Chapter 7: Treading Water

As worried as I am about Grey and his lame vanishing act, I'm more worried about Bell and Max. I guess Bell can handle herself when things go wrong but Max most definitely can't -- it's a miracle he's still alive, to be quite honest. The one that has really made me believe in miracles is Troy -- I thought his lifespan would be a lot shorter.

"What are you thinking about so intensely?" Dean bellows from across our office, spinning around on his office chair just as I taught him to do. "You've been frowning for a while," he points out, having noticed.

"I'm visiting Bell today," I tell him, kind of anxious about it. "I don't really know what to say to make things any better for the Mills family. I mean, they've lost their baby. I'm not great in situations like that," I explain the obvious. 

By now, our entire friend group is aware of the tragedy that happened. Ryan's even delayed his leaving to visit them one more time -- it's kind of sweet and unexpected when it's coming from someone as typically as rude as him. Xavier and Emma also gave them a heartfelt phone call seeing as their babies were going to be around the same age. Again, it's just Grey who hasn't reared his ugly head. I'd continue to search for him but unfortunately, I don't have a map of the underworld. If he's around criminals then I just hope he doesn't hurt one of them -- it's a likely possibility.

"Do you think Melinda's going to eat that?" Dean awkwardly changes the subject, pointing to Melinda's healthy lunch that she placed on her table earlier before her meeting with Tim. She's no doubt complaining about Dean and me again.

I pull a face at him, grossed out by the kale and other garbage mixed in with her whack lunch. "I wouldn't touch it. She's probably left it out for a reason, to fester or something."

"True," Dean immediately agrees. "I forget that she's that special, sophisticated co-worker, hairy companion if you will, that nobody ever wants around. I mean, come on, her naked mole rat of a boyfriend has less body hair than her."

Those two are sure as hell not as lovable as my furbaby companion, Slobs.

I nod in agreement. "I wish Tim would just transfer her to Oklahoma or something."

"They'd have to smuggle her in," Dean adds with a chuckle. "No place will take her in willingly."

"Or they could just send her to a big farm where she can roam free with the other animals and finally be happy," I suggest in all seriousness. It would do her the world of good...and it would do the world good.

"Yeah and they can send that useless, loudmouth boyfriend of hers with," Dean bellows loudly, always in tune with my thoughts -- it's as scary and bizarre as it is cool.

"You two are ridiculous," Leban pipes up from Melinda's desk. "Stop acting like I'm not in the room hearing every single word you two bozos are saying."

Dean cups a hand to his ear and glances back at me. "Do you hear an annoying buzz in the room, Furby?"

"Sure do, Deanie!" I reply loudly. "It seems to be coming from the corner where that fat larva-looking creature is sitting," I say, pointing to exactly where Leban is. "I knew we should have worn bug repellant spray today. It would have kept Melinda away as well."

"If I had a can of Doom I would have sprayed that fat vermin in his bloodshot eyes," Dean tells me, referring to a South African bug spray just to get under Leban's saggy skin.

"I'm feeling queasy," I inform Dean. "I think I'm having some kind of sick side effect from looking directly into its beady eyes."

"Could very well be," Dean replies to me. "Disgusting-looking creatures usually make one feel sick to their stomach."

Leban glowers at us as if ready to leap across the desk and kill us. "You neanderthals are pathetic."

"So is your lousy girlfriend," I chip in, making the situation worse by angering him further.

Dean sees his enraged face and nudges me in warning. "Sorry, Leb," he drawls out an insincere apology, "we tend to forget that you have feelings." Especially because he looks like a giant worm!

"We also forget that you're human and part of mankind on some weird, twisted level," I back Dean up with my own factual statement of truth.

Yeah...we're treading water here. This apology not going well at all. It is dead-ended.

"I don't have time to talk to you losers," Leban mutters, at his breaking point.

"Why is that, Princess?" Dean asks him, pressing more of his buttons.

"Because I don't freaken want to!" He roars, exploding on us like some lunatic. "Being in your guys' presence is punishment enough!"

"Jeez," I say, trying to calm him down while using a blissfully unaware Dean as my living, human shield should things turn violent, "chill out, we'll try to be decent." And probably fail miserably.

