✓[It's summer on Silas, so the gang hits the beach!]
=====
"Finally!" Sana screamed from the closet, causing Tzuyu to raise her brows, while looking at her cellphone, sat on the toilet.
"Are you okay in there?" Tzuyu asked tilting her head to the side trying to get some sight of what was happening a few feet away from her.
Sana came hopping with a big smile on her lips. "More than okay! Guess what?" She stood in front of Tzuyu pressing her hands together, expecting some answer from her wife.
"Uhmmm..." Tzuyu raised her shoulders for a brief second before slumping them down. "There is a sale at the baby store? Riley need some new clothes, this kid is growing up a lot."
"Nope." Sana shook her head making herself comfortable on Tzuyu's lap, lacing her arms around her wife. "But that would be good too." She sighed. "Did you notice anything different about me?"
"Oh..." Tzuyu checked out Sana from head to toe and everything looked the same. Was that a tricky question? "Let me see..." She bit her lower lip, resting her phone over the sink and slipping her right hand on Sana's legs while her left one was supporting Sana's back gently. "Have you parted you hair differently?"
"No." Sana bounced herself on Tzuyu's lap, in a way to make things somehow more obvious. At least to her it was. "It's has nothing to do with my hair."
Tzuyu looked at her again. Sana was only wearing a bra and underwear. She eyed at her breasts with a mischievous smile and slid her right hand to grab one of them. "I know, you did a boob job!" she said with a sarcastic laugh, squeezing the breast lightly.
"Careful!" Sana swatted her hand from her chest "They are a little sore, Tzu."
Tzuyu widened her eyes with her wife's statement and looked at her very serious. "Are you... You didn't pull off another surprise pregnancy, did you?"
Sana busted into laughs, dropping her forehead on Tzuyu's shoulder.
"Did you...?" Tzuyu said in a high pitched voice. "I'm glad you did that the first time, but I think it's too soon now, and I know I said I wanted another one, but we really need to talk about it before taking serious action-"
"Tzu, stop" Sana said playfully, looking at Tzuyu again. "No, I'm not pregnant, are you crazy?"
"You said your breasts are sore, and if I recall it right, that's exactly what happened the first time."
"No, silly." Sana took a deep breath and gave a quick peck on Tzuyu's nose. "I'm about to get my period, that's the reason for this..." She touched lightly her breast to make her point. "The real change is in my weight. I'm finally on my normal weight before I got pregnant. Can't you notice how light I am?"
A smile was finally sneaking on Tzuyu's face. "Oh yeah, because I carry you a lot to know that."
"Well, you don't carry me a lot, but I do spend quite some time with my weight over you, so you should know."
"Let's say that, in those moments I'm really not paying attention to that, at all." Tzuyu wriggled her eyebrows with a smirk on her lips.
Sana chuckled. "Fair enough." She gave another peck on Tzuyu, now on her lips. "And it's summer, do you know what that means?"
"Ummm, I'm sensing someone wants to go to the beach."
"You got it right this time." Sana gave her another peck, making Tzuyu sigh in content. "We can get some tan and show Riley the beach for the first time."
"Not a bad idea. But we need like, tons of sun blocking. Everybody is too pale in this family."
"You are more, anyway... like ghost pale."
Tzuyu squinted her eyes with a fake indignant glare to Sana. "Let's see how 'light' you are, Mrs. Chou-Minatozaki." In a fast motion she was up on her feet, carrying Sana out of the bathroom, who let out a little giggle, not expecting the sudden movement.
"I take back what I said, you're not a ghost pale" she yelled holding firmly in Tzuyu's neck and shoulder.
Tzuyu kept a mysterious smile, dropping Sana over their bed. Sana landed with another high pitch giggle, suddenly feeling the change in the air, as Tzuyu was hovering above her.
"You're more a vampire pale" Sana said still managing to sound funny, but with Tzuyu making those damn seductive eyes to her, it was almost impossible.
