Seeing as this story is called 'Toes in the Sand', I had to actually write a story that contained a scene at the beach. This is set when Tyler is about seven years old. Enjoy!
Thanks so much for all your lovely comments; they're awesome to receive and I try to respond to each of you.
Toes in the Sand- Chapter 3
Tyler Bartowski loved the beach. He loved the sand between his toes and the feeling of the waves when they crashed against his wiry frame. He knew his mother loved the beach; she would tell him stories about her and his dad and the beach. There was the time where they sat together, staring out into the sunrise after he had defused his first bomb. There was also that time where his dad had saved his Aunt Ellie's wedding and moved it to the beach. Photos of that day and many more were scattered throughout their house. He loved looking at those photos; they reminded him that he had the best family in the world.
Sitting down at his desk on Friday at school, Tyler and his second grade class were working on Mother's Day gifts; he knew that he had to do something special for his mom. Reaching for the crayons and yellow-coloured paper that was in the middle of the table, he got to work on the card. Ty worked diligently, concentrating so hard that he didn't even hear the bell ring to go home.
"Tyler," a voice behind him called. Looking up he saw the face of his teacher, Mrs. Bailey. She knelt down beside him, "You can go home now, Ty."
"I just wanted to finish this for my mom." He picked up the card and showed it to her.
"That's a great card, Ty. Your mom is going to love it." Tyler flashed her the trademark Bartowski grin. "Ok, little man, get out of here."
Packing up his things, Tyler trotted out to the front of the school where his dad was waiting for him. ."Hey champ." They gave each other a high-five before Chuck opened the back door of the car to let his son hop in.
Getting into the driver's seat, he twisted around to look at Tyler. "How was your day?" he asked.
"Good," Tyler replied.
"Did you do anything interesting?"
Tyler shrugged. "I dunno."
Chuck laughed quietly as he pulled out of the car park and started on their journey home. After a few minutes of silence, Tyler piped up. "Hey dad, do we have a glass jar at home that I could have?"
"Why?" he questioned, looking at his son in the rearview mirror.
"I want to make something for mom for Mother's Day. I know we've already gotten her a present, but I want this to be just from me."
Chuck smiled, "That sounds really cool." He thought for a moment, "I don't think we've got any spare, but how about we head over to Large Mart and then you can pick one out."
"Ok. Then can we go to the beach?"
Chuck had no idea what his son had planned but he was willing to go along with whatever he had in mind. "Sure, buddy; we can go to the beach."
The two Bartowski boys wandered through Large Mart looking for the perfect glass jar. Chuck had called home to let his wife know that they were going to be late. Ten minutes after they had entered they were on their way to the beach. When they pulled up, Chuck took off his shoes and made Tyler do the same. Rolling up their jeans, they headed down to the sand.
Just before the sea met the shore, Tyler knelt down and filled half the jar with the coarse, dry sand. When he finished, he brushed himself off and walked closer to the shoreline, Chuck following close behind him, allowing his son to do his thing. As they walked, Ty would occasionally bend down and pick up a shell that had washed up on the sand and put it in the jar. When it was sufficiently filled, he turned around to his father.
"I'm finished." He held up the jar for his father to look at.
"Good job. You wanna head home? Mom said she was cooking your favourite for dinner."
Tyler's chocolate eyes lit up with delight, "Tacos! Yes!" He did a twirl before handing his father the glass jar and racing to the car. Chuck chortled at his son's antics; he really did love tacos.
The boys pulled up to the house, but before they went inside, Chuck placed the jar at the bottom of Tyler's school bag so that Sarah wouldn't see it when they walked in. Chuck opened the door and Tyler raced through it, he spied his mother sitting on the red couch reading a book. He ran over to her and enveloped her in a hug. "Hi, mom."
Sarah pulled him up on her lap, mindful of her ever expanding, five-month-pregnant belly. "Hey, baby. How was your day?"
"Good. Daddy took me to the beach."
"Did he now? Was it fun?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chuck come back down the hallway after dropping off Tyler's bag in his room and smiled at him.
"Yep. We only went for a walk though. No swimming today." Tyler continued to prattle on about his day to Sarah as Chuck finished preparing dinner for his wife.
After dinner, Tyler excused himself and headed into his room.
"Any idea what that's about?" Sarah asked Chuck as they sat entwined together on the couch, content with just being with each other.
"It's a surprise." Chuck ran his hand over her stomach, loving the fact and feeling that a baby was growing inside of her once more.
Sunday morning rolled around and it saw Chuck and Tyler preparing a Mother's Day breakfast-in-bed feast for Sarah. Eggs, toast, bacon, hash browns and orange juice; it was a meal fit for a pregnant queen. The Bartowski boys carried it into her, grinning as her eyes sparkled with delight at the food they had brought for her. Sarah heartily dug in as the boys quickly snuck out and then back in again, hands behind their backs.
She looked up at them at the foot of the bed with their Bartowski grins plastered on their faces. "What are you boys up to?"
"Nothing," Chuck replied innocently as Tyler shook his head emphatically.
Sarah narrowed her eyes at her husband. "Chuck. What did I say about secrets?"
Chuck shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, honey, I can't remember."
"U-huh." She turned her head to look at her son. "Ty, anything you want to share? You remember what happens when you keep secrets from mommy?"
Tyler's eyes widened and he rushed around to her side of the bed and handed her a wrapped present. She put her plate down beside her leant down and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, baby. I'm too tired to tickle you today anyway."
Chuck came around to where Tyler was and sat down at Sarah's side, handing her another wrapped package. "This is from both of us. Happy Mother's Day, Sarah." He kissed her softly before pulling back, picking Tyler up and sitting him on his lap.
Sarah opened the joint present first, wanting to save Tyler's for last. Inside was a pamper package that included a trip to a day spa, new pyjamas that Ty picked out and an assortment of bath products. "Thank you, guys. It's awesome."
"The Captain got the day spa package for Ellie as well, so we thought you would like to go together."
"Thanks, honey." Sarah then picked up the gift that Tyler had given her and unwrapped it slowly. Inside were the glass jar and a handmade card. On the front he had written 'To Mommy' with a picture of the three of them at the beach. Inside he had written, 'You are the best mom ever. I love you. Love Tyler.' Sarah read the card and tears pooled in her eyes; wiping them away she looked up at her son and kissed him softly on the cheek. "I love you too, Ty."
He beamed, "Look at the present, mom. I made it myself."
Sarah picked up the glass jar and examined it. Glued to the inside wall was a photo of their whole family – Chuck, Sarah, Tyler, the Awesomes, Morgan, Alex and Casey – at one of their regular barbeques at the beach. It was half filled with sand and topped up with shells; there was even a shell glued to the lid.
"It was from two weekends ago; I wanted to find a picture with your belly so that the baby could be in it too." Tears were streaming down Sarah's face now and she pulled her son from her husband's lap and onto her own, hugging him fiercely.
"That is the best present I have ever gotten. Thank you, Ty."
"Love you," he whispered in her ear.
"Love you more, baby boy."
So there was chapter three. I hope you all enjoyed it. I have another idea for chapter four that I will write tomorrow instead of studying for my exam that's on Thursday morning. Who studies anyway? Certainly not I… not for ancient history anyway. My education exam is next week; I'll have to study for that one… I think I went to fewer classes for that than history. There was a little shout-out to my high school English teacher in this chapter; without her, I don't know where I'd be.
Anywho, thanks for reading. Please leave a review if you feel that way inclined.