"You're never decent!" Leb snaps at me. "You're incapable of it!"

I hide behind Dean's muscular build, disappearing from Leban's wrathful glare. "Dean," I whisper, clinging to the back of him, "did you remember to clean his litterbox? I think he's grumpy 'cause he's really gotta go."

Before Leban can erupt a second time, the door slams open and Melinda walks in, making her usual irritating entrance. "I cannot believe Tim keeps defending you apes!" She hisses at Dean and me like the evil serpent she is.

"Timothy loves us," Dean replies, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, the both of us shooting her wide, innocent grins. "We're a triple threat -- funny, cute and gorgeous!"

"I don't see it," Leban scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest, dismissing the comment.

"Especially Aqueela over here," Dean stares down at me with a flirtatious look and gives a wolf whistle. I mentally roll my eyes at him. I know where this is going. "She's super hot and considering that she's now single after the break-up--"

Melinda bursts out laughing at him, confidently speaking over him. "Oh please! You expect me to buy that?! Jay can't quit his drowned rat and everyone has known that since our high school days."

I smile internally. It's the first thing she's ever been right about.

"Very brave of you to flirt with my best mate's girlfriend in front of me," Leban finds his voice again...unfortunately. What a damn pity!

Why Wyatt is trying to make Melinda jealous by using me is something I'll never grasp. He seems to have a type: mean girls. I haven't forgotten that he's still technically going out with 'Bex the Ex' ever since Melinda chose Leban over him and Dylan.

Dean's eyes widen in horror and realization. He turns to Leban with a pleading expression morphing over his features. "I beg of you, Lebangitis, please don't tell Jay!" He falls to his knees and holds onto Leban's ankles in desperation. "My life depends on it."

"You've convinced me," Leban replies with a cocky look to his eyes, "I'm telling him."

Dean releases Leban's ankles and dramatically places a hand on his forehead while staring up at the office ceiling in fear. "If I must die young, so be it!"

Everything always has to be a production with this one.

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

"I'm finally home!" I announce, barging through Boss Man's front door. "And I've had a long day at work so somebody better be giving me a foot massage!"

Jay meets me in the kitchen and hands me bubblegum ice cream on a cone, always extra sweet and thoughtful when it comes to me. "Klutz, you're back early. You're not supposed to be home for another couple of hours."

I shrug, uncaring, and grab the cone from his hands. "Tim won't mind," I say and take a lick of the delicious ice cream, thankful that I'm marrying this incredible human being standing in front of me.

"You were only there for like two hours," he reminds me with a look of confusion.

"Two hours too long! Give me five minutes of peace, Jay! I've just walked through the door," I scold him, exhausted from berating Melinda and Leban -- it really takes a toll on me. Work is tough.

"A keeper you are." He shakes his head at me, an affectionate smile on his face before he reaches out to hug me hello as if he has the urge to and just cannot help himself.

Being my goofy and juvenile self, I dodge his advances and duck under his outstretched arms. I laugh at his disappointed face, taking amusement in the immediate drop in his happy-go-lucky mood. "Haha! Miss me, miss me, now you gotta--"

He grabs me by the waist, tugs me forward, and kisses me passionately, leaving me breathless. His hands slide up my back and to my neck and the sides of my face. When he releases me, he leaves me in a stupor, having blown me away.

"Kiss me?" I finish my sentence, still in a hazy daze.

He winks down at me, a boyish smirk on his handsome face. "Way ahead of you, Klutz." He leans down and pecks my lips again, his blue eyes glimmering in mischief. "I took the invitation eagerly."

I laugh, snapping out of it. "I love you," I suddenly say, feeling the deep joy in my heart that I always seem to feel whenever he's around me.

"I don't blame you," he teases in good nature. "So does everybody else."

I giggle and slap his upper arm. "Somebody's egocentric."

He merely smiles before changing topics. "On a serious note, are you okay to see Bella?" He asks me, sensing my apprehension, always ten steps ahead of me.

"Will you come with me?" I pout up at him in desperation -- I need him. "I'm not good at stopping people from crying; I'm excellent at making people cry."