Tzuyu licked her lips, bending her elbows and knees to get even closer to Sana. She could feel Sana's warmth and unsettled breath reaching her skin.
Sana took a deep breath, not sure how after more than a year having this beautiful woman by her side, she still could manage to make her feel dazzle like that with only a stare. She gulped dry and resisted the urge to touch Tzuyu.
"You know that Riley is about to wake up at any moment in the other room, right?" she tried to bring up some sense to her wife, even though she was sure she was the one who needed to be convinced that this was not the right moment for that, even though it was in the right place.
Tzuyu nodded slightly and inhaled deeply, approaching her nose to Sana's neck, making her wife to feel a shiver cursing through her spine and goose bumps forming in every part of her body that Tzuyu was lightly touching. She gulped dry again.
Tzuyu raised her head a bit and looked at Sana dead in the eyes again. "Yeah, I can notice the change" she said almost in a whisper. "And the beach trip does sound good." She shifted again, this time taking some distance from Sana. "And you are right, I should check on Riley."
She climbed out of the bed, hiding her amused smirk from her wife. She walked to the door and took a last look at a perplexed Sana over the bed. "See you in breakfast, honey?" she said with a wink, not waiting for an answer, and leaving the room.
Sana dropped her head on the bed, sinking with a frustrated sigh.
=====
"Wow, it's been ages since the last time I went to the beach" said Nayeon almost out of breath while they and Tzuyu were carrying a massive amount of things under the hot and bright sand.
Tzuyu chuckled. "And also it seems that you don't do anything physical for ages too, are you okay?"
They frowned looking at Tzuyu. "What did you mean by that?"
"That you are clearly out of breath for just carry some very light chairs, geek lab."
"Geez, Vampira, we've been walking on forever and the sun is killing me. It's like 100 degrees out here."
"This seems to be a good spot!" Sana yelled a few feet in front of them.
"Finally!" Nayeon said exhausted, dropping things on the ground, looking relived to Jeongyeon, who was also sweating and red like a tomato.
"No one playing ball next to us, and there is no frat boy anywhere around." Sana looked satisfied while turning Riley to watch the sea. "Ready to get in the water, big boy?"
"There is also anyone at all next to us" Nayeon observed.
"I don't mind that one bit" Tzuyu said dropping her things too.
"Now we need to organize things" Jeongyeon said in a command voice, like she was working in a regular day at a wedding.
Tzuyu rolled her eyes and after what felt like forever, but it was really just 15 minutes, it was all set on the sand. Umbrellas, a tent and chairs were nicely arranged, as the thermal boxes and bags.
After spreading sunblock on Riley for the third time, Sana grabbed Tzuyu's hand. "Let's show Riley the sea!"
Tzuyu was stuck under an umbrella with a book in hand, but she was glad for the invitation. They were walking hand in hand at the water, reaching the point where the waves were disappearing in the sand. Laura positioned Riley to the ground, making his little feet to touch lightly the sand. Tzuyu held his other hand while they both looked with goofies expression to his reaction.
Slowly they took him closer to the little waves crashing on the sand, and as the water was reaching his feet, he giggled excited with the cool sensation.
"He loves the sea, don't you, Riley?" Sana exclaimed giggling like him.
"Wow, careful!" Tzuyu held him firmly when a stronger wave came, splashing water on their legs. Despite the small scare, she could not lose the smile on her face.
But Riley didn't mind the extra water spraying on him, in fact he was more amused than before, pulling his arms so he could touch the water with them too. Both Sana and Tzuyu kneeled around him, letting his hands free, but still giving some support to his back.
Tzuyu laughed at the gesture of Riley sinking his hands on the muddy sand. She gave a quick glance to Sana, noticing how happy she was too. And their smile was almost the same, mother and son clearly connect not only by biological genes, but also for something else she could not name. It was some sort of energy that made them a family, a unit so strong and contagious, like little sunrays lighting her life. Sana looked at her too and Tzuyu kissed her cheek, like a natural reflex of that joyful moment. It felt great to be a part of that.
