Chapter 14: Singing of Bliss

The next day, the kids went back down to the beach, only this time it was raining. Kathy had called earlier that morning and had said that she couldn't bring down Eli because he was sick. Elliot brushed it off with a smile and said it was fine, and warned his ex-wife that Maureen had tagged along after all in case she had tried to call her. Kathy smiled on the other end; she was glad that the children were finally getting to see their busy father.

"Rain?" Lizzie complained, hopping out onto the sand.

"Lighten up," Dickie scoffed, sticking his tongue out to catch raindrops. "This'll be fun! We can golf in the rain later too!"

"Cool!" Ana grinned. Her dad had taught her how to golf when she was ten. "It'll be more fun in the rain!"

The house they had been staying at fortunately was large and sat right on the edge of the golf course, directly next to hole eight. Running through the course was a little river, and the kids had made plans to ride their canoes down it to watch the other golfers later that week. Elliot had inherited the house from a great aunt, and had never really used it until now.

"Well, no tanning for me today," Lacey sighed, taking off her sunglasses and staring at the sky. "No sun."

"It's supposed to get better soon," Elliot promised, putting up the umbrella. "At least the beach isn't busy today."

"True," Lacey shrugged.

"Let's go in the water!" Lizzie cried, dragging Maureen and Lacey into the water with her.

Lacey smiled and followed her friend, wading into the water with her until she was waist deep. The water was warm today, and it felt nice on her skin. Lacey took in a deep breath and drove under the water, her strong arms and legs propelling her under the dark surface. It had been so log since she had swam; she had done swimming as a sport for so long, but she had gotten sick of it and had quit. Now it felt nice to have that feeling again.

Suddenly, she was grabbed around her waist and she screamed under the water, popping up and coughing. She turned around to see Elliot erupting into histaric laughter behind her not. He reached out and began to tickle her, and she swatted away at his hands, trying not to smile.

"Not nice!" she cried, finally letting herself laugh at Elliot. She dove back under the water and swam farther away, popping back up a few yards away.

"Not too far!" Elliot called.

"Yeah yeah," Lacey laughed.

Ana swam out to her and lay on her back in the waves. By now they had barely noticed it was raining. Lacey walked around in the water, making waves with her hands. Suddenly, she felt something hard and round under her feet. Diving down, she came back up and examined the object it her hand.

"Lacey!" Kathleen grinned, swimming over and taking it from her hand. "You found a sand dollar!"

"Cool!" Lacey cried, taking it back and examining it. She placed the rough edge on her hand, which tickled. "I didn't know they were alive!"

"Me either," Kathleen grinned. She suddenly stopped, dove under, and came back up with her own. "I found one!"

The next few hours turned into a contest to see who could find the most sand dollars. Dickie won with seventeen, but Kathleen whispered to Ana her suspicion that he had just picked up the same one every time. Ana agreed with a snicker.

Once it began to get dark, Dickie began to complain that they hadn't gotten to golf in the rain- they had spent too much time in the ocean.

"It'll rain tomorrow too," Elliot reassured him with a grin as he packed up the car and the sandy children jumped in. "You can go then. And then, if you want, I rented some bikes and you guys can go for a ride."

"Awesome!" Ana cried, fist pumping the air. "Now let's go back to the house; I'm pooped!"

The rest of the drive home was spent contemplating their next adventure. When they finally got home, though, it was much less peaceful. They were fighting over who got to shower in which bathrooms first. Lacey ended up going last, though she didn't complain. At least she could take as long as she wanted.

As the warm water beat down on the soft skin of her back and cascaded down her shoulders, she found herself sighing. How she wanted it to stay like this forever! How she wanted to be a Stabler! When she was done, she dried herself off and pulled on soccer shorts and a light t-shirt. But when she went into the large living room, the kids were nowhere to be found.

"They went out back to the course," Elliot explained from the kitchen. "It's dark though, so be careful." he grinned and looked up from the ribs he was spreading barbecue sauce on. "They said they've never seen so many stars."

"Thanks," Lacey grinned, getting on her flip-flops and eagerly heading out down the steps from the back porch to the grass below.

"Hey!" Ana called, waving from the bridge over the water. "Over here!"

Lacey jogged around a sank bunker and up to the wooden bridge where Ana was sitting with Kathleen and Lizzie. Dickie was down on the other side by the water with a basket on a string, showing Maureen how to toss it and explaining to her that if she tossed it in the right spot, she might find some golf balls. Then he told her she could sell them on E-bay for a good price, and she snorted and shoved him playfully.

"Whatever," she teased. "Now gimme the basket."

Lacey sat down on the bridge next to Ana, and the three girls lay back on the bridge, gazing up at the sky. And there they lay until early morning, chatting the night away and gazing at the twinkling stars in the ink black night. Staring into bliss.

Note: Kind of a filler chapter while I figure out what's going on. The next one will probably be a filler chapter too, depending on the time I have and how the day goes. But at least Lacey's getting some lovin' with the Stablers! :)

Thanks so much for reading and please don't forget to review! ;)