Annabelle and Hope make it to me first. I pull both of their tiny bodies in for a big hug, then reach over and kiss Parker and Beckett on their cheeks. Beckett’s face turns red like always but Parker eats it right up.
“How are my favorite little peeps doing?”
“Great,” Annabelle answers. “You gotta come see all the stuff Mama and Daddy brought for us to play with. We’re building sandcastles.”
“And makin’ mud pies,” Hope adds.
“That sounds like fun.” I look over at the boys. “What about you guys, what are you doing?”
“Trying to get my sister to eat her mud pies.” Parker barks out a laugh and Beckett joins in, both boys finding it hilarious.
Like father like son.
However, Hope doesn’t find it as funny. “Try it again, buster, and you’ll be sorry,” she says with her best glare before looking at me and shaking her head. “Boys—nothin’ but trouble.”
I burst into laughter. “That’s true, but what would we do without them?”
“Well, I’d have a lot less sand in my mouth without him awound,” she says, jerking her thumb at her twin brother.
Parker reaches over and pulls on one of her pigtails while Beckett rips the shovel out of her hand before running off.
“Hey! Get back here!” She chases after them as fast as her little legs will carry her.
I shake my head then stand and take hold of Annabelle’s hand. “All right, little sis, show Logan and me where the party is.” I reach back for Logan’s hand and find him staring at me with an expression I can’t decipher. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” He grabs hold of my hand and lifts it to press a kiss on the inside of my wrist. “Everything is good.”
Annabelle propels me forward. “Come on, love birds, this way.” I giggle at how much she sounded like her dad just then and let her lead us over to the group.
Jaxson is glaring at us as we walk up. “Took you long enough, considering you pulled up five minutes ago,” he grumbles, clearly hinting at our little make out session.
I roll my eyes before leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Well hello to you too, ya grouch.” I ignore his grunt then lean over and hug Julia before moving to Kayla and Cooper. I drop a kiss to Ella’s sweet blonde head as she sits on Kayla’s lap. She’s only two but you can tell she’ll be as beautiful as her mother. Next I make my way to Sawyer and Grace. Sawyer catches me off guard and pulls me down on top of him, messing up my hair as he always does.
I slap him but can’t stop from laughing. “God, you’re annoying. You need to set a better example for your kids. Your son is following in your footsteps and tormenting his sister.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, a frustrated growl tears from Hope, where she’s building her mud pies. “That’s it! That was your last warning, boys.” Grabbing a water gun that’s bigger than her, she gets up and chases after a laughing Beckett and Parker.
“She can hold her own, besides, that’s what brothers are supposed to do,” Sawyer says. “Believe me, he’s my son which means he’s going to grow up to be perfect, just like his ol’ man.”
“Easy on the ego there, Evans,” Grace chides, but can’t hide her smirk.
With a chuckle, I roll off his legs onto my stomach and look into the sweetest little smiling face. “Oh my goodness, it’s my sweet little Mia,” I coo before planting kisses all over her chubby cheeks. With a squeal she pulls on my hair.
Everyone laughs at her infectious baby giggle.
I get to my knees now and give Faith a hug, holding her a little longer than I did everyone else. “Hey, Faith.”
“Hi, Anna,” she replies softly.
Even though I’m closest with Jaxson and Julia, Faith and I share something that no one else can understand. Faith, too, endured horrific things that week in Iraq; we both had our bodies stolen from us. But we are survivors of it and it’s all thanks to the men who surround us.
“Where are Ruthie and Cade?” I ask, looking around the semi-crowded beach.
“They’re out on the jet ski.”
“And Christopher? Is he gone?” I ask carefully.
“He is. It’s a long stretch this one.” She tries her best to smile but you can see the concern in her emerald eyes.
It was a big surprise for everyone when we found out that Christopher decided to follow in Cade’s footsteps and join the Navy. We all thought he would do something with music. I have a sneaking suspicion that his breakup with Alissa had something to do with his decision. I know Faith worries about him constantly and I don’t blame her, especially after knowing how wrong a mission can go, but she and Cade are very proud of him. The guys trained him hard and made him so good that he even beat some of Jaxson’s records that he held at BUD/S, which Sawyer makes sure to rub in every chance he gets.
“Have a seat, Logan,” Julia says, pulling me from my thoughts.
