Steve quickly put the bag of groceries on the counter and rushed outside.
"Everything okay?" Steve asked concerned.
"Yeah it's fine," Catherine responded as she tried to calm Jake down.
"What happened?"
"Natty was splashing a bit too much in the water and Jake got some water in his eyes."
"Sowwy," Natalie spoke.
"It's okay sweetie. It was an accident," Catherine told her.
Relieved that everyone was okay Steve went back inside and put the groceries away. After putting the groceries away Steve changed into his swim shorts as well and joined the family outside.
"How about we go to the beach?" Catherine suggested after a while.
"Sure sound like fun," Steve replied. "You wanna go to the beach Natty?"
"Yay, we take toys with?"
"Yes of course sweetie."
"Here Steve, why don't you take Jake I'll go pack the bag," Catherine spoke.
Steve took Jake from Catherine and Catherine went inside. A little later Catherine came back outside with a beach bag. They locked the doors and went down to the beach. It was only a short walk from the house to the beach. It wasn't that really busy on the beach, giving they only shared it with the other houses on the block. Steve and Catherine put some towels down on the sand.
"Daddy, go in ocean?" Natalie asked.
"Sure, but you have to put your floaties on first."
Steve inflated the floaties and put them on Natalie's arms. Once they were on Steve took Natalie to the ocean. For the first bit Natalie walked but when the water got too deep Steve picked her up and carried her further into the ocean. Steve put Natalie on his back.
"Put your arms around me Natty," Steve told her and Natalie wrapped her arms around his neck.
With Natalie on his back Steve swam around the ocean. The water was pretty clear so they could see into the water.
"Look daddy, fishies," Natalie spoke as she pointed down.
"Yeah, beautiful fishies."
Steve stayed in the water with Natalie for a while before going back to Catherine and Jake. Steve gave Natalie some of her toys and Natalie started to build a sand castle. Jake was sitting on Catherine's lap playing with some of his toys.
"This is nice," Steve admitted.
"Yeah it's nice just to get out after everything we've been through."
"Yeah it is."
They stayed at the beach for a little while before going back to the house. Steve took Natalie to the bathroom for bath time as Catherine prepared dinner. Jake sat on the dinner table in his bouncy chair, playing with his toys.
"Steve, dinner's ready," Catherine called towards the bathroom.
"Yeah, we're almost done," Steve called back.
A little later Steve and Natalie stepped out of the bathroom, Natalie already dressed in her pajamas. Steve took Jake out of his bouncy chair and put him in the swing chair next to the table. The family sat down to eat. After dinner Natalie could stay up for a little while so Catherine watched TV with her as she breastfed Jake. Steve was busy cleaning up after dinner.
"Alright, time for bed," Steve spoke once he was done cleaning up.
"Can mommy get a kiss goodnight?"
Natalie gave Catherine a kiss goodnight and Jake too, who was half asleep in Catherine's arms.
"Goodnight Natty."
"Niwt mommy."
Steve took Natalie to her bedroom and read her a story.
"Goodnight sweetie," Steve spoke once the book was finished and tucked Natalie in.
"Niwt daddy."
Steve gave her a kiss, turned her nightlight on, shut down the big light and closed the door. He returned to the living room. Catherine was just walking towards him.
"This little guy has fallen asleep too," Catherine softly spoke.
Steve gave Jake a soft kiss on his head and Catherine took Jake to his bedroom. Carefully she placed him in her crib before leaving the room. Steve and Catherine just enjoyed a quiet evening before going to bed as well.
The next day in the afternoon they went to Turtle beach. It was only a ten minute drive. They watched all the turtles on the beach. They were in luck, a group of baby turtles was just making their way to the ocean. Steve grabbed out the camera and filmed it.
"Look mommy," Natalie spoke and she pointed to the little turtles.
"Yeah, they are cute huh."
They stayed there for a little while. They drove a little further up the road and they stopped by Laniakea beach. Steve took Natalie onto the rocks. They stood on the edge of the rocks and Catherine took a picture of Steve and Natalie.
"Shall I take a picture of all four of you?" A friendly woman approached Catherine.
"Oh yes thank you, that would be nice."
Catherine told her how the camera worked and Catherine took Jake onto the rocks. She stood next to Steve and the woman took a picture. They carefully walked back to the beach.
"Mahalo," Catherine spoke to the woman and took the camera back.
They stayed at the beach for a little while before getting back in the car. They went back to their house. Jake had fallen asleep in the car so Steve put him in his crib. Natalie wanted to play a game. The family sat in the lanai to play the game. Steve and Catherine sat on the couch and Natalie sat on the other side of the table in her little kids' chair.
An hour later Steve interrupted the game to get Jake. If they would let him sleep longer he wouldn't sleep tonight.
"Hey buddy," Steve spoke as he walked up to Jake's crib.
Jake started waking up when Steve picked him up. Steve put him down on a changing mat on the bed and changed his diaper and dressed him. Steve took Jake with him to the Lanai. Steve put Jake on the ground in his bouncy chair. Jake lay there peacefully sucking on his pacifier and he looked up to all the things dangling above him. Steve, Catherine and Natalie finished their game. Once the game was over Catherine went to prepare dinner. Steve sat on the couch with Natalie next to him and Jake on his lap and he put the TV on. He put a kids' channel on. One of Natalie's favorite shows was on.
..
