Gracies POV (6 Years Old)
I ran in to the hotel room and cannonballed on to one of the double beds landing on my stomach,
"Excuse me missy" Will smirked as he followed me in to the room "go jump on your own bed" he said gesturing over to the single bed opposite making me grumble slightly but do as I was told. Jay closed the door before walking over to the windows and drawing back the curtains,
"Well the view could be worse" Jay commented as he opened the door to the small balcony that overlooked the pool and beach,
"Can we go down to the pool?" I asked excitedly,
"Maybe later" Jay agreed "once we've got sorted we'll go for a walk and see where everything is" he added and I walked back inside and sat on my bed.
We sat in the room and chilled out for a while before my brothers unpacked the cases and had showers. I had a bath and washed my hair before changing in to some purple shorts and a matching top and Will put my wet hair in two braids.
"Can we go now?" I asked impatiently,
"We can" Jay agreed "but your not wearing any shoes" he pointed out and I looked down to see my bare feet,
"Oh" I said and Jay shook his head in amusement. He grabbed my sandals and helped me to buckle them up before we finally left the room to explore more of the hotel.
We spent a couple of hours exploring the hotel and it's surroundings before finding somewhere to eat and deciding to call it an early night. Despite the long nap I'd had on the plane, I was beginning to flag. Jay ended up carrying me back to the room from the restaurant where Will helped me change in to my pyjamas before I passed out in my bed.
The next morning I woke up and the sun was just appearing in the sky. I sat up and looked over at the two, much larger, beds that my brothers where still fast asleep in. I closed my eyes once again but found that my mind was well and truly awake. I wonder what time it is? I climbed out of my bed and shuffled over to Wills bed and climbed up next to him,
"What's the matter Gracie?" Will whispered as his eyes opened sleepily,
"I'm not tired anymore" I replied and he rubbed a tired hand over his face before he lifted his watch off the bedside table and checked the time with a sigh "It's 5am Gracie" he said making me frown,
"Why is my body awake then?" I asked confused and Will sighed, clearly beginning to abandon the idea of sleep.
"Because it's 10am back home so your body thinks that's what time it is" he explained "just lie down and close your eyes for a little longer" he urged and I rested my head on his pillow. That didn't last long. My eyes where soon open once again,
"Will?" I asked my brothers who's eyes remained firmly closed,
"Mmm" he grunted in response,
"Why are there different times?" I asked confused. So, Will tiredly answered my question and sat up, now completely awake "is Jay still sleeping?" I asked suspiciously looking over at him,
"I think he's just pretending" Will admitted,
"Jay" I whispered but revived no response "Jay" I said in a louder tone but still received no response so Will grabbed one of the spare pillows and threw it at Jays head,
"Gracelyn Halstead just because we are on vacation doesn't mean I won't punish you" Jay warned playfully with a slight smirk on his face,
"It wasn't me" I exclaimed through giggles,
"Uh huh" he raised a teasing eyebrow "what time is it?" He asked Will,
"Nearly quarter to six now" Will replied,
"I suppose that's not to bad considering the time difference" Jay commented and Will nodded in agreement.
"I'm getting up" Will announced "I can't stay in this bed any longer" he added before climbing out of his bed and disappearing off to the bathroom.
We all got ready before heading down for breakfast,
"They have chocolate chip pancakes and Will said I could have some" I said happily as I ran back over to our table where Jay was sat drinking his coffee and eating his breakfast,
"Wow" Jay nodded impressed as Will walked over and put the plate with two pancakes in front of me,
"Thank you" I said before grabbing my fork and tucking in.
Once we had our breakfast we headed back up to our room to change in to our swimming things so we could go down to the beach. Not before Will covered me in sunscreen.
"Can we go in the sea?" I asked as I jumped up and down on the sand,
"Yeah, just give me one minute" Jay replied as he took his shirt off and put our stuff on the sun loungers,
"You two go, I'll stay here with the stuff" Will said as he took his own shirt off and sat down on one of the loungers,
"C'mon Jay" I urged,
"Hang on missy" Will urged "you're not going anywhere without these" he added as he pulled out my water wings and threw them to Jay who caught them. I let out an over dramatic sigh before trudging over to Jay.
