"Daaady!" he exclaimed.
Mara gave him a kiss on the back as she pushed him closer to his father. She maneuvered him right in front of his father and greeted her husband with fiery kiss.
"Keep kissing me like that, baby, and we'll conceive another one right here."
"In front of all our guests? I think not. Amuse your son. I want to encourage more of our guests to join us in the pool."
"Push me around pool Daddy." 2 year old Matthew exclaimed.
Mara had grown to love the Bay House as much as Sam and they both loved entertaining friends there. Jenna learned how to sail there, and Jacob was often invited along. They had been dating for 2 years and showed no signs of breaking up. Jacob was in his first year of architecture studies at Georgetown. He had no problem crawling around the floor to play with Matthew, which made both Sam and Mara consider him family.
Matthew had caught sight of the strawberry, his favourite fruit, on CJ's glass.
"Aunty CJ I want strawberry now!" He shouted.
CJ moved from the chair she was sitting in and put the berry in his mouth.
"Tanks"
"So much charm you have, my little one," CJ replied.
"I know. Another berry?"
"I'll go ask your Mom if you can have more."
"No need for Mommy," He replied with an impish grin.
"Nice try little guy, I'm going to ask her anyway."
Mara cut up a few strawberries for her son. She talked Josh into making a few drinks and managed to get Donna and Ainsley in the pool. After checking on dinner she jumped into the pool. All she had to do was call him and Matthew turned himself around to get to her. Sam forcefully pushed the ring and his son floated away laughing. She lifted him out of his ring and gave him several kisses before walking over to splash some water up at Josh's feet.
"Hey!"
"It's just your feet. Stop being such a wuss." Mara taunted.
"I prefer to stay dry, thank you very much."
"Kill joy, where is Donna? She was in the pool a few minutes ago."
"She had a headache so she went upstairs to lay down."
"Ah, you know you'd get more time with Matthew if you showed some amphibian tendencies."
"We can have quality time that does not revolve around water."
"Josh if you are worried about you scar..."
"That's not it, I just don't feel like getting wet today Mermaid girl. You look like you're trying to do a Mrs. Robinson on young Jacob.".
"Not funny Joshua, I'm sicking Ainsley on you."
"Whoa I was only joking."
"Or we could tell Donna you are fascinated by my cleavage again."
"That's a given." Josh retorted with a smirk.
"Fine be anti social." Mara said with an evil grin that sent Josh running for cover."
"Were you going to splash Josh dear?"
"No, I knew the threat alone would work." She replied.
Sam gave her a big kiss then swung Matthew and the float so he could touch his son. He poured water on his arms and they both enjoyed listening to him cooing. Every so often he'd smack the water and nail one of his parents. The third time Mara got splashed she decided it was time for his nap. She got out of the water first and took him into her arms, wrapping his ducky towel all around him. She gave the duck head a gently tweak as she fitted the hood onto his head. She brought him into the house and checked in on her guests.
Toby and Mandy were in a lively debate with Abbey and Jed. Charlie and Zoey were sitting around the kitchen island watching Jenna put the finishing touches on appetizers. Jacob was helping her by washing dishes as they came his way.
"Hi squirt." Jenna said to her brother.
"Matthew not a squirrel" He declared.
"Not squirrel silly, squirt. It means you are little and like squirting water on people." Jenna added
"Oh, any nuts then I can be squirrel?"
"You've eaten enough my little one, time to get you out of this wet bathing suit and your little swimmers diapers."
An unmistakable sound followed that declaration and ten seconds later everyone was holding their nose,
"I farted." Matthew announced with glee and pride.
"You little stinker you're coming up to change now." Mara stated trying not to laugh with the gang.
Matthew was heard singing a song about a fart and stinker all the way upstairs.
"Boy when he rips one..." Jacob commented.
"He climbed into my bed last night, gave me a good night kiss then let a huge fart go as he was leaving my bed. The little stinker knows he has powers already." Jenna replied..