=====
"Yo, I finally found you!" yelled a very breathless Hansol, approaching the group on the beach. "You're kind in the middle of nowhere here." He wiped the sweat of his face, pausing for a moment to catch his breath.
"I knew we could not be far from frat boys for too long" scoffed Tzuyu, who was laid in the sand trying to make sandcastles with Riley, only for him to destroy them 5 seconds later.
"Get some fresh water, Han, or you are going to faint" said Jeongyeon approaching them, handing Hansol a bottle, leaving Nayeon waiting for their next move on a deck cards game. Meanwhile Sana was basically sleeping on a chair under the burning sun.
"Thanks" Hansolsaid with a nod to Jeongyeon, then turned to Tzuyu. "And you... not cool!"
He dropped his weight on the sand, sitting next to Tzuyu under the tent that was protecting them in a pleasant shadow.
"Man, it's hot as hell today! This summer is killing this year!" Hansol took big gulps from his water.
"What did you expect living in Southern California?" Tzuyu teased him. "A blizzard?"
Hansol leaned his shoulder dropping himself on the sand, brushing his back and arms on Tzuyu.
"Ew! Don't leave your nasty sweat on me!" Tzuyu scooted to the side, getting closer to Riley, who was concentrated on destroying yet another castle.
"Hey, little Riley, give your uncle Han a high-five!" Hansol extended his right hand to the boy, rolling on the sand, waiting for his reaction. "Come on!"
Riley smiled at him, but didn't pay any attention to his hand up in the air.
"Yeah, I know, the sand is more interested than uncle Groot." Tzuyu chuckled, helping Riley with his little demolition.
"That's not cool, you should teach some manners to your kid, brow." Hansol shook his head.
"That's not cool" Tzuyu mimicked Hansol gestures and voice "Can't you say something else, dude?"
Hansol shook his head again, turning his belly down, getting closer to Riley, "Let me do it, come here Riley, I'll teach you how to high-five."
"Yeah, that's very educational of you, teach how to high-five" Tzuyu snorted observing the pair.
And after a few minutes of frustrating attempts to make the little boy to meet his palm with his own, Hansol successfully got it. "Yeah! That's it little brow! That's a killer high-five, you're officially a brow now!"
Tzuyu laughed throwing some sand in Hansol's direction. "Did you expect any less? He's a smart kid."
"But with a broody mother like you, you never know. Luckily he has Sana too."
"What about we bury uncle Hansol in the sand now, Riley? Isn't that more fun?"
"Maybe it would be" Hansol said animated. "Yeah, I never did that, let's dig a big hole!"
Tzuyu wasn't expecting Hansol to be so cheered up for her idea, so the two adults started to work on to make a hole in the sand, while the 8 month old was digging his little hands in the pile of sand in front of him.
=====
"Sana, sweetie, are you okay?" asked Jeongyeon forming a shadow over Sana's head. "You seem a little burned."
Slowly, Sana opened her eyes, turning her back down and covering her gaze from the bright light of the sun on her. "Oh God, did I sleep too much?"
Jeongyeon knitted her brows, but tried to disguise her worry look with a forced smile. "Not that much, but the sun is really intense today, dear."
"Oh no..." Sana looked down at her body, feeling her skin dry and burning. "Oh crap!"
"Didn't you use sunscreen?"
"I did but... it was hours ago, I think..." She looked at the tent where Tzuyu were playing with Riley, secured away from the sun. "Is that Hansol buried in the sand? I didn't even remember him coming."
Jeongyeon looked behind her then back to Sana. "Yeah, they are playing in the sand for quite a while now."
Sana wined a little more and slowly got up from the chair. "Why didn't you wake me up before, Jeong?" She walked towards Nayeon who was under a big umbrella with an empty chair by their side. "I was so exhausted I didn't notice I slept."
