„kids please behave. I know that you are excited but I'm alone with you all for now so I need your help okay?"
The four kids in front of Lucy nodded.
„Okay Fei please take the bag with the blankets, Finny and Matthew the food please and Theo help me carry the little stuff and your sister."
The Bradfords got to work and carried everything down to the beach.
Lucy looked for Wesley Evers and his two kids, since they wanted to meet up and later meet Angela and Tim.
She spotted him putting sunscreen on Anna's nose and shoulders.
„Hey" she called out, pointing the kids towards Wesley's direction.
„You made it." he smiled and immediately helped them to settle down their stuff.
„Barely. How can it be so hard to get six people out of the house?" Lucy asked, setting Leighton down on the blanket.
„I have no idea how you do it, I mean I have trouble with three." Wesley answered.
Lucy sat down beside him and her daughter and watched their kids play in the water.
„They're growing up so fast, don't they?"
Wesley asked, pulling out a beer.
„They do. It's beautiful and sad at the same time."
Before Wesley could answer, a couple walked at them, „Lucy? Hey there"
„Ouh Hannah hey" Lucy said, standing up and hugging the woman.
„How are you doing?"
„Good thanks. the kids wanted a little beach day so here we are. What about you?"
„Same" James, her husband, answered. „Mike saw Finnegan and just went off."
Lucy laughed, Hannah and James were friends of her and Tim. They met through their boys school and became close since the boys were best friends.
„You wanna join us? Ouh that's Wesley Evers. Wes, that's Hannah and James Mansfield."
„Hi, thanks yeah." the couple put down their towels and joined them. Hannah demanding some baby Leighton cuddles.
„Where's Tim?" James asked, accepting Wesley's beer offer.
„He's still at work, he will join us later." Lucy answered, pulling out some juice for her baby.
After a while the kids got hungry and speeded back to their parents, gratefully accepting the sandwiches Lucy made for everyone.
„I hope you animals leave some for the adults!?" Angela playfully scolded them whilst walking up with Tim by her side.
„Daddy!!" Fei squealed and sprinted towards her father, crashing into his legs. Tim smiled down at her and kissed her crown. „Someone is eager to see me."
Fei nodded and grinned up at him.
„You all have fun?" He asked nodding his greetings at the Manfields and Wesley. Angela gave her husband a kiss and introduced herself to the new couple.
„So much fun. Can we burry you in sand?"
„What kind of request is that?"
The boys just smiled up to him. „We want to know how much sand it takes to burry someone." Finnegan answered.
Tim shot Lucy a confused look. She just shrugged her shoulders „let your dad eat something first okay? After that you can burry him."
„Good to know that my wife wants me to be buried alive." he leaned down and gave Lucy a kiss before scooping up Leighton. And showering her with kisses.
„I'm going to help you!" Angela announced, half a sandwich in der mouth.
„You're a traitor Lopez." Tim sat down, placing his daughter in his lap.
„that's payback Bradford."
„Payback, for wh-"
He got interrupted by Lucy stuffing a sandwich into his mouth. „Eat and stop the biggering."
„Babe you are really hot, maybe you want to take off your shirt?" Lucy asked Tim, leaning over him.
„We're in public baby." he grinned, his eyes still closed.
James laughed at that and gave Tim an acknowledged nod.
Lucy slapped his arm, a smile tugging at her lips. „you know what I mean, idiot."
„I'm good baby." Tim reassured her, not meeting her gaze.
Lucy watched him a few seconds more before turning to Angela who was talking to Hannah. „What is he hiding?"
„I'm not hiding anything." Tim answered still sleepy.
„You're a hundred degrees, you won't meet my eyes and Angela looks like she needs to kill a puppy. So out with it Bradford."
Tim sighed and sat up, „promise me you want get mad."
„You're a dead man if I have to get mad."
Tim groaned but pulled the shirt over his head, revealing a new wound on his lower abdomen.
„What- what the heck happened Tim?"
His wound has been stitched together and a bandage was protecting it from dirt.
Tim looked around for any kids but saw that all were occupied.
„We had a hostage situation with metro and well it went sideways. Angela had to shoot the suspect, he still grazed me with a bullet. I'm fine though, all stitched up and I don't even have to stay at home."
Lucy groaned, „why didn't you tell me?"
„I swear I was going to tell you but we had so much fun with the kids today and I knew as soon as you would see it you would be too concerned to enjoy it the way you deserve."
Lucy sighed and met his soft gaze. „I love you but you're an idiot. Big time."
Tim smiled, „your idiot though."
Angela made a gag sound, Tim flipped her off.
„You two stop behaving like children. And thank you Angela for bringing him home safely." Lucy said, smiling at her friend.
„My pleasure, I mean he still owes me a beer for every time I save his life."
„Nah nah nah Lopez, that deal was made over 20 years ago, if we would count every time I saved your life, you would have to buy me a freaking truck full of beer."
Lucy and Wesley exchanged an annoyed but smiling look, before turning to the Manfields.
„we married children. Honestly Wes we should keep them separated."
„We tried it one time remember?"
„Ouh yeah" Lucy laughed at the memory. „We thought hey let's separate them at an adventure park. So we sent Tim with the girls and Angela with the boys. Wes and I ended up looking after all children whilst those two idiots had a bet going on, what was it about again?"
„who could get more apples out of a bucked of water using only their mouth." Wesley laughed.
„We were soaked." Tim grinned, „but hey I managed to get 12 apples out, two more than Ang."
„I knew I would lose that bet, Lucy spilled the magic of your mouth on tequila night."
Hannah and James laughed whilst Tim wiggled his eyebrows at his wife.
„Good to know that my mouth is the topic of girls night." he grinned.
„You're so smug Bradford." Lucy laughed but gave him a kiss.
"Why is daddy's mouth the topic of girls night?" Asked a soaked Fei.
"What's a girls night?" Matthew added to it.
Tim winced, "you all need bells around the neck."
Lopez sputtered out her beer at that and coughed a few times to not laugh.
„Mooooom I want dad to swim with us." Finnegan pleaded, not even asking his father first.
„Won't happen buddy sorry." Tim said, „I have a little wound that I can't get dirty."
„A wound!? Cool, will it leave a scar?"
Lucy laughed at that, „maybe, we will see."
The kids gathered back in the sand and build some castles whilst the adults talked. At some point Tim fell asleep and Angela decided to stack a cardgame on his forehead.
James chuckled, „he's going to give you that annoying Bradford look."
„Ouh I know, but I'm immune to it." Angela whispered. She took a picture of Tim and her artwork and before she could wake him Lucy stopped her.
„Let him sleep, he was up half night having to deal with Leighton."
„That's why he consumed more coffee than usual." Angela nodded, „and I cursed him for emptying the whole pot."
„Ouh no, what curse?" Lucy asked.
Angela waved her off, „nothing big. He should lose his keys more often now though and he might prefer tee over a cup of coffee."
James snorted, „you believe in witch craft?"
Lucy nodded, „we cursed him one time a few years back, nothing big."
„It worked though, he learned his lesson."