Once my brother had finally put my water wings on, I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the crystal clear water. We walked in to the warm water and the waves crashed around my ankles. I was a little nervous about going further in but Jay encouraged me and I was soon holding on to Jays shoulders with my feet unable to touch the ground,
"You've got your water wings on kiddo, you're not gonna go anywhere" Jay encouraged,
"I don't wanna go with my head under the water" I said nervously,
"You're not gonna" he promised "look, you've done this before" he reminded "and I'm right here if you need me" he assured as I dubiously let go of him and pushed myself on to my front "there you go" he praised as he kept a hand on my stomach for support "now move your arms and legs like you where before" he coached and I did as I was told and pushed myself across the water,
"Jay I'm doing it" I exclaimed as I kept my head tipped back to stop any of the water getting in my eyes,
"Well done kiddo" he smiled proudly,
"I wanna stop now though" I said in a slightly panicked voice,
"Ok" he agreed and I once again took hold of him,
"I like it better when I can still put my feet on the floor" I said and he nodded,
"We can go back in a bit if you want?" he asked and I nodded.
We spent about thirty minutes in the sea before walking back across the beach and over to where Will was sat reading a book,
"Will, I swam without Jay helping me" I exclaimed once I had let go of Jays hand and ran the rest of the way over to my eldest brother,
"Hey, that's great Gracie" he beamed "hopefully we'll have you swimming without the water wings by the time we have to go home" he added,
"Maybe" I agreed as Will wrapped a towel around my shoulders and I climbed up on to his knee "the water was really warm" I commented "not like the water in Chicago" I added making him laugh,
"I'm pretty sure most things are warmer than the water in Chicago" he replied matter of factly with a smile.
After a while I got bored of sitting on Wills knee so I decided to build a sandcastle instead. I got to work piling the sand in to my bucket whilst Will grabbed his book once again and continued to read. Once my bucket was filled to the top with sand I quickly tipped it upside down and tapped it on the top. I lifted my bucket to reveal my perfectly formed sandcastle. 'There's something missing' I thought as I stared thoughtfully at my creation. Shells! I need shells to decorate it! I looked over at my brothers and saw Jay lying down with his eyes closed and Will still reading his book. I'll be back before they notice and it's not like I'm going far! So I grabbed my bucket and walked a little down the beach in search of some shells.
I kept my eyes trained to the ground and picked up any pretty shells I saw on my travels. I stopped after a while and counted my findings. Ten shells! That should be enough. So I turned around and began walking in the direction that I had come from...or so I thought. Five minutes later I was still looking for where I had left my brothers but found that I couldn't recognise any of my surroundings. I could feel the tears stinging my eyes as I turned around and decided to walk back the way I just came in hope that I had already passed them. But once again, a considerable amount of time passed and I was still unable to find them I walked up to the top of the beach and sat on some steps that led up to the sidewalk.
"Hey, you ok?" A voice asked and I looked up to see a tall guy standing in front of me wearing board shorts and a t-shirt,
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers" I replied tearfully and he gave me a soft smile,
"It's ok" he tried to assure "I'm a cop I can help you" he said and I narrowed my tear filled eyes suspiciously,
"Do you have a badge?" I asked seriously,
"Huh?" He asked confused,
"A badge" I repeated "my brother said that if someone says there're a cop but they're not wearing uniform then I need to ask them to see their badge" I explained and he nodded in understanding,
"Ok" he nodded "well I don't have it right now but I'm gonna call my partner to come down here with his badge to show you" he said pulling out his phone "I'm gonna wait just over here ok, don't go anywhere" he urged and I nodded apprehensively.
A mere five minutes later a guy with blond hair wearing suit pants and a button down shirt appeared and approached the guy who had spoken to me before.
"See, just like I promised" the man smiled as he held up his badge for me to see. I took a close look at it and realised that it looked almost identical to Jays badge, just with HPD instead of CPD. I gave him a satisfied nod as more tears spilled from my eyes,
"What's your name kiddo?" The blond guy asked as he crouched down in front of me,
"Gracie" I replied with a sniffle,
"Well my name's Danny and this gorilla behind me is Steve" He explained,
"What's with the tears?" The guy who I now know is Steve asked "where's your mom?" He asked,
"I don't have a mom" I said "I can't find my brothers" I told them,
"Your brothers?" Danny asked and I nodded "is that who you came with?" He asked and I nodded once again,
"My mommy and daddy are in heaven so I live with my brothers" I explained,
"Ok" Danny sighed "are you here on vacation?" He asked and I nodded in confirmation,
"I only wanted to get some shells for my sandcastle and when I looked up I couldn't find my way back" I said,
"Do you know your brothers number?" Steve asked,
"I think so" I said rubbing the tears from my eyes as Steve handed me his phone with the keypad on the screen. I took his phone with slightly shaking hands and dialled Wills number "that's it" I sniffled and handed him his phone back and he pressed the green button to call the number,
"What's his name?" He asked as he held the phone to his ear,
"Will" I replied and he nodded before taking a few steps away to talk to who I'm hoping is my brother.