"Well..." Jeongyeon looked apologetic and guilty, walking by Sana's side. "Sorry dear, I was so invested on my cards' game with Nayeon that I totally forgot about you."
"Clearly." Sana huffed, sitting on Jeongyeon's place, receiving also an apologetic grin from them.
"That's nice! It's really cool under the sand, thank you little brow" Hansol celebrated comfortably in his own hole, raising his hand a bit so Riley could high-five him, which he did. "Yeah, you're a smart kid indeed."
"I told you." Tzuyu gave him a smirk, slapping Hansol a little too strong on his belly covered with sand, making her friend gasp for a second.
"Sometimes you so rude that you should be the one going to the Olympics games."
"What being rude has to do with playing sports? I'm terrible at sports."
"Because you are tough, dude."
"You damn right about that."
"Talking about that, we should do some reunion to watch the track and field team, you know, one of our own are over there, we should cheer for a fellow Silas citizen."
Tzuyu raised one eyebrow and faced him. "A fellow citizen? You mean my wife's ex?"
"Man, that's on the past, you should look after it, you know, water under the bridge and all of that stuff."
Tzuyu tilted her head to side and then shook it, letting out a scoff. "Of course, it's so damn obvious!"
"What?"
"You're head over hills for the Sasquatch!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Are you fuc-" Tzuyu cut herself covering her son's hears and talking to a very low tone to Hansol. "Are fucking kidding me? I can't believe I didn't notice it before."
"Dude, no!" Hansol looked briefly in Sana's direction, then back to Tzuyu"It's just sex, okay? Nobody is head over hills about anyone."
Tzuyu looked at Sana too, releasing Riley's ears. "Geez, my wife is literally burned." She sighed. "I totally forgot about her in the sun."
"Did you listen what I said?"
"Oh, sure, you're not in love, your stupid face at every time she calls you it's just because you had a great night with her? Right, how long is this happening? Does Sana know?"
"Shhhh! No, Tzuyu, she doesn't know, okay?"
"How long?"
"Since that day at the hospital, when your kid was born."
"All of this time?! You're really lost for that one."
"Can't you lower your voice? I can lose my job!"
"Why would I even care? I'm not going to lie to my wife. And especially not about that."
"It's just..." He sighed. "Yeah, you're right, I felt for her, big time, but..."
"She wants to keep it casual."
"How do you know?"
"She dated Sana for 5 years, was scared to have a baby and never wanted to get married. You don't need to be a genius to figure that out."
"Yeah, I didn't think about it before..."
"But... why? Seriously, it's just because she is as tall as you? Because she is so damn stupid."
"Hey, don't be mean to her! She went through a lot, you know? And she's hot, haven't you notice that? She's really hot."
"Yeah, that's enough reason to screw her, forget about the part she is your boss' ex."
"That's exactly why we hooked up in the first place. She was devastated, she wanted to drink but I didn't let her, so she came on me, and it was hot as you can imagine."
"Oh gross." Tzuyu wrinkled her face. "But still... you know you have to tell her, right?"
"To Sana? Oh, man..."
"If you don't, I'll have to. And I really don't want to."
"She's going to fire me."
"You don't know that." Tzuyu felt some pity for the poor guy. "Just, be honest with her, better being in love than just being a sex-buddy, I'm sure Sana will consider that."
"Do you think?"
"Well, at least you made Xena forget about Sana, and I'm thankful for that."
"Yeah, I think I did."
"Had no idea she was into guys too, tough."
"Me neither."
=====
"I'm so sorry, Cupcake. I was so engaged with Riley and Hansol that I didn't notice you burning in the sun" said Tzuyu laying on bed, giving a light peck on Sana's cheek.
"It seems everybody forgot about me today."
"I didn't forget about you, I just didn't notice you were too long in the sun. I always alert you about that, don't I?"
"Yeah, you do."
"Come here." Tzuyu embrace Sana gingerly, taking care to not touch her too harsh. "What do you want me to do? Riley is already sleeping, we have the rest of the night to us, and it's just Saturday."
