111.

New Year's Eve on the Gulf Coast was breezy, warm, and the skies showed no sign of rain. Olivia and Ed woke well before the sun rose and made love until dawn. Instead of the unlocked door hindering their intimacy, they embraced the challenge and craved the slow, gentle, attentive sex. Knowing an interruption could happen at any time added to the thrill, and when they finished without hindrance, they basked in an amorous sense of achievement. Ed had trouble separating himself from his wife and spent the twenty minutes or so of afterglow holding her head and kissing her face. One of his legs kept her lower body close to his and he whispered more than once, in various forms, how lucky he was to be her husband.

When the kids showed up, Ed and Olivia had showered, made the bed, and were sitting on top of the mattress paging through a day-old newspaper. No one would have suspected they'd spent the last three hours in the throes of erotic bliss.

"Good morning, sweethearts!" Olivia tossed the newspaper and her reading glasses aside and opened her arms wide. Noah gave the twins a boost, and the three kids piled into her lap. "How did you sleep?"

"Good," Noah said, speaking for everyone.

"Like havin' your room out there with the TV?" Ed asked.

"Uh-huh!" Noah grinned. There was a cagey slant in his reply as if he was plotting the perfect time to ask for a flat screen in his bedroom in New York. "We watched Dory 'cause were here by the sea, but we fell asleep!"

"Good thing," Ed replied, "We have busy beach day ahead of us."

Noah giggled, "That's 'literation!"

Maggie and Wyatt dove onto Ed's chest and he took turns lifting them over his head. Wyatt grabbed for the half-consumed glass of bourbon on Ed's nightstand, but Ed gently angled his hand in the other direction.

"Thirsty, bud? C'mon, we'll getcha some juice."

"Wa' choc'lit milk peeease!" Maggie requested.

"I know pretty girl," Ed mussed her bedhead and kissed her cheek, "I gotcha. No? What do you want?"

"Cherry Coke!"

"Not yet."

"Cherry juice!"

"How 'bout grape juice?"

"Kay!" Noah bounced on his knees and asked, "Mommy? What we gonna do t'day?"

Olivia glanced outside at the gorgeous day unfolding in front of the condo, "I think we should have our breakfast on the beach and then swim, build sandcastles, and play frisbee all day. What do you think?"

Noah couldn't get past the breakfast part. He crinkled his nose and wondered aloud about cooking eggs and pancakes down on the shore. "How we gonna do that? Well, oh, they have da grills but Daddy hasta light 'em."

"I was thinking we could take a little walk down to the place where Grandma, Maggs, and I went after shopping," Olivia said, "They have a deck like at Flora Bama and they have breakfast. Would you like to do that?"

"Yep! Babies? Gotta get dressed! We're goin' out to eat!"

Ed returned with the drinks and passed them to each kid. He returned to his spot on the bed and pulled Wyatt to his side. The twins were over a year past the bottle stage, but Wyatt still liked to sip his first drink of the day snuggled at one of his parents' sides.

"Daddy! We're goin' out!"

"Sounds good to me. I'm hungry."

"Me too! Mommy? Maggs? You hungry?"

"I am," Olivia said. She tapped Maggie's nose, "Ready for some food, Maggie May?"

"Gon' go to PUB, Mama!"

Olivia and Ed burst into laughter. "Where?" Olivia asked incredulously.

"Da pub!"

She wasn't entirely wrong since the restaurant Olivia had in mind began as quiet coffee shop and ended as nightclub, but hearing "da pub" so easily roll off the tongue of her two-year-old was hilarious and a tiny bit unsettling even though Noah had used the phrase when he was about her age.

"Sure Maggs," Olivia said, "We're going to the breakfast pub. But let's still be kind of quiet. Everyone else is sleeping. I think it'll be just us five going."

"Yeah," Noah sighed, "Sare Bear always likes ta sleep late and Gramma didn't go to bed until twelve-fifty!"

The lack of sleep and the soothing weight of Wyatt against him had caused Ed to start dozing off, but Noah's comment wiped away all fatigue. "How do you know that, pal?" He asked.

"Cause she came for a drink and I woke up and saw da clock and it said one, two, five, oh."

Olivia smiled and tousled Noah's hair, "I forgot to get a glass of water last night, too," she said.

