All familiar characters belong to Janet.

Steph was holding Olive under her arms and helping her 'walk' across the sand to the small waves crashing into it. My wife was at war with the baby hat, so it remained in place despite our daughter's best efforts to remove it, but their sandals and flip-flops were quickly shed. When the water rolled over our baby's feet, she shriek-laughed and drew up both knees towards her chest.

My wife glanced at me. "I checked first ... the water isn't cold so she shouldn't be freaked out by it. And where the heck is your shirt?"

"I know you triple-check temperatures. And the wind blew my shirt off."

The forehead crinkle I received led me to the conclusion that she didn't believe me.

"I'll deal with you in a minute, but what about our Olive-dillo here who is still retracting all her limbs?"

"Let me hold her ..."

"Because she knows Daddy will always protect her?"

"Yes ... just like Mama will always support and fight for her," I answered, lifting a very willing Olivia up and into my chest. "Just follow me, Babe."

"No problem. You look as good going as you do coming."

I stopped momentarily to lift an eyebrow at her, wondering at the extent of her flirting. "I thought you were against hook-ups on the beach?" I pointed out.

"It's only okay if we flirt with each other. No one else gets the pleasure."

"As long as I know the rules ..." I said, walking further into the water.

"That statement sounds like I should be worried."

"You should always be curious, Stephanie, never worried."

We'd waded out until the water was just shy of where Olivia's bare foot was resting against my body. I took another step away from shore to see how she'd react when it tickled her toes. She smiled and slapped both hands against my bare skin, while moving her feet out of the water again but back near it a beat later.

"So do you think that's a 'she likes it'?" Steph asked. "Or maybe she's hitting you because you made her get wet somewhere other than her bathtime."

"I'm going with she likes it. You are her mother after all, and you've never met a body of water you didn't like."

And I went a little further out until both little feet were partially submerged.

"See how much fun the beach can be, Olive?" Steph told her, making small splashes with her hands.

Our daughter stared transfixed when a stream went straight into the air. That set off another shriek, so Steph used Olive's foot to show her she could also make splashes. Both tiny feet went into motion on either side of me and my arms and chest were soon dotted with beads of water.

"She good?" Cal asked, coming in after us with Brown a little slower in risking a real life version of shark week.

I moved Olive from my side to the front of my body with an arm like a gentle security band around her and one under her. I took two more steps out so she could splash with her hands as well as her feet.

"We'll need a pool at Rangeman for sure," Bobby said, cautiously reaching us. "She got used to it fast."

"She's pretty brave, though she can be with all the people she has watching out for her. Let me guess, the wind blew off your shirts as well?" My wife asked my men.

"Yup. A freak gust hit us just as we got close to the water," Brown answered.

She playfully pushed him and to make Olivia laugh, he pretended to fall because of it. My baby's dimples flashed and her hands and feet splashed more enthusiastically. While my wife wasn't paying attention, I passed Olive to Cal, now that she isn't unsure anymore, and joined in on the play. Bobby caught on and tried to hide what little noise I made on my approach. I half-walked/half swam up to Stephanie, stuck my head between her knees, and lifted her up onto my shoulders in one quick move. Her surprised shriek matched her daughter's. And as I allowed us to fall backwards into the ocean together, we could hear not only two amused whistles from my men, but we crashed to the sound our baby clapping for us.