NEPO BBY

4

"Mr. Depp, Can you tell the jury what it was like on the island when your father, your mother, yourself and your siblings were vacationing there?" Camille asked.

"It was some of the best times of my life - of my childhood," I replied.

She smiled, "Did you ever witness your parents argue while on vacation in the Bahamas, Mr. Depp?"

"No never. They were always quite happy with one another," I confessed.

"Can you describe what you mean by "they were always quite happy with one another?" She asked.

• • •

Sparrow and Mum were cuddled together on the couch in the private jet as we made our way to the island. Both of them were asleep.

Lily sat with her legs crossed over one another, real elegantly as she flipped through one of Mum's fashion magazines.

Dad and I played tic tac toe and a few rounds of arm wrestling.

When the flight landed, Lily and I ran off the jet. We often spent time at the beach near our chateau in France but it was nothing like having entire island to yourself.

All of us spent 90% of our time outside when we were there. Dad would build sandcastles with Lily so she could play with her babies and pretend they were royalty. I would pay Sparrow some spare cash and a soda if he would bulldoze her castle down. And he did. And she would cry. And he would blame me. And Mum would come out towards me holding Lily's hand as she dried her face off.

"Did you tell your brother to tear down your sister's sandcastle?" She asked me.

I tried not to grin as I waded in the shallow end of the water, "No. Of course not, Mum."

"He's lying!" Lily shouted wagging her finger at me.

Dad was in the background. He had popped his head up from over his book as he laid out on the hammock. He chuckled before returning to his book. And Mum forced Sparrow and I to rebuilt Lily's sandcastle. "Why'd you tell Mum?" I whispered angrily to Sparrow.

"I got scared," he whispered back. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"You missed a spot!" Lily said standing over us with a grin on her face.

"What?" I said looking up. And she stomped her foot into the sandcastle I had just built. I glared at her. My nostrils flared.

Sparrow and I convinced Dad to join us in the water as we road the waves. It didn't take much convincing because he was always down to hang out with us. Mum would walk down and take his place on the hammock flipping through one of her fashion magazines.

"Shall we toss her in?" Dad whispered to us.

"Yeah!" All of three of us shouted. He put his finger over his lips and hushed us. He walked out of the water and towards Mum. He bent down and she gave him a smile.

"Hi there, beautiful. What are you reading?" He asked her. She closed the magazine and placed it on her stomach.

"Just a magazine," she replied. He bent down further and peaked her lips. He scooped her up - bridal style and walked towards us.

"Johnny?" She said to him. He grinned at us.

"Toss her in! Toss her in!" We began to chant.

"Johnny, don't you dare!" She warned.

"Toss her in! Toss her in!" We continued.

"Johnny!" She screamed as he walked past us. And before she could say anything else he tossed her in. And we howled in laughter as he looked at us over his shoulder. Mum emerged from the water and gave him a great big splash. He snapped his neck towards her and lunged forward. She tried to get away but he was faster. He grabbed her into his arms and her head fell back as she let out a laugh. She wrapped her body around his and kissed him.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in and out of the water before Mum made us come inside, eat dinner and go to bed. But we never went to bed. Sparrow and I always snuck out of our beds.

"You're going to get caught," Lily told us. "And when you do, I'm going to laugh."

We rolled our eyes at her remarks and crept into the hallway. We could hear soft music playing outside. So we crept towards the back door. We peaked through the window and seen Mum and Dad, standing on the beach together. Dad was spinning her and she was laughing. They were both so happy together.

And as Dad took her into his arms, he saw Sparrow and I lurking through the window. He gave us a wink and we smiled back at him. And then we returned to our beds and fell asleep. After stealing a soda from the fridge and guzzling it down on our walk back to the room.