Family Secrets part 6

Archie threw out the towel; it billowed once in the slight breeze before settling down in ripples on the sand.

Duncan and Shelley ran into the surf with Lexie yelling at then to stay in between the flags. She then dropped down onto the sand next to Archie.

" I don't know if I'll ever get used to this," She proclaimed

" Hmmm?" Archie replied, eyes closed

Lexie smiled, " I see you have."

He opened his eyes and grinned, " Well we definitely get our daily dose of vitamin D"

Lexie nodded, "That we do"

She rummaged through her bag and finally found the bottle of sunscreen, already caked in sand from the previous days use.

" Eww" she whined, washing it off with the nearby drink bottle.

Archie sat up and took it from her, drying it on the corner of his towel. He waited for her to take off her t-shirt before beginning to rub the cream into her back and shoulders.

" You keeping your eye on them?" He asked

" Of course I am" Lexie retorted, " They're out near the sandbar. Well Duncan is, Shelley's just paddling in the swell"

" Okay"

 " I think one of us needs to talk to Duncan tonight" Lexie announced

" Yeah, I agree. But what are we going to say?"

" I don't know." Lexie sighed, " Do you think he's ready to know yet?"

" I don't know" Now it was Archie's turn to sigh " It all seems so long ago, so far away. Isn't it a bit irrelevant for Duncan? It's so totally different to Australia."

" Yeah" Lexie agreed " But it's his heritage Archie. The kids are only first generation Australian, barely even that in Duncan's case. How long is his Scottish history?"

Archie exhaled heavily

"Come on Arch. You of all people should know that in order to truly know where you're going, you have to first know where you've come from."

Archie didn't respond, instead he re-capped the bottle and tossed it into the bag.

" Why don't we ever bring a ball?" he asked suddenly

" A ball?" Lexie asked mystified

" Yeah, they have a beach volleyball net permanently set up here and we barely ever use it."

" Remind me next time" Lexie replied bemusedly " How long till we have to be at the hotel?"

Archie glanced at his watch " I said after lunch and it's about 11:30 now."

" Okay, that leaves me just enough time to have a decent sun bathe and then a swim to cool off. We'll get lunch at the kiosk."

" Sounds good to me," Archie agreed " but I'm going for that swim now."

He kissed her softly and then ran off to join his son and daughter; Lexie watched him go, before lying back and closing her eyes.

She wondered how much longer this life of sun and surf would last.

When they'd first come to Australia it had seemed like a different world. She was still only just getting used to having Christmas in the summer instead of the winter. The temperature had already reached 40c a few times this week and the humidity was anywhere from 80 to 100%. They were sleeping with the windows open and the fans on, with no sheets or blankets on the bed.

She tried to remember what it had been like in Glenbogle as the tropical sun warmed her body. It would be cold and snowing for Christmas, presents were left under an evergreen and they would be having a traditional roasted dinner with all the trimmings.

Over here they had a pine tree in a bucket of sand, the Christmas decorations showed kangaroos and koalas dressed in Santa suits, there were even a few Australian versions of Christmas carols by people who had, rightly so, got fed up with listening to songs like "White Christmas" and " Winter Wonderland".

She giggled as she remembered the first time she had heard the lyrics

" Dashing through the bush, in a rusty Holden Ute, Kelpie by my side, esky in the boot" instead of the established "Dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh" 

Still the country had grown on her, it was endearing with it's was laid back and easygoing manner. The people were generally very friendly, and it was multicultural so they fitted in fine.

The time difference between here and Scotland was a bit of a pain, as they were ten hours ahead of Glenbogle in the summer when they had daylight savings, and nine hours ahead when they didn't. Which meant that she hadn't talked properly with a lot of her friends back home for quite a while.

She sighed; she was starting to doze off, which was not a good idea unless she wanted to end up bright red and peeling. Glancing at her watch she realised she had already been lying there for half an hour and it was already 12 noon.

It was time for a swim to cool off before a quick lunch and then on to the hotel. She stripped off her skirt and scanned the waves looking for the rest of her family. She found them not too far out and to the right; Shelley was standing in the wash searching for pippy's while Archie and Duncan were diving under the waves before they crashed onto the shore.

Lexie let the water lap at her feet, gasping at how cold it was on her now sun warmed body. Archie saw her and smiled, swimming over to splash her

" Don't you da-" she gasped as she got a mouthful of salt water. His grinning face looked back at her as she blinked the water from her eyes.

Laughing he wrapped his arms around her middle and lifted her over the incoming wave, she smiled at the feeling of rising and falling with the ocean. They were so isolated here; it was the only continent whose entire border consisted of a body of water- there was nowhere else like it. 

Archie kissed her and she tasted the salt on his lips, she grinned briefly while he pulled back to gaze at her in her bikini, before reaching out and dunking him under in pay back for the splashing.

Later at the hotel……