Lucy woke up and turned over to find the other side of the bed was empty, so she padded out of the room and down the stairs to find Tim in the kitchen.
He heard her before he saw her, "Morning, baby. I wanted to let you sleep in while I got a head start on breakfast."
She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist before dropping a kiss to his back. "Morning."
"Food's almost ready."
"I'll go wake up Amy and Rachel."
"The fact that Rachel sleeps through the night and needs to be woken up now is a miracle. I don't think I've been this well rested in years," Tim smiled and leaned back in his wife's embrace for a second.
"Don't get used to it, mister. Nights are the only times I can get you alone."
He turned around and smirked, "We're on vacation all week. I promise we'll make more time to be alone."
"Hmm maybe later we should sneak away to the cottage for a little while?"
"As much as I love the main house, I do love the cottage more," Tim smiled and kissed her gently.
"Hold that thought for later when I whisk you away. I'll be right back," Lucy promised and released her hold on her husband to go back upstairs.
She stopped into the biggest guest room that has two twin beds. Years ago, Dave added a crib to the corner where Rachel was sleeping. Lucy woke up her little girl and scooped her into her arms. "Morning, sweetheart," she cooed and kissed her daughter's head. "Let's wake up Amy." The still sleepy two year old dropped her head to her mother's shoulder and sucked on her thumb while Lucy stepped over to the occupied twin bed. "Amy, wake up, honey," she said softly.
Big brown eyes fluttered open. "Mommy," Amy said groggily.
"Morning, sweetie. It's time to wake up."
"Is it Saturday?" She asked.
"No, it's Monday."
"I wanna go back to sleep until Saturday."
Lucy chuckled. "Then you'll miss the whole week we're in Carmel. Come on, Amy."
The four year old girl sighed, "Fine!" She scooted out of bed and dragged her feet into the bathroom with her mom and sister to get ready for the day before going downstairs.
Tim saw his wife and daughters come into the kitchen, and the first thing he noticed was the long look on Amy's face. "What's the matter, honey?" He asked and bent down to make eye contact with her.
"It's not Saturday," Lucy answered for Amy.
"You're right, but it's the first day we're in Carmel for the summer which means..." he stood up and turned to grab the plate on the counter behind him to show it to his daughter, "Pancakes."
"PANCAKES!" Amy cried happily.
"Wash your hands, and then we can have pancakes," Lucy snickered.
"Looks like the Bradford speciality is being passed down to the next generation," Tim noted and helped put Rachel in her high chair. He watched his wife pour a generous amount of syrup on Amy's plate and muttered, "It's being ruined in the process, though."
"I'd say it's improved. Us Bradford women like our syrup," Lucy said.
"Syrup!" Amy piped up happily.
"Don't worry, I've put syrup on yours," Lucy assured her daughter.
"More please!" Amy requested.
"You don't need too much syrup. You're sweet enough already," Tim smiled, making his eldest daughter grin back.
The Bradford family enjoyed their breakfast together and then cleaned up.
"Alright, girls, Uncle Sam, Aunt Andy, and Olive should be down at the beach any minute. Let's go," Tim regarded his family.
"Wait, daddy," Amy said and tugged her dad's hand.
He picked her up and was given a kiss on the cheek.
"Pancake kiss," Amy explained and wiggled until she was set back on the ground about to run down to the beach.
"Hang on, Amy, I want to give daddy a pancake kiss, too," Lucy grinned and pushed up on her tip toes to kiss her husband.
Amy noticed from a young age that her mom always gave her dad a longer kiss after pancakes on Saturdays. She started calling it a "pancake kiss" even when her pronunciation of the words was still not exact, and Amy liked giving which ever parent made pancakes on Saturdays a syrupy thank you kiss on the cheek. It was a nice weekly tradition.
Maybe the Bradford pancakes HAD improved after all, Tim thought as he took Rachel into his arms.
Amy darted through the sand over to her Aunt Andy who enveloped her in a big hug.
"You've grown so much since Christmas!" Andy commented.
"I lost a tooth. I'm a big girl now!" Amy bragged.
"You sure are," Andy replied.