"Fine, but only if you agree to finally set a date with me for our wedding. Every time I want us to sit down and discuss it, you make up some stupid excuse as if to avoid it and I don't really know why," Jay agrees to my request but with a condition -- nothing new.

I sigh in defeat. "Ugh, fine." I'm avoiding it because I want the wedding to be perfect but knowing the people I associate with, it's not going to be the best day of my life like I always hoped it will be. I just want a memorable wedding...in a good way only.

Jay, sensing my thoughts, sends me a comforting smile and interlocks his fingers with mine. "It's not going to be perfect. Accept that now, 'Queels. It shouldn't matter in any case. All we need is each other to be there and then it will be perfect."

I return his smile, already feeling the tension lift from my shoulders. "If I'm not there, if I leave you at the altar, I've either died or I've been abducted by aliens for being the most superior specimen on this earth. They'll probably want to harvest my brains and perform extensive tests on me in order to understand me better."

"Well then good luck to them aliens. I'll applaud them for their efforts but they're sure to fail in their conquest when they realize it's pointless in trying to work out how you operate," he says with a deep chuckle. "Superior, incorrect. Specimen, definitely correct." He takes my hand again and pulls me along outside in the direction of his parked car. "Let's go my sweet, beautiful yet complicated specimen."

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

"Thanks for visiting, Aqueels," Max greets me with a friendly kiss on the cheek. "Bell could really have a heart-to-heart with you right now."

I immediately notice the sadness in Max's brown eyes. He needs someone to talk to as much as Bell does. They have both suffered a loss.

I step forward and embrace my friend tightly, sensing that he needs the love. "How are you coping? Still sore?" I stupidly ask, referring to his broken rib.

"Getting better," he replies, feigning a grin. "I'm just glad that we're out of the hospital and able to recover and heal in the comfort of our home." He then sighs in dismay at a distant memory. "Also, hospital food sucks. It was more painful than the crash itself."

"At least you still have your humor intact," Jay responds with a carefree grin.

Amateur! Is he new here?!

Max frowns at him in bewilderment. "I'm dead serious."

I could have told Jay that!

"Right," Jay quickly nods in response, "probably should have realized."

I leave the guys to chat it out and venture off to Bell and Max's room instead. I find my gorgeous friend sitting against the headboard of her bed with tears in her eyes, her long brown hair a wavy mess around her shoulders. As expected and understandably, she's not dealing well with the situation at hand.

I quietly take a seat on Max's side of the bed and place my hand over hers, giving her the support she needs. "I'm here for you," I tell her softly, my heart bleeding for the Mills family. Life can be so cruel and so sudden and unexpected in its cruelty.

Bell sniffs and reaches up with her free hand to wipe her tears away, the bracelet I gave to her years ago clanging against her wrist. She remains quiet, still processing the loss of her unborn child, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, Bell," I whisper, feeling the agony she's feeling. I move close and lean my head on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry that you have to go through this."

She winces before slowly flinching away from me. "Ouch. My ribs, Aqueela," she croaks, gesturing to her injured side that I'm leaning on.

I gasp and spring away from her. "Flip! I really am a klutz! I'm so sorry!" I panic and hug her, feeling guilty about causing her more pain. When she winces again, I realize that I'm still hurting her. I jump back and fold my arms behind my back -- they seem to have a mind of their own, always landing me in trouble. "Again! Sorry again!"

To my absolute surprise, Bell sheds a ghost of a smile and finally turns to face me, her turquoise-colored eyes missing their natural shine. "How do you always make me smile even when I'm at my lowest?" She murmurs, cheering up ever so slightly.

I shrug, not having an answer for her. "A gift?"

"Death scares me, Aqueela," she replies, beginning to open up to me. "I don't want to accept that I got into that car. I do not want to accept that people are selfish and choose to get behind the wheel when drunk. I do not want to accept that we were hit by another car. I do not want to accept that I'm still here but my baby is gone," she tries to explain her emotions, her voice hoarse.

I feel myself start to tear up with her. "You have to accept all those things, Bell. It will get easier in time. But you don't have to accept guilt or blame because you and Max are amazing parents who did nothing to cause the accident. You could not have prevented or predicted any of it happening."

