18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Saturday was our last day at the lake. Unfortunately, Mom went back home with Amelia the day before. They both made opposing excuses as to why they had to go. It wasn’t lost on me that they were trying to make sure Brax and I had some time alone together.

“It seems too quiet without Jane and Amelia here,” Brax said as he moved in behind me on the deck. “It’s gorgeous out this morning.”

“It is on both counts. She wanted us to have the weekend to ourselves before we headed back to the rat race.”

“Your mom is a special lady, Avi. I see exactly where you get it from.”

“Thank you.” It meant more to me than Brax would ever know that he felt that way about my mother and respected her, and her place in my life, enough to include her in our getaway.

“What are you feeling today? Do you want to hang around the cabin, head down to the lake for a bit, or what? The day is yours to do with as you please and I am here to be your humble servant.”

“My servant, huh?” I grinned at him over my shoulder. “What if I said I wanted you to spend the day between my thighs?”

“Then that is where I would gladly be,” Brax insisted.

“We’ll save that for later. How about we have a lovely breakfast right here overlooking all of this beauty and then we go down and enjoy a quick swim before too many people decide to hit the lake?”

While we had a lakeside view from our cabin, there was public access that everyone was allowed to use so that the locals and some of the other tourists renting locally could enjoy the beach that had been created. The owners of the cabin we were staying in and the one next to it had willingly opened it to the public about twenty years before and added the public easement information into their deeds so that their good will couldn’t be undone. I thought it highlighted the best of humanity.

Once we ate, we packed up our towels, a cooler full of drinks and snacks, and headed down to the beach to stake a claim on the spot where Brax had already dragged the chaise lounges to. It didn’t escape my notice that he already had extras set up in case Mel and the kids joined us.

“I love that you take care of all of us so well. You’re the best kind of man, Braxton Halford.”

“Well, you deserve the best, Aviva Acker. Now, how about you get that coverup off and let me worship your belly while I make sure you’re slathered in sunscreen?”

Nothing could possibly wipe the smile off my face as my man took charge and took care of me. Nothing. I kept thinking that the whole time Brax worked his hands, and the lotion, into my skin. “That feels so good,” I moaned.

“You hear that, kiddo?” Brax said to my belly. “Your mom is being spoiled right now, that means you need to help out and make sure she remains stress-free and blissed out for a few hours.”

He was met with another imprint of a foot in my belly. “That’s the opposite of what we just talked about Janine,” he playfully scolded as I giggled at their interaction.

“I think she just likes hearing your voice.”

“Yeah?” He asked in such a hopeful way that it melted my heart into a puddle of goo.

“Yeah, she already loves you.”

“That’s good because I already love her, too.” He tickled her foot and we both watched as she retracted it and then quieted down as if she was being a good girl and taking a nap to give me the peace that Brax had requested.

“You already have her wrapped around your finger,” I teased.

“That’s a good thing. I can’t imagine ever having to lay down a punishment or tell her she can’t have something.” I rolled my eyes and laughed at him.

“Oh boy! Thanks for letting me know you’re going to be a giant softy and make me play bad cop all the time.”

“I like that there’s not even a single doubt in your mind that we’ll be doing this together.”

“I can’t imagine doing any of this without you anymore.”

“Good, then my plan is working.” Brax leaned over my body and took my lips with his. One hand held him up on the side of the lounge while the other held firmly to my protruding belly. I wore my sky-blue bikini with the tie-up straps again because I knew he loved seeing me in it, but also getting me out of it. I certainly had no complaints on either count. Unfortunately, we were down on the public beach and even though no one was around yet, I didn’t want either of us arrested for indecent exposure.

Still, Brax leaned in and gave me another kiss before sliding down onto his knees beside the lounge and dropping a kiss onto the top of my belly.

“Sweet baby J is going to be good to her mom again today, aren’t you?” Brax asked my belly. It made me giggle because my daughter reacted as if she knew he was speaking directly to her. He grinned up at me in response after she gave my belly a love tap, and settled back down.

“What the hell are you doing?” An angry man shouted from somewhere a little further down the beach. I hadn’t noticed anyone out there, but as my eyes swept over the area, I realized why. Mel and her kids were moving quickly in our direction. Rich had been following them until he saw Braxton and me. Then he stormed ahead as he shouted us down.

“Rich!” Mel called out in warning. She glanced back at me when he ignored her. “Sorry, I tried to text.”

It was only then that I realized we’d both left our cell phones back at the cabin.