Tim strapped on the baby carrier and secured Rachel to lay against his chest before walking down the beach with Kojo in tow.
"Guys, I'll be back in a few," Lucy called over to everyone and waved before leaving. She drove the few blocks to the retirement home where she picked up Dave and brought him back to the house. They walked out onto the beach together to find Andy, Sam, and Olive building a sandcastle while Tim and Amy played with Kojo in the shallow water. Rachel was sleeping soundly where she was snug against her dad with a sunhat covering most of her face.
"I love when you come to visit. The beach feels alive again with you and my grandkids around. Otherwise, it's quiet," Dave said as he observed all the happiness around him.
"Quiet? We haven't had quiet in our house in ages," Lucy replied.
"You're lucky."
"We really are," she responded gratefully while looking out at her happy family, then she glanced up at the sky for a moment.
Amy caught sight of more people on the beach and ran out of the water shouting, "GRANDPA DAVE! YOU'RE HERE!"
"Of course I'm here, Amy. There's no place I'd rather be," he replied, and even though he got wet, Dave still hugged his granddaughter who was drenched from her time in the ocean. "It's been a few months since I've made the trip to see you. I've missed you."
"Missed you, too, grandpa."
"Good thing we have all week to hang out."
"Yay!" Amy cheered.
"Want to sit down? I'll get you a beach chair," Lucy offered to Dave.
"Don't fuss, Lucy. Go spend time with your beautiful family."
"You're part of my beautiful family, so you gotta join us."
Dave kicked off his shoes while Lucy shrugged off her cover up, and they walked into the water.
♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡ ˙⋆ ⟡ ♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡˙⋆ ⟡ ♡
Once the kids were tired out from their morning at the beach, Tim insisted that Lucy rest while he showered off their daughters and put them in bed to nap. So, Lucy sat with Dave in the living room.
At first, he was quiet, just watching Lucy pet Kojo who was curled up in her lap, but then he cleared his throat and said, "I wanted to talk to you and Tim about something important."
"Is everything okay?" Lucy asked urgently. She was worried based on the expression Dave was wearing that something was very wrong.
"No, I'm fine, dear. I...I've lived in the retirement home for about a year now, because this old house is just too big for one man to live in alone, and I think it's time I let the house go."
"You're selling the house and the cottage?" She should not have been surprised, but the thought of no longer being able to come to such a special place stopped her heart.
"Oh, I'm not planning on selling the place. I want to give it to you and Tim. I know how many great memories you've had here. Hell, you got married right out on that beach like 5 years ago, and you've brought your family here every Christmas and every summer since. Your family now makes this house a home, and I want you to always be able to come back here."
"We can't just take the house, Dave."
"I don't want your money."
"Dave..."
"Amy wanted you to have this house. Remember the week you got married, and you stayed here for the next week until...until we lost her? One of those days, Amy watched you two walking down the beach with Kojo and said that she wanted you to come back as often as possible with your kids and your friends, and you have. Rachel was born at the clinic in town, because you came up to visit me when you were too pregnant to be anywhere but in bed. This place is part of your story, and I agree with Amy- it should be yours. My lawyer already drew up the papers. I just need you to sign."
"I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll keep bringing your perfect little girls to Carmel."
"Of course I will," Lucy smiled and reached over to hold one of Dave's hands, "my daughters love their grandpa."
He grinned. "You know, my daughters moved to New York and refuse to ever come back. When I first started dating Amy, I told her that aside from the Swareks and a few neighbors, I don't really feel like I have much of a family. I know we didn't get to be together for too long, but Amy left me in a better state than she found me, because you and Tim are like a daughter and a son to me, and you've given me two beautiful grand babies. You and Amy have made this lonely old man so happy."
"Three grand babies," Lucy murmured.
"What?"
She placed her palm on her stomach and said, "Your third grand baby is on the way. We just went for our first ultrasound before we came to town. Tim and I were gonna tell you at dinner tonight, but I just couldn't wait."
"You-you're pregnant?"
Lucy nodded and felt her eyes start to water.
Dave reached out and pulled her into a hug before he cried a few happy tears, too.