I look up to see him still standing. Getting to my knees, I pick an empty spot on the blanket then grab his hand and pull him down before situating myself on his lap. I have to swallow back a moan when I feel his erection under my bottom.
“Who wants a beer?” Sawyer asks, grabbing the cooler behind him.
Cooper’s gaze snaps to him. “You better be full of shit. I told you that you can’t drink at a public beach.”
“Don’t blame me, it was your wife’s idea.”
Cooper turns his glare on Kayla. “Why am I not surprised? Do you always have to be a pain in my ass?”
“Now, Coop, don’t be a party pooper, it’s just a beer or two. No one has to know.”
Shaking his head, he rips the cooler from Sawyer.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?”
“Putting it in the truck. We can drink it when we go back to Jaxson and Julia’s, we’re not having it here and that’s final!” He storms away, heading toward the parking lot.
“Thanks a lot, Evans, for throwing me under the bus,” Kayla grumbles.
He shrugs. “He’ll forgive you easier than me.”
“Oh yeah, he seems really forgiving right now.”
“Well take off your dress for crying out loud, show some skin. You could have saved our beer if you stripped down to your bathing suit.”
“Sawyer!” Grace slaps him but laughs along with everyone else.
“You know, you might actually be onto somethin’.” Kayla hands Ella off to Julia. “Can you hold her for a few minutes please?”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Julia takes her and everyone falls silent as Cooper comes back. You can’t see his eyes through his aviators but his expression is hard so you know he’s peeved. He takes his seat again and lies back with his arms behind his head.
“Do y’all want a sandwich?” Grace offers, trying to break the awkward moment.
“Thanks.” I grab one for Logan and me then bring my attention back to Kayla as she stares down at Cooper.
“Did you at least keep it out of the sun so it remains cold?”
Julia coughs, trying to cover up a laugh, and I take a big bite of my sandwich, hoping to do the same. Cooper stares back at her, not finding her as funny as we do.
“You gonna ignore me all day?” He continues to say nothing. She sighs and stands up. “All right, well while you be a drama queen, I’m going to go for a swim.” She slips off her sundress, unveiling a black bikini. It’s modest but does nothing to hide her incredible body. You would never know she has kids, especially a two-year-old.
Cooper stiffens as Kayla walks off toward the water. He remains still for all of about ten seconds before he curses under his breath then gets to his feet and runs after her. She squeals with laughter when he picks her up and hauls her into the water.
“Mama, can you come here? Annabelle and me need some help wif the decisions on this pie we’re makin’,” Hope calls out.
“I’m comin’.” Grace gives Sawyer a kiss before getting up.
He blatantly tries looking under her sundress as she stands. “You should strip down to your swimsuit too, Cupcake,” he calls to her retreating back.
She waves him off which has him grunting, unimpressed. At that moment, Beckett and Parker come running by with their water guns.
“Hey, Parker, come here,” Sawyer calls him over.
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Give me your water gun for a minute, will ya?”
“Uh oh,” Julia says, voicing my own thoughts.
“Okay.”
“Thanks.” Sawyer goes to grab it but Parker pulls it back.
“For five bucks.”
“What?” he asks, thinking he misunderstood him.
“I said for five bucks.”
Logan grunts out a chuckle behind me.
“What do you mean for five bucks? I paid for it.”
“Cough it up or no gun.” Parker adamantly stands his ground, with determination etched across his little face.
“Oh I’ll cough it up all right, give me that damn thing.” Sawyer rips the gun from his hands then chases after him with it. Parker takes off with a scream, leading Sawyer right over to Grace, which is exactly where he was headed in the first place. After soaking Parker with it he aims the gun at Grace.
“Sawyer, don’t you even think about it or I swear I’ll—” She trails off on a gasp and curls into herself with a scream as he soaks her.
After Sawyer finishes he drops the gun. “Oh darn, you’re all wet. Guess you better take off that dress of yours now,” he says with a dirty grin.
Grace stands with clenched fists, her hair soaked around her face.
“Uh oh, Daddy, you’s in trouble now,” Hope says, staring up at her mom.
I’d have to agree, Grace looks about ready to commit murder. Right when I think she’s about to unleash on him she ends up turning around and striding toward us. She takes off her soaked dress in the process, looking just as good in her bathing suit as Kayla does in hers.