"She didn't get da water," Noah said, "She got da drink from da cab'net."

"Did Grandma know she woke you up?"

"Nope," Noah said, "Didn't wanna scare her like I did the other night!"

"The other night?"

"Yeah, Gramma came out again and I said 'hi Gramma' and she said 'holy moley Noah you scared me' so I was verrry quiet last night."

"Ahh…" Olivia put Maggie's empty chocolate milk cup on her nightstand and started peeling off her daughter's pajamas. Ed was certainly troubled by these details, but now wasn't the time to hash out whatever was going on. She did her best to remain cheerful. "Hey, Noah...another reason I want to go out to breakfast is because today is very special. It's Mommy's and Daddy's anniversary. This is the day we got married!"

"Oh yeah…" Noah murmured, "S'New Years Eve and your ann'versary! We gotta stay up late tonight and Justy bought us some noisemakers and he said we're gonna get fireworks. Daddy, we gotta get those t'day."

Ed smiled at Noah. "I'm gonna take Mommy out for a little while today-"

"-Private time?" Noah asked sagely yet innocently.

"-Yeah, private time," Ed replied, "And while we're gone you and Justin can go pick out the fireworks. We won't be gone long."

"Okay!" Noah hopped off the bed and skipped over to the bureau. He opened the drawer designated for him and pulled out a fresh pair of swimming trunks and a t-shirt. "I'm gonna wear these, he said, "So if I get wet on da walk it's okay."

"Good plan, bud."

Olivia put Maggie on the floor and slung her legs off the bed. Before she went to help Maggie into her bathing suit and sundress, she leaned back and kissed Ed on the cheek. "It'll be fine," she said, "We'll talk later."

Ed grunted pessimistically.

Olivia kissed him again. This time she let her lips linger on his for a few extra seconds. "Happy Anniversary, Ed Tucker," she whispered. "Marrying you was the best decision I ever made." She saw the blood rush to his cheeks and broke into a triumphant grin. "...so simple to get you out of a cranky mood…"

Ed grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers, "Only you can do it," he said, "I love you, Liv."

…...

London failed to impress at first. The Tower of London, which both Ed and Olivia thought would be a hit, was proclaimed boring and a disappointment since they didn't experience any ghostlike activity. The views from the Sky Garden were amazing, but the venue was packed and uncomfortably hot. The fish and chips they had for lunch on their first full day in the city was met approvingly, but Ed and Olivia began to wonder if, perhaps, they'd overestimated their kids' travel stamina.

"Hey," Wyatt said, his nose buried in the London travel book, "There's a place where kids can drive!"

"What?" Maggie scooted closer to him and peered at the page. Sure enough, a business called Young Driver offered lessons on a closed course to kids as young as five. "Mom? C'we do this pleeeeease?" Normally, Maggie would ask Ed first, but she must have figured she'd cut the middleman and get permission directly from Olivia.

Noah read the page too and grinned. "We gotta go," he said, "It's true-Maggie and Wyatt and I can all drive."

Ed motioned for Wyatt to hand over the book. "Thirty minute lessons," he read, "Cheap...ope, there's a height requirement. How tall's one point four meters?" He waited for a response from one of his children but they stared back at him blankly. "Maybe look it up on your phone if you wanna do this so bad?"

All three kids yanked out their phones and inputted the calculation.

"We're tall enough," Maggie proclaimed, "It's four-six and me and Wyatt are taller than that. Last time at the doctor we were almost five feet! Please can we go?"

Ed looked at Olivia. She would have the final decision, but he wanted to say yes. It would be a good way to shake up the touristy day they'd planned for themselves.

"They have really good reviews!" Noah added while his parents had a conversation with their eyes.

"They have good reviews," Ed murmured.

Brow furrowed, Olivia asked, "They're real cars?"

"Look like little compacts."

Across the table, three hopeful pairs of eyes stared back at their mother.

"Wyatt, let me see those reviews honey."

Wyatt passed her the phone. Olivia paged through the anecdotal evidence and finally granted her permission for the ten-year-old twins and their fourteen-year-old brother to have their first driving lesson. "Who knows," she said with a shrug as they slid out of the wooden booth, "Maybe they're onto something here, teaching them early."

Ed kissed her cheek. "That's the spirit," he said.

"Do we get to ride in the car?"

