With a few yards still between us, Mack's already calling out my name and holding her arms out for me to lift her up, running on her tiny tennis shoes to try and catch up with me faster.
"Slow down, kid," I laugh, hurrying to close the distance and sweeping her up. "Hey, Florence," I say, as soon as Mack stops squealing in my ear.
Florence nods a greeting at Neil, watching the way Mack runs to him with a faint, fond smile. Flo still seems content in her arms, fingers still curled in the collar of her shirt, holding on as if she expects Florence to have another moment like the one she's just had on the boardwalk. She looks almost concerned.
"How you ladies doin'?" I say, eyes flickering up to Florence with a smirk while Mack plays with the tags hanging from my neck. Flo's got this tiny frown line between her brows, mouth turned down in a pout, and I mirror the look with a pout of my own, huffing out a laugh when that gets a tiny smile out of her.
Good, Florence answers with a nod, gesturing to the beach with her free hand. She's just taking the girls for a walk, not for a swim, only because she doesn't trust the ocean to be completely safe for the girls.
She doesn't know how to tell Neil she's forgotten her gun and she isn't sure that telling him would mean what she wants it to, anyway. So she decides to forget about it.
He's heading back up from the beach, still damp from a swim, when he sees Florence pick Flo up. He smiles, moving up to join them. There's something so weirdly right about the image.
"Daddy!" Mack crows when she sees him, racing down the boardwalk and flinging herself at his legs. "Hey, baby," he says, scooping her up and grinning at Florence. "You giving your aunt any problems?"
Florence snorts at that, rolling her eyes a little as she looks at the girls and then looks pointedly at Mike. No more trouble than their father has ever given me, she's saying very clearly, still looking amused.
At least Mike doesn't give her half as many heart attacks here on the island as he did back in Harsh Realm.
It's something Florence is very thankful for and she's sure her expression says as much, especially when she cracks a faint smile. Nodding, she gestures down toward the sand with her chin, then looks at Mack pointedly.
That one escaped, she's saying and Mack giggles, already seeming to know when Florence is telling her something.
Some mornings went like clockwork and some mornings...not so much. Today Jack had had nothing but trouble before he finally brought in enough shrimp for Bill to do something with. But his net broke and the birds were thick and it seemed like everything that could go wrong in any minor fashion, did.
He'd finally given up and left as soon as he'd landed the catch. That, of course, meant that he had to go back to the beach to get his things once he'd gotten cleaned up. It was, all in all, a giant waste of the day.
He was on his way back with the morning's shirt and the net that needed some serious repair when he saw the little girl first. A quick look assured him he wasn't running around on her own and he smiled at the woman carrying the other twin.
"Hi," he said as he he shifted his path to give her plenty of room to pass, which only meant he had to lift the net to keep it out of reach of Mack's curious fingers. "No, kiddo. It's dirty."
"Want!" Mack says stubbornly, stomping a foot on the boardwalk and stopping right in Florence's say so she can glare up at the man. He isn't someone Florence knows, and although she does recognize him from Neil's party the other night, she isn't sure of his name or who he might be to Neil. Even now, after this long on the island, she hasn't made the attempt to get to know many people around her.
Lifting her eyebrows, she offers an apologetic smile for Mack's behavior, who seems unlikely to move on her own.
Jack chuckled indulgently and squatted down to get on the little girl's level. He hardly ever saw the pair and the last time he'd seen Mack she had been just as demanding, but not quite as vocal. That was how Abby had explained it, anyway.
"You can't have it, but you can look," he said, pulling one of the weights free for her to look at. The lead was heavy, but the edges weren't as much of a mess as the center. He looked up at the woman and added, "if that's okay?"
It's just a net and so long as Mack doesn't end up tangled in it, Florence doesn't see the harm. She nods, then shifts Flo in her arms and takes the paper she uses to introduce herself out of her pocket.
Rather than offering it to the man, she simply holds it so that he can see her name scrawled across the paper. His hands are a little full at the moment, so she gives him enough time to read her name, then flips the paper over to display the explanation, I don't speak.
With the ITF, with building, it's not as if he needs the exercise, but on the mornings when the girls are with someone else, Abby or Florence or any number of Island aunts and uncles, Tom slips out in running shorts and sneakers, hitting the wet sand at a good clip. By midmorning, he was exhausted and slicked with sweat, collapsed back on the beach with an arm thrown back across his eyes, not thinking about much except his heartbeat as it slowly evened out.
He recognized Mack's giggle just a few steps before she threw herself across his bare stomach, laughing out loud as she bounced onto his chest.
"Hey lil' lady," he said, still out of breath. "Where did you come from?"
She escaped. That's what Florence's expression says when she reaches Tom and Mack a moment later, Flo still held tightly against her hip. The little girl seems perfectly content to stay exactly where she is and Florence has no need or desire to set her down just yet.
Tilting her head, her eyebrows lift as she looks at Tom, sweating and out of breath.
