Mariah's P.O.V.
I carried Katie in my arms as we walked along the beach. Cara and Uriah were with Gordon.
"Are mama and daddy ever coming back?" Katie asked.
"Sweetie, mama and daddy are gone. We've had this talk before. They died shortly after you were born." I answered.
"How?"
"A very bad man shot daddy, and mama couldn't live without him. She drowned herself in the bathtub."
"Who's gonna take care of us?"
"I am. Mama showed me how to when Uriah was born. She always said I would have to look after you three even if mama and daddy were here."
Katie and I had always been the ones to take our parents' deaths the hardest. She had never been able to call our parents mama and daddy, and she always stared at pictures of Uriah and Cara with them. I wasn't always close to our parents, but I knew what it was like to grow up without them. My father would be away on business, and my mother was too busy taking care of Uriah and Cara to pay attention to me or Rocket.
Katie struggled in my arms. I set her down and smiled as she ran and grabbed a seashell. She showed it to me and giggled.
"This one shines!" She smiled.
"It sure does. Go show Uri and Cara." I said.
She waddled her way back to Gordon, Uriah, and Cara. Katie was wearing a one piece swim suit, and she had on a float jacket, so she walked in a funny way. I followed her, and I smiled when Uriah and Cara looked at me.
"Look, Mar Mar!" Uriah yelled, pointing to the sand castle they were making.
"Gordon showed us how to make windows!" Cara smiled.
"Put this on it!" Katie pleaded, showing them her seashell.
Uriah took the seashell and used it as the door for their castle. I looked at Gordon when he stood next to me. He was shirtless, a towel hanging from his neck.
"They are brilliant children." He said.
"You should see it when they are cooking."
"They cook?"
"Hell yeah. I taught them a few things, and they learned a lot from your shows and things on the internet."
Gordon chuckled. I looked at Uriah. His hair, once a dark black, was starting to turn to a dirty blonde. My hair had down the exact opposite when I was his age.
"Mar Mar! There's a big crab!" Katie screamed, clinging to my leg.
"Go catch it with your bucket!" I laughed.
~~~
I smiled as Uriah and Cara danced to the song playing on the radio. Gordon was sitting with Katie, listening to her ramble on about her favorite cartoons.
"Come dance with us, Mar Mar!" Cara pleaded.
I smiled and shook my head. "You know I don't dance."
"Please?"
I sighed and hung my head in defeat.
