*we were both young when I first saw you* Ew. Gross. I change the station till I hear a childish squeal from the rear. I turn around and there is the 5 year siting in the backseat, singing along to Counting Stars. I leave it on this station, whatever makes him happy.
"Daddy, how much longer?" The little human asks.
"Only about 5 more minutes, kiddo." He responds.
We're going to a beach today. It's a nice weekend down here in Florida, so we decided to take a surprise trip to the ocean. While Dane was sleeping, we took him from his bed early, without waking him, and put him in his car seat and drove till he woke up and surprised him with the announcement of a beach day.
I just hope nobody notices me or Gray. I hate when we try to be a normal family but people on the street see us and come up and want our autographs. It's already hard enough being a normal family when you're a 18 year old famous singer dating a 23 year old who also is famous. He has a band, a well renowned pop punk band. And I pretty much sing whatever. He writes my lyrics a good bit of the time and His best friend writes my music. I can write my own stuff and a few songs that I did by myself have been number one on the charts for months, but I feel a deeper connection to what Gray writes for me. I love when he has me sings parts for his bands songs. And just as I think that, His band and my new song comes on the radio. I glance over at him and another squeal comes from behind us as the little one realizes what song is on. But Gray pulls into a parking lot and turns off the car, and the radio goes with it. The child attempts to undo his car seat buckle, but fails. I get out, go to the back and undo his seat. He jumps out of the vehicle and heads toward the sand but I grab his hand before he can take more steps.
"Wait for daddy and I to grab our things from the trunk." I tell him, his blond curls shining in the early morning sun. Once Gray grabs the things from the back, he takes my hand and smiles at me. We all walk hand in hand to the end of the concrete sidewalk and as soon as my feet hit the sand, I take off my sandals and rub my toes in the sand. The toddler pulls on my arm, so I let him go. He runs toward the water, Gray and I carry our stuff to the closest dry area before the ocean behind where the little one is splashing. We set our chairs down and sit next to each other. He reaches for my hand, and as I take it he leans over and gives me a quick peck on the cheek. I blush, lean in for more but we are stopped when we hear Dane calling "Daddy! Mommy! Come in with me!"
He stands up and I also, we walk into the water and the cool of the water instantly relaxes me. He lets go of my hand and picks up the small one and says "Do you want Daddy to throw you?"
"Yes! Yes!"
He nods to a spot a few feet away and I walk over to it, so I can be there to hold the child, being the water up to my bust, and the child only coming up to my thighs.
"Three! Two! One!" Gray throws the child in my direction and the water splashes all over me. I'm giggling, and so is Dane when he comes to the surface. I pick him up and carry him over to the shallower water beside his father. Gray turns to the little child and says "Do you think mommy wants thrown?!"
A peal of high laughter comes from him and he squeals "Yes!!"
He turns from the child to me and starts to slowly walk toward me.
"No, no, no, no! Don't even think about it! I swear to God, Gray, if you-" I couldn't finish my sentence because he swooped me out from under my feet and launched me into the air. I gasp for air before I crash into the water. When I come back up, my wet hair is all over my face. I can hear laughter from the two, but mostly from Gray. I plunge my head back into the water and flip my hair back out of my face. I pretend to storm angrily out of the water but Gray catches me around my waist and hulls me over his shoulder. He spins around in slow circles and says to me, "Come on, babe we're just trying to have fun!" I am kicking and trying to wiggle out of his grip and after a few more seconds of being held he finally sets me down. I adjust my swimsuit and fix my hair. I look down at Zane and give him a big smile.
"Mommy, can we build sand castles?" Dane squints at me, with the sun in his eyes.
"Of course!" I say down to him. I take his left hand and Gray takes his right and we lift him up and swing him forward and back as we walk to the shore. We get there and I grab the bag full of his sand toys, and hand it to him. I walk over to my bag and grab a hair tie and put my hair in a messy bun because the boys already ruined it.
All day Dane, Gray and I build sand castles, bury each other and play in the sun. As we're walking back to the car when the sun is setting, Dane gives a big yawn. I grab him under the arms and hoist him up in my arms. He falls asleep as we're walking, so we have to put him quietly in the car. Once we're all in and buckled, Gray pulls out of the parking lot and heads home. About 5 minutes down the road, my stomach lets out a demonic growl of hunger.
"What the hell was that?!" Gray half whispers, mindful of the child in the back. "Did you not eat any of the snacks we packed for the day?"
"No, I wasn't hungry. But I guess I am now."
"What do you mean 'guess'? You haven't been eating much lately. Are you feeling alright? Is there something worrying you at school?"
I hate it when he brings up school. He doesn't need to know what happens in there. If he did, he would have me out of it in a heartbeat. I'm a senior and you'd think people would respect or look up to me, you would think kids my age would want to be friends with one of the most famous people of this century, but no. I get bullied. Nasty notes in and on my locker. Comments said to me in the halls. Laughter in classrooms. Apparently even though I found my one true love, him being more than twice my age makes me a subject to bullying. And rumors are passed that Dane is my kid and not Gray's first wife's. And the things stuck on my locker are not always appropriate. Like pictures of Grays man part. He was about 18 when he married his wife, he thought he couldn't find anybody else like her. She had a son and things went downhill from there. She'd be out late 'working' almost every night. One day he came home early to surprise her and he found her and another man in bed together. He called his mother crying. Of course, I didn't know him then. He told me this story when we were out to dinner on our 7th date. He told me before that he hadn't felt anything like what we have, so he could trust me.
What makes me really mad is that other kids in school are so bad. There are 11 girls in the school are pregnant, 5 boys were expelled for bringing alcohol to school, and one boy was caught snorting coke in the bathroom, but I am the bad student for being in love. Gray doesn't know about the bullying. When he asks me how school went that day, I tell him fine and leave it at that. Not many kids are my friend, so I don't have many funny stories for him. Before I moved here at my old school, I usually cried with laughter everyday from my friends doing goofy things, but here, it's just ugh.
"Nothing is bothering me. I just wasn't hungry. But I am a little bit now. I'll make something when we get home."
"I'll make something cause little dude is probably hungry. How about it Dane? You hungry for something when we get home?"
"Hot dogs and Mac cheese!!" Dane squeals from his car seat.
"Yeah daddy!! Mac cheese and hot dogs!" I say just like he did.
"I'll show you who's your daddy." Gray winks to me and slightly squeezes my knee.
Thank god it's a Saturday, because Dane will go to his mothers tomorrow and the rest of the week. So that means Gray and I have the house to ourselves this week.
