A couple of Hank's boys saved Ian from any further conversation. They came running up to the edge of the lot – since campers weren't supposed to be on the gravel part of the parking lot – and yelled for him to come join them.

"I gotta go," Hank said, looking over at them. "Kids wait for no man…"

Ian nodded, shutting the trunk of the convertible.

"I've noticed that."

It wasn't like there was a lot more free time left, really. There was only about an hour before lunch, and the lifeguards and other staff would start sending campers back to clean up for the meal about fifteen minutes before it was scheduled.

"You should get something on that sunburn."

Ian grunted something noncommittal, and headed for Australia's cabin without responding to that, and Hank headed for the water with his impatient boys.

OOOOOOOO

Lunch was another fairly simple meal. The camp cooks knew that they didn't have to work all that hard to please kids this age, as long as there was plenty to eat, and an assortment of sandwiches; peanut butter and jelly, or tuna, or egg salad, with chips, carrot sticks and brownies for dessert was all that it took to satisfy a cafeteria filled with hungry youngsters.

"How's the sunburn?" River asked cheerfully, his own bruises purpling nicely, but forgotten after such a fine morning of playing in the water – which was so much nicer than riding horses as far as he was concerned.

"It hurts like a motherfu-"

"You got sunburned?" Chance asked, interrupting Ian – which was just as well, since he'd been so miserable that he'd almost taught them all a new word – at least he hoped it would have been a new word.

"Yeah."

"Can I see?"

"Me, too!"

"Me, three!"

"Me-"

"Not right now, guys," Shawn said, interrupting them with a grin. He couldn't remember ever being that young.

"Later?"

"Maybe."

"When?"

"Just later," Ian said, scowling. His back was killing him. He hadn't been able to put anything on it since he couldn't reach it. He sure as hell wasn't going to ask someone to do it for him, and his shirt was rubbing against it, chafing it every time he moved. When lunch was over he was going to go back to the cabin and soak his shirt in cold water before putting it back on, hoping that the cool water would at least help with the burning.

"My mom made me bring suntan lotion," Bruce said. "Yours should have made you bring some, too."

Ian couldn't agree more. Of course, he'd never expected to spend an hour and a half holding some kid while he sat in the fucking sun, either.

Gary Hines went to the front of the room just then, saving Ian from actually making a reply, and as was the norm now, the room quieted immediately when the kids noticed that he was there.

"Good afternoon, Campers!"

Ian wondered how the guy could possible be so cheerful all the time. Of course, all he did was tell the kids what they were doing. He didn't have to do it. That might be the difference.

The kids screamed a greeting to Hines, each trying to outdoor his or her neighbor and make themselves heard, and Gary grinned at their efforts and allowed them to yell for a good thirty seconds before he raised his hand for silence.

"This afternoon we're going to be getting the ball field ready for the campout tonight, so instead of playing the field games that we had originally planned on playing, we're going to be down at the waterfront doing camp games there."

There were more shouts of excitement, both because of the upcoming campout – which was the first time many of them had ever done such a thing – and because they were going to be down at the water, which was a favorite of most of the kids. Predictably, Sammy wasn't joining in on the excited yells, and Ian didn't expect him to.

Gary let the murmuring continue for a minute or two, and then spoke again, looking down at the schedule in his hand.

"Once the bell rings, I want you all to be down at the water front, ready to get wet. Okay?"

There were shouts of agreement, and Gary smiled.

"Okay, finish eating."

There was a lot of chatter at the individual tables, now, and the noise level in the cafeteria was a lot louder than it had been before Gary made his announcement.

"I hope we're swimming again!" Chance said, excitedly, reaching for a brownie when Brian and River brought them over from the serving window.

"Me, too!"

"Me, three!"

"M-"

"We can't swim right after eating," Wilson said, interrupting. "We'll get cramped."

"Cramps," River corrected with a grin, leaning back in his chair and munching on his brownie. "He's right, though. They won't have us swimming after eating such a big meal."

Sammy, who was looking rather ill at the whole idea of spending more time at the water, looked over at him, hopefully.

"Really?"

River nodded. He wasn't so certain that they wouldn't be in the water eventually, but he was certain that they wouldn't have all their kids in the water. He knew how many kids a single lifeguard could watch safely and there weren't enough of them at the waterfront to allow all the kids in the camp to be in the water at once. And since he and the others were well aware that something was keeping Sammy from wanting to be in the water, they'd make sure that he didn't have to be in the water. He knew Shawn would agree, and was pretty certain Ian would as well – especially since Ian had been forced to play the part of human security blanket that morning.

"Yup."

The little boy looked a lot better after that, and he even managed to eat his brownie – although any one of the other boys would have been more than willing to eat it for him.

When everyone had finished dessert and the dishes were as neatly stacked as a group of six-year-olds could get them, River shooed them all away from the table, telling them to go get ready for the water activities. Screaming and yelling, they did just that, racing each other to the door.