Your Time

Chapter 46

{August 2031}

Harrison, Carrie, and the kids all took a vacation to Key West Florida over the summer. Even Leia came along making it one of the best vacations they'd ever taken together.

The entire time they were in Key West, the weather was perfect, making it ideal for surfing, paddle boarding, snorkeling, and going for a boat ride, all of which they accomplished.

Out of everything they did while in Key West, surfing and paddle boarding seemed to be the favorite. The kids absolutely loved attempting and sometimes successfully surfing, while Carrie and Harrison enjoyed watching them.

Adam, who was sitting next to Joanne, immediately ran out into the water once he spotted a big wave on the horizon. As it neared the shore, Joanne pointed her boyfriend out as he began paddling towards the wave.

"There he goes!"

As the waved neared Adam who was about 50 yards from shore, he stood up on his surfboard. It was obvious he wasn't ready for the wave. And it was a lot bigger than he expected. When the wave crested the back of his surfboard, it immediately knocked him off balance and sent him falling into the water. As the wave passed over him, the entire family laughed when he swam with his chin rested on the surfboard, after the wave.

They all applauded him when he reached the shore. "Bravo."

Adam rolled his eyes, sitting down next to Joanne. "Let's see you do it dad."

"No thanks."

Carrie took her son's side on this one. "Yeah let's see it Harrison."

"Yeah dad!"

"Come on dad! Do it!"

"Do it! Do it!"

He bit his lip with a smirk as he knew he was outnumbered. By a lot. "Alright fine."

Adam handed his father the surfboard as he started towards the beach. "This should be good," Carrie whispered to her kids once Harrison was out of earshot.

Harrison looked over his shoulder at his family once his feet were totally submerged by the water. "Come on dad!" Adam shouted. "Let's see you do it better!"

As a big wave hit the shore, Harrison began paddling out to the next wave that was nearing the shore very quickly. "Come on Harrison!"

He continued paddling until it was just in front of the surfboard. But he was a little late in timing the wave. When he stood up, the wave hit the board, pushing him back into the water.

"Epic fail."

The kids and Carrie laughed at him as he swam after the wave to grab his surfboard. "What was that!?" They all shouted to him.

Harrison, who looked motivated by all the taunting, grabbed the board and headed back out to sea. "Oh he's going for it now."

Everyone watched the shoreline with intent as Harrison picked up another wave. This time he timed it perfectly, standing up on the surfboard just before the wave pushed into it. The wave pushed him farther and farther, all the way past the other people attempting surfing.

"He's really moving now mom."

Harrison rode the wave all the way back to the shore until he stepped off into the sand. "Now how about that Adam? Carrie?"

Nobody had anything to say about that. "That's what I thought."

"Dad, you've done this more than me," Adam protested.

That argument was true. When Harrison and Carrie took a vacation to Hawaii a few years ago, Harrison did a lot of surfing.

"So?"

"You have more experience than me. That's not fair."

Harrison put a hand on his hip. "You told me to do it better than you that one time. So I did. End of discussion," he said with a sly smile.

Carrie wiped that smile right off her husband's face when she sprayed him with one of the loaded water guns that lay on the beach. "Carrie!"

"What? You're not any wetter now than you were after that epic fail at surfing."

All the kids laughed. "Dad it's getting hot out here," the teased.

The kids loved when their parents went at it like this. They both could throw some serious shade at each other.

"Alright Carrie."

When she wasn't expecting it, Harrison picked her up, getting a giggle from the four kids and Joanne. "You're gonna get it now mom."

"You sure are sweetheart."

He carried her into the water until it was up to his waist. Then he dunked her before dropping her in the water. She was soaked. "Harrison!"

Harrison simply laughed at her. "That's what you get."

Then Carrie pushed him into the water. "Take that."

The little pushing war went on for a few minutes as all the kids laughed from the shore at their parents.

•••

A little bit later, Harrison, Carrie, the kids, Joanne, and Leia all went paddle boarding around the beach.

The farther away they paddled from the shore, the clearer the water got. It was absolutely beautiful. They could see all the way to the bottom, which was about 30 feet. There were fish swimming around coral reefs, that were all sorts of colors.

"Look it's a clownfish!"

"I see Ben."

As the paddle boards floated over the coral reefs, the clownfish darted past one and into a sea anemone. "There's another clownfish!"

The kids were so absorbed at looking below, that they didn't notice their parents going at it again and now splashing each other with the paddles.

Carrie splashed her husband again. Leia who stood on the front of Harrison's paddle board, tried to catch the water until she realized it was salt water and it didn't taste good at all. After giving up on eating the water, she turned to Harrison to force him to pet her. The sharp movement of the 70 pound dog was almost enough to tip the paddle board over. Harrison was able to steady it.

But when Leia moved again, Harrison couldn't stop the board from tipping. Leia and Harrison then fell in as the board flipped over. Everyone laughed.

Leia left Harrison to fend for himself and swam over to Carrie who helped her up onto her board. "Good girl Leia," she told her as Harrison playfully rolled his eyes and flipped his paddle board back over.