She stares at me, lost in deep thought while thinking over what I just said. A tear runs down her cheek just as she leans her head against my shoulder. "I love you, Aqueels," she tells me, relaxing into my side and letting go of all the negativity clouding her mind.

I smile, feeling the raw, genuine emotion behind her words. "Take solace knowing that your baby is in heaven with God, never to suffer or hurt and always to be loved unconditionally. Take solace knowing that you and your husband came out of this with your lives. Take solace knowing that your other sweet babies are safe and sound, well, as safe as they possibly can be with Troy and Jezel babysitting them. Take solace in the fact that you have friends and family who are prepared to walk every step of this journey with you guys."

Out of overwhelming gratitude, she begins to cry again. "Thank you, Aqueela," she manages to say through her sobs. "You are the most beautiful person I know. You and Max have always been my rock in trying times."

I lean my head atop of hers and touch my bracelet to hers, remembering how far back we go and how far we've come as best friends, as sisters. "I love you too, Bells."

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

"I don't know if I'm up for this," I tell Jay for the billionth time, kicking my heels in and dragging my feet through the hot sand while the morbid sun blazes down on me.

It's the next day and Jay has stupidly decided that we get out of the house today, out to Lake Superior, a freaken three-hour drive from here. In his opinion, we need a day of fun. I should have known that he'd be in favor of water sports. I also should have known that he'd invite his friends from Africa along with.

"Surf day is the best day! You're going to have a blast!" Goku encourages me, enthusiastic as ever. "Surfing is amazing!"

I'm not too keen on water ever since Dean almost drove us over the damn wall to our very deaths...

"Klutz, I'll teach you," Jay assures me, his hand in mine as he confidently guides me down to the crystal blue water before us with his red surfboard underneath his other arm. "I got you."

Goku scoffs in laughter before openly mocking Jay. "He was so awful at surfing. It took him forever just to balance on his haunches on the board. Don't let him fool you by any means. If he can be taught, so can anybody else, including you."

Oog grabs a hold of my free hand and walks beside me, hungry for my attention, causing me to smile down at him in fondness. "It's true, Eela. Jaykie sucked bad," he says, siding with Goku.

Jay sighs aloud before correcting him. "You weren't even there at the time, Oog." He angles his head to look at me, accusation lingering in his eyes. "Why did you say that they could come again?"

Yeah...Jay is still recovering from the whole 'losing his entire house' thing because of the Dung Beetles.

I shrug, uncertain. "You're going to have to forgive them eventually," I tell him. "Also," I add, "Oog and Gland are adamant in capturing and riding a Great White Shark."

"Great," Jay replies in sarcasm, "I can see it now, we're going back to jail."

"Yay! You peeps made it!" A voice calls from just over the breakers.

My gaze, as does every males' in the vicinity, automatically falls on the beautiful, tan girl running out from the lake waving us over. She's in a pink bikini with her neon purple surfboard under her arm. Her jet black hair is wet and clinging down her back, her green eyes bright with excitement.

I internally groan when the girl runs to greet my fiance first, getting close and hugging him for a few seconds too long without him even noticing -- I'm marrying an oblivious doofus!

"Green monster out to play?" Melinda asks me, grinning evilly at the frown on my face. "This is a first!"

I honestly cannot believe I'm jealous right now. What is wrong with me? Jay and I have swapped roles!

I glower at Melinda. Why did Leban have to bring this snotty snob with?! "Save it, Barbie, your Ken doll is also receiving quite the warm welcoming," I tell her with an amused laugh.

Melinda instinctively glares at the skinny figure embracing her boyfriend tightly. "Whatever. She's ugly anyway; she's built like a hideous skeleton! She's practically a bag of walking bones."

I giggle, entertained by the high school Melinda surfacing. "You're more jealous than me. At least I'm not badmouthing the poor girl."

I decide to get over myself and my dumb insecurities. I don't want to be like Melinda. Gross! That's why I casually make my way over to Jay and greet everyone in a friendly manner, including Ava -- I'm not going to just misjudge her without even knowing her first.

"Got any experience?" Jed asks me, gesturing to Jay's surfboard and then to the waves crashing onto the shore.

I shake my head. "Only in PC games." And even in those, I drown.

