A/N: Wow, sorry for taking so long! I kept writing into the night and them promising myself I would finish it tomorrow. It became a horrible cycle.

The birds started chirping around four a.m., but no one stirred from their slumber. When the sun came up a while later, no one moved still. It wasn't until Avery found herself needing the bathroom that she woke up, crawling for the door of the tent, then bursting into tears when she couldn't get out.

"I need potty," she whimpered, reaching over to shake Colton's foot. "Coley please help!"

He grunted and sat up, letting her out of the tent. She scrambled out and stood up, trying to remember where mama and daddy were, and dancing in place until she found a solution.

"Mama! I need potty!" she shouted as loud as she could. "Need help!"

When no one appeared immediately, she began to sob, knowing that she was about to have an accident.

"Mama, please!"

Adam stumbled his way out of the tent, rubbing his eyes, barely able to figure out what was going on.

"Avery-"

"Daddy, need potty now, now!"

"Okay, I'll take you."

"Hurry! Run!"

She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the outhouse, whining in fear of making a mess. They managed to get her taken care of just in time and she breathed a sigh of relief as they washed their hands in the cold water from the pump.

"That was close," she said with a yawn. "We can go snuggle mama now?"

"Yeah sure," he mumbled as she pulled him back towards the tent.

"Mornin' mama. I snuggle you."

Lindsay gave a small grunt and Avery climbed into the sleeping bag, pushing her tangled curls back from her face.

"I sleep on rock," she announced as Adam joined them. "It not comfy. Have dream 'bout horses. We all go ridin' and there was bears."

"Really?"

"Oh yes daddy. What you dream 'bout?"

"Um… I dreamed I was Mario and your mama was Princess Peach," he said, spouting off the first thing he could think of. "And I had to save her from Bowser."

"Oh my!" Avery giggled, while Lindsay smirked in her half-sleep. "You saved her?"

"Of course I did. I'll always save your mama. Now go back to sleep. It's not time to be up yet."

"Okay. Thanks takin' me potty, daddy."

"Anytime."

She fell back to sleep almost immediately, stretching out as much as she could, making Adam and Lindsay very uncomfortable.

"Too lazy to get up, too cramped to fall back to sleep," Adam muttered. "She gets this from you, you know."

"I know. I should get up and start on breakfast."

"It's barely after five. If the kids wake up at this hour, they can wait for food."

"I was actually thinking about Austin and Danny waking up early and not having immediate access to food."

"They'll be okay if there's coffee."

"Yeah," she agreed, dropping a kiss to Avery's cheek.

"You're cute in the morning."

"I thought I was cute all the time."

"You are but this is a different kind of puffy, red eye, scratchy voice, messy hair, early morning cuteness."

"Well that's cool."

"And wrinkly nose."

"Wrinkly nose cuteness. However did you get so lucky?"

He laughed quietly and leaned over Avery, kissing the end of Lindsay's wrinkly nose.

"I love you babe."

"I love you too. Wanna wake me up again in half an hour?"

"Why?"

"So I can go jump in the lake real quick."

"Why?"

"Because there's not showers here and I have to wash my hair or I'll be irritated all day."

"I am not waking you up so you can get pneumonia."

"It's really not that bad!"

"Stay here and be warm."

"Half an hour."

"Is when we shall negotiate again."

"I really want a baked potato," she whispered, rubbing at her eyes. "What's up with that?"

"I don't know but you're weird."

"Okay."

He reached over for her hand and slid his fingers between hers, then settled in for just a little more sleep.

"I'm not trying to be sexist or anything, but you have to throw like a girl."

"Excuse me?"

"I prefaced it!"

Austin crouched down swiftly and grabbed a handful of wet sand, chucking it at Adam.

"This is the last time I ask you to teach me anything."

He shrugged and picked up another smooth rock, skipping it across the surface of the lake a few times.

"No problem. You're a terrible student."

"So mean."

He chuckled and waded into the lake, pulling up a handful of smooth rocks and handing half to her.

"You heard from Gloria about Natalie lately?"

"Yeah," she answered, inspecting a rock before trying to skip it. "She's doing pretty good. I'm going to go see her when we get back if you want to go with me."

"Sure."

"Daddy! Look my castle I make!" Avery hollered, pointing to a huge pile of sand. "Most awesome!"

"Hey, great job Tink," Adam said, kneeling down to inspect it. "Want me to make you a moat?"

"Okay! The king sit here and the queen sit here."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I the princess. I stand on roof an' yell."

"Sounds about right."

She smiled and glanced over at the dock, where Lindsay and Danny were taking turns throwing the big kids into the water. Avery was especially amused when Lindsay used her entire bodyweight and caught Danny off guard, making him fall in.

"Danny make big splash," she chuckled, shaking her head. "He gonna get mama back."

"Yeah, he probably will. Want me to take you in the water?"

"No! I fall in!"

"I won't drop you."

She whimpered and looked at the water, seeing all the fun the big kids were having, then nodded her head after a moment.

"Okay daddy, take me."

He picked her up and carried her into the water, deep enough that her toes got wet.

