she's my princess

i want to jump on the waves

C H A P T E R  T H I R T Y - F I V E

The beach was something Carter had never seen in her life. Living in Texas, she never got the chance to visit the ocean, especially when the area she lived in was just dry land.

She had a lake but she'd never seen the sea and now she finally was.

She could smell the salty water that drifted in the air that passed through the open windows of the bus. Her hair was blowing behind her, her eyes scanning the sand that was on the sides of the roads. She knew if she would stand up on the seat, she would be tall enough to look over the heaps of sand and see the ocean.

And she was jumping in her seat, eyes darting around from window to window in case she could spot any blue water. The road was getting rough and the air got rougher. The bus shaking slightly that her hands gripped onto Nolan's who wrapped his arm around her and lifted her onto his lap.

And Carter gasped, eyes wide as she scanned the ocean she was finally tall enough to see.

It was scary, all that water and all that sand but it was beautiful. And it immediately became one of Carter's favorite places. Her eyes darted from a seagull that dived near the water and she smiled.

She couldn't wait to get into the water. She wanted to jump over a wave and have Nolan catch her in case she slipped. She wanted to build a sand castle with Miles and race off into the water and play games.

She wanted to lay in the sun and count the seagulls that flew over her. And she badly wanted lemonade.

Once Porter parked the car, Carter was jumping to get out. Nolan would always be the last one out of the bus so when Lucas held his arms out, Carter didn't hesitate to jump into them. Giggling as he pointed towards surfers, "I used to surf, Carter before I moved to the city. The water's great, pumpkin. You'll love it."

Pulling down her sundress, Lucas guided both of them down the old sandy steps that lead to the beach settling her down onto the sand after pulling her slippers from her feet. Carter gasped, her toes wiggling, trying to get deeper into the sand.

Looking up at Lucas, Carter pulled him close, holding onto his legs before sprinting onto the beach. Lucas chuckled, jogging after her until they came to the edge of the water. The water just inches away from Carter's toes and she bit her lip.

She was scared, this was new to her. She didn't want to face this alone so she gripped tightly onto Lucas' hand and jumped into the water that was coming her way and Lucas smiled. His heart rocketing when Carter giggled, jumping up and down so that the water would splash before smiling up at her grandfather, "I love the beach! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Lucas sighed, his eyes tearing. He missed this. Family days at the beach. Nolan running after Noah who didn't like wearing his swimmers and Abigail running after them. Crying that she wanted to play along too.

And Alice, Alice would smile so wide. Her face clean of make-up and hair extensions. She'd be sitting on an old blanket with an old dress she'd happen to remember buying and her hands would be buried in the fruit, cutting them up quickly before Abbie begged to help.

Noticing Lucas's change in mood, Carter took his hand. Lucas sighed, "Let's go put our swimmers on."

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Nolan ignored Landon's constant teasing as he smeared another unnecessary handful of sunblock onto his hand and smeared Carter's back full. Nolan already hated the bathing suit since Carter looked extra cute and was extra exposed.

She would have had only a one piece on if Nolan hadn't dragged her into pink swimming shorts. She had on a pink one piece with white polkadots decorating the material. There were two flamingoes on each of Carter's sides, the feathers of the bird making cute ruffles.

The swimsuit had Carter giggling and Miles blushing as he was pushed into his second skin top. Once both kids were clothed, the fathers stood up. Nolan tightened the strings of his shorts, watching from the corner of his eyes as Carter patiently waited for him to finish. And when she least expected it, Nolan ran towards her, scooping her into his arms.

The biggest smile across his face as she giggled and held tightly onto him, screaming as Nolan started running into the water. Splashes soaking her wet before gasping when Nolan tripped and went tumbling into the water.

His one arm coming around Carter to keep her out from under the water while the other tried to keep him from falling. Hitting the water, Nolan coughed. Shaking out his hair as he rose above the water before staring down at Carter who giggled, "The water tastes yucky, Daddy."

Nolan chuckled, "Then don't drink it, princess."

Carter nodded, "I want to jump on the waves."

Nolan smirked, "Come on," lifting her up, Nolan held Carter under her arms and held her above the water. Smiling when the waves would hit Carter and she'd scream for another to come.

Miles joined soon and Carter wanted to stand on her own while Nolan watched from the shore. Smiling as he watched her run into the water before chasing after Miles when he didn't run with her.

They'd been having fun, swallowing to much water and with Miles nearly going blind from sand in his eyes, Lucas called for lunch and Nolan sighed in relief.

He was freezing his ass off watching Carter at the shore but he wouldn't complain, especially when he knew how happy this made her.