ORIGINAL:The Boy With A Touch Of Cancer(BxB)

6. Let's Go To The Beach

"Can you please explain to me why we're doing this again?" I grumbled as Dad laid a blanket out on the sand.

Mom set her bag down on the blanket, an annoyed edge in her voice. "Because Ethan. Your Aunt and Uncle wanted to see us... And because we all needed to get out of the house."

I sighed and flopped down on the blanket, then I looked out to the water and watched the waves crash on the shore.

"Ethan, you have to put on sunscreen or you'll be as red as a tomato," Mom said as she held a bottle of sunscreen out to me. She then gave me a mischievous smile as I took the sunscreen from her. "And if you get sunburnt, you'll be grumpier tomorrow than you are today,"

I laughed as I stood up and started slathering the sunscreen on. "I don't know. I'm pretty damn grumpy right now."

Mom laughed and was about to say something when my Aunt Josie yelled, "Hey you guys!"

Aunt Josie, Uncle Tom, and my cousins Alex and Andy came over. Aunt Josie wildly waved her hand as they approached, and a huge smile broke out on her face.

"Hey, Josie! Come here and give your big sis a hug!" Mom yelled back as she waved them over, a wide excited smile on her face.

Aunt Josie dropped her bag on the blanket and hugged Mom. "It's so good to see you! It feels like we haven't seen each other in forever!"

"Hey, you guys. How about a hug for your uncle?" Uncle Tom asked awkwardly.

Drew hugged him, then I hugged him and got suffocated in the process. Uncle Tom hugs so hard he crushes your bones in the process.

I pulled away and rubbed my sore ribcage. "It's good to see you."

Drew awkwardly said, "Uh, yeah. It's good to see you, Uncle Tom."

Tom ruffled Drew's hair like he was 10 years old and said, "It's good to see you guys too."

Drew fixed his hair as Uncle Tom went over to talk to Dad, who was attempting to hold Lea still long enough to put sunscreen on her.

"I was happier when the family get togethers was just our family," Drew muttered.

I snorted. "I agree."

"Boys! Sunscreen! Then you can get in the water, okay?" Aunt Josie yelled at her two hellion kids as they took off to the ocean.

Andy and Alex stopped about a foot in front of the water, turned around, and trudged back to the blanket. Andy whined, "Why do we have to put more sunscreen on? We put it on before we drove over here."

"Yeah, we already have sunscreen on," Alex chimed in.

Aunt Josie's mouth dropped open. "You did?"

"I put it on them," Uncle Tom interjected.

"See? Can we go swimming now?" Alex said, excitement flashing in his eyes.

Aunt Josie nodded and gestured to the ocean. "Go ahead. Just not past your waists', okay?"

Both of them took off to the water again, shrieking as the cold water splashed across their feet.

Aunt Josie flopped down on a towel and ran her fingers through her long brown hair. "God, those two drive me crazy sometimes."

"Sometimes? Every time I speak to you, or see you, they're driving you insane," Mom joked.

I tuned their conversation out as I flopped down on my own towel. I stretched out on my back and closed my eyes. The sun felt amazing on my skin. The rays warmed my skin perfectly, though it wasn't so hot that you felt like you were in an oven. It would definitely be too hot to just lay in the sun later, though right now I was enjoying it while I could.