Grace Taylor Hudson

Chapter 17

<Grace POV>

"Ow. Ouch. Oh lord. Ugh!" My back and shoulders felt like they were on fire and the aloe lotion Katy had been applying was the only thing relieving the pain. "Grace! Hold still! Please!" Katy demanded, laughing at my fidgeting and ridiculous skin color. I looked like a lobster.

"I told you to wear sunscreen! But nooooo. Mom doesn't know anything." I rolled my eyes and mocked bowing down to her, "Yeah, yeah. You told me. You're right. All hail queen Katheryn." She shoved me lightly, "Oh hush!"

We were going on our fifth day in the Bahamas and I'd never had so much fun in my life. I was the only person under 24 but felt completely comfortable around all of the adults. Johnny brought Ricky with him, while Markus came solo. They're leaving today because of meetings or something like that, Katy had told me but I was half asleep. Shannon and Tamra had flown with us and made the flight quite interesting; they're staying the whole time along with Bonnie and Mia.

Keith, Mary, David, Angela, and Svend got in late last night and are spending the second half with us since the guys are leaving. This is the part I'm most excited for. Spending time with the entire Hudson crew made me feel overwhelmingly loved and cared for and I loved it more than anything.

Katy had insisted we wouldn't be big news for more than a week but wanted to play it safe and mapped out this ten day trip. I figured it was one of those she'd told me about where she had been here before but planned out a 'kid-friendly' version for she and I to experience together. I was right.

I went to bed each night completely and utterly exhausted because of the amount of things Katy had planned. Let's go snorkel! And hiking! And rock climbing! Oh look let's walk a total of 3 miles around this resort! Today we go to the waterpark! Oh Grace wouldn't it be so fun to learn to waterski? Another hike after waterskiing darling! Let's spend 6 hours shopping! I was beyond tired but didn't have the heart to tell her because she was having fun and I actually did enjoy it, no matter how tired I was. Telling her would be hard but I wanted to keep our system of complete honesty going and needed to do it soon. I just had to rip off the band-aid.

"Okay, I'm all done. Will you go grab me a towel so I can wipe this ick off of my hands? It's really sticky and gross." She clapped her hands together and slowly pulled them apart with a loud slurping noise.

"Ew yeah." I got up and walked into the ensuite bathroom, came back out, then gave her the hand towel. "Kate? I need to-er-tell you something. Promise me you won't get mad?" Katy finished wiping her hands and shifted on the bed nervously.

"Okaay...." It came out sounding more like a question than answer.

"I've been having a lot of fun the past few days--don't get me wrong. I don't think I've had more fun ever. I also get that you're trying to keep our minds off of everything back home, so thank you for all of this. And you've probably had this planned out for a long time but do you think we could-umm-relax a little? It's just, I'm so exhausted when we get back and aren't vacations for hanging around? You know, you've done this often enough. Shouldn't we be getting like mother-daughter facials and mani-pedis? Of course I'm not saying we sit in this condo all day but I would like to spend a few hours just lounging around and hanging out with everybody. Especially now that your--I mean--our family is here." The whole time I was talking I'd been pacing nervously and using my hands to express myself, something Katy did quite often as well. I looked over at my mother and saw her chewing on her bottom lip in deep thought.

"Hellooooo. Earth to Katy," I waved my hand in front of her face and whistled. "Katy Hudson. Oh, Mommy." Still nothing. I clapped, "KATY!" This elicited a squeal and mile-high jump.

"Sorry, sorry," she apologized, "it's just you sounded and looked just like Jason right in that moment. And yes I heard what you said. We can take it easy today and tomorrow. I booked us all spas anyways." She waved her hands dismissively trying to play off the first part.