Parenting Skills

Wednesday: Beach Day

Wednesday

​Camping out on Dave's floor was definitely not his idea of a great time but there weren't enough beds for all of them and it was a good idea to have someone around the two boys in case they had a nightmare or needed something in the middle of the night. Brad stretched as he woke up and frowned when he heard music and giggling. The boys must be up. He got up and walked into the kitchen. Mike and Chester were sitting at the table watching The Lion King and eating breakfast. Rob glared at him.

​"Thanks for getting up and helping me with them this morning. Everyone else is already awake."

​"You're welcome," Brad replied sarcastically as Mike hugged his legs with a smile. Dave and Joe came in with Linsey and they were all humming along to the song in the movie. Chester's eyes hadn't left the screen yet as the monkey raised the little lion cub in the air. He giggled and hurried over to Dave and tugged on his pant leg.

​"Wanna do!" he pointed at the screen and raised his arms up. Dave laughed and picked Chester up. The boy laughed as he was raised into the air just like Simba. Mike looked pleadingly at Joe. Brad laughed as he shook his head.

​"We spoil these boys so much," he said as Joe held Mike in the air as well.

​"You can take him. My arms are hurting," Joe complained as he set Mike back in the chair. Chester was set next to him and started eating his cereal again. A little while later, Chester was jumping around because he had heard the song playing before. Brad wasn't sure how he managed that but he must have heard it at some point.

​"Mikey! I just can't wait to be king!" Chester sang happily. Even as a little boy, his voice was perfect for the song. Everything was in tune. Dave laughed and shook his head. They were honestly the weirdest little boys that he'd ever seen. Mike frowned and walked up to him before tugging his hair.

​"Well I've never seen a king with quite so little hair!" he countered with another line from the song. They collapsed into fits of giggles on the floor as the movie continued to play.

​"Who set them up with the movie?" Brad asked.

​"Linsey thought it'd be a good idea. It'll keep them quiet for a little bit and we can try to plan something to keep them busy for the next couple of days."

​"That is a good idea."

​"What do you think we should do?" Rob asked quietly.

​"Well it is summer. We could take them to the beach."

​"That's not a bad idea actually. Tomorrow?"

​"Yea. And then what about like one of those arcade places that have the climbing tubes in them?"

​"Chucke Cheeses?" Joe asked with a grin. Dave nodded enthusiastically.

​"Yea. That sounds good for the next two days."

​So they had a plan. To be honest, Brad was starting to miss the adult Mike and Chester. Especially since Mike had been one of his best friends since high school. He missed being able to talk with him.

​"I almost miss them," Dave said quietly, "I love taking care of these guys for sure but I almost want them back."

​"I think we all do a little," Rob said with a smirk. It was quiet for a little bit but with two little kids, it wasn't for long. About ten minutes later, Chester came running in with tears streaming down his face with Mike right behind him in the same state. Dave was up in a second and lifting the sobbing, blonde-haired, boy into his arms. Brad knew that Dave would make a good father one day. Mike crawled into his lap with tears running down his face.

​"He died!" Chester wailed before burying his head in Dave's shoulder. Mike's sobbing got louder at that statement. Brad peered into the kitchen to see the death scene of Mufasa being played out. Chester was sobbing hysterically while Dave tried to calm him down.

​"It was just a movie," Brad whispered as Mike cried into his shoulder, "Just a movie. He's not really dead."

​"Great job Linsey!" Dave called to wherever his wife was. Brad sighed as he rubbed Mike's back comfortingly. It was quiet for a while before Mike kicked gently to be let down. It was only noon. They could go to the beach now and maybe it would make the boys forget about the movie.

​"Should we go to the beach now?"

​"Sucky!" Chester said happily reaching his hand up to Dave who was holding the pacifier in his hand.

​"I think we could go to the beach," Dave said as he lifted Chester back up into his arms, "You want to go to the beach buddy?"

​"Yes!"

​"Let's go," Brad said. They had to get the boys changed into their bathing suits. Mike had little swim trunks with sharks on them and he smiled sweetly at Brad.

​"Will there be lots of sand there?"

​"Yes. Tons. You can build things in it."

​"Yes! And we can bury Chesser!"

​"You want to bury Chester in the sand?"

