A Big Piece

Castles in the sand

Early in the morning the next day

Lorraine's POV

I woke up to an empty bed, though Ed's side was still warm. I heard noises come from the bathroom and saw a suitcase standing at the end of the bed. Still half asleep, I was confused but then I remembered we were going to the beach. Ed came out of the bathroom carrying two toiletry bags, "Good morning, gorgeous," he said with a smile. "You've been packing?" I asked him. "Yes, I figured if I packed before you woke up, you wouldn't have time to change your mind." "I wouldn't! We deserved a weekend off!" I smiled at him.

"Are you feeling up to it?" Worry took over his face. "Well," I said, "I'm not yet one hundred percent, but I reckon the beach air will help!" I tried to reassure him. "I'll go pack for Judy, but first I'll check if you got everything," though I tried to look serious I couldn't contain a chuckle. "You can check our suitcase, but I'll pack for Judy. Stay in bed, it's a pampering weekend for you!" He said quite sternly but added a wink. He put  the suitcase on his side of the bed so I could look into it, kissed me and went to Judy's room.

Ed's POV

"That wife of mine is unbelievable," I though leaving our room. I quietly opened Judy's bedroom door, peeking through I saw Judy still sound asleep. She lay there, her hands holding Brownie the teddy. I realised that she grew up so fast, but when she was asleep she was still very little.

I tiptoed to her wardrobe and quickly got some clothes, underwear and pyjamas and left, careful not to wake her. I looked one last time before closing the door, and smiled.

I returned to our room and saw everything I'd packed spread out on the bed. Lorraine was staring at it, sunken in her thoughts. "I'll give you a penny for them," I said. She must have been daydreaming because she almost jumped out of her skin when I said it. "Ed, you frightened me!" "You alright? What were you thinking about?" She worried me, it wasn't like Lorraine to scare like that. "It's just, I was thinking about... never mind." And then it hit me, today was the day. The exorcism and the miscarriage. I put Judy's clothes on the bed and took her in my arms. I didn't need to say anything, she knew.

Lorraine's POV

Ed's arms around me felt so comforting. I wanted to leave as soon as we could. Today I didn't want to be in our room, the beach seemed as good a place as any to be. I kissed Ed and reassured him, "I'll be alright! How about I start breakfast and you put everything away?" He nodded. I gave him one more kiss and went downstairs.

I cracked a few eggs and whisked them, cut up an onion, a few tomatoes and added it al to the eggs. I started baking the eggs and went to the fridge for some bacon. Both Judy and Ed loved bacon. I figured since we were on holiday, I could spoil them. Took out another pan and backed the bacon.

I heard the pitter patter of Judy's feet running towards the stairs, slowing down as she came down them and they picked up speed again. She ran straight to me with her arms wide open. "Good morning, mommy!" She said happily. "Good morning, honey! Did daddy wake you up?" "No, the bacon did." And I laughed. "Oh did it now?" She nodded violently. "Will you go and get daddy then? Tell him breakfast is ready." She ran upstairs and I heard her yell, "Daddy! There's bacon!" I rolled my eyes. I loved that girl!

After breakfast Ed put the suitcase in the car and I helped Judy with her shoes and coat. She was excited to leave and kept on talking. "We can collect sea shells and build sand castles, right mommy?" "Yes, honey. Now hold still for a second." But she turned around again to see if Ed packed her bucket and shovel. This time I didn't say it out loud. She turned to look at me, with big eyes. I closed her coat's zipper and said "Alright, all done. Now go to daddy!" She nodded and answered "Yes mommy."

I felt bad for being so stern, and I didn't mean to not say it out loud. The emotions were taking the better of me. I closed the door, locked it and went to the car. We drove to West Beach, which took us about an hour. We booked in the nearest hotel, put our suitcase in our room, grabbed our sand castle gear and left for the beach.

It was quite windy and not that warm, but it felt nice. Judy walked in between us, grabbing my hand and Ed's hand. "Ready for take of?" Ed said to her "Yeah!" She practically screamed out of excitement. Both Ed and I started to count "3, 2, 1!" And we swung her in the air. She laughed so loud, it made the both of us laugh as well. She let go of our hand and ran to the sea. "Judy, don't wander off!" Ed warned her.

I put down a towel and sat on it, while Ed and Judy started on their fairy fort. "The fairies will keep you safe mommy! You're their queen," she said to me. I smiled, her imagination was limitless. I loved the idea of a fairy army protecting me, but I already had a guardian angel and she was building castles in the sand with her daddy.

After they finished their castle, Judy took my hand, "Wanna go for a walk, queen mommy?" "Sure!" We kicked of our shoes and Judy ordered Ed to "Protect the fort, Good knight!" To which he responded "I will, my lady!"
We walked with our feet in the crashing waves, without talking. "Mommy?" Judy asked all of the sudden. "Yes, sweetie?" "You will never leave me, right? Not ever?"

I looked at her, a bit confused. "Why would you ask that, baby?" She had a certain sadness and worry in her eyes, but didn't respond. "Mommy will always be there for you, always." I tried to reassure her. I wasn't really sure it had helped, but the sadness and the worry had disappeared and a smile had taken their place.

Around four in the afternoon the weather started to turn, the wind picked up and rain was starting to fall. We quickly collected our stuff and ran to our hotel. We were soaked by the time we arrived there, and Judy was shivering with cold. Ed went to the bar to get us some hot cocoa while I took a a bath together with Judy. By the time Ed got upstairs, foam was flying around the bathroom. "Daddy, you want to hug?" He laughed, "Not with the foam monster, I don't," he said. "Now, you two better get out of that bath. I got us some nice hot cocoa with marshmallows and a movie!" Judy jumped out of the bath and nearly sprinted to the bedroom. "Wait here Judes, we gotta dry off first," I said, hoping it would stop her but she ran off anyway. Ed quickly took a towel and caught her. "Here, little foam monster" he said.

It took Judy and me less than 5 minutes to dry off and get dressed. We enjoyed our cocoa while Ed took a hot shower and when he came back we watched The Aristocats. Later that evening Judy kept singing the songs while we were on our way to the restaurant. It was one of the nicest weekends we'd had in years and it had only just begun.

So this one was requested by @AdaianeSantos7, I hope you like it! Thanks for reading you guys! Like always tips and request can be left in the comments 😊