"My Mom always hated that word. She preferred poop." Zoey laughed.
"He should be registered as a biochemical lethal weapon. Where has Charlie gone?" Jenna asked.
"I think he went to the bathroom."
"Well I've done all the necessary food prep. Why don't we wait for Charlie and go down to the dock."
"I hear you are an excellent captain Jenna."
"Thanks, I love how free I feel when it's sails up, full speed ahead. The winds around here are amazing. We are protected in a little cove but as soon as you leave it there are always good strong winds."
"Have you taken the boat out alone?"
"No Zoey, I'm not allowed to, which is fine with me. Charlie grab your drink we are heading down to the boat."
"I need to be invited up here more often. I've yet to set sail on that sail boat."
"I'll let Dad know." Jenna said as she took Jacob's hand and lead the party outside.
A few minutes later Mara came downstairs with Matt who had insisted on dressing himself. He was wearing blue shorts with a Yankees T shirt and a Mets cap. Mara was expecting a war of conversion to begin and wondered if Matt was actually doing it on purpose because he found it hilarious when Toby and Josh argued about anything. When she stepped out to pool side she noticed Sam getting out of the water. He still made her weak in the knees. She watched as he put a towel around his waist and did a quick towel dry of his hair. He spotted his wife and son and headed straight for them.
"What was that you said about getting rid of our guests sexy?"
"I wish, your party is once again a huge success. Holy crap Mara didn't you even look at what our son is wearing?"
"Crap, bad Daddy says bad word."
"Sorry buddy but crap is only, I mean it's barely..."
"Bad Daddy." Mara replied and gave him a bemused look.
"Who's stupid idea was that again?" Sam asked rhetorically.
When Matthew was only days old Mara had called the Holland Ambassador a shit while trying to breast feed Matthew .Sam told her she was setting a bad example with her language. He decided to set up a swear jar where every curse word cost a dollar. Mara agreed and put a twenty in a jar and told Sam not to bother her. When confronted about her language Jenna said she understood why it was important and put a ten dollar bill in the jar. The result was that language at home had improved but it was always Sam who happened to be caught by his son.
"You can admit defeat and just put a fifty in." Mara chuckled.
"Give me money." Matthew demanded.
"The money goes in a jar smarty pants not your pocket."
"Be more fun if I kept it. I could buy a ride on the speed car."
Matthew adored the moving car in the food court of the local mall. He always had to have a ride and he knew it cost a dollar. Only Jenna could hustle him out of the area without going on it and she claimed she didn't promise him something in return. Sam and Mara didn't believe her.
"Nice try Mister but I don't think so. Oh he insisted on dressing himself. " Mara answered.
"Leave it to your son to innocently start the fireworks early."
"He is my son Sam, I think he knows what he is doing. He likes watching adults argue. I think our precious baby boy is already a s h i t disturber."
Sam and Mara walked out to their guests laughing and the looks on both Josh and Toby's face were priceless. Pride at first seeing their teams then pure disbelief that the other teams was present too.
"All I'm saying is he picked out his own clothes and wouldn't listen to me." Mara announced.
"To bad we didn't have a camera to record the look on their faces." Sam whispered.
Mara put Matthew down and he made a mad dash to his Grandpa Jed. Matthew loved Jed and always wanted Jed to tell him a story. Jed loved being able to share all his stories with not just a captive but a willing audience. The little splinter groups that formed during the day all gathered at six for dinner. Mara and Jenna had planned an elegant but finger friendly feast including shish kabobs, mini crab cakes, spinach and feta brochette and exotic pitta pizzas.
A firework display lit up the bay of Anne Arundel county thanks to Mara and Sam providing enough for a 25 minute show. The fact that everyone was worn out by the end of the display proved the day was a grand success. As Mara waved good bye to their last guest she was thrilled Jenna wanted to make breakfast for everyone staying. It meant she could sleep in since Matthew work up around 9 which is almost unheard of for a toddler. He was a bundle of energy that required a lot of beauty sleep.