Bears Know Best

Chapter 24: Bikini Time

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ALYSSA called me to tell me that we were all going to the beach on Thursday morning. I could tell that there was going to be no negotiating with her! That left me trying to decide which bikini of the three I had I was going to wear. Fortunately, my flow had lightened up considerably by Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday morning there was just a small spot in the pad from all night. I decided for safety's sake to wear a thin pad just in case, but hoped it wouldn't show through my suit.

Breanna's mom had volunteered to take us and make sure we weren't too crazy with anything. Her youngest daughter was sitting in the middle seat of the van in her car seat when she pulled up to our house. Breanna was up front, her little brother sat in the back corner of the third row of seats, and Danielle sat in the seat next to her Breanna's younger sister. It was then that I noticed there was only one other seat that didn't have a high-backed booster seat.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Alyssa asked me with a smile.

I shook my head, "You'll never get your rear into it," I joked with her.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Oh, I meant to take that out earlier," Breanna's mom said when she realized the problem. "Give me just a second and I'll find a place to stash it." As she said this though, I didn't see where else she could possibly fit it. The back was filled with bags, a cooler, and Alyssa and I had our own beach bags over our shoulders.

"It's okay," I told her, "I don't really see any other place for you to put it. I'm below the weight and height limits probably for it anyway," I laughed at my own expense to hide my dying embarrassment. I sat down in the seat and pulled the seatbelt across my lap. I felt like I was six years old again...

"Thanks," her mom told me.

When we got to the beach her mom said, "It's nice to see you again Taylor. Sorry about the car seat."

"It's okay; I still sat in them till way too recently..." I blushed.

She gave me a hug and the seven of us walked down to the beach and claimed a spot on the sand to lay out our towels. I had no interest in going into the water before we got there, and afterwards I still didn't, even if the doctor would allow me. Breanna's little sister and brother had no intentions of staying dry though on the hot day, and I watched as little Kaylie, who was five, had to be all but held down to keep her from running straight out into the water. As soon as she got knee deep into the water though, she did a funny hop back out of the water!

I didn't blame her; I was sure it was cold! My rule with water was if it wasn't in Florida I wasn't getting in! Too cold otherwise!

The four of us put sunscreen on each other's backs and lay out on towels to sunbathe. I listened to various bits of gossips get passed back and forth, and the time seemed to pass quickly before we had a picnic lunch that Breanna's mom had put together.

"So, this is your last week off?" She asked us.

I nodded, "Band practices start Monday morning."

"I'm scared of doing marching band," Breanna said aloud.

"It'll be fun!" Alyssa said.

"I hope so," Danielle said, "I'm going to be so busy with trying to do cheerleading and band. I hope it's worth doing both," she said.

"It will be!" I told her.

We stayed at the beach for a couple more hours, and spent more time than my poor brain could handle watching boys walk down the beach. Several groups came and chatted us up, but we gave them fake numbers and laughed at them when they were gone.