Okay, well, Alessia actually knewthreelanguages, to the horror of her Uncle Niko. The first time she used one of my favorite surfing terms, he murmured something about “Great, now there’s another one.”
My heart ached with the thought of my sweet girl ever growing up. When I squeezed her bare feet, Ren somehow read my thoughts and kissed me loudly.
“What was that for?” I asked with a ridiculous grin. This woman still held my heart in her hands. My love for her only grew more with each year.
“No reason. Just, fatherhood suits you so well.” Her eyes still mesmerized me when she gazed at me like this, both of us lost in our own little world. Those two girls were my everything.
I pulled Ren in closer, inhaling loudly as I nuzzled her neck. Alessia started giggling. “Daddy, stop smelling Mama. You’re silly.”
With a ninja move, I let go of Ren and grabbed Alessia down from my shoulders to tickle her. She screamed and wiggled, laughing until she almost lost her breath.
“Uncle Niko! Save me,” she called out. Niko and his son, Jon, came running to her rescue as we all got tangled up in the sand.
“Let go of my friend,” Jon called out, reenacting a Braveheart scene, trying to tear Alessia from my arms. I growled like a bear while Niko held me in a headlock. Jon was the one who dubbed her ‘Alli’ when he couldn’t say her name properly.
Niko and Leyla had Jon a few months before we had Alessia, and the wives had already decided our kids would get married one day. It was true that Jon was way more protective over my daughter than with anyone else.
If he ever saw her crying, he’d stand guard nearby as one of us consoled her, waiting for his chance to give her a hug.Maybe therewassomething to their predictions, I thought as I looked at him, his shoulder-length blond hair swaying as he fought valiantly for my girl. Alessia protected the other kids, but it was Jon who had her back.
“Knock him behind the knee,” Miles called out from the huge double canopy shade we always brought out on beach days.
“Not helping, dude,” I yelled back, barely getting out of Jon’s way before his tiny but bony elbow did damage that would keep me from having any more kids.
Finally freeing myself, we all headed back under the shade. I was out of breath, lunging for a drink from the cooler.
“Geez, dude, you sound like you need an inhaler,” Luke said as he wrangled his two kids.
“You try letting them gang up on you like that,” I countered, swigging loudly.
Vicky and Miles were taking turns keeping their son, Seth, entertained with sand toys.
Looking around, I asked, “Where’s Sofia and the kids?”
Pointing to a guy selling paletas from a cooler he had rigged to his bike, he said, “Dean and Abby cried til they went to get them an ice cream. Which means in about two minutes, they’re all going to want one.”
I chuckled to myself when I looked at our growing crew. Having Vicky, Leyla, and Ren pregnant so close together had been an adventure. The guys and I formed our own group text out of pure preservation. We exchanged ideas and tips to keep our ladies happy during weird cravings and hormonal breakdowns. Besides, we were tired of hearing them talk about their ridiculous Turkish dramas.
“How was Grammy this week?” Leyla asked, helping Jon and Alessia make a sandcastle.
“Much better. Honestly, I think we’re all but forgotten since Alessia was born. Grammy says she keeps her young. And as crazy as the Granny Squad is, their being there helps keep her going,” I answered. Grammy had slowed down a lot, so we spent as much time with her as we could.
I smiled, remembering the day my daughter was born. Grammy cried so hard Mom thought she’d hurt herself. It was a beautiful moment to have the four generations in that hospital room, and it’s a day I’ll never forget.
“Glad to hear it. She’s still feisty for eighty-five,” she said, laughing. “Did you get the text with the funny fails meme from her? Or was it Gemma?”
I snorted. “Yup. Got that one and a link to an article selling a miracle cream that took 20 years off your face. Something about snail juice.”
“It’s snail slime. We’re testing it in the lab at Earth Organix now, too. And at least you don’t get the inappropriate ones anymore,” Niko grumbled. “Gemma is a real menace.”
Ren laughed loudly. “She made me go get her more red lipstick this week. Apparently, she had a hot date.”
We all groaned in unison.
One of the biggest changes in Ren’s and my life came after Alessia was born, and she and Vicky opened Bella Costa Design. Ren had encouraged me to follow my passion for woodworking, and I’d turned it into a small but growing business. That’s when Cedar & Salt Co. was born and I quit my job at Lumina.
And even bigger news: I became a stay-at-home dad and only worked a few days a week. Alessia and I went on little adventures that her Mama didn’t quite know about. That’s how I got busted for bringing her on my board. Ren had learned to surf a few years back and we practically lived at the beach on the weekends. Knowing Alessia would start kindergarten in a year, I soaked up every moment I could with her. Her Mama had taught me what work/life balance really was.
“Daddy, what’s a yeti?” Alessia asked, her head tilted just like Ren’s. She also used her hands when she talked, just like Ren. I narrowed my eyes at my wife, who laughed loudly. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one having secret conversations with our daughter. I’d letherexplain that one to Alessia and why she liked her Daddy’s yetiness.
