Wow I'm on time! I don't really know where this chapter came from, my hands were doing their own thing. Hopefully a good thing. I might write a new fic one of these days, keep an eye out for it. PLEASE review, is the sunshine in my darkness, the fire in my ice, the air in the carbon dioxide. (You get the idea.) I've been up reading webcomics for the last three days, so sleep has been minimal. Enjoy the show!

Summary: Beach party fun times with Vida, Chubs, Zu, and the Stewarts.

"Mommy, Amelia got sand in my hair!"

Ruby looked over to see Amelia giving her an innocent look and wet sand sticking to Finn's hair in thick clumps.

"Amelia." Ruby said in her best motherly tone.

Amelia batted her eyelashes over her multicolored eyes and flipped a strand of white-blonde hair over her shoulder. "I didn't mean to, it just, kind of, slipped?" Amelia said, sounding more like a question in Ruby's ears.

Ruby shook her head with an exasperated smile, reaching over and shaking some sand out of Finn's darker hair. "Amelia, what do you say?"

Dropping the innocent facade, Amelia rolled her eyes, but complied regardless. "I'm sorry Finn." Amelia said, enunciating and dragging out each syllable, obviously not sincere, but satisfying Finn anyway.

"Mom, can we go get some water? We wanna make a sandcastle." Finn asked, pointing a few dozen meters down the shore.

"Take Daddy with you." Ruby instructed them. The twins eyes lit up, each picking up a pail.

"Dad!" Amelia yelled, dragging him toward the ocean. "We have important work to do."

"Ruby, get up." Vida semi-whispered, shaking Ruby out of her book.

"Whaaat." Ruby groaned.

"We're gonna bury Grannie in the sand. I know you'd want in, so being the amazing person I am, I convinced Zu to wait for you. You in or not?"

A dangerous grin stretched itself across Ruby's face. Standing, she took a second to shake stray grains of sand off her bathing suit, before answering Vida. "Count me in."

"Why can't we make him into a mermaid?" Vida whined as they finished burying all of Chubs in the sand, save for his face.

"Because-we may be evil, genius masterminds, but we aren't cruel." Ruby said while patting sand so that it would be packed tight.

"Should we wake him up?" Zu asked, eyes bright and dancing behind a pair of 1950s red cat-eye sunglasses.

"I have just the plan." Vida said ominously before disappearing near to the shoreline.

"I'm glad we finally went to the beach." Zu said, basking in the sun.

"Yeah, it's nice to vacation together." Ruby said, sitting next to Zu. Tilting her head to the sunlight, Ruby let the light dance over her features, warming her face. The sounds of the ocean crashing into the shore and kids laughing and giggling washed over her, a feeling of contentment and peace.

"Noo, that's my biscuit." Chubs moaned, still asleep. Ruby snorted and Zu laughed her musical laugh, both wondering what in the world was Chubs dreaming.

"I'm back." Vida exhaled, slightly out of breath. Pinched between her thumb and forefinger was a red crab, angrily trying to pinch the offending hand holding it.

The three exchanged a conspiratorial glance, words not needed.

"Oh Chubsie, it's time to wake up." Vida sang in her notorious sing-song voice.

"Huh? Wha's goin on?" Chubs said groggily, blinking his eyes open, only to be met by a crab scuttling towards his face, pinchers at the ready. "Ah! What-what the hell is happening?" Chubs screeched as he tried to jump up, now wide awake, only to find he was trapped. "VIDA! RUBY!"

The crab shuffled closer and closer, snapping his tiny claws in anticipation. Chubs struggled to no avail, the crab reaching out and pinching a claw over Chubs' nose.

"Ow! Hey you guys, not funny." Chubs said in a nasally voice, glaring and attempting to shake off the crab.

Ruby sides were gone and shaking with laughter, Zu chortling beside her and Vida snorting with laughter, rolling on the sand next to Chubs. They laughed until their eyes leaked saltwater and breaths came in quick pants.

After their laughter died down, Zu, Vida and Ruby begun to dig out a very irritated Chubs. Once his hands were free, Chubs reached up and plucked off the crab that had hung on to his nose. Once gone, it could be seen that Chub's nose appeared as if it had been badly sunburned, but no major damage was done.

Sand was etched into the deepest crevices of Chubs, stuck deep under his nails and embedded in his hair. When he was finally able to stand, he took one second before lunging towards Vida, who was ready for the attack. Jumping up, Vida sprinted off in the direction of the sea, Chubs trampling through the sand after her. Zu laughed, getting up to go after them.

"Are you coming with us?" Zu asked Ruby.

"I'm going to check on Liam and the kids first." Ruby told her.

Zu nodded before flitting off after Chubs and Vida.

"Mom look what we made!" Finn exclaimed.

A nearly three foot sandcastle stood, almost two-and-a-half feet wide. Little doors and windows were carved out of the damp sand, and shells embellished the tower. A moat with a few crabs in it encircled the castle, filled with water. On the tallest point of castle, a flag made of a thin twig and a bit of scrap fabric waved proudly.

"Did you guys do this all by yourself?" Ruby asked, a bit astonished.

"Yes! Well, no. Dad helped. But I did the most work."Amelia boasted.

Liam grinned, watching Amelia and Finn playfully bicker, and pulled Ruby to his side, pecking her on the cheek.

"Who wants to get ice cream?" Ruby asked the still-arguing twins.

"Me!"

Ruby sat down between Amelia and Finn, the ice cream parlor in the middle of the beach. Ruby watched as Amelia dug into her cotton candy ice cream cone, dripping down her hands, and as Finn spooned his mint chocolate chip into his mouth from a bowl, careful not to get any on himself.

Liam handed Ruby her favorite, pumpkin pie, before attacking his trademark chocolate and caramel cone ravenously.

"Heyo! Over here!" Ruby turned at the familiar voice, surprised to see Vida, Chubs and Zu sporting ice cream cones of their own.

"When did you get here?" Ruby inquired, not remembering seeing them there.

"Eh, I don't know. After I dominated Chubs in the volleyball, I decided we should get some ice cream to celebrate my victory." Vida told Ruby, taking a seat next to Finn. Chubs was about to retort before Vida covered his mouth telling him, "Don't worry, I know you men have a ridiculous notion that you need to prove manliness, but your dignity was lost a long time ago."

Chubs went bright red before plopping down next to Vida, lapping at his ice cream.

Zu shook a head at them as an exasperated mother would, biting into a chocolate shell, revealing vanilla underneath.

Everyone was licking at their ice creams in comfortable, contemplative silence. Seagulls squaked above them. Waves crashed onto the shore. Voices of other people could be heard, snippets of conversations and laughter carrying on the wind. The sun reflected off the ocean, glittering like glass. Everyone was living their own life, but here in this moment, they were all together. It was perfect.

"Mom, Amelia got ice cream in my hair!"