"I don't think so. I saw bleachers."

"Oh, God."

…...

The Anniversary day unfolded exactly how Olivia wanted, save for a lunchtime interlude when Ed confronted his mother about what he saw as her problematic drinking habit. He saved the recap for when he and Olivia were alone in the apartment preparing lunch and reported the conversation had gone nowhere. Caroline insisted Ed's worries were unfounded, and he didn't want to drive a wedge between the two of them when they were all together on vacation. Ed did mention her getting up in the middle of the night for a refill to which Caroline responded, "Goddamn, Eddie, you haven't been in the middle of a good show and wanted another drink? Shall I keep the bottle in my room?"

She had a point. Caroline had been drinking a lot, but she had not been attempting to hide it. Furthermore, she could sip on cocktails all day without showing the tiniest sign of being intoxicated. Except for the brief dizzy spell at the restaurant, Caroline seemed perfectly fine. Ed warned her about drinking and driving when they got home, but Caroline brushed off the concern.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Eddie, I know how to use the Ubers."

"Great," Ed had muttered as he recalled the conversation, "Now I gotta worry about her gettin' into a car with some rogue driver."

The rest of the day passed without incident. In between lounge breaks, they played kickball, threw the frisbee, and splashed in the waves. For the second day in a row, Noah started a sand castle and Justin and Ed got carried away with the design. By the time Ed and Olivia started thinking about leaving for their walk, they'd constructed an expansive metropolis of sand structures complete with tunnels and bridges. Noah, his arms, legs, and chest covered with sand, gave the project rave reviews but moaned that the waves would soon destroy their hard work.

"We got the pictures, Noah," Justin said.

Noah smiled but it was obvious he wasn't completely assuaged. He walked around their city, looking for spots that needed some extra attention. Meanwhile, Wyatt approached with a car, kneeled, and pushed the vehicle under one of the tunnels. "Careful, Wyatt!" Noah said sharply.

"Vrrrrroooom!" Wyatt exclaimed with a smile and looked up to his older brother for approval.

"Here," Noah said, crouching on the other side of the tunnel, "I'll help ya so da bridge doesn't collapse."

Wyatt laid on his stomach and watched Noah pull the car through safely to the other side. The bridge remained in tact and Wyatt clapped his hands."G'job!" He squealed. "Gain, No!" He shimmied closer and extended his hand, ready to accept the car. The brothers were able to make the exchange a few more times before the bridge, weakened by drying sand and creeping waves, collapsed. "CASH!" Wyatt shouted. "CASH, No!" He scrambled to his feet and found a bucket and shovel. "Go'fixit!"

Noah frowned, "Da waves are comin', Wyatt," he said dejectedly, "Gotta build another bridge tomorrow."

Wyatt froze and regarded Noah curiously. The toddler's hair fell in damp strands across his forehead and he, too, was covered in sand.

Noticing the time, Sarah stepped in. "How about we take this party inside for a little while? Noah, you and Justin have some errands to run, remember? And that'll give us a chance to hose everyone down!"

The promise of fireworks and the New Year's Eve excitement to come was enough to get Noah to abandon the sand castle and help usher the twins inside. Ed grabbed a credit card from his wallet and entrusted everything else to Sarah, Justin, and Caroline. Olivia looped her arm around Ed's and the two of them set off down the shoreline with no particular destination in mind.

"This is pretty," Ed said, tugging on a piece of Olivia's pale yellow sundress. There were subtle floral patterns woven into the light linen fabric. It was an uncharacteristic choice, but even she had to admit the garment was stunning.

Olivia grinned and held his hand more tightly. "Thank you."

"So...four years," Ed started what sounded like a reflective recounting of the past few years, but he interrupted himself with his own laughter.

"What?" Olivia asked.

"I think, on every anniversary, I've started out sayin' something with it's been however many years."

"Worth repeating."

"Sure is. God, Liv," he swung their arms, "I...there're no words really. Last night I was thinkin' about us, everything, all it took to get here, and I felt so happy, and there you were, sleeping on my chest, the waves crashing outside, it was a little too humid in the room but that's what we sacrifice to hear the water...everything I ever wanted was all right there." He stopped and reached for her other hand. The sun was starting its descent and bathed them in sparkling yellowish rays. He had more to say, but the setting required a romance-movie kiss and that's exactly what he gave her.

