“Come on, li’l lady,” said Jake, reaching for his wife’s hand. “You can sunbathe later. Let’s see if we can’t calm our son down.”
Allowing him to help her up, Lori declared, “I’m not holding out much hope for calming him down.”
“He’ll be fine in a few minutes,” promised Jake. “I’ll take him out a bit first then bring him back in.”
“Be careful with him.”
“I will,” said Jake softly. “He just wants to be more like Josh and Sam. Doesn’t want to be the baby.”
“I guess,” agreed Lori as they reached the water’s edge.
“Jesse!” called Jake. “Come here, son.”
The little boy came splashing through the shallows towards them.
“Daddy, I want to go out there!” he protested, pointing out into the ocean.
“If I put you on my back, do you promise to hold on tight to my neck?” asked Jake.
“Yes,” declared Jesse. “I hold on.”
“Ok, up you come,” said Jake, hoisting the squirming wet child onto his back. “Lori, can you follow us out for a bit. Check he’s ok holding on.”
“Sure,” she said, glancing back at the girls. “Once they see this, they’ll all want taken out.”
With a laugh, Jake conceded, “You might be right.”
It only took them a couple of minutes to swim out to the deep water, even further out than where the older kids were messing about with the boogie boards. As he swam, Jake was careful to take it easy so as not to dislodge his passenger and also to allow Lori to keep pace with them.
“Daddy,” said Jesse, his voice quivering a little. “Me scared.”
“Want to go back in?”
“Yes!” stated the little boy without hesitation.
“Ok, hold on tight while we make the turn.”
With a wink towards Lori, Jake swam in a slow arc then headed slowly towards the shore.
“You ok, Jess?” checked Lori as the ocean swell lifted them up and down a bit.
“No!” sobbed the little boy. “Too much ocean.”
“So, when we get back in, are you going to stay on the beach with Aunt Lucy?”
“Yes.”
As soon as they reached the shallow water, Lori lifted their son from Jake’s back. The frightened little boy clung onto his mother, wrapping his arms around her neck. Carefully, she waded back ashore. Once the water was below her knees, she set Jesse down on his feet and, holding his hand, walked back towards Lucy and the girls.
“Grey!” yelled Jake. “Grab a board and let’s head out.”
“Be right with you,” called back the band’s bass player.
Keeping an eye on the ocean swell, Jake swam back out to where his nephews and Becky were gathered. Each of the kids was floating contentedly on a polystyrene board.
“Hey,” called out Jake when he was within shouting distance. “There’s some waves on their way in. Ready to ride them?”
“Sure,” called back Becky. “Where’s my Dad?”
“On his way out here,” said Jake. pointing towards the shore. “Boys, you ok to ride in?”
“Yeah,” replied Sam confidently.
“Josh?” checked Jake.
“I guess,” answered his younger nephew, holding on tight to his board. “I just let it take me in, right?”
“Just go with the flow,” advised Jake.
Grey reached them a few seconds later and asked his bandmate where his board was.
“Gave it to the kids,” replied Jake. “I’ll body surf in. More fun that way. You go in with the kids. Keep an eye on them. I’ll catch the wave at the back. Looks bigger.”
“Be careful,” cautioned Grey.
“Always,” laughed Jake, watching the waves approach. “Ready, kids?”
On Grey’s count, the three kids began to paddle, managing to catch the wave with perfect timing. Biding his time, Jake waited for the second wave. As predicted, it was bigger than the first. Swimming with the wave, he readied himself to ride it back into shore. Just as the wave reached the shallows, he felt the tug of the riptide from the previous wave. Before he could correct his position, the wave broke over him bowling him over in a cauldron of foaming, swirling water. Struggling to find his feet, Jake felt himself being swept across a patch of gravel and shells. Half coughing and half laughing, he lay in a tangled heap on the wet sand.
“Daddy!” shrieked Melody. “Daddy!”
“I’m fine, Miss M,” he called back as the next wave broke over him.
When the water receded, he rolled over onto his front and struggled to his feet just as his daughter threw herself around his legs.
“Daddy, you’re bleeding!” she squealed, pointing to his stomach.
Glancing down, Jake noticed that he had a long cut across his stomach and that the blood was running down and soaking into the waistband of his shorts. “It’s only a scratch, princess,” he assured her. “I’ll go back up to the house and clean it up.”
“You ok there, Mr Power?” yelled Grey from further up the beach.
“I’ll live,” declared Jake. “I’ll go back to the house and get cleaned up. Must be about beer o’clock.”
“Just thinking the same thing,” agreed Grey with a grin. “Want me to light the coals?”
“Check with Lori.”
With the kids all fed first and then ushered into the sunroom to watch TV, Grey and Jake cooked a second round of food for the adults. While the boys had been cooking, Lori and Lucy rustled up some homemade lemonade and some potato salad. Over dinner, conversation began with Grey quizzing Jake about the progress he was making with the music workshop and expectations for the three days
