wasn't granted much sleep because Susan had a really bad nightmare. I had expected something like this. Whenever we were somewhere other than home, Susan usually had trouble sleeping. Still, I had hoped that at least on the first night, she would be so tired that she could sleep.

Now we had been sitting on my bed for three-quarters of an hour, watching a Barbie movie on my phone while Susan clung to me.

I had already dozed off twice while sitting up, but each time Susan tugged at my shirt until I was awake again.

I glanced over at Coulder, who was fast asleep. He hadn't even woken up when Susan woke up crying loudly. It was really impressive how deeply that boy could sleep.

I was sharing the room with Susan and Coulder, which meant I had the worst possible room combination. Susan didn't sleep well at night, and Coulder would be up and ready to be entertained by six in the morning.

With a sigh, I leaned back and felt something lightly bump against my arm. I looked down. Thank goodness. She had finally fallen asleep. Still, I waited a few more minutes before carefully lifting her from my lap and placing her next to me in bed.

____________________

"Wake up, Taylor!" Coulder tugged at my arm once again, and I grumpily pushed him aside.

"Too early"

"But I want to go to the beach" Coulder whined, jumping onto my bed.

"Then go ahead" I groaned into my pillow and turned to the other side.

My eyes closed, and Coulder finally left me alone. I hummed contentedly. But then it dawned on me what it meant when Coulder stopped talking.

"Coulder?" I reluctantly opened one eye, but there was nothing to see. With a curse, I got up. The door to our room was wide open, and Coulder was nowhere to be found. Damn it.

Hoping that Coulder hadn't gone too far, I stepped into the hallway.

"COULDER MACCLAREN, YOU COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" I yelled. An elderly lady who had just come out of her room flinched in surprise before giving me an angry glare.

Well, if she was smart, she would change her room. It was highly unlikely that she would have any peace as long as we were here.

Tiredly, I leaned my forehead against the doorframe. Ugh. I didn't feel like dealing with this shit. Of course, Coulder didn't show up again. Well, it was his problem. The probability of him getting lost was about eighty percent.

Just as I was about to go back into the room to at least put on something decent, my phone vibrated. I fished it out of my shorts and glanced at the photo Noah had sent me.

The picture showed Coulder standing in the middle of the street in front of our hotel. Cars were passing him on both sides, and I wondered how the hell he had gotten there so quickly.

Cursing, I let the phone slide back into my pocket and rushed down the hotel stairs. That boy couldn't be left unattended for even two seconds. When I reached the bottom, Coulder was, of course, nowhere to be seen, and I hurriedly crossed the street. People here were driving recklessly without any regard, and I vowed not to let Coulder and Susan wander around alone. Angry, I stomped across the crosswalk toward the beach, scanning the area. I immediately spotted Coulder. He stood with his feet in the water, jumping every time a wave approached.