I set the last of my clothes in the drawer, and jump onto my bed. 

"Natalie, are you done?" Mom asks, her voice echoing past my shut door. 

"I have all my things put away." I respond, standing up. 

I go over to the door and swing it open, where Mom is bouncing Eliza in one arm. Ellie smiles, and reaches towards me. I grab her little body and set her on my hip, "Hi Ellie! How are you?" 

She blows bubbles from her mouth, and hits my cheek. 

I laugh, "Be nice! This is vacation." 

Mom grins at both of us, "Speaking of which, your dad and I thought we could go out to the beach this evening. I thought it might be some fun to ride waves and play with the girls." 

I nod, playing with Eliza's arm, "That sounds fun! I can get this little one dressed, when are we leaving?" 

Mom checks her phone time, "Probably in fifteen minutes. Be quick!" 

She shuts the door, and I set Ellie onto my bed. She plays with the blankets around her as I pull out a swimsuit to change into. The top a purple bikini style, and the edge is white piping. The bottom matches.  Dad will probably have a cow, but then again, shoulders are scandalous in his eyes. 

I put on a white cover up, and but on some black sandals and sunglasses. When I have all my stuff in a beach bag, I grab Eliza and bring her over to a room where her things are. 

I look through her suit case and find a pink and black, ombre, one piece, with little pink sunglasses and a black sunhat. I grab some baby sunscreen and slather it on her pale skin, and she makes snow in her hands as I do so. 

When I have her all done, I put a small towel, more sunscreen, and prepare a diaper bag for her. I know Dad got beach umbrella's and chairs, so we don't have to worry about that. I grab some suntan oil, and slip it into my bag. 

By the time I go into the living room with my bag, Eliza's and Eliza, Mom and Dad are waiting. 

Brutus has on beach clothes, which looks weird compared to his guard uniform. 

"Are you ready little one?" Dad asks, smiling at me. 

I nod in return, "I'm glad to go to a beach other than our grainy one." 

Mom laughs, "I don't think you can compare Chicago beaches to the Destin beaches. I heard the sand is as white as snow and the water is as clear as glass." 

We head down to the car, and load our beach supplies into the trunk. I sit in the back with Ellie on my lap, Dad and Brutus sit in the front, and Mom sits beside me with Ashlen. 

The drive is quick and we park close to the beach. I can see from here it was no joke, the sand is white. The water isn't incredibly clear, but it's a gorgeous blue. 

I grab my things, and hold Ashlen this time as we walk down to the beach. There aren't many other people here, probably because it's a city that used to be a government experiment and barely anyone lives here, but it makes it nicer for us.

My feet sink into the sand as we descend closer to the water. I take off my sandals and let my toes squish the partical's, which feel soft and warm. 

"Natalie, come on!" Mom urges, pushing me farther. 

We make our way to a large umbrella, which is mounted into the sand. We all set our bags down, and set up the area. Dad sets up five lawn chairs, and Mom has two baby beach chairs for the girls. We set a cooler with drinks and some snacks in front of the umbrella, and set our bag of towels and sunscreen beside it. 

Once I set my things down, Mom helps me put on some sunscreen and sun tan oil. I learned the hard way if you don't do both then you get burnt bad. 

"Do you have the rafts? I think there is a sand bar where we can anchor down." I ask,rummaging through the bag. 

"I have them over here." Dad responds, pulling out a deflated plastic raft.

 They are made of strong plastic, and have a border on them to keep water splashes out. We used these at Michigan lake once, and they worked pretty well. Mom and I are going to anchor them down on the sand bar and tan out on the water. 

I grab it from Dad's hands, and pop open the plastic stopper. With a single gust of air, I fill it up. My fingers quickly plug the hole to keep any more air from seeping out. It falls to the ground, and Dad hands me the other one. I repeat my actions, and take off my white cover up. 

Dad glares at me, and shakes his head, "You are too young to where a bikini." 

I laugh, placing my hands on my hips, "Dad, I am turning 14 in a few days. calm down." 

"Now young lady, maybe you should keep you shirt on." 

"Tobias she is a teenager, calm down!" Mom interrupts. 

He drops the subject, but I know he is just being protective. I wouldn't expect anything less after the life they have gone through. I grab my phone and one of the rafts, and Dad, Mom and I head over to the water. I set my raft on the shallow part of the water, and step in. 

Mom gets in her own raft, and the waves gently roll us around. 

"I'll swim you two out to the sand bar, and you can do that tanning thing you do." Dad says, grabbing the edges of our rafts. 

I sit up and watch the waves as we make our way farther out in the ocean. The water moves gently, making it easy for Dad to swim. About twenty feet past the beach, we hit a sandbar. The water is only about four feet deep, and Dad anchors the rafts down in the sand. 

"Thanks hubby." Mom says, giving him a kiss on the cheek. 

I fake gag, "Ew, human affection." 

They both laugh at my immaturity, something that's not uncommon. Well, nobody really enjoys seeing  their parents kiss. 

"Thanks Dad, now go before I have to see any more of that." I say, laying back in the raft. 