A few days later Steve and Catherine took the kids to Waimea Valley. Steve parked the car near the start of the trail. Steve got the stroller out for Jake and Catherine got the stroller out for Natalie. They saw at the start that a lot of the trail was paved so they could walked really good with a stroller. Steve also took the baby carrier for Jake with him so he could strap Jake onto his chest if needed. The valley was so beautiful. There was some beautiful flora to admire. At some places stood a sign saying which flowers were there. They followed the signs towards the Waimea waterfalls. Since they were with the kids they decided to stay on the main path. It total it was about a twenty minute walk. The falls were so beautiful. The lake with the falls wasn't really big but the place was beautiful. Catherine found a seat on one of the benches as Steve went to rent a lifejacket for Natalie. They had already put their swim suits on before they left. Steve only wore a shirt on it and Catherine and Natalie covered theirs with a summer dress. Steve put Natalie's water shoes and the lifejacket on and took Natalie to the lake. Steve helped her down the sand and rocks and took her into the lake. Catherine took some picture of Steve and Natalie. They stayed in the lake for a little while before going out. Catherine dried Natalie off as Steve dried himself off and they put their clothes and shoes on again. They walked back to the to the start. During the walk back they stopped by one of the small restaurants and had lunch. They also bought a few souvenirs before they got back in the car.
….
Before they knew it their vacation time was up and they were packing the car to go back home. Just as the finished packing the car the owner came by.
"Did you have a nice stay?" She asked.
"Oh yes it was just perfect."
"That's good to hear. I'm just gonna make a walk around the house, just to make sure everything is still in order." A little later she walked back out. "All good."
"Great," Catherine replied and handed her the keys back.
"Have a good trip home."
"Thank you."
Steve and Catherine strapped the kids into the car and drove off. They drove back the same way they came. It was about an hour later when they were back at the house. Jake had fallen asleep in his car seat but woke up when Catherine pulled him out. Catherine took him inside and placed him in his play pen so she could help Steve carry the stuff inside. Once everything was inside Catherine took the dirty laundry to the laundry room and started with the laundry.
Since Jake was very sick when he was born and in the NICU, they didn't have a baby shower yet. They had planned it for next Saturday. The team was very excited to meet Jake. Sure that he had seen him on pictures and through the glass in the NICU but they hadn't seen him up close. Steve still had a week off from work. Catherine would start work again in September, since everything that had happened with Jake she stayed home a little longer than her maternity leave. After the vacation Natalie would go to pre-school again and then in February she would start kindergarten after she turned four.
….
That Tuesday they decided to take the kids to Honolulu zoo. Natalie was really excited to go to the zoo. Jake was a little too young to fully understand.
"Zoo, zoo, zoo!" Natalie cheered as they pulled up to the zoo parking lot.
Steve got both strollers out and Steve put Natalie in her stroller as Catherine put Jake in his stroller. They grabbed the bags and hung them on the strollers. They stood in line to buy tickets. Once in they walked through the zoo. They saw a lot of animals. They saw Aardvarks, porcupines, African lions, African wild dogs, black rhinos, cheetahs, guinea pigs, zebus, foxes, different kind of monkeys, goats, zebras, hippos, Indian elephants, dik dik's, klipspringers, llamas, sun bears, meerkats, horses, red-flanked duikers, cows, giraffes, servals, skunks, hyenas, sheep, Sumatran tiger, wart hog, a lot of different birds and a lot of different reptiles and amphibians. Natalie loved to see the turtles swim and Jake found the monkeys funny. He loved to watch them play. Around noon they sat down in one of the restaurants to grab a bite to eat before continuing their walk. In the gift shop Steve bought a turtle for Natalie and a monkey for Jake. Jake looked at it with big eyes as Steve held the monkey above his stroller. Jake stretched his arms out towards the monkey so Steve handed it to him. Jake pulled it close and snuggled with it.
"Awww, so cute," Catherine stated.
"Yes very cute."
They stopped for a bite to eat at the McDonalds restaurant near their house. Steve took the big mac menu while Catherine had the McNuggets menu and for Natalie they ordered a happy meal. Steve stood in line while Catherine stayed at the table with the kids but not before grabbing a kids' chair for Jake. Catherine gave Jake some toys to play with while they had dinner. Once they were home Catherine went to feed Jake as Steve went to put Natalie in bath and bed. Natalie took her new turtle to bed with her.
"Twank you daddy fow zoo."
"You're welcome sweetie. Goodnight."
"Niwt daddy."
Steve gave her a kiss and tucked her in. Just as he left the room Catherine came upstairs with Jake.
"Goodnight little buddy," Steve spoke to him and gave him a soft kiss on his head.
Catherine went to put Jake in bath first and then rocked him to sleep. Once Jake was asleep Catherine returned downstairs.
….
That Saturday the team, Mary, Joan and Catherine's dad came over for the baby shower. It was a beautiful day outside. Steve had put several tables and chairs up outside and some parasols too. They made sure everything was ready for the party. They party started at 3.30pm after Jake had his sleep. Just after 3pm Jake woke up and Catherine dressed him for the party. Catherine dressed Jake in blue dungarees with the superman logo on it and in red letters superman with underneath a white shirt. She put a pair of grey thong sandals on his feet with a little band at the end so it would stay on his feet better.
While Catherine was dressing Jake, Steve was dressing Natalie. They had put her down for an afternoon nap as well since she had fallen asleep on the couch. Natalie was dressed in a pink pair of short pants with a white top on it. On the bottom of the top were some orange palm trees in a pink hue. The back of the top was a little lower and had a ruffled orange band. Steve put pink wedge sandals on Natalie's feet and braids in her hair.
Steve was about to go downstairs with Natalie when he heard a lot thud.