A/N: The last day of the holiday weekend :)
Summer brought warmth to the lake waters, though it was still chilly in its depths. When Katie was young, it was all her father could do to keep her from diving head first into those waters the minute the frost evaporated from the ground. She'd constantly snuck off for a swim before the water got warm enough for it to be safe. She was still the same way, though she was not foolish enough to jump into freezing water anymore. She always tested the water, much more prudent than when she was a girl. But as soon as it was warm enough, she couldn't resist its siren's call.
So when Monday afternoon rolled around, after staying in bed a little longer than she'd wanted with Ned, she went down to the dock. Her father was still there with Mackenzie and Lana. Jim was spinning Lana around and her mother had come down before her, lounging while Emma napped with the baby monitor turned on nearby.
"Hey Katie," Melinda smiled, peeking from behind her sunglasses. "I'm glad you came down. Is Ned coming?"
"He's changing," she nodded, letting her hair down. She placed her towel near Mackenzie's and tossed her cover up there too.
She dove in then, swimming in its clear waters the way she'd always done, with an internal glee that wanted to spill out like a shout into the air. A spring-fed this lake, its water always in motion so that it was clearer than the average mountain lake.
She came up under Mackenzie, raising her onto her shoulders.
"Hey!" Mackenzie screeched as she teetered on Katie's shoulders. "Don't drop me. I don't want to get my hair wet."
Mackenzie had just turned twelve and finally gotten her parents to let her wear a bikini. She remembered how long it had taken her mother to convince her father to let her wear a bikini. She'd been fourteen, well almost. Mackenzie was twelve and as much as Katie wanted to protest, she knew why her father had made her wait longer.
Mackenzie didn't have the same body like Katie did. She had strong, lean legs, being a swimmer and a narrower figure. Katie was graceful and had dancer legs and her mother's hips. Katie had also worn a training bra since she was eleven. Mackenzie didn't need one yet and she was twelve.
"I won't," Katie was on solid ground in the water. She held onto her sister and helped her down without a splash. "There. Scaredy cat. You'd never think you were the swimmer."
"Do you know how hard it is to blow dry my hair?" Mackenzie sighed, making sure her bun was tight.
"I know. Sorry, mermaid." Katie muttered, seeing Ned coming down the stairs to the shore.
He crossed to the dock, walking across and sitting on the edge. She swam up to the dock, between his legs as he leaned down and kissed her. She stood, gaining a little height as he moved to stand again and she sighed when he was too tall for her to kiss him anymore.
Katie pulled out the tube that was hooked up underneath the dock. She pushed herself to lie on top, still damp from the water. She wore an old swimsuit, but nevertheless a good one. It hugged her figure and was white and showed her figure off nicely. Ned cursed as he toed the water, seeing his wife. He wanted to be in the water with her, when she looked as delectable as she did right now.
"Is it cold?" Melinda laughed, sitting up.
"It's not as warm as I'd like it to be," Ned hissed, watching Katie stretch out.
"Maybe it'll help," Melinda suggested and kicked his leg in, tripping him into the deep water.
He surfaced, shaking the water out of his hair and splashing Melinda. She didn't mind though. It cooled her off.
Jim tossed Lana to Ned and he caught her, tossing her back into the water near Jim. He swam over to Mackenzie and shook her around, getting her hair damp. She gave up and shook her hair down, diving after him and pushing him under. They tossed around and Katie groaned, not wanting to get soaked and paddled over to her mother. They'd never soak her if she was near her mother.
"Hey bug," Melinda smiled. "Feeling better?"
"Relaxed," she shook the water from her ears and held onto the dock. "Ned helped. He always does."
"What's on your mind?" Melinda asked, holding her closer by holding her hand.
"Nothing. I just worry too much, especially when Amber is around. Wherever she is," she muttered and stretched out, messing with her top for a second before lying back with her eyes closed. The sun poured over her skin, warming her. "Plus I need to relax before hitting the road later. You know how anxious I get if I'm stressed while driving."