Tim came downstairs to find Dave and Lucy smiling together, and he sighed, "You told him without me?"
"I got excited!"
"Did you tell him we already picked out the name?" He wondered.
Lucy shook her head.
"If it's a girl, we're naming her Davina, and it's a boy, we're naming him Dave. We want them to be named after their grandpa," Tim explained.
Dave cried again and hugged Lucy once more. "I'll never be able to thank Amy enough, you know? She's gone, but she's still the reason I'm so happy."
"We feel the same way. Why else do you think we named our first daughter after her?" Tim responded.
Lucy and Dave snickered, because it was true. They all knew Amy changed their lives for the better.
♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡ ˙⋆ ⟡ ♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡˙⋆ ⟡ ♡
Stubbornly, Tim insisted, "I don't want you to move a muscle. Just sit with me while I grill dinner, okay, baby?"
"I'm pregnant not made of glass," Lucy shot back.
"We've been through this during our last two pregnancies. You're growing our little girl. That's more than enough work. I can take care of everything else."
"Girl? We won't know if it's another girl for a few weeks."
"I'm pretty sure it's a girl. I like my odds."
Lucy shook her head. "Whether it's a boy or a girl, I'm not spending this entire pregnancy resting."
"Would you just let me take care of you?"
She rolled her eyes.
"I can always trick you into taking it easy. Take a page out of Amy's playbook."
"Oh, sorry, babe, but Amy was the MASTER. I don't think you can come close."
"That's true. She really was the master. I mean, she swindled you into marrying me," Tim smiled and flipped the burgers over.
"And look at us now. About to have another kid together," Lucy chided.
The sun was starting to set like the night he married her, and in the colorful sky of oncoming dusk, Lucy looked just as vibrant and maybe even more beautiful than when they got married. "Look at us now," he whispered happily.
They sat in companionable silence as Tim finished grilling, and then they herded their family around the table for dinner. Sam, Andy, and Olive arrived to join them for dinner as they did every night the Bradfords were in town. And though the occasion was nothing special, Tim still found himself taking a moment to be thankful for the people sitting around the table and the amazing life he now has.
Sam and Tim insisted on cleaning up, since both husbands did not want either of their pregnant wives to lift a finger, and yes, both couples found it hysterical that they were both pregnant at the same time and planned on telling each other on the same night. Meanwhile, Dave volunteered to tuck Amy and Rachel into bed to soak up a few more minutes with his granddaughters for the day before settling into one of the other guest rooms that Lucy insisted he stay in for the week.
By the time the kitchen was clean, the house was quiet, since Dave and the girls were asleep, so Tim took Lucy's hand and jerked his head in the direction of the back door. They walked on the sand with their fingers interlaced until she paused to look up at the sky. "I swear I can only see that star when we're here in Carmel," Lucy commented, eyes fixed on the brightest star in the sky.
"You say that every time, but I just don't see it," Tim shrugged.
"Well, I do, and I think it's Amy watching over us."
"If she is, I'm sure she's thrilled."
"She totally is. The only thing she'd be upset about is that we haven't broken a piece of furniture yet," she joked.
"The night is young," Tim whispered suggestively in his wife's ear and tugged her by their joined hands into the cottage. He started taking off his shirt before he had even shut the door behind them, and they made quick work of shedding their clothes. Eagerly, Tim kissed Lucy while backing her in the direction of the bed. She spun around and pushed him to sit on the mattress before climbing into his lap. Breaking away from her lips for a moment, he suggested, "Let's stay in the cottage tonight and pretend we're the only two people in the world like how it felt the first time we stayed here."
Lucy tapped his shoulder to get him to lay back so that she could climb on top of him with her face hovering just above his. "No more pretending. Our real life is way better than anything we can fake anyways. You're all mine forever. For real."
He grabbed her hips and changed their positions so that she was pressed into the bed and his body was stretched over hers. Tim threaded their fingers together, his eyes flashing to the wedding band on his wife's hand. "Real love," he recited the inscription on their rings and happily added, "Really mine," before diving in for a kiss.
♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡ ˙⋆ ⟡ THE END ⋆˙⟡ ♡˙⋆ ⟡ ♡