"Hey, Al."
Dave looked up from the water when Liz stepped out onto the patio with two cups of coffee and her phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder. Leaning against the pool skimmer in his hands, he smiled a thank you when she set a cup on the table nearest him and jumped when she laid a loud swat on his ass as she walked by. Feigning injury, he rubbed at the spot her hand had been while continuing his task of trying to fish his shorts out of the bottom of the pool.
"They're all still asleep in the playroom... Oh, stop. You know we don't mind having the kids overnight... Yeah? That sounds fun! I don't think we have any plans yet. I need to check with Dave, though."
Swearing quietly to himself while glaring down into the water, he tossed aside the skimmer and stripped off his shirt. He noticed Liz set down the towel she had just picked up and slowly perch at the foot of a lounge chair, reducing her replies to Allison's conversation to just soft hums as he stepped around the corner of the pool to the stairs in just the black boxers he'd slept in.
He glanced back at the quiet house before wading into the water, confirming that it was still too early for any of their kids or the visiting Hawkins' kids to be awake and dove to retrieve the clothes they'd left in the bottom of the pool the night before.
By the time he surfaced and shook the water from his eyes, her phone was face down beside her and she was casually sipping away at her coffee. "The Hawkins' want to throw a Halloween party."
He tossed the clothes into a soggy heap on the concrete beside her, "Yeah? That's our anniversary."
"Is it?" she took another long sip and raised a brow at him from over the rim of her mug.
Sensing the challenge hidden in her teasing, he lifted himself out of the water enough to reach for her ankle, "Get in here with me."
She set her coffee down at her feet and gently kicked his hand away, "You expect me to just willingly saunter in there after what you did to me last night?"
"I seem to recall you enjoying yourself, Elizabeth," he taunted while swimming to meet her at the pool's steps.
Her lips pursed into an irritated smile, but she dipped her feet into the water all the same. He waited until the hem of her robe began to float on the surface before pulling her in against him.
"We're gonna have to get this pool cleaned," she sighed when he mouthed at her collarbone, making him chuckle.
"You want me to be your pool boy, baby?"
Her laugh made his heart flutter, but the way she wrapped herself around him as he swam them to the deep end made it pound. A year ago he'd been frantically packing his drum kits and band shirts into boxes, trying to finalize the deal on the house before Liz could change her mind, but now...
He took a deep breath and dragged her under the surface with him, grinning when she blinked against the chlorine sting and her hair floating in her face. Her robe drifted up around her waist, sending his stare to the black silk shorts she'd thrown on to say goodbye to Taylor and Wiley just hours ago and as she peeked out from the dark red strands swirling around her, she smiled back at him with a hint of bemusement. Until he tugged her back through the water and smashed his lips against hers.
It seemed like an awesome idea at the moment, something straight out of one of her movies, but when the sting reached his sinuses and her hands gripped his shoulders in a panic, he lifted her to the surface by her waist and hurried to follow. Leaning against the ledge in a harmony of spluttering coughs, he heard her manage a laugh.
"That wasn't as romantic as I thought it'd be," he choked out.
"A for effort, dude," her words started low and ended in a loud squawk when a blast of icy cold water splashed against her face.
A split second passed before he was gifted with a face full of freezing water himself and bellowed a sharp, "Shit!" just before looking up into the face of their attackers.
Jack and Annabelle screeched loudly and ran off with their super-soakers high in the air, but Violet and Harper held firm on the ledge with their aim directly on their father.
"Make us breakfast and we'll cease-fire," Violet announced.
"Hey," he raised his hands in surrender and glanced over at Liz laughing into her hand, "We don't want any trouble. We were just-"
"Trying to drown each other?" Harper cocked her water gun and her hip at the same time, "Yeah, we saw."
Dave cleared his throat and tried to ignore Liz's awkward giggle, "Yeah. Yup. That's... exactly what we were doing."