She could hear Mackenzie splash, Ned, feeling a few drops his her feet. She splashed their way and the water stilled. Ned chuckled and she peeked over there, seeing Mackenzie whisper something to Ned as he leaned down.
She was in for something.
Mackenzie so missed having Aaron around to play and mess with. Ever since he got a girlfriend, since he started eighth grade really, he didn't like hanging around with his little sister as much as he used to.
Thankfully, Ned enjoyed kids, but he especially loved the Clancy kids. They'd always been like family to him, even before they were. He was always playing or messing around with Mackenzie like a big brother would.
"You're not staying tonight? No fun!" Melinda sighed but didn't push her. She knew there was a reason for why she wanted to be home and if Katie wanted her to know, she'd tell her. "Are you two at least staying to roast marshmallows? You have to Katie. It's tradition."
"I suppose we can stay until then," she smiled at her mom, taking off her sunglasses. She clipped them to her top before closing her eyes again. "I just miss my bed and being able to stretch out." Melinda laughed then, understanding that the mattress upstairs wasn't the comfiest or the biggest for two people. "Plus I only left enough food for Stitches through tonight, so I have to be there in the morning."
"And you want to be alone with Ned," Melinda hummed, seeing her open an eye. "I heard you this morning." Katie blushed, crimson red and sighed. The mother laughed, shushing her. "Only a little. Don't worry. I've been worse."
"Yes," her eyes flew open and she nodded. "Yes, you have. My fifteenth birthday party mom."
The mother blushed as red as her daughter's had. Melinda pulled her book out again, covering her face. "I still feel so bad about that." Melinda sighed.
"Oh, I'm just messing with you." She laughed and relaxed into the tube. "I'm way over that mom. The girls actually barely even noticed until I pointed it out. Still, you were like the only parents out of my friend group that still talked to each other. Plus it wasn't like we didn't know what sex was. We just watched a scary movie to drown it out. Why do you think we wanted to go to Rings 2? We'd watched the first one the night before."
"Oh my god. I told you not to watch that movie!" Melinda muttered. "You said you went to that new musical thing. Plus wasn't it like NC-17 for that sex scene?"
"No. I flirted with the ticket seller to let us in," she shrugged. "Plus he asked for my ID and saw it was my birthday. He got us popcorn too and sat with me. I let him get to second base."
"Katherine Ann! I would've never thought..." Melinda couldn't hold in her laughter, because at least she was only finding out about this seven years later. "At least you had a normal high school I guess."
"Who had a normal high school experience?" Jim set Lana on the dock as Melinda grabbed her towel, pulling Lana into her lap.
"I did, according to mom." Katie laughed and felt Ned's cool hands touch her stomach. She met his eyes as she opened hers, smiling at him as he surfaced from the water.
"What made yours so different from your moms?" Jim laughed.
"Did you finally tell your them about letting Billy Mathison getting to second base with you?" Ned kissed her shoulder and she looked over at him, shaking her head at him.
"Why Ned?" She laughed, covering her face as Jim pushed himself to sit on the edge of the dock.
"Bill Mathison? He what?" Her father's brow furrowed and he leaned into her mother as she sat up. Lana had moved to sit next to her dad, a towel wrapped around her as her feet toed the water. "Did you know about this?"
"She just told me," Melinda said, rubbing his chest as she kissed her cheek. "
"Oh God," Katie groaned. "Please stop talking."
"On her fifteenth birthday too," Ned laughed and she slapped him. "Yeah. I remember when I peeked over this girl's head and saw you."
"You were there and never told me? Even after I told you about it when-ugh I hate you." She laughed, feeling his lips pepper her neck. The tube rocked from the unsettling water beneath her and she grabbed on, looking at Ned. "What the?"
Mackenzie surfaced, pushing Katie off and into the water. "Got ya!" Mackenzie high fived Ned quickly before Katie pulled him down into the water.