He laughs in relief. "Same. Glad I'm not alone."

"You guys are most definitely not alone," Boss Man chimes in, making us a total of three losers who can't surf, excluding Oog and his gang.

"I got Greg!" Leban hollers, tossing a spare surfing board at him.

"I got Jed," Kyle says, beckoning Jed to follow him into the lake.

"And I got Jay," I pipe up jokingly, taking his hand into mine once again.

"And by that, she means that I've got her," Jay clarifies to everyone around us, tightening his hold on my hand.

To be quite frank, Jay's the only one I trust here enough not to drown me -- I'm not everyone's favorite in this group, for un-obvious reasons.

Calvin smiles warmly at us. "You found your soulmate, Jay. I can already see it."

I return his smile but my smile drops when I see Ava narrow her eyes at me as if puzzled by me. Maybe it's just my imagination but it's like I can feel waves of hatred being targeted at me. When Ava sees my confused face, she recovers and glances back at Jay again.

Feeling the uneasy tension radiating from her, I saddle up closer to Jay and touch his arm with the hand that's not interlocked with his. As if sensing my apprehension, Jay breaks from his conversation to glance down at me. He sends me a reassuring smile before laying a quick, comforting kiss on my lips, causing me to smile again.

"Yeah, he gave up an awesome opportunity for this one," Decoda joins the conversation, motioning to me with her head. Despite her words, she's actually smiling at me. She's playing around. I didn't think she was even capable of loosening up.

"Best decision I ever made," Jay replies with his trademark grin intact. "No regrets."

His words and his sincerity behind them warm my heart.

"Can't say I'm not disappointed," Jed gives his opinion. "I trained Jay to be the best."

"He was for a short while," Decoda answers, standing her ground. "Now the title is behind him and someone else can step up to the plate," she shocks us all by defending Jay's choice. "Maybe in a few years from now it will be their kid," she jokes, causing everybody to look over at Jay and me.

Jay simply chuckles, unfazed, playing it off as cool.

I'm putting a swift end to this just like Leban's parents should have done at the start!

I lift my hands up in front of my face as if to stop their interested stares from piercing into me. "Woah! Hold your horses, everyone! Settle down, settle down!" I warn before any of them can jump to their own stupid conclusions on the matter. "We're far from getting there."

Boss Man shrugs at us. "It's only you two stopping you two," he decides to give us his pathetic 'expert' opinion.

I cross my arms over my chest and glower at him knowingly. "You the one to talk. Only you are stopping you from making a move," I tell him, my eyes darting over to Decoda who is busy typing away on her phone again, not paying any attention anymore -- she's a busy businesswoman who rarely makes times.

For the first time in his life...I assume...Boss Man actually blushes, aware of what I mean. "Thanks for just informing the entire group," he mumbles, embarrassed. "Talk about no sensitivity."

"Welcome to my life," Jay says, in turn, earning a hit upside the head -- that will show him just how sensitive I can be!

"She's not even listening," I assure Boss Man, feeling the tiniest bit of guilt for outing him in front of everyone.

"You going to be joining us today, Decodes?" Jed asks his friend in an attempt to spare Boss Man from further humiliation.

Decoda lifts her eyes from her phone. "I was going to but something just came up. All work-related," she answers with a sigh. "No time for fun in this lifetime but enjoy guys," she tells us, placing her phone into the pocket of her jean shorts. "I need to get going."

"We'll organize again sometime," Goku assures her, being the sweet hero that he is.

Decoda grins and nods. "Thanks." She fishes out her car keys from her beach bag before saying her goodbyes to us. Just before she leaves, she makes a statement that ends up shocking all of us. "Pick me up at six tonight, Greg. We'll call it a date," she says, meeting the bar owner's surprised gaze before spinning around and walking back to her car.

"Oooooh!" Oog and Gland immediately mock Boss Man, making kissy faces at him.

Leban wolf whistles, staring after Decoda's retreating figure. "Still smoking, still fine!"

Melinda glares at Leban before whacking him on his arm. "She's ugly!"

Leban, like the coward he is, automatically agrees with her. "Totally, Babe. She's flippen hideous, only semi-attractive!"