​"Yes!" Mike said with a laugh. He gave Mike his hat and then they headed out to the car where Dave was buckling Chester into the car. Chester was pounding his little fists into whatever he could reach. Was it excitement? He had on little sunglasses and his hair was spiked up nicely. He was wearing orange swim trunks and a white shirt. They got into the car with Rob and Joe sitting behind the two boys. He and Dave sat in the front as they headed down to the beach. Halfway there, something decided to stink.

​"Eeewwww, yucky," Mike complained, "Blah."

​Brad almost wanted to laugh at Mike's complaining. It was something that he would've done in his adult form. But if Mike hadn't made the stink the only other option was Chester. Brad noticed that Dave had come to the same conclusion and he was pretty sure he had tears in his eyes.

​"Chester, is there something you'd maybe want to tell us about?"

​"Nu-uh."

​"Chester, I'm not going to be mad," Dave said quietly, "Can you please tell me if you had an accident back there."

​"Nu-uh."

​"Yea huh!" Mike cried pointing at him, "He stinks like poop!"

​"Don't call me that!" Chester cried and Brad could only assume this would be bad. And to think just last night he was thanking the stars that he didn't have to change diapers. Chester was definitely not completely toilet trained yet.

​"Chesser smells bad!" Mike yelled again and he heard Chester start to cry unhappily because of what Mike was yelling.

​"Mike stop talking," Brad said, "Don't say anything else."

​"But daddy! Chesser smells like shit!"

​"WHAT?" Dave slammed on the brakes and pulled the car over. The four men in the car were all looking at Mike who smiled proudly.

​"Uncle Rob says it all the time!" Mike said with a smile, "He says 'shit' whenever he's mad and he said that it means crap which also means poop!"

​"Mike, that is a very bad word. Don't say that word ever again," Joe said scolding the young boy, "We'll have to have a talk with Uncle Rob."

​Dave nodded his agreement and then got out of the car, "Since we're pulled over, I might as well take Chester to the gas station and clean him up."

​"Not stinky," Chester said through his tears.

​"Yes you are," Dave said waving a hand in front of his face and then lifting Chester up. Brad got a nice dose of the stink and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. It was pretty nasty. Dave would be so good if he ever got kids of his own. He could tolerate so much. Fifteen minutes later, Dave came back with a not as stinky Chester. And they were off again.

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​He sat down on the beach and set Chester in front of him. The boy screamed as soon as he touched the sand and scrambled back into Dave's lap. Mike was playing happily in the sand, digging a hole and pouring water in it to see if it would stay. Brad was watching him. Dave sighed and realized that he had to do one more thing before he tried to get Chester to go out again. Adult Chester was a sunscreen freak because he didn't tan too well. Dave took the little boy's shirt off and started to rub the sunscreen over Chester's back and arms. He put a little on Chester's face and then lifted him up again.

​"Don't you want to go play?"

​"Don't like it."

​"The sand?"

​"Feels weird on my feet."

​"How about I walk with you and we can go down by the water where Mike is ok?"

​"Ok."

​Dave took Chester's little hand and they slowly walked down through the sand. Chester stumbled a few times, his little feet slipping as the sand moved underneath him. When they got to the water, they walked in until it was touching Chester's knees. Chester giggled and reached down to touch the water curiously. He fell down and ended up sitting in the water. Dave smiled slightly as the boy looked up in surprise.

​"Why am I cold?"

​"You're sitting in the ocean."

​"This is the ocean?" Chester asked as he looked out at the wide expanse of water. He seemed amazed.

​"Yea. It's big isn't it."

​"Ginormous!" Chester said proudly. Dave laughed and led Chester back to where Mike was building things in the sand. He joined Brad, Rob and Joe on the towels and watched as the two boys dug holes in the ground.

​"Mike said he wanted to bury Chester in the sand," Brad said and they laughed quietly.

​"I am honestly so tired. We have gotten so much less sleep than we should be getting," Rob said. Dave nodded in agreement.

​"I know. Last night was ok but before that it was rough."

​"I like how Chester calls your wife his mom."

​"It is pretty funny," Dave said with a grin.

​"Uh oh," Brad got up and ran towards Mike who was trying to eat the sand. Chester was sitting there quietly watching in amazement with his hand full of sand too. Apparently, if Mike succeeded, he'd eat sand as well. Rob got up to go take the sand from Chester's hand. Dave glanced over at Joe.

