In which the Afton and Emily families take a summer trip to the pool and the girls get a chance to relax.

July 9th, 1980, 12:16 PM:

There was nothing like a Hurricane summer. Dry, sweltering, and a mostly cloudless season until August. It was a kind of summer that would have most people indoors if it weren't for one saving grace that managed to draw so many into such an intolerable environment...

The town swimming pool.

Which is where the Afton and Emily families now found themselves, seeking outdoor refuge beneath a blazing sun.

Eleanor exhaled, leaning back in her sun chair with sunglasses propped on her nose and a straw sunhat atop her head, sticky sunscreen thoroughly lathered into her skin. She closed her eyes, listening as a multitude of children's yelling hoots and hollers echoed around the pool perimeter while they played. While getting to the pool was always an incredible chore, it was well worth the effort considering she got a proper deal of relaxation while Henry entertained Charlotte in the water.

Her companion beside her sighed; apparently of the same mindset.

Eleanor laughed once, peering at Clara. "Getting Charlie ready is enough on it's own; I don't know how you manage an extra two kids!" She joked.

Clara smiled, huffing. "Will, that's how," she said obviously. "They have so much energy, I'd never manage it on my own. And now..." she trailed off with a grin, leaning back in her chair with a stretch. "They're his to worry about."

Eleanor peeked over the rim of her sunglasses, observing her friend's husband in the pool- Michael had gotten ahold of one of