I roll my eyes at the disgusting couple. They make me want to barf. It's then that I see Boss Man giving me the same look that I'm giving to this lousy couple. I send him a sheepish smile and shrug hopelessly. "Okay, so she might have heard me."

"Ya think?" He replies in sarcasm and unnecessary sass.

"I scored you a date, didn't I?" I point out the facts. "You should be thanking me."

Jay backs me up with a firm nod before zipping up his wetsuit and putting on his leg rope. "She has a valid point," he says, convinced, "so get over it already and join me," he adds before sprinting into the water and diving under the huge waves, more than ready to tackle the lake.

Calvin shrugs before running in after Jay, with Ava, Boss Man, Jed, Leban, and Goku close behind.

"Go, go, go!" Oog commands, pointing a finger in the direction of the lake. "Shark to catch!"

I should probably tell them there are no sharks in order to avoid wasting their time...but I just don't have that kind of kindness in me.

Gland, FeeBee, and Jam charge into the cold water like soldiers in the middle of a war. Once they're all in the lake, Oog joins them, the bunch of them paddling far out without the use of a single surfboard.

Yeah...they are most likely going to become lost at lake and end up being fish bait.

Anyway, the result is me left with the worst company on the planet -- Melinda Dedic or Satan for short.

I aloud groan in disappointment. "Why me? I've been nothing but a saint all my life."

"Oh please, it's no picnic for me either drowned rat," she responds in malice, brushing her red strands of hair with her nails.

"My invite to beach day must have got lost in all my spam messages from my glorious self!"

The rescue team has arrived to save me! Hooray!

"Oh, thank goodness!" I breathe out a sigh of relief when I spot Troy and Jezel approaching us with four babies. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear his loud, annoying voice. For once, I appreciate his uninvited presence. "How'd you guys manage to find me stranded out here with this witch, four hours away from home?" I ask and eagerly run up to them, immediately snatching Rhys from Troy's arms.

"Uh by making Ramos track down your phone and thus your exact location, duh!" He says in a matter-of-fact way as if I'm an idiot for not knowing that I was literally being hunted down. He rolls his eyes at me and scoffs. "You're so slow sometimes. The only reason why I took so long to get here is because I was getting ready for the beach. I was having my eyebrows and my body waxed -- a bikini wax to be specific."

Now he too has less hair than Melinda...

"Forget him," Jezel says apologetically before changing the subject. "You gonna go in?" She asks me, directing her eyes to the lake.

I shake my head. "Nah. Don't think so." I know it's going to be freezing cold!

"Would you mind watching the kids for a bit?" She asks me before handing me their baby bags anyway, not giving me much of a choice.

These poor kids need a break. By that, I mean the actual kids, not Troy and Jezel. The poor kids need a break from their aunt and uncle, and in Riosh's case, a break from Mom and Dad!

"I would love to!" I exclaim in giddiness and cuddle Rhys to my chest while he giggles in excitement. I take the other kiddies and place them by my feet before shooing Troy and Jezel toward the lake, envious of Jezel's swimsuit-model body and repulsed by Troy in a Speedo -- it's a sight that no one should ever have to suffer through, not even his wife. I cover Rhys' eyes. "Sorry that you had to see that, kid."

Ignoring Melinda and whatever small talk she's trying to attempt with me, I take a seat in the sand under one of the umbrellas that Goku and Jay had put up for all of us. Rhys crawls onto my lap while I rummage through all the baby bags. I take out some spades and buckets before giving them to Melby, Blanche, and Riosh who are all seated in front of me. Meanwhile, Rhys keeps touching every single part of my face.

I cast my gaze out to the lake where Jay is currently surfing a wave. I watch in awe as he does cutbacks up the blue wave, easily maintaining his balance even when whitewater sprays up at him. Seeing the drops of water glistening over his features has my heart doing flips. The way his dark hair is a wet, spiky mess and the way his gorgeous blue eyes blend in with the lake...honestly, he's just super hot right now. He's totally crushing it out there. I'm just grateful that by some miracle he's all mine. Ava can go and bite a biscuit!

"Eela, Eela," a voice calls me, and this time, it doesn't belong to Oog; it belongs to the baby boy sitting on my lap, looking up at me with big, adoring eyes.