Once she reaches her blanket she bends down and grabs a bunch of stuff that all looks to belong to Sawyer, his hat, a pair of expensive looking Nike Slide sandals and his shirt, then she carries them over to the dock. At the very end she turns to Sawyer, quirking a brow, and holds all of the items over the water.
His stance remains relaxed as he watches her with amusement. “Nice try, Cupcake, but we both know you aren’t going to throw that shit in the water, especially my lucky hat. You’re too sensible for—” His words die when she drops it all in the water.
“Oh darn, all your clothes are wet. Guess you better go in and get them.” She sassily throws her hand up on her hip, mocking him.
“Way to go Grace,” Julia whispers with a chuckle.
“Wrong, Cupcake, you’re going in to get them.” With that, Sawyer charges right for her.
“All right, get her, Dad!” Parker cheers.
Panic washes over Grace’s expression just before she snaps into gear and hauls ass. Of course she doesn’t even come close to escaping him. He tackles her before she’s even off the dock and takes her into the ocean. A few seconds later their heads bob up, Grace sputtering and giving him hell. He cuts her off by grabbing her and laying one heck of a kiss on her.
“Daddy, catch me,” Hope yells, waiting at the edge of the dock to jump in. Sawyer catches both her and Parker at the same time.
I can’t help but smile as I watch them, actually, as I watch everyone with their families. It makes me want to have that one day.
“How’s school going, Anna?” Julia asks, cutting into my thoughts.
I shrug. “Busy, but I’m still loving it. I’m glad reading week is coming up, it’ll give me a chance for some downtime and to prep myself for exams.”
“You don’t need to prep yourself, you’re a genius and you’ll ace it like everything else you do,” Jaxson says, bringing a smile to my face.
The sound of a jet ski cuts into our conversation. I turn to see Ruthie and Cade park at the end of one of the docks. Ruthie clings to his back as he walks over to join us.
“Hey, Anna and Logan,” she greets us cheerfully, excitement lighting up her eyes.
“Hey, Ruthie, how’s it going?”
“Good. Did y’all see us out there? We were cruisin’ pretty fast.”
“We sure did,” Faith answers. “Y’all were going crazy fast.”
“I know. We had the need for speed and a little danger, ain’t that right, Big Guy?”
“You know it, kid.” Cade raises a fist and gives her a knuckle bump.
With a giggle she jumps down from his back then walks over to take Mia from Faith. “Come here, my precious baby sister.” She sits the toddler on her lap to face her and kisses her cheek. Mia’s chubby little arms wrap around Ruthie’s neck as she rests her head on her shoulder. The entire sight is downright heart melting. Ruthie is an amazing big sister. We were all a little worried how she would feel with another child around, especially when it came to sharing Cade, but it turned out everyone worried for nothing. She loved Mia from the moment she graced this earth, just like everyone else. Her and Cade’s relationship never changed, if anything it’s only grown stronger over the years. I’m sure it helped that he and Faith adopted Christopher and Ruthie. Or rather, Christopher was a little old to be adopted but agreed to change his last name to Walker for Faith and Ruthie’s sake.
Cade takes a seat behind Faith and pulls her onto his lap. We engage in small talk while finishing our lunch. No one mentions the upcoming fight, which I’m thankful for because I don’t want to hear about it—not today.
After letting my stomach settle, I’m ready for a cool down. The sun is close to its peak and I can feel my skin start to crisp. I turn and look up at Logan. “Wanna go for a swim?”
“Yeah, come on.”
Standing, I remove my dress and hear Logan release a low growl from behind me, which causes a shiver to travel down my spine.
As soon as my dress drops to the ground, Jaxson grabs it and throws it back at me. “What the hell are you wearing? Put your dress back on!”
I rear back at his heated order. “Why?”
“Because you’re practically naked.”
“Jaxson!” Julia snaps in my defense.
I glance down at my modest white bikini, very modest compared to what’s out there, but his comment has me feeling self-conscious and unsure of myself. “This isn’t different than what any of the other girls here are wearing.”
“They are grown women.”
“So am I,” I argue, trying to keep the hurt out of my tone, but feel myself flush red with embarrassment.
Logan comes up behind me. “Come on, you don’t need to listen to this shit.” His words are laced with fury as he grabs my hand to lead me away.