"Almost done, wiggle worm,” Sheppard told Rory as he rubbed sunscreen down her arms. She was antsy while watching Dawson, who’d been climbing out of and jumping back into the pool ever since his turn with the sunscreen had been over. Shepp slid her floaties back on, holding his hand up for a high-five that was totally ignored. Instead, the toddler grabbed his hand and pulled at it, urging him to stand up.
“T’row me! T’row me!” she insisted, jumping up and down beside their pool chairs.
“I’m not going to throw you in until you can swim without your floaties,” he told her, squeezing the inflatable tubes on her arms. “But give me a minute to get back in the pool and you can jump in and I’ll catch you. Okay?” She nodded and walked to the stairs, where Dawson was sitting and splashing in the water. Shepp put more sunscreen on his arms and shoulders, rubbing it in the best he could because he was just as impatient to get back in the water as the kids were.
“Where’d Mommy go?” Dawson called from the stairs.
“She went to the restroom. She should be back in a second,” Shepp answered.
“I want Mommy to get in the pool too!” Rory yelled, jumping up and down in the water.
Sheppard laughed. “Yeah? When she gets back, should we try to get her in the pool?” The kids both agreed and he nodded, grinning. “Okay, then. Don’t blow our cover,” he told them, holding a finger up to his lips and the kids giggled in response.
He recapped the sunscreen about the same time he saw Ziggy coming back from the restroom and he stood, putting his sunglasses back on as he stepped out from under the umbrella and met her as she walked around the pool.
“They weren’t supposed to get back in before I could get sunscreen on them,” Ziggy said, looking over at the steps where the kids were playing.
“I got sunscreen on them. They’re good,” he answered her, placing his hands on her hips and leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I’m not going to let our fair-skinned little gremlins fry.”
“Good,” she sighed in relief, grinning up at him before she pulled him down to press her lips to his.
“Do you have your phone on you? Or any other reason you can’t get in the pool right this second?”
“No.”
“Good,” he nodded, picking her up from where she stood on the pavement and throwing her over into the pool against her protests. He looked over at the kids who were laughing and gave them a thumbs-up before diving in after her.
When he resurfaced he was met with a wall of water crashing over his head, which was fair. Wiping the water and the hair out of his eyes, he noted that his sunglasses weren’t on his face anymore and were probably somewhere on the bottom of the pool. “It was the kids’ idea,” he said, holding his hands out when he finally made eye contact with Ziggy.
“Oh, it was? Come here, nerds,” she laughed, moving towards the stairs. They both turned and climbed out of the pool, laughing and squealing at the top of their lungs.
Sheppard wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. “I’ve got her. You guys save yourselves,” he laughed, watching them walk back to the fence. He placed a kiss on her shoulder and leaned his head up against hers. “Sorry we ganged up on you,” he said, moving them back toward the side of the pool.
She twisted around to face him and shook her head. “I’ll think about forgiving you,” she told him, trying to hide her grin.
“At least you’re thinking about it,” he smirked, kissing her again. He looked back over to where Dawson and Rory were at the fence and laughed. “Alright, citizens of Amity Island, I think it’s safe to get back in the water. Mama shark isn’t gonna bite.” Dawson ran back to the side closest to them and jumped in without hesitation, but Rory stopped at the side.
“Daddy, you said you’d catch me!” Rory said, patting his head with her hand.
“Of course!” he answered her, unwinding his arms from around Ziggy so he could turn around and hold his arms out for Rory to jump into. When he did, she leapt into them and laughed. She turned and paddled like Dawson had shown her, and Shepp had no doubt that she would be able to swim unassisted by the time the next summer rolled around. He was so proud of her. He was so proud of all of them. Days like today, where they were able to laugh and play and not worry about anything other than each other, well, those were the best days he could imagine. And he wanted to hold onto every last one of them.