"Daddy, scary stuff in there!" she said, looking down at the water warily.

"If there was scary stuff in there, would I let mama and the boys play in it?"

"No."

"Then it's safe, isn't it?"

"Okay daddy."

"I won't let you go, you're just fine."

She nodded and clung to him, shrieking when they got splashed by Colton and Isa's double cannon-ball.

"I not like wet!"

"Honey, why do you think mama bought you a brand new swimsuit?"

"To look cute," she said, frowning and tracing the sparkly pearl pattern on the suit. "These my pearls."

"I see."

"I look like a nice lady."

"Triple cannon-ball!" Colton shouted, while he and Isa jumped off the dock again with Sarah.

"No! No get me wet! My hair!"

Adam laughed and lifted her up to sit on the dock, shaking his head.

"Okay kiddo, you stay there where it's warm and dry. Get a tan."

She nodded and busied herself with laying on the dock, watching the water through the spaces in the wood. After a while Sarah joined her and they lay there in the sun giggling together.

"I don't think I can do anymore heavy lifting," Lindsay commented after tossing Ben into the water. "Can't they just jump in themselves?"

"I think maybe Adam and Austin should take over for us."

"No way, vacations are for relaxing," Austin said, laying down on the dock next to Sarah.

"So that's why you won't help me cook anything."

"Lin, I can barely cook with a full kitchen. How am I supposed to cook over a fire?"

"By actually listening to what I tell you."

"It would take you less time to just cook instead of telling me what to do."

"You're impossible."

"Mama, no fight with Austin. It not nice. Me and Sarah don't fight!"

"We're not fighting honey, we just like to talk snotty to each other."

"Why?"

"Because it keeps us young."

"Oh dear," Avery sighed, shaking her head. "Time for us to eat lunch?"

"Yeah, we'd better get started. You want some chicken?"

"Oh yes!"

The rest of the kids weren't happy to leave the lake, but were placated with the promise of coming back after lunch.

Food was prepared quickly and soon the kids had full plates as they sat around the picnic table giggling with each other, their short swimming experience forgotten. Avery had managed to get corn in her hair and it almost looked like she'd done it on purpose because there was a kernel seemingly in every curl.

"Avery, I left you alone for two minutes and you managed this."

"I special."

"Yeah, that's for… Ben is your lip bleeding?"

Ben looked up with wide, wet eyes and nodded gently.

"What happened honey?"

"I was so 'cited about eatin'," he started shamefully. "That I started chewin' 'fore I had food in my mouth!"

Avery leaned across the table to pat his hand, sighing thoughtfully because the same fate had befallen her a time or two. He sniffled and wiped at his mouth, then sighed deeply.

"I better hold my horses when it comes to eatin'."

Lindsay turned away so she could roll her eyes without making him feel bad. She wasn't sure why her kids were so weird and so overly dramatic, but she often apologized to her mother because she was certain her behavior had been similar at that age.

"Hey Montana, I think your cooking over a fire is better than from a stove."

"No, you're just hungrier than normal because you didn't have your midmorning slice of Rays."

"You're not supposed to tell anyone about that," he said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I didn't tell anyone, I mentioned it to you and they happened to overhear."

"You're impossible."

"Yeah, I know."

"Wait, what other stuff does he do that I don't know about?" Austin asked, tossing her chicken bone into some bushes, causing Lindsay to sigh.

"I don't know. Nothing probably. Nothing weird anyway."

"Yeah, and if you say otherwise, I'll come up with somethin' on you."

"Whatever Danny."

"I will!"

"Sure."

"Hey! Mama, Ben's cheating!"

"I am not Cole! Take it back!"

"No, you're out!"

"Boys," Adam warned, turning to look at them. "What are you fighting about?"

"We were playin' Cups and Ben's got knocked over so he's out but he won't go out!"

"It was the wind, not me! I said interference! Cole didn't listen."

"Wind counts in this game Ben! You're a cheater!"

"I am not on account of you won't let me play anyway!"

"You need a better attitude. Sore loser!"

"Shut up Cole!"

"Daddy Ben said shut up!"

"Boys are you done eating?"

"Yes but-"

"Then go lay down in the tent. You obviously can't handle yourselves today."

Knowing he was disappointed in their behavior, the boys hung their heads and obeyed, climbing into the tent and bickering quietly over whose fault the punishment was.

"Boys take nap and Avery not!"

"That's not nice to gloat about, Averylin."

"Oh. Mama I need take nap?"

"Yes, but just a short one. Come here and let me get the corn out of your hair."

"Oh boy. This take long."

"Hey kids, why don't you guys go lay down too?" Austin suggested, keeping her tone light because of the look on Isa's face. "You'll be rested enough to stay up a little later and have S'Mores."

Sarah and Junior agreed happily and Isa sighed a few times before nodding her head. There was no point in arguing as she was sent to Adam and Lindsay's tent with Avery and Sarah and Junior climbed into Danny and Austins. Years of experience had taught them all that smaller nap groups were way more effective.