"Rhys! You know my name! Well...almost!" I clap my hands in pride. This will truly go down as a memorable day. He's a gifted child and I'm gifted to have him as my very own. "Clever boy!" He's definitely Aqueela The Great The Second!

"Foo! Foo!" Blanche distracts me when she reaches out to me with her little hand, trying her best to communicate. When I fail to understand what the heck she's gurgling on about, she begins to whine before bawling her eyes out. "Foo!" She screams at me in frustration, reaching for a packet of cookies sticking out at the top of one of the many baby bags that Jezel left with me.

Food!

I hand the little egghead one cookie but she doesn't stop crying, not until she's sitting with four cookies in her pudgy hands. Once she's satisfied, she immediately stops her wailing and stuffs all four cookies into her mouth at the same time.

Parenting is so easy; all you have to do is give the kid what he/she wants.

"It's official, I'm not ever having kids," Melinda says with disgust.

Ah, I remember the days when I was once like her...

"Good, you'll be sparing the lives of many men and babies," I reply, bored and uninterested in any conversation that features her big mouth.

Instead, I lean back on my towel and relax. I let out a content sigh at seeing Riosh laugh aloud when Blanche pushes the cookies right through her face...well, judging by the mess around her mouth it sure seems that way -- Max's influence for sure.

This is actually, dare I say it, almost fun...

Just as I start loosening up, I hear frantic screams hitting the shore. Unfazed, I sink back and close my eyes, irritated. "Trying to have some peace and quiet here!" I call back to them at the top of my voice, deafening myself in the process, however, still without any concerns.

"Could've fooled me," Melinda replies with a snort.

My eyes flit open and back to the lake in panic when the shouting bellowing over the roaring waves continues. It's then that I see the enormous, gray fin in the water. I let out a silent breath of relief when it begins circling Ava and Leban. I suck that sigh of relief right back in and mentally face-palm myself when Jay and Calvin, the two who had just rode a wave back to shore, start paddling out deeper again in order to help them.

"I'll handle it!" I shout as loudly as I can at the surfers in the lake, trying to come up with a solution before Jay becomes shark food. The pressure is way too much and I, as expected by anyone who truly knows me, hit a blank. "Melinda, handle it! Freaken handle it!" I yell at her bossily, not knowing what else to do.

"What do you expect me to do?!" She hisses back at me, worried for her boyfriend, her partner in evil.

"Run in there and sacrifice yourself!" I answer her in a 'duh' tone while pointing at the lake with expectation for her to step up and step down from life. "Don't be selfish!"

"Lake monster!" Troy screams above the rest before jumping into Jezel's arms, completely missing the point of the screaming, the shark fin, and freaking out about a slimy piece of driftwood floating past instead. "Jay, shred those waves and save me! And my wife...if you have time!" He yells, clinging to Jezel like a second skin.

Jezel, fed up, peels him off and drops him straight back into the icy water. "If he has time?!"

Fortunately, Jam, Gland, Oog and FeeBee, bless their lack of hearts, decide to save the day (or possibly make it worse) and get to the fin before Jay and Calvin do, and before I have time to shove Melinda in and force her under the waves. To their horror, Gland immediately shoves Leban and Ava under water as if to protect them from the shark. Nonetheless, he's actually close to drowning them as they battle against him for air.

"Stop fighting me, wimps!" I hear Gland yell at them, repeatedly dunking them under water, up and down, instead of pushing them aside. "I'm saving your worthless lives!"

Or taking their lives...

Meanwhile, Oog has jumped onto the fin of the shark, attempting to overpower it and tackle it into shallower waters. Jam just seems to want to surf it. The two are definitely not on the same page.

As I watch the scene unfold, Goku bursts forth from under water with a plastic, and now bent, fin strapped to his back. He's trying to catch his breath while swimming away from Oog and Jam who are still after him. He's kicking furiously as if desperate to put distance between him and them. "You guys are maniacs!" He reprimands, out of breath. "Who jumps onto what they think is legitimately a shark?!"

I've never seen a prank go this wrong before!

"We do," Gland calmly replies, right behind him, scaring Goku a second time -- he managed to swim fast enough to catch up with him without him even noticing. "You got a problem with that?"