After being allowed to peacefully leave the pool, Dave wandered into the kitchen with his empty coffee mug, surprised to find Shane already awake and hunkered over a bowl of cereal at the breakfast bar.
"Hey, man! What's up?"
His blonde head snapped upright as he nearly shouted, "Just for the record, I had nothing to do with the squirt guns!"
Dave chuckled and headed straight for the coffee maker, "It's all right, dude. We were already in the pool anyway."
Sinking in relief, Shane grabbed the box of cereal in front of him and refilled one of the Grohl's large mixing bowls before digging in again. Dave found himself fascinated by the 3/4-sized Taylor in his kitchen and how similar their mannerisms were. It was like he was staring back in time at a younger Taylor sitting on their tour bus, putting away an entire box of sugar-loaded cereal and still boasting a set of abs.
Liz slid her way across the deck at that moment, making them both look up when she nearly slammed into the glass door with a loud laugh. Her black robe was still soaked, clinging to her like a second pair of skin and making it clear that she had skipped putting a bra on that morning.
"Hi guys," she said softly while gingerly tiptoeing across the tile floor, "Just gonna change and then I'll start breakfast."
Dave smiled at her, then continued sipping at his coffee while watching Shane's face. The spoon loaded down with cereal had halted halfway to his face and his mouth hung wide open as a deep crimson blush spread up from the collar of his cut-up shirt and across his face.
"Yeah," Dave sighed in sympathy and stepped forward to clap his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Me too, buddy."
*
Weekend mornings in the kitchen were his favorite. The speakers they'd had installed above the cabinets were blaring The Four Tops and Liz was dancing around the tiles behind him, throwing strawberries into a large bowl while he watched the food cooking on the stove.
"You think they'll eat scrambled eggs or should we stick to bacon and pancakes?" he asked when she came up behind him and bumped her hip against his.
"They'll eat whatever we put in front of them," her laugh made him look back at her just as she wrapped her arms around his waist, "And whatever the girls don't eat, Shane and Jack will."
"Yeah, that's true," he smiled at the thought of so many kids crowded around their big dining room table then reached for his phone to turn down the music. "Is it quiet in here?"
Liz furrowed her brow and picked her head off his shoulder to look around, "Too quiet. I'll go-"
Her offer to go check on them was interrupted by the eight kids marching into the kitchen in order of age with Shane and Violet leading the army. Harper and Jack were carrying the easel from the playroom and quickly unfolded it on the other side of the island from where Dave and Liz were watching with wary amusement.
"I'm getting some heavy Von Trapp vibes here," Liz said under her breath.
"Does this mean you're gonna start calling me Captain, Fräulein?" Dave had barely managed to get the words out before Liz's elbow jabbed his ribs and Violet loudly cleared her throat.
"We have something that we would like to ask," she announced.
Still rubbing at his side, Dave met Liz's cautious look, "O... kay?"
Annabelle stepped forward as Harper flipped back the first page on their easel pad to reveal a bar chart colored in with crayon. "We've looked at the data and concluded that this is one of the least crowded weekends of the year for Disneyland."
Both Dave and Liz took a breath to speak, but Jack beat them to it, "We all agreed on it, Mom," he insisted, "We promise not to fight for even a second while we're there!"
"He means that we agreed to stick to just the Disneyland park and not California Adventure," Violet clarified with a not-so-discreet glare at Shane when he rolled his eyes.
"And look, Daddy!" Phee chirped, bouncing around the island to hand a sheet of paper to Dave, "If we take the big road to the beach road, we can be there before snack time!"
Eyeing the indecipherable red, blue and purple crayon marks on the paper in his hands, Dave once again looked to Liz.
"This is all very... thorough," Liz said softly while looking over his shoulder, "But I'm not sure we can just..."
"It's really short notice," Dave finished for her. The way she had set her hand on his back told him that they were both already mentally preparing themselves for a day at a theme park, but the kids had clearly spent a lot of time on their argument and were prepared for debate. So, they'd happily indulge them.
