“Rise and shine, you beautiful bumpkins!”
I turned on the light to Sandy’s room and she hunkered deeply beneath her covers. I shook my head and turned around, walking quickly toward Cody’s room. I eased his light on since he definitely wasn’t a morning person, and when he turned to face me, he had to brush his extensively long hair out of the way.
“Hi,” he said groggily.
I smiled. “Hey there, handsome. It’s breakfast time. Clean yourself up and I’ve got plates of food downstairs.”
Sandy groaned. “Five more minutes.”
I giggled. “In five more minutes, I’ll eat your food.”
Sandy leapt out of her bed. “Coming!”
I cackled with laughter as the kiddos rushed around and got cleaned up for the day. It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning and I couldn’t wait to get them out in the backyard. Normally, our routines consisted of breakfast, a nice quiet morning, and then afternoon activities. But today was supposed to have some pretty serious thunderstorms after lunch, so I wanted to get them outside before the harsh winds and rain kicked up.
“Sandy! Cody!” I yelled as I walked into the kitchen, “your food’s getting cold!”
The kids skidded into the kitchen in fuzzy socks that made them slide across the floor. I giggled with delight as they soared toward the beautiful marble table their parents had purchased last month. They sat perfectly down into their seats and dug into the cheesy scrambled eggs and chocolate chip pancakes I had whipped up for them when I had gotten to the house an hour ago.
And after we all finished eating, I shuffled them back upstairs to get changed into their bathing suits.
“Make sure to put on sunscreen, too!” I exclaimed.
“Cody! Where’s my sunscreen?” Sandy called out.
“Sandy, did you take my sunscreen!?”
I rolled my eyes as I walked up the stairs. “All right, let me help you guys find the sunscreen!”
After tracking down the two bottles to their parent’s bedroom of all places, I made my way downstairs to clean up the kitchen. I knew it would take Sandy at least twenty minutes to pick out which bathing suit she wanted to wear, so I had enough time to toss everything into the dishwasher. The hot sun streamed through the kitchen window, causing the pool to glisten as if it were filled with crystals. I made up a small plate of snacks and snatched up some drinks before I walked them outside to set up a nice little side-table with niblets and things to sip on while they splashed around.
And as I walked over to lay in one of the lounge chairs by the pool, the family’s border collie, Max, barked as he raced for me. I bent down and took him into my arms, allowing his soft fur to comfort me.
“Cannonball!”
Cody raced past me and splashed his way into the pool as loudly as he was brazen. I picked up Max in my arms and sat in a chair by the side of the pool, watching Cody splash around as Sandy made her way over to the steps of the pool. She eased herself in and cracked open a book she had in her hand, and the moment caused me to smile. Sandy and Cody were both so carefree.
A pang of jealousy coursed through my body as a memory came crashing back to my mind.
“No! Stop!”
Dad growled. “Come on, Molly. No need to fight.”
“Mom! No! Someone help me!”
He wrenched my hair, tossing me into the back seat of his car. “Shut up, Molly, before I make you regret this decision.”
“I didn’t even do anything!” I shrieked.
“Miss Molly?” Cody asked.
His innocent little voice ripped me from the recesses of my mind. “Yes, honey?”
“Does Max wanna get in?”
The dog turned his nose up at me and I gazed into his eyes. “Whaddaya say, boy? Wanna go swim?”
And that was all I had to say.
Max leapt from my arms, scurried across what little concrete there was, and jumped straight at Cody’s face. Cody caught him in his arms before the two of them went under, and when they both resurfaced, they swam around. I peeked over at Sandy and watched as she mindlessly flipped a page in her book. I grinned as I picked up a grape and plopped it against my tongue, chewing it and savoring it as the sun beat against my shoulders.
Leave it to my father to ruin a perfectly good Saturday morning.
As I drew in a deep breath to calm my heart, I heard something way off in the distance. The popping sounds gave me pause as Sandy whipped her head up from her book. Max went from barking and licking Cody’s face to growling as he paddled toward the steps of the pool. And as I stood to my feet, the popping continued.
Before it slowly grew closer to the house.
“Fireworks!” Cody exclaimed.
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t think those are—”
Sandy looked up from her book. “Can we get fireworks?”
Cody gasped. “Yeah! I mean, we have all of this yard. We could totally have our own fireworks show!”
I shook my head. “Fireworks are illegal in Santa Cruz, you guys. I’m sorry.”
Sandy’s lips downturned into a frown. “Then, why are people firing them off right now?”
It sounds more like gunshots, to be honest.
Cody groaned. “Of course, they get to have all the fun and we don’t. Typical.”
I hated seeing them sad or feeling like they were out of the loop. Their parents did that to them enough with how much they traveled and were gone on business, and I didn’t want them to feel like that with me, too.
So, an idea hit me as the “fireworks” slowly faded away. “Why don’t we make our own explosions?”
Sandy peeked up from her book. “I’m listening.”
Cody got out of the pool. “What do you mean, Miss Molly?”
I eased myself back into my chair. “I mean, there are plenty of experiments that we can do that create their own explosions. You know, like chemical reactions and stuff.”
Sandy gasped. “Like Bill Nye The Science Guy on TikTok!?”
I blinked. “You know that’s not where he got his start, right?”
Cody smiled. “I like Bill Nye. Can we do his experiments?”
I shrugged. “Sure! That’s fine with me. But have you guys ever done the Coke and Mentos experiment?”
Cody rolled his eyes. “Everyone’s done that, Miss Molly.”
Sandy shrugged. “I haven’t.”
Cody scoffed. “Figures.”
Sandy got up from the steps and shoved him and I quickly stepped between the kids. “How about we go to the store and get some things we need for our experiments? It’s supposed to rain a lot this afternoon, so we can totally put down some towels in the living room and do them there.”
Cody slipped his hand into mine. “Can we get snacks while we’re at the store? I ate all the goldfish last night.”
I peered down at him. “And why were you eating goldfish last night without permission?”
Sandy giggled. “Busteeeeeed.”
Cole sighed. “If I say ‘please,’ will that help?”
My face grew stern before I winked down at him. “Healthy snacks. That’s the punishment.”
Sandy groaned. “I’d rather go back to reading.”
Cole clutched his heart. “I’m dying. Someone help.”
I threw my head back with laughter. “Come on, you drama queens. We’re headed to the store to get some supplies for today.”
The kids pouted about as long as it took them to slide on something appropriate for the grocery store in town, and once we all piled into the car everyone was all smiles once more. Cody and Sandy were in the backseat of the SUV the Reeves’ let me borrow whenever I watched them, and they both had their phones out. Bill Nye’s voice filtered through the speakers and I felt myself reliving the better parts of my childhood. Eating popcorn with Mom while we watched his special on PBS. Cuddling up with her and watching Golden Girls whenever I was home sick from school. Hell, even watching Bob Barker on The Price Is Right whenever I wanted to have a random lazy day in bed in the summer raced across my mind as we pulled into the parking lot for the grocery store.
But no matter the memories the kids brought to the forefront of my mind, I was simply glad they weren’t about my father. Because as children, they deserved to be laughing and enjoying their summer breaks.
Unlike what I went through with my own fucking father, who shall remain nameless until the day I died.