"They almost broke my back!" Goku shouts at Gland, bold and unafraid -- I didn't think he was capable of getting angry. "Jam tried to surf on me and Oog was drowning me!"

"As if that's a valid enough reason to give us attitude, dawg," Gland responds with a glare, uncaring.

"Relax, everyone, it's just Kyle pretending to be a dolphin," FeeBee states the obvious, only catching on now.

Leban and Ava begin laughing loudly at Goku's misfortune.

"That's what you get!" Leban cackles like a wild boar.

"Serves you right!" Ava snickers, amused.

Troy decides to join in on the laughter in order to fit in, mocking everyone for being afraid, pretending like he wasn't the entire time. "Ah, you guys! You guys are so stupid! That was outrageous! I cannot believe that you thought sharks really exist," he says with a laugh, looking at all of them as if they're all stupid. "It's like believing in unicorns or dinosaurs! So naive, you guys! You were all so petrified! Sharks don't even exist. You guys need to learn to be calm and..." He stops talking and starts screaming in fear when he steps back onto something. "Help, lake monster, it's got me! I'm drowning!"

"Just stand," Jed advises, not interested in watching Troy dramatically 'drown' and 'disappear' in the depths of clear, knee-height water.

"Sorry," Troy recovers, now standing and consoled, "sorry for the alarm, everyone, just a pointy shell, just stepped on a sharp shell. No need to fret over me."

"We weren't," Boss Man breaks it to him bluntly while he and everyone else return to the warm, sandy shore.

I fall back on my purple towel and laugh aloud from my stomach at the situation they all found themselves in, now seeing the hilarious humor in it. I laugh even louder when Troy steps last out of the water with a wedgie intact. Rhys, sitting on my stomach, joins in too with the most precious little laugh.

Troy frowns at both of us, even my sweet baby boy. "Give me my kid!" He demands, unimpressed, gesturing for me to hand Rhys over to him.

I gesture to Riosh eating sea sand just in front of me. "There's your son...clearly."

It's not even surprising that earlier he and Melby were trying to bury themselves. If I had a father like Troy, I'd dig my own grave and bury myself too. Then again, maybe it's just Riosh taking after his father in the hobby of burying oneself.

Jay, looking as fine as ever, approaches my spot and drops his surfboard in the sand. He smiles down at me. "Shift up," he orders. I eventually oblige him and make space for him on my towel. He eagerly collapses down beside me. "Having fun?" He asks with a lopsided grin, turning his head to look at me and Rhys, his blue eyes sparkling and playful.

I nod my head before tickling Rhys again. "You bet I am!"

"When are you gonna get in?" He asks me with a 'you better be getting in or else' look on his face, basically a look that says not to defy him.

I feign a shiver in an effort to get out of it. "It's too cold," I say quickly, sitting up to place Rhys back on the sand seeing as Boss Man has offered to build a sandcastle with all the babies...it seems like they think he's also offered to let them throw shells and pebbles at him.

Nonetheless, Jay sees through my lie. From his position, lying on his back staring up at me, he wraps a wet arm around my waist before yanking me down into him, deliberately wetting me through a loooong hugging session that he refuses to end. "Liar," he breathes into my ear before pulling me closer to kiss my cheek. "One way or another, you're going into the water."

*~**~*

Hi guys! :)

Sorry for the loooong wait. I hope it was worth it though :D If not...I'm sorry.

1. Would you eat Melinda's food?

2. Why has Tim not fired Aqueela and Dean yet?

3. How do you think Max is really coping?

4. Are Bell and Aqueela still close?

5. Anyone ever been to Lake Superior? Thoughts on it?

6. How do you predict Aqueela doing at surfing?

7. Favorite person featured in this chapter and why?

8. Thoughts on Decoda and Greg?

9. Shocked that Jezel and Troy managed to keep all the babies alive?

10. Most stupid character in this chapter?

11. Do you blame Landon for getting rid of Dean by the garage where he works?

12. Can Jay ever quit Aqueela? Is Melinda right?

13. Should Melinda be sent to a farm?

14. Can Leban replace Grey?

15. Who is Riosh taking after?

Have a great weekend! :D

~CJ