"Oh yeah, right place, right moment, but not right time."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing, let's just lay on the bed and try to sleep."
"That was a nice day, wasn't it? Apart from your burn moment."
"Yeah, it was. This isn't what I meant about getting some tan, but I'm happy."
"I think I have something for your skin in the bathroom, I'm going to get you."
"Thanks, Tzu." Before Tzuyu could leave the bed, Sana pulled her for a lingering kiss.
Tzuyu went to the bathroom and returned with some cream. She sat beside Sana and started to apply it on her shoulders. "Riley was so happy at the water. And at the sand."
Sana winced a bit, "Yeah, I don't think Nayeon and Jeong are a big fan of the beach, but we had fun in the end."
"Even Hansol was being decent."
"Yeah but, he was also a little odd."
"A little odd?"
"He said he needed to talk about something important to me on Monday. But it was nothing life threatening or anything serious like this, but still serious somehow."
"Oh."
"Do you think he is going to quit? That would be too bad, he is such a great assistant, it will be really hard to find someone to replace him."
"I don't think it's that."
Sana looked suspiciously to Tzuyu. "What do you know?"
Tzuyu chuckled lightly "I'm not going to tell you, he is the one who have to have this conversation with you. Not me."
"So you know something" Sana concluded.
"I just figure it out, it's not like he actually told me what it was."
Sana made her puppy eyes. "Can't you give me some clue?"
"You're not playing fair, Cupcake." Tzuyu placed the medicine on the nightstand and returned her attention to Sana.
"Just a clue."
Tzuyu rolled her eyes and supported her head on her right hand. "Okay... he is not going to ask you to quit."
"You already said that." Sana pouted.
"No, I said I think, it's different."
"That's not fair."
"It's nothing related to work."
"So maybe he is really sick or something. And he was just trying to not make me worry."
"It's nothing like that either."
"So what it is?"
Tzuyu chuckled and turned her back on the bed, laying down. "Nice try, but I'm done talking about it." Tzuyu then turned, her back facing Sana. "This is between you and your assistant, not me."
Sana approached her, placing her hand on Tzuyu's belly "So it's something related to me too? What it can be?"
"Sana, stop. God, you're so curious and persistent, I can't believe you didn't become a journalist or a detective, you're so cut out for it."
"I actually thought about journalism at college. But the editor of our paper was an asshole, so I decided to be my own boss instead."
Tzuyu turned briefly to Sana "I think it's was a clever decision. Journalists travel a lot."
"Yeah, and it would be hard to have a family, or it would take more time, for sure."
"Yeah." Tzuyu turned do her side again, closing her eyes.
"So...?" Asked Sana clutching Tzuyu's tank top.
"Good night, Cupcake."
"What Hansol wants?"
"He wants that both of us have a very nice night of sleep, so that's what I'm doing right now, closing my eyes and all of that."
"Tzu, I'm serious, I want to know it before Hansol catch me out of guard."
"He is not going to assault you, Saronica Mars. It's something really silly, trust me."
"Now you're just making me more curious, Tzu!" And more she pulled down Tzuyu's tank top.
"I'm sleeping, can't hear you, Detective Minatozaki."
"Tzuuuu...."
"I'm so sleepy...."
"You're being mean..."
"It's just a stupid jertshhh"
"A what? Tzu!"
Tzuyu turned to Sana and opened her eyes widen. "Do you want me to make you the little spoon tonight? Because I feel you need some extra hugs after this whole day at the sun."
"No, no, no, no, I'm good, I'm sleepy too" say Sana turning to the other side of the bed, while Tzuyu reached her too.
"Too late" said Tzuyu gently placing her hands around Sana. "This is so nice, I want to sleep like that for the whole week."
"Tzu..." whined Sana.
"I'm kidding" Tzuyu placed a light kiss on Sana's neck then turned to her previous position "But just for tonight, my annoying Cupcake."