"Uh-oh," he murmured, catching sight of Florence and giving her a big grin. He rolled to a sitting position, taking Mack onto his lap as he did so. He was still keeping the tattoo covered with fresh bandages, but the sweat was making the adhesive slip and he didn't want to grind sweat into sensitive skin.
"You better be good for Aunt Florence. She kept me and dad out of trouble for years and years," he murmured into Mack's messy curls, grinning up at Florence.
Florence gives a snort of amused laughter at Tom's comment, although that isn't particularly untrue. They've kept each other out of trouble, she thinks.
Nodding at his question, her gaze darts to the bandages before she looks at Tom questioningly. What happened? And, more importantly, is there someone she needs to hurt?
Shadow's own little blonde moppet was down by the water line hard at work on a sand castle. He had promised to help do one of the turrets, but Garm had run off after something and needed tracking down. But before he got to the dog, who was jumping at something in the brush, there was a little girl in his path.
One of the Ms. Pinnochios looked up at him expectantly. Shadow smiled and looked right back at her. She was so tiny.
It's times like these, the littlest, most insignificant moments when Florence wishes she could speak. To be able to call a simple apology for her runaway charge is leaps and bounds beyond everything she's capable of.
Hurrying after Mack, she offers Shadow an apologetic look instead, shifting Flo against her hip.
Flo smiled up at him and raised a hand, which was either a wave or an indication she wanted to be picked up. He wasn't sure which but settled on scooping her up. The first time he'd met her, she'd been just a month old.
Shadow gave Florence a bit of an understanding smile. "One second they're there, the next they're already halfway to the beach."
She likes Shadow. There are few people on the island like him, few people she truly likes, but he and Rollie have both somehow made it onto that list and when he smiles, she does the same.
Nodding her agreement, she looks at Mack in amusement, wondering how someone so small can move so quickly. Then she nods toward Karen, seeing her down by the water and the sandcastle, asking if she and Shadow might want some company.
Comments 73
"Slow down, kid," I laugh, hurrying to close the distance and sweeping her up. "Hey, Florence," I say, as soon as Mack stops squealing in my ear.
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She doesn't know how to tell Neil she's forgotten her gun and she isn't sure that telling him would mean what she wants it to, anyway. So she decides to forget about it.
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"Daddy!" Mack crows when she sees him, racing down the boardwalk and flinging herself at his legs. "Hey, baby," he says, scooping her up and grinning at Florence. "You giving your aunt any problems?"
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At least Mike doesn't give her half as many heart attacks here on the island as he did back in Harsh Realm.
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He reaches out and ruffles Flo's hair. "Going to the beach?"
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That one escaped, she's saying and Mack giggles, already seeming to know when Florence is telling her something.
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He'd finally given up and left as soon as he'd landed the catch. That, of course, meant that he had to go back to the beach to get his things once he'd gotten cleaned up. It was, all in all, a giant waste of the day.
He was on his way back with the morning's shirt and the net that needed some serious repair when he saw the little girl first. A quick look assured him he wasn't running around on her own and he smiled at the woman carrying the other twin.
"Hi," he said as he he shifted his path to give her plenty of room to pass, which only meant he had to lift the net to keep it out of reach of Mack's curious fingers. "No, kiddo. It's dirty."
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Lifting her eyebrows, she offers an apologetic smile for Mack's behavior, who seems unlikely to move on her own.
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"You can't have it, but you can look," he said, pulling one of the weights free for her to look at. The lead was heavy, but the edges weren't as much of a mess as the center. He looked up at the woman and added, "if that's okay?"
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Rather than offering it to the man, she simply holds it so that he can see her name scrawled across the paper. His hands are a little full at the moment, so she gives him enough time to read her name, then flips the paper over to display the explanation, I don't speak.
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He recognized Mack's giggle just a few steps before she threw herself across his bare stomach, laughing out loud as she bounced onto his chest.
"Hey lil' lady," he said, still out of breath. "Where did you come from?"
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Tilting her head, her eyebrows lift as she looks at Tom, sweating and out of breath.
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"You better be good for Aunt Florence. She kept me and dad out of trouble for years and years," he murmured into Mack's messy curls, grinning up at Florence.
"They being good girls?"
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Nodding at his question, her gaze darts to the bandages before she looks at Tom questioningly. What happened? And, more importantly, is there someone she needs to hurt?
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One of the Ms. Pinnochios looked up at him expectantly. Shadow smiled and looked right back at her. She was so tiny.
"Hi there."
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Hurrying after Mack, she offers Shadow an apologetic look instead, shifting Flo against her hip.
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Shadow gave Florence a bit of an understanding smile. "One second they're there, the next they're already halfway to the beach."
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Nodding her agreement, she looks at Mack in amusement, wondering how someone so small can move so quickly. Then she nods toward Karen, seeing her down by the water and the sandcastle, asking if she and Shadow might want some company.
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