"Wow," Olivia gasped afterwards, wiping her lips with her fingers.

"I love kissing you," Ed whispered. "I love you."

"I love you." They continued walking hand-in-hand, passed a semi-deserted part of the shore, and saw the Flora-Bama in the distance. "Is that where we're headed?" She asked.

Ed shrugged, "Wherever you want. Not many places on the beach here. Figured we'd at least grab somethin' to go, have a little anniversary toast?"

"I love it." Olivia toed some soaked sand as they meandered along the shore. "So...you were saying?"

"Huh?"

"Four years?"

"Yeah...whaddya think?"

"I think," Olivia slowed their gait even more and stared out into the Gulf, "The two of us have, wow, we've been through so much, it always seems like longer than four years because it has been longer than that. And I don't ever think I'll get tired of the amazing fact that Ed Tucker and my knight in shining armor are the same person. Ed, thank you," now it was her turn to pause the stroll. She lifted her sunglasses so she could look Ed in the eye without obstruction. "Thank you for being patient with me, for loving me, for loving Noah, for helping me believe we could have a Maggie and a Wyatt. I had so much doom and gloom in my life...and then you showed up...you're right...no words."

They kissed again and walked to the beach bar arm-in-arm. Rather than claim a table, they took the cocktails to go and found a patch of sand. They could hear the live guitar music and the boisterous volleyball game, but they felt like they were the only people on the entire beach.

Ed gazed into her eyes and raised the heavily-garnished plastic cup, "Cheers, Liv."

"To four years," she said, "Cheers."

…

Ed displayed the two tickets in a "V" shape in his hand. "Don't know if you're a Shakespeare fan, but we had these layin' around the office and thought you might like to go." Behind him, Sarah and Brooke stood on their toes and beamed. "And uh," Ed twitched his head toward his daughters, "They're here to offer babysitting services."

Olivia stepped aside so that they could enter, but Ed remained where he was.

"I'd love to go," she said. Noah was holding onto one of her legs and she patted the top of his head, "Noah, want to play with Sarah and Brooke tonight? You can show them the new fire truck and-"

"-THOMAS TRAIN!" Noah shouted. All shyness disappeared when Sarah held up a boxed Thomas the Tank Engine toy. He shoved his way past Ed and into the hallway. Sarah gave him the box and he marched back inside, intent on opening it.

"Thank you," Olivia said, laughing softly.

Brooke shrugged. "We thought there might be some hesitation, so we came prepared." She held up an unmarked reusable shopping bag. "There's more in here."

"Very smart. Uh," Olivia looked down at her attire-khaki shorts and a well-worn scoop-neck tee shirt. "Let me change, and, um, I'll leave you some money for dinner. Noah likes pizza, Chinese, grilled cheese…"

"We got it," Sarah said. She kicked off her sandals plopped herself in the middle of the living room floor among Noah's toys. "C'mere, Noey, I'll help you open the train."

Hoping it would go unnoticed, Ed followed Olivia into the back hallway. He wasn't inviting himself in to help her change; he wanted to make sure the unexpected date and childcare arrangements were really okay with her. "Hey, uh, sorry to just barge in on ya like this," he said in a hushed voice once they were out of view. "Tickets fell into my lap and I was gonna give them to the girls but they had this idea and-"

Olivia reassuringly patted his chest, "I'm thrilled," she said. She cocked an eyebrow, shot him a teasing grin, and added, "I'd be more thrilled if inviting me was the first thing that popped into your mind when you got the tickets…"

"Ouch," Ed said with a grimace. "I uh, I knew it was your only off duty weekend this month and-"

"-Ed, I'm kidding. I really am excited to go." She chased his eyes with hers. "Seriously."

"Okay."

Olivia planted a reassuring kiss on his lips, "And I can see how asking me to Shakespeare could have seemed like a gamble."

He smirked, but hesitantly so.

"I'll be right back," she said. "Will you grab some pajamas for Noah and pick out a couple of books? You know if we don't choose them out he'll have Sarah and Brooke reading to him until midnight. And," she bit her lip, "I'm hoping it'll be just the two of us and a nightcap at midnight?"

Finally, his jaw relaxed and he smiled-it was the semi-jittery expression that crossed his face whenever Olivia flirted with him, and she always felt proud of herself when she made it happen.