​"So what do you think we should do tomorrow? Arcade?"

​"Maybe yea," Joe said, "We're running out of ideas."

​"I want them to come back. Don't get me wrong, I love baby Chaz but if I have to clean his shit out of a bathing suit again I will shoot myself."

​It was quiet and then Chester came running up to him and jumped into his lap. He hugged him tightly.

​"Oh my god Chester, what's wrong??"
​"Mikey put the weird thing on me," Chester said uncomfortably, "I don't like the weird thing."

​"The sand?"

​"Don't like it," Chester cried and his three year old body shook in his arms.

​"Ok, Chester it's ok. You can sit with me for the rest of the time we're here if you don't want to go back ok?"

​"Ok," Chester said softly. He sat down on Dave's towel and curled into a little ball. Dave folded the towel over Chester to try and keep some of the bright sun off of him. They watched as Mike finally stopped digging holes and began to create a little castle. He wished Chester would adjust to the sand so he could play too but the boy was having none of it. He'd actually ended up falling asleep on the towel. Brad had gone over to play in the sand with Mike who was smiling happily and picking up fistfuls of sand only to throw them into the water. It was a few hours later when they decided that it had been a good day. Dave didn't have the heart to wake up his sleeping Chester so he just wrapped him up in the towel and carried him back to the car while Mike skipped around ahead of them, giggling and enjoying himself.

​"Why is Chesser so boring!?" Mike called.

​"Chester just doesn't like the sand," Rob explained and Mike frowned.

​"But it is so fun!"

​"It's ok Mike. You had a good time. You can play with Chester when we get home."

​"Ok!"

​The drive home was quiet because Mike had fallen asleep too. Until they got stuck in traffic. Then both boys woke up.

​"Hey Mikey, look I can make my tummy talk!" Chester said enthusiastically and Mike watched in wonder. Brad was dying next to him and Dave couldn't help but laugh a little too. They were such strange kids.

​"Well I can make a bunny with my hands!" Mike countered as Chester continued to squeeze his stomach.

​"Make a bunny!" the smaller boy said excitedly. Mike made a bunny and then made it hop around in the air before making it land on Chester's head. Chester giggled and reached up to grab it but Mike took his hand away before he could.

​"You can't catch the bunny!"

​Chester smiled happily and scooted as close as he could to Mike, "Show me how to make a bunny."

​"Ok. First hold your hand like this and then take these two fingers and put them on your thumb!"

​Chester made his bunny and smiled again before making it hop around next to Mike's bunny.

​"Daddy! I have a bunny!" Chester said excitedly.

​"I see that Chester."

​Chester giggled happily and then snuggled up against Mike, "Thank you for giving me a bunny."

​The two boys fell asleep as the car started to move faster again. When they got home, Rob and Joe volunteered to carry the sleeping boys back into the house and set them down in their blanket bed. Chester had his pacifier in his mouth and he was sucking on it slowly while he slept. Mike's head was hanging to one side of his car seat. They laid the boys down on the blanket bed and Chester rolled over into a little ball while Mike shifted around until he grabbed the leg of the giant teddy bear.

​"How was the beach?" Linsey asked.

​"Great," Dave smiled. She smiled at them and she glanced down at where Chester was sleeping. Dave knew that Linsey wanted to have a special connection with Chester. He slowly lifted the sleeping boy off the ground and carried him over to her. "You can just pick him up. He doesn't mind."

​"I wasn't sure," she said as Dave gently set Chester in her arms. She held the sleeping boy gently and began to rock him back and forth. Chester sighed happily in his sleep and his hand came up to grab her shirt.

​"You can hold him as long as you like, we're all exhausted."

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​As they went to sleep that night, Brad took a glance at the two boys. Mike was yawning and laying on the blankets and the teddy bear. Chester was snuggling with his cat and laying next to Mike while trying to make the bunny appear on his hands again.
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​"Uncle Brad?" Chester called, "Where is Daddy?"

​"He went to get a snack. He'll be back in a few minutes."

​"Oh ok," Chester fell silent again and then Dave walked back in the room. He walked over to Chester and tucked the boy in. Joe was doing the same with Mike and soon the two of them were sleeping soundly.

​"Alright Dave," Brad said quietly, "I'm ready for it to be done."

​"Join the club," Dave said with a smile, "Join the club."
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