He let her take him down and stood up after, Katie on his back, legs wrapped around him as she pulled him back down.
"You traitor!" She yelled, splashing around as he picked her up and tossed over his shoulder. The water was only about hips deep and he continued walking until it was up to his chest, throwing her out. She surfaced, soaked and annoyed, but wrapped her arms around his neck anyway after she swam over to him. "How could you turn me in?"
"She looped me in long before I came over," he laughed, brushed her hair out of her face. "Sorry. I can never resist a good prank."
"We have to get her back," she muttered, shaking her head at him. "But when?"
"Next time," he laughed, kissing her cheek. "You know we'll probably be back here three times before summer is over."
"Yeah. Next time," she sighed, looking over at Mackenzie, who'd claimed the tube as Jim spun her around to see if she'd stay on. "Mom wants us to stay for marshmallows."
"We can do that," he said, following a drop of water down the side of her neck. He met the drop before it touched the water, licking up the side of her neck. "I'll drive. I know you hate night driving."
"Thanks," she smiled at him, moaning as he sucked at her jaw. Her legs wrapped around him around, her hips grounding against him. She could feel him through his shorts, god, she wanted him. He chuckled as he grasped her ass, pressing into her. "We can't." She gasped, pulling away from him.
"Let's go take a hike then," he chuckled, his mouth nipping at her ear as she tried to pull away. He used her parent's usual way out, eliciting a giggle from her. She turned to look at him, her eyes glazed over with want. She wanted him too, almost as badly as he wanted her. "A long one…" He suggested then, kissing her.
"Ahem," Jim cleared his throat and Katie looked to her father, standing up. The water was to her shoulders and met Ned's nipples as they separated. "Little ones are here."
"Coming from you?" Katie laughed at her father, rolling her eyes and swimming up to the dock. She nudged her dad playfully, pushing herself up and onto the dock with flat feet. "I'd expect it from mom."
"What can I say, maybe its a midlife crisis," Jim shrugged, standing up and giving her, his towel. "You hungry?"
"A little," she toweled her hair of the dripping water before patting herself down. She pulled her cover up back on. "Are you making food?"
"I've had chili in the crockpot since this morning," Jim shrugged, picking up Lana. The little girl was pooped, ready for her afternoon nap after some food. She snuggled into their father's chest, and Katie kissed her sister's cheek. "It should be done by now. The red one has the good stuff. See you up there?" He kissed her forehead, rubbing her back as he stepped away.
"Yes," she groaned happily, smiling at her father as he walked off the dock.
There was nothing like a bowl of her Dad's chili on a summer day.
It had all the same tomato chunks, beef and kidney beans that grandma Faith's did, but it was scorching hot. Dad must have put four or five times the amount of chili in it. Each burning mouthful warmed her up from the inside out. Of course, she washed it down with a glass of milk to help put out the fire in her guts, but that was all part of the fun.
He made two batches, the good stuff and one for the chickens and little kids. Mackenzie and Katie always had two bowls, like their dad. Aaron was the complete opposite and can never handle the heat, which his sisters never let him live down.
Her mother was standing up, collecting towels and stuff as Mackenzie came in. She wrapped a towel around herself before side hugging her sister.
"Truce? I'll let you get me back next time," Mackenzie laughed, squeezing her. She stepped back and pulled the hairband from her wrist, tying her hair up.
"Yeah, whatever." Katie scoffed and hugged her. "Watch your back. Next time."
Mackenzie helped her mother as Katie waited for Ned, kissing him before giving him her towel that she'd held onto.
"What's for lunch?" He asked.
"Dad's chili," she beamed.
"Yes," Ned cheered, tying the towel around his waist. "I bet I can eat more than you."
"It's not an eating contest you know," Melinda laughed, slipping her sandals on.
"Says who?" Katie, Ned, and Mackenzie all said at the same time.
Of course, it was. Everything in their family was a contest.