"If we take the 101 to I-5 we can be there by ten," Shane finally piped up, gesturing to the paper still in Dave's hand.
"Oh, it's a map," he muttered, making Liz choke back a laugh before sighing heavily and leaning back against the counter with her arms crossed. "You guys really expect us to take you all the way to Anaheim after that little ambush you pulled with the squirt guns?"
"I told you that was a bad idea," Annabelle hissed at Harper and Violet, who appeared contrite only for a moment when Liz spoke up.
"Well, you guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but...," she waited until every kid was slumped in defeat before pulling the map from Dave's hand, "Your map is wrong. It's only 6:30. We can make it there by the time the gates open if you all hurry with breakfast."
*
Liz was desperately trying to organize eight kids in the chaos of the ticket line while Dave stood by, idling watching her futile efforts.
"What exactly are you trying to achieve here, Elizabeth?"
"Oh, I don't know," she huffed, dragging Everleigh back to her designated spot beside a loudly singing Ophelia, "Not having to make a phone call to Taylor and Allison explaining that we've misplaced one or more of their children comes to mind."
"If I'm gonna get lost, this would be the place I'd do it at," Evers whispered loudly to Phee, who stopped singing 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman' long enough to giggle with her friend into the sleeves of their princess dresses.
"You better not, Miss Aurora!" Liz snapped with a smile and a quick tickle, "Or I'll send Maleficent after you!"
Both little girls squealed, sending the other six kids into a deafening chorus of laughter and screeches. Liz threw her hands up, giving up completely on accomplishing any sort of order between them and retreated to Dave's side, "I bet if we just walk away they'll never even notice we're gone."
"Running wild at Disneyland with no supervision? That's every kid's dream, babe."
"There's gotta be a bar around here somewhere," she squinted through her sunglasses and scanned the massive brick square surrounded by expensive shops and restaurants, "Let's just tell them to meet us back here by the time the park closes."
"Welcome to Disneyland!"
They were both startled by the woman that had suddenly materialized inside the ticket booth in front of them, just as a train horn chimed to signal the imminent opening of the park. It took a moment for Dave to recover, but he stepped toward the window with a smile and pulled his wallet from his shorts.
Liz left him to the details and was about to beg Ophelia and Everleigh to choose a different Frozen song to belt out when she heard his voice rise.
"Whoa, hang on. Don't you know who she is?"
"Ye... yes, sir," the woman in the booth stammered when Liz rushed to his side, "She's an employee, so she and her guests are entitled to free admission to the parks."
"Yeah, okay, but...," Liz playfully shoved his shoulder when she realized what he was doing, but he stood firm and slid his black credit card from his wallet. "We have what... twenty people here?"
"Ten, David."
"You sure?" he asked, looking past her to the chaos beside them. "Feels like way more. Anyway, let's round it up. I'm gonna buy twenty-five tickets, okay?" he told the stunned woman in the booth, "And the next twenty-five people in line can use them. Does that work for Walt?"
"Yes. Yes, sir. Walt would be thrilled," the woman nodded with a bright smile and ran his card while sliding several buttons, stickers, pins, patches, and other random Disney flotsam through the little hole in the glass toward him. "Wear the buttons so the cast members can identify you. Do you need a bag?"
*
Liz chewed on her lip and did yet another headcount while Dave wandered around handing out pins and stickers. She was contemplating renting a stroller in case the youngest members of their crew got tired when Dave stopped in front of her to pin a button on her flannel shirt.
"This one's yours, Annie," he said softly, making her eyes dart up to his.
He'd never called her by one of her character's names before, especially not the one that had such close ties to an individual that wanted nothing more than to see them fall apart. Staring at herself in the reflection of his aviators, she remembered what Violet had told her the very first time they'd met out on the grassy lawn at CalJam, "Your face was everywhere last time Dad took us to Disneyland."
She took a breath to say something reassuring, but the words she wanted to tell him stalled in her throat just as the gates to the park slid open.