“Don’t worry, I’ll run up and grab yours as soon as we get him out of our business. I know you worry about your mom not being able to get ahold of you in case something happens.”

If the man hadn’t already stolen my heart, he would have snagged another piece of it at that moment. Braxton stood and moved to the other side of the lounge I rested on. His change of position put him directly between me and Rich as he closed in on us.

“That is my baby,” Rich scolded my boyfriend as he pointed toward my belly.

“And?” Brax asked. He wasn’t about to give my ex an inch.

“You have no right,” Rich started to say.

“I have every right because whether you like it or not, Rich, I know exactly how lucky I am to be in their lives and I plan on being there for a long time to come. Forever if she’ll have me,” he tacked on. If there weren’t children present, I would jump the man’s bones for that. Of course, I would take him forever. How could I not?

“Rich, your children are watching you,” I warned. It was only then that he seemed to realize there were more people on the beach than just the three of us. “I respect the fact that you are here to spend some of their vacation time with them, but that doesn’t mean you get to intrude on my life or my time.”

“So, it’s okay to spend vacation with the rest of my family, but not me? And then you have this clown pretending he put that baby inside you.”

“That right there,” I growled as I carefully stood up with the help of Braxton’s arm to hold on to, “is why you can’t be included like everyone else. What I do and who I do it with are none of your business. I am not going to go into the reasons why that is again, especially not in front of our present company, but I will tell you this is going to stop. Brax and I will leave the beach so you can enjoy time with your kids. I suggest you make them your priority, as they should be.”

“Don’t go,” Gavin begged. “We were supposed to build the world’s best sandcastle, remember, Avi?”

“Yeah, and Brax said he’d teach me how to swim better,” Gwen pouted before she kicked sand at her dad. “You ruin everything.” She stomped her little foot in the sand and my heart sank to see that outburst. Rich didn’t even realize how much damage he was doing. He stood there and stared, slack-jawed at his daughter as Mel moved in and bent down to have a quiet word with her.

“That was not nice. I don’t care how other people behave; you do not treat people that way.”

“He was mean to Aviva and Brax. Now, they’re going away because of him.”

“Shit,” I hissed under my breath. Brax held tight around my waist for a second before releasing me to go to Gwen.

“Hey little G,” he called to her. “I can still teach you how to swim better, if you want. Why don’t you and Gav go down to the water and let us adults handle our business. Then, we’ll see how the day works out, okay?” Brax turned to Gavin then. “Can you keep an eye on your sister for a minute while we do that?”

Gavin nodded his head and then looked at me with pleading eyes that made me want to punch his father right in the dick. I smiled at the boy and hoped that conveyed the fact that I still wanted to build sandcastles with him, despite his father’s dickishness.

Once the kids were out of earshot, Rich hung his head and massaged his temples with one of his hands. “I keep fucking everything up.”

“You need to learn that you can’t have everything you want just because you want it. That’s a lesson you need to be able to teach your kids, too. I am not yours. If you and Mel want to work things out-”

“Oh hell, no! That is not what this is,” Mel cut me off to chime in. I grinned at her before turning back to Rich.

“If you are here for your kids, then be here for your kids. I am not your concern. We had a plan to spend some time together with the kids today since my mom went back home-”

It was Rich who cut me off then. “Your mom?” He questioned in a shocked tone. “I thought she never left home?”

“She didn’t until Brax convinced her to come for the week.” I huffed. “Again, that is not your-”

“Oh, so it’s okay to ask her to pick up and go somewhere when it’s Brax, but not when I asked you…” At the last minute, he seemed to realize just how stupid that argument was, and his words trailed off.

“Like I was saying, I am not your business. You’re here to be present for your children, because you certainly aren’t here at the whim of any of the adults, so go be present for your children. Stay out of my way, and we will fulfill our obligations to the kids because they don’t deserve to have their last couple days at the lake messed up with a bunch of avoidable turmoil.”

“It seems like you all already had their time planned out for them. Not sure where I fit into that.”

“I told you when we set out for our vacation that if you were going to show up for the kids, you needed to give me some notice. Just because your other plans fell through, doesn’t mean that you can just pop in and have the world rearrange itself for you, Rich. Jesus, it’s that damn mentality that got us all in this position to begin with. Start thinking of someone other than yourself for once!” Mel spat the words at him and then turned her back and moved toward the kids who were trying to spy on us even though they were far enough I didn’t think they could hear.

“Go play with your children, Rich. Tell them we’ll be back down to build castles and swim in just a bit.”