"So" Danno said "Is Gracie just a nickname? I have a daughter called Grace" he said casually as he sat down not he step next to me and lent forward with his elbows on his knees,
"It's a nickname" I nodded "my real name is Gracelyn but my brothers only use that when I'm in trouble" I admitted making the man smile,
"So I guess we'll stick to Gracie then" he joked making me giggle slightly,
"They should be here in ten minutes" Steve spoke as he walked back over to us,
"Did he sound mad?" I asked "I'm not meant to wander off on my own" I admitted,
"He sounded relived" he assured "apparently your other brother is looking for you whilst he stayed there to see if you came back" he explained.
"Here" Danny offered me a tissue to wipe my free flowing tears which I gratefully accepted "they'll be here soon" he assured and I nodded,
"So where are you from?" Steve asked, clearly trying to distract me,
"Chicago" I replied,
"I bet it's a bit warmer here than back home then huh?" He replied and I nodded,
"The other day when I was at the ED this guy came in and he looked nearly blue. Will said that he's ok now but he tried to swim in the Chicago river" I told them,
"Yeah, that doesn't sound like the best idea" Steve replied,
"What where you doing at the ED?" Danny asked,
"My brother Will is a doctor there and my other brother, Jay, is a detective like you" I told them proudly,
"So you have a cop and a doctor for brothers?" He asked and I nodded,
"Uh huh" I confirmed "they're the best big brothers in the world" I added as I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. As time passed my tears where only increasing and the reassuring words of the two detectives where doing less to ease my nerves.
"Do you like Disney princesses?" Danny asked and I nodded whilst quietly sobbing to myself "yeah? Who's your favourite?" He asked,
"Rapunzel" I said without even having to think about it,
"That's a great choice" he nodded but before he could continue I had already shot up from where I was sitting and legging it to where I could see Jay approaching us. I ran as fast as my legs could take me and I launched my self in to his arms sobbing my heart out.
"I got you" he assured as he held me in a protective hug and I cried in to his neck "what happened?" He asked in relief,
"I wanted to get some shells for my sandcastle so I walked down the beach but I couldn't find my way back" I explained,
"Oh Gracie" he sighed,
"So you must me either Will or Jay" Steve spoke as both he and Danny walked over to us,
"Jay" my brother replied "thank you so much" he said as he shook both of their hands,
"It's no problem at all" Steve replied "I'm Steve and this here is my partner Danny" he introduced,
"Cops?" Jay asked and they both nodded,
"Gracie tells us that you're a detective" Danny joined,
"I work in the intelligence unit in Chicago" my brother informed,
"Well you've done a great job at educating your sister" Steve commented "she refused to speak to me until I showed her my badge" he informed making Jay smile,
"Oh yeah, sorry about that" Jay said with a proud smile,
"Don't apologise" Steve shook his head "it's good that she knows about that kind of stuff" he added,
"We should probably go back to Will before he looses all of his hair" Jay spoke to me making me giggle softly "what'd you sat to Steve and Danny?" Jay prompted,
"Thank you" I said wholeheartedly and they both smiled back at me,
"You're welcome" Steve replied,
"Let's hope you can stay out of trouble for the rest of your vacation" Danny joked,
"Unlikely but one can dream" Jay joked "thanks again, we really appreciate it" he added.
I refused to let go of Jay the whole walk back to where Will had remained throughout the whole thing,
"Look who I found" Jay announced and Will turned towards us from where he was pacing and I wriggled out of Jays grip and ran over to my oldest brother,
"What happened Gracie?" Will asked with relief seeping through his voice. I explained what had happened as I had with Jay and Will sighed before giving me a kiss on the forehead.
"This is why we tell you not to wander off on your own" Jay spoke as he sat down on the sun lounger across from the one where I was sat curled up on Wills knee,
"I'm sorry" I sniffled,
"It's fine" Will assured "let's just let this be the lesson" he said and I nodded.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach but I spent the whole time stuck to either Will or Jays side. Even when we went out for food later that night I moved my chair closer to Jays. As much as I loved meeting Danny and Steve, I think it's safe to say that I won't be making the same mistake twice!