The adults cleaned up lunch and reorganized the food and had just put the fire out when Isa poked her head out of the tent, whispering loudly.

"I slept for a bit, can I come out? Please?"

"You slept for a bit? How long is a bit?"

"I closed my eyes and opened 'em again."

"Okay you can come out."

She grinned and climbed up into Danny's lap, taking a long drink of his root beer before settling back against him and sighing.

"So, what do you think about camping, baby?" Austin asked, leaning over to wipe a smudge off of Isa's face.

"I like it. Well, except for the outhouse, that part is pretty gross. But I like the rest."

"You didn't find any bugs in your bed did you?"

"Well come to think of it, I actually did find an earwig in the tent and I was about to squash it but then Avery jumped on it and there was no point in me stepping on it after that. I think she killed it all the way into its next life."

"That poor thing never saw it coming."

"Avery's like a linebacker."

"No one will disagree with that."

"Babe," Adam whispered softly, crouching down close to her. "Let's go for a walk."

"I just got in bed."

"I know. But it's our last night up here. C'mon, live a little."

"Okay, but I am not shedding any clothing at any point during this walk if that's what you were counting on."

"No, it's way too cold for that," he agreed, readily enough that he almost masked his disappointment. She gave him a small smirk and followed him out of the tent, pulling her shoes on and taking his hand. They walked away from the campsite to the trail that led down to the lake, but they took the opposite direction instead. She shivered and he pulled her closer, kissing her temple and breathing her in. It had been much too long since they'd been afforded quietness like this, especially when their souls both felt stillness too.

They came to a small clearing and she realized they'd walked uphill quite a bit because the lake was far below the rocky outcropping they stood on.

"How did you find this?"

"I didn't. Austin saw it when she went running this morning."

"I like it up here," she said with a deep sigh. "Feels like it's just us."

He nodded and held her close for a while, watching the occasional ripples on the surface of the lake.

"Remember that time it was storming and you called me to come over and watch it with you? And you laughed at me when I got there because I'd gotten wet in the rain."

"And you looked like a drowned rat."

"And we stood in front of that window for a long time, just like this. You told me why you loved storms so much and why you wanted me to come watch one with you. You know what I was thinking?"

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking, "This woman is incredible." I had never had anyone open up to me like that before. The fact that you were so in tune with yourself and your emotions and you were sharing that with me. I didn't have to ask, I didn't have to beg you to tell me how you felt, you just told me. So many times I knew that I had never met anyone like you before, but all the sudden you showed me again."

"No one else would have come."

"What?"

"No one else in the world would have come halfway across town to stand around and watch it rain with me. No one," she whispered. "Thank you."

"I'm just a proclaimer."

"What?" she giggled, turning to look at him.

"The Proclaimers one hit wonder 500 Miles. I'd walk 500 miles and then 500 more to be with you."

"You're sweet. And cheesy. Mostly sweet."

"I'll take it."

"Remember that time we fell asleep watching Braveheart-"

"Riffing on Braveheart."

"And when we woke up, neither of us knew what time it was or what day it was or if we had to work. And your hair was sticking up and I'd lost a sock and after a minute we just laid there on the floor laughing."

"And then I kissed you," he added, pressing his lips to hers. "And then I kissed you again, and I couldn't stop."

She chuckled and buried her face in his chest.

"I love you."

"I love you too babe."

"I have to admit, I kind of wish it would start raining."

"How do you pack up camp in the rain?"

"Loosely."

"Don't wish for it too hard."

"I won't."

"Ready to go back yet?"

"Just a few more minutes."

The few minutes turned into almost an hour as they stood there together in the fresh air. Time had never been a factor for them really, but it seemed to slip even further away when they stood so far away from the rest of the world.

After a while his hand found hers again and he led her back down the trail. The campfire had been put out and Austin and Danny were already in their tent while various snores came from the direction of the kids. Lindsay walked over and peeked in on them, stepping inside to tuck them all in a little tighter. She dropped six kisses on six foreheads, then backed out of the tent and zipped it up.

By the time she joined Adam, he had all the blankets piled on top of him and was half asleep. Wrinkling her nose, she slid in beside him and tugged some blankets in her direction, managing to get half of one before he pulled it back.

"Oh now this is really not fair," she mumbled, burrowing as close to him as she could.

"This is," he replied, tucking his arm tightly around her waist. She smiled and rolled over towards him, reaching up to run her hand along his face.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I know that we'll always be okay, but someday, just in case we're not, I want you to know that I love you anyway. Always will."

"Babe, we're going to be fine. Nothing could ever make us grow apart."

"I know. But just in case."

"I'll always love you too. Even if you do worry too much."

"I don't think it's too much."

"Want to know what I think about?"

"Hmm?"

"Someday you're going to have to take care of me."

"I am?"

"I'm going to get old before you do. Will you take care of me?"

"Yeah. And I'll still love you then."

"Even if I'm weak and forgetful and crotchety and have no teeth?"

"Especially if you're weak and forgetful and crotchety and have no teeth."

"Crazy woman."

"Go to sleep. You need rest to fight off aging."

"Thanks for always being here in the morning."