"Yes ma'am," he managed to croak.

"Pajamas."

"Oh, yeah, right...pajamas."

…..

New Year's Eve-slash-Anniversary dinner consisted of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, Caroline's famous potato salad, and baked beans. With the impending fireworks show, the food, and the tropical venue, the night felt more like the Fourth of July than December 31. Sarah played dance music and shimmied around the condo randomly picking up the kids and swinging them around. In addition to the noisemakers, she bought them each "2021" glasses and plastic top hats printed with Happy New Year.

"In a little while we'll put on Rockin' New Year's Eve," she told Noah, "But for now we're our own deejay."

Noah threw his hands over his head and wriggled his body to the beat. The twins tried to copy his movements but ended up reverting to an old standby-spinning themselves around and around in circles until they collapsed in a dizzy heap. Olivia was warily eyeing dangerous furniture edges when the twins toppled into the coffee table and both burst into sobs.

"Oh, God," Olivia raced over. Someone was bleeding. Crimson drops had fallen onto the marble floor. She inspected Maggie's and Wyatt's heads, found nothing, and then saw that Maggie's lip was split. Her mouth filled with blood and the sight, coupled with her crying, made the injury look worse than it actually was. Knowing this, Olivia cradled both twins in her lap and spoke to them soothingly. "It's okay, sweethearts. It's okay. Mommy's gotcha. Sarah? Or Noah? Can you bring over a towel? And then we'll need some ice."

"We gotta go to da hospital, Mommy?" Noah asked.

"I don't think so. Maggie's got a cut on her lip, but I think, mostly, we're only a little shaken up." The crying started to abate and she gently rocked the twins, "You're alright, sweet Maggie and Wyatt. That was scary, huh?" Sarah delivered the towel and Olivia pressed it to Maggie's lip. "We'll get you some ice, honey, and it'll feel better."

"Gah'dance, Mama," Maggie moaned, her voice muffled. "Ha'NewYear!"

In the kitchen, Caroline gave the potatoes a final stir and covered them with foil. "Nothing's going to stop that baby's party!" She exclaimed. "Tough little thing!"

"Cash, Mama!" Wyatt said. Tears still clung to his long eyelashes, "Cass cash an' Wy' cash!"

Olivia chuckled, "You're right, baby boy. Lotsa crashes today."

"Fire'work go BOOM!" Blood was still trickling from Maggie's lip, but, undaunted, she started to extricate herself from Olivia's lap. "Ha'NewYear!"

The door opened and Ed and Justin entered with the tray of food. Ed immediately sensed something was wrong and rushed inside. "What's going on?"

"Maggie and Wyatt had a little accident," Olivia said, "Split lip."

Ed picked up Maggie and examined her mouth. "Startin' to swell. You look like a boxer, pretty girl!"

"Fah down, Dah! AH FAH DOWN!" Maggie pouted and touched her burgeoning fat lip, but she was now smiling and ready to continue with the night's festivities. Sarah prepared a small ice pack and Maggie allowed Ed to hold it to her lip for a few minutes but she soon fought to get out of his grasp.

"Alright, Maggie May," he said, "You can get down. But it's time to eat. Hungry?"

"Wa'chick nuggs!"

Noah giggled and shook his head in classic big-brother fashion, "Those babies always want nuggies."

"Wa'Stahbucks!" Wyatt bellowed, perhaps worried his requests would be left out.

"Starbucks?" Justin asked.

"He calls everything in a to-go cup Starbucks," Olivia said, "I'll put juice in one and he'll be good. The chicken nuggets, though, will have to wait for another day." On the way to the refrigerator, she passed by the tray and nodded approvingly. "Looks good," she droned in Ed's ear.

He smirked and intentionally bumped into her as he opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. Maggie had not yet been secured in a booster seat. She ran over, grabbed the bottle, and pressed the cold glass to her busted lip.

"Sure," Ed muttered, "Now she wants somethin' cold on it."

Olivia simpered at her daughter and her IPA ice pack. "This is not a good sign," she joked.

Ed shrugged, "At least she's not sneaking them." Olivia was still holding Wyatt on her hip and Ed gave them both a quick kiss. "C'mon. Let's eat."

…

#Tuckson