He swims back to the beach, while Mom and I lay down. The sunlight creates a warmth across my entire body, in turn making me feel comfortable and safe. 

My sunglasses block the intense rays of sun beating down in the humid air. My eyes drift closed, having nothing to look at but the cloudless sky. I let myself drift off, knowing we are actually safe for once in our lives. 

----------

"Natalie, time to turn!" Mom shouts, splashing water at me. 

I squeal, "Keep water out!" 

She laughs, "Just turn over, I don't want you to be the literal definition of half-baked." 

Still, I obey what she says, and turn onto my stomach. The air is still just as hot, if not more, as when we got out here. I rub my eyes, which are still a bit heavy from the quick nap I took. Suntan oil is still slathered onto my underside, so I don't worry about reapplying. 

My hands fumble around, before securing across my phone. I have dozens of notifications, which means my phone must've finally caught up after the flight. 

Of course, my hands drift to Blake's text before anything else. 

I hope ur having fun in FL, miss u already! 

I laugh, a grin itching at my lips. 

I know u miss me, I'm pretty freaking amazing. 

 I set my phone down next to me, looking through the clear plastic of the raft. Fish swarm around, an entire ecosystem of fascinating organisms. I can see small crabs digging around the water, and little animals frolicking together. It's strange how different this environment is from Chicago's, but both are interesting in their own way. 

My eyes lazily graze across the ocean floor beneath me, having nothing better to do while floating out in the middle of the ocean. I'm only pulled out of the haze by Mom's phone alarm going off, telling us we are done tanning. 

I sit up in the raft, looking at my skin. In Chicago, especially in the Dauntless compound, there aren't really many places to tan. As a result of that, I have awkwardly pale skin compared to many of my peers. My skin feels heated in itself, under the new, slightly darker color. I never would have pinned myself as the girl tanning out in the water, it seemed so basic. 

"Mom, get up!" I say, dipping my hand in the water, before splashing water on top of her. 

She groggily sits up, a red mark on her cheek from the plastic mushed against it, "Is it time to go inland?" 

I nod, looking out to the beach. It looks like Dad is in the middle of cleaning up a diaper explosion, courtesy of one of the twins, but it's impossible to tell who, from this distance. 

"I'll get us out." I offer, looking over the edge of the raft. 

"Are you sure? We could just wait for your father." Mom asks. 

I shrug, "No need waiting, a little water never hurt anyone." 

My legs slip past the border of the raft, surprised by the coolness of the water. I push myself off the edge, and trap an air bubble around my head as I pull the anchor's out of the water. The waves are starting to get harsher, making it harder to handle. 

Still, my hands manage to wrap around the anchors, which are really just long pieces of heavy metal, and pull them out. 

I pop my head back over the water, smiling. The feeling of the liquid flowing around my body is beyond relaxing, it feels amazing. 

"Great, now how are we getting back to shore?" Mom asks, as my body is pulled back up onto the raft. 

I roll my eyes, "Do you ever forget the fact that we both have elemental powers? A little air can push us right back on shore." 

Her mouth forms and 'o' shape, and she face palms. I place my hand at the back of the raft, creating a small propeller of sorts, which pushes me towards the beach. Mom repeats my action, and we make our way back to the others. 

When the water is shallow enough, I grab my phone and the raft from the water, and we step into the soft sand. 

I toss my raft beside one of the chairs, and then sit in that chair. 

"Did you enjoy...sitting in the sun...and doing nothing?" Dad asks, while Eliza bounces on his knee. 

I nod, "It's called tanning, and yes, it was relaxing." 

I sit up and grab Ashlen from her baby chair, and she giggles at me. That's all she's been doing lately. If someone walks, she giggles. If someone laughs, she giggles. If someone screams in agony, she giggles. 

"We are all laughs today aren't we?" I coo, holding her up under her arms. 

She blows bubbles from her mouth, and giggles. 

I grin, "You are a silly girl." 

She makes an incoherent baby noise, and slaps her pudgy hands together.  Ash starts bouncing up and down, trying to walk, even if she can't yet. 

"Look at her, Little Miss Overachiever." Mom says, watching her try and step forward. 

My hands mouth so I'm holding hers, and she tries to walk again. Suddenly, her face scrunches up, and her lip starts quivering. 

"NOT IT!"Dad and I scream at the same time. 

She bursts into tears, and you can hear the audible brrr from her diaper. 

Mom sighs, "I already cleaned up one explosion today, Brutus, do you mind." 

He look over, eyes wide, "I, er, guess I could. I haven't changed a diaper in fifteen years, all my kids are grown up." 

I hand the sobbing Ashlen to Brutus, and he grabs the diaper bag, before sitting down at our to-go changing station. 

"On that note, Natalie, do you want to boogie board?" Dad asks, standing up. 

Mom takes Eliza from his arms, "Go do that father-daughter bonding business." 

I shrug, "Why not? Where are the boogie boards?" 

Dad pulls out two, one blue, and one turquoise, which he hands to me. I head to the water, still smiling. 

Who knew, travelling a few hundred miles south, and having a little bit of warm weather, could make you a thousand times happier.