“If you leave now, they’ll blame me.”

“Well, it was kind of your fault.” I rolled my eyes at him. Despite the fact that I thought he should reap what he sowed, I wouldn’t do that to the kids. I called out to them instead. “Brax has to help me back up to the house because I have to pee again. We’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay,” they both called out excitedly. “Avi always has to pee,” Gwen complained.

“She has a baby sitting on her bladder,” Mel reminded her daughter.

“She could just pee in the lake like the fish,” Gwen stated.

“Gross, Gwen!” Gavin made an awful face and then stepped back from his sister. “I’m not swimming with her anymore. I bet that’s why the water was so warm yesterday,” he surmised.

“Oh, for the love of…” Mel groused as we walked away.

“If you guys need to pee, come up to the house,” Braxton called to them as we left.

“I can’t believe he had the nerve to show up here,” I whispered as we continued to walk away.

“Sorry, we would have been prepared if I hadn’t forgotten the phones.”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to be on guard and behave a certain way, so as not to set him off. He needs to learn to stay out of my business. I shouldn’t have to accommodate his delicate sensibilities.”

Brax laughed. “His delicate sensibilities?”

“Yeah, you know, his poor little feelings get hurt because I moved on. That is not my problem, though.”

“No, it’s not. I loved the way you looked out for Mel’s kids, even when their own dad didn’t think to do better for them.”

“Well, he’s not the best example anyway. I don’t want them to see their dad make a whole dramatic display because of me, especially during a family vacation. It will just make them hate me all over again.”

Brax shook his head. “Nah, they love you. You saw how Gwen reacted.”

“That’s because she was about to miss out on time with her Uncle Brax. Can’t say that I blame her.” I winked at him.

By the time we grabbed our phones, took a bathroom break that really had been necessary, and put some more drinks into a small cooler, Rich was talking to his kids by the water. None of them looked happy.

“What’s going on?” I asked Mel.

“The idiot got a phone call,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Seems his girlfriend was able to find someone to cover her shift after all, so she wants him back to watch the fireworks with her tonight.”

“Unbelievable,” I muttered.

“He’s going to have to live with his regrets one day,” Brax added.

“Yeah, I just hope my kids aren’t the ones who suffer for his regrets,” Mel put in. “He showed up to do breakfast with them and promised he’d be here the whole day.”

“It’s not even lunch time yet,” I added with a shake of my head. “Let’s go distract them with sandcastles and swimming,” I suggested and Brax followed me down the sandy beach to where the kids were scowling at their father as he walked away. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” I told him as he passed by.

“I can’t win with you,” he muttered.

“It’s not me you need to win with. It’s those two beautiful children you disappointed that needed the win from you today. Congratulations, for once again prioritizing someone else over them.” I turned to look the asshole in the eye then. “That will not happen with my child. It won’t hurt my feelings if she never knows that you’re her biological father, but I won’t allow you to hurt her the way you’re doing your children by always choosing someone else over them.”

“They don’t want me here,” he seethed between clenched teeth.

“That’s where you’re wrong. They want you here, but more than that, they want you to want to be here with them. Kids aren’t stupid. They can tell when you’re phoning it in, Rich. If all you have to offer them is a half-assed attempt, they are certainly better without your presence, and we’ll make sure they forget how disappointing your couple hour visit was.”

I walked away from him and moved to join Gavin, who was sitting on the sand watching his sister and Brax paddle further out into the water. “You ready to build the best sandcastle in the world?” I asked in a cheerful voice.

“Really?” Gavin asked hopefully.

“Absolutely! We’re going to make everyone else so jealous of our skills.”

Gavin laughed and shook his head as if he didn’t believe me, but he played along as we gathered enough wet sand to start building the base of our castle. Before long, Mel came and joined in after whispering a “Thank you,” to me. It was unnecessary, but I understood why she felt it was.

“Auntie Avi, look at me!” Gwen yelled from the water as she doggy paddled closer to shore.

“Brilliant, Gwenie!” I called back to her.

“Mom!” She screeched after she realized Mel was down close to the water, too. “Come swim with me! Uncle Brax is boring!”

“Thanks, little G,” Brax huffed in a playful way before he splashed her.

“No splashing! That’s cheating, Uncle Brax!”

“Well, that’s what boring people do,” he teased and let loose another round of splashes. Gavin stared longingly at them before I finally said, “Why don’t you go out there and show Uncle Brax how to really splash. Get him back for your sister!”

“Yeah?” He asked excitedly before looking at our sad sandcastle base. “You sure?”

“Positive! Go, your mom and I will work on this for a little bit. I think lake sand is just all wrong for castles,” I hedged.

After he took off Mel laughed at me. “Lake sand is all wrong huh?” She asked through her laughter.

“Fuck me, Mel! Who knew building a sandcastle required an engineering degree?” She had to grab her belly that shook as she threw her head back and laughed even harder.

“Sounds like you ladies need a hand with this,” a gorgeous, tattooed man in board shorts said as he strolled over and plopped his butt down beside my miserable attempt at a castle.

“Are you an engineer?” I asked.

He grinned at me and shook his head before he turned to Mel and seemed to glitch right there before our eyes. He stuttered, took a double take, and then allowed his eyes to take a long, lazy stroll up her body. She was more covered than I was, as she wore a one-piece bathing suit with a sarong tied around her hips, but there was no mistaking she was pregnant.

“Figures, I finally meet the woman of my dreams and she belongs to someone else,” he mumbled.

“Actually, she doesn’t.” His eyes went down to her belly and then back to me in question. “She’s in the middle of a divorce and we have the same baby daddy, if that tells you anything.”

He turned his attention back to Mel. “You’re on the beach with your ex-husband’s girlfriend?”

She shook her head and offered a small smile to the far-too handsome man. “No, I’m on the beach with my ex-husband’s ex-mistress and she didn’t know he was married. I prefer her company to his.”

“Smart lady,” he stated before glancing at my messy attempt once more. “Let’s see what we can do with this while your…” He glanced over at Brax in the water with the kids and noticed he was eyeing the man skeptically. “Please, tell me that’s not the ex.”

We both laughed. “Nope. That’s her boyfriend,” Mel stated without giving away that Brax was also her life-long bestie and possible baby daddy. I couldn’t blame her for that.

“Good. Okay, well, let’s see what we can do to salvage this. I’m Trent, by the way.”

“Mel and that’s Aviva,” my friend introduced. Trent’s eyes never wandered back my way. I wasn’t the least bit put off by that. The man was obviously infatuated with Mel, and I hoped like hell she gave in to the opportunity to see that she was still a desirable woman, despite the way Rich had made her feel.

“So, how do you know so much about building sandcastles?”

“I had to learn for my son’s sake.”

“Son? Do you also have a wife?” Mel wisely asked.

“Nah. We were best friends growing up and never really dated at all, but had one wild night of curiosity when we were in the beginning of our senior year of high school. By the time I turned 18, I had a kid with my best friend. We’ve never been together romantically.”

“Wait,” Mel stated. “How old are you?”

“I’m 36. My son just turned 18. Thankfully, he didn’t follow in my footsteps. He’s still kid free and off to college soon. He’s with his mom, but I came out here to relax with some friends.”

“And you got roped into building sandcastles with the two pregnant women on the beach?”

“In case no one ever told you, pregnancy adds to your beauty. It doesn’t detract at all.” The sincerity in his tone as he looked Mel in the eyes had me swooning for her.

“Excuse me,” I think Brax needs some help with the kids. “You guys can try to fix my mess.” I got up a lot slower than I hoped to, but eventually made my exit after Trent helped me up and returned to sitting in the sand with Mel.

“What’s going on over there?” Brax asked as I got close enough that he wouldn’t have to speak too loudly.

“I think that’s fate, dealing Mel a better hand than what she had,” I told him.

He glanced back up and watched his friend smile at something Trent said.

“You know who that is, right?” Brax asked.

I shook my head. “No. Should I?”

“If I’m not wrong, that’s Trent Jacobs.” When I still didn’t know who he was talking about, Brax grinned. “He was an Olympic snowboarder. He won a silver before an injury took him out.”

“Oh man, I bet Mel doesn’t know he’s sort of famous.”

“He’s more than sort of famous, sweetheart. He has a company that caters to all sorts of celebrity clientele and other sports figures. He’s been seen hobnobbing with the Hollywood elite for years.”

“Oh, I never would have guessed. He seemed so down to earth.”

“He probably is.”

“Well, he really liked Mel.”

“Yeah?” He glanced back over. “You think she’s okay with the attention?”

“I think she’s more than okay with it. Plus, it will help boost her ego a bit after the hit it took with Rich.”

“Why is that every time I turn around, you’re giving me more reasons to love you?”

“I’m just cool like that,” I mentioned before splashing him and watching the kids laugh at his shocked reaction.