“Babe” I felt a tap on my shoulder but was too comfortable in my warm blankets to move or open my eyes.
“Babe…babe!…babe!!!” Tap after tap and whine after whine, I finally came to my senses and realized that it was my husband nudging my shoulder and calling for me. I opened my tired eyes and saw him leaning over me with his scruffy chin, brown eyes, gorgeous smile, and his half brown half blonde hair sticking to his face.
“Mmmm good morning Jack. Bit of a warning, I slept with my mouth open so I probably have crappy morning breath today. No kisses needed.”
“Oh come on Y/N, you know I’m gonna kiss you anyway.” He said with a goofy smile and even though I warned him, he still planted one on my lips. Jack and I have been married for 7 years, and this has been a morning ritual ever since we were engaged.
“Have I ever told you that I love you?”
I grabbed his face and kissed him again, not caring about any bad breath I had, “maybe once or twice, or a couple thousand times, Jack.”
Jack laid down beside me and pulled me into his chest. We stayed all snuggled up for a few moments, enjoying each other’s warmth, until I heard muffled sounds coming from the room that was next to us. Not even a minute later, our bedroom door opened and in came running Andrew, our beautiful 5 year old son.
“Mommy! Daddy!” He jumped onto our bed and landed in between us. I still couldn't get over how much Andrew looked like his father. He even started talking about wanting to dye his hair like Jack’s just the other day.
“Hey kiddo! Did you sleep good?” Jack asked him.
“Oh yeah! I even had the best dream EVER!” excitement clearly heard in his voice as he spoke to us.
Now I was curious, “and what was your dream about, Drew?” I asked him.
“Me and you and daddy all went to the beach and we built a sand castle and me and daddy swam in the water and I saw so many fish and then we got ice cream and I had my favourite flavour, chocolate fudge!!!” Andrew was so excited about his dream and had said it so fast, he was almost out of breath by the end of it.
“Well,” I said looking out the window, “Drew, it is nice and hot and sunny out today. How about we actually go to the beach today?”
In the blink of an eye, Andrew was jumping on our bed screaming “yes yes yes!” and then bolting out of our room to get his things prepared.
I giggled at our boy’s excitement, and looked at Jack who gave me a fake sad face. “Good going, Y/N. Now we have to get out of bed before noon all cause of you.”
———————
“Mommy! Look what you did! You made the left wall fall down! Now the enemies can get in!” Andrew whined at me after I accidentally knocked over a wall of our sand castle.
“Yeah mommy! Look what you did!” Jack ganged up on me and playfully hit me on the shoulder.
“Oh whatever you cry babies! Look the waves are picking up now, why don't you two go in the water. I’ll stay here with our stuff.”
Andrew rose from his spot and grabbed Jack’s hand immediately and ran with him to the water. I watched as the two of them splashed around in the water having the most fun. I loved seeing those two having fun because Jack was still touring with All Time Low quite a bit and I knew that Andrew always loved when his father was home for extended periods so they could have this much fun.
I heard Andrew shriek a little and jump into Jack’s arms, pointing to something in the water. Me being the paranoid parent, thought that there was something dangerous in the water and started getting nervous, until I saw Jack comforting our son. The two of them spoke quietly to each other so I didn't hear what they were saying, but they were looking down in the water, pointing in various spots. Jack eventually let go of Andrew and Andrew started jumping in the water again.
He looked up at me, getting pushed by the waves, “mommy! Guess what! There’s fish here and daddy said they wont hurt me! They’re so friendly!”
“That's so cool Andrew! Just watch out for the big waves!” I warned him to be more cautious.
He returned his gaze back to the fish swimming underneath him just as soon as a big wave came towards him. It wasn't a huge wave, but it was definitely taller than Andrew. When the wave hit, I lost sight of him for a second or two until he resurfaced, coughing from the water.
Jack ran to his aid right away and carried him out over to me. I wrapped him up in a towel and sat him on my lap until he stopped coughing.
“Buddy, you gotta be more careful when we’re in the water,” Jack said to him and Andrew simply nodded at him, still coughing, “cause I dont know what I’d do if something were to happen to my special boy.”
Andrew leaned over to Jack and grabbed his neck, hugging him, “I know daddy. Thank you for saving me. I love you, even when you’re away with the band.”
Jack looked at me with an expression that couldnt be defined by any words. Just pure happiness in his eyes when Andrew said those things to him. I knew how much it meant to Jack to be a father, and after hearing that, it seemed like he finally knew that he was a great father.
Jack squeezed his son back before giving him a kiss on his cheek, “I love you too buddy.”
Andrew seemed to be better so I knew what he would probably want now. “Hey Drew? I remember something else happening in your dream you told us about…”
I waited while he stared off into nowhere thinking about his dream. Then his head perked up, “ice cream?” he said hopefully.
“Mmmm I could really go for some ice cream now!” Jack said to Andrew, and I nodded in agreement.
Jack and I packed up our things while Andrew anxiously waited. With our bags and towels in hand, Jack and I stood on opposite sides of our son, holding his hands, and swinging him in between us while going to get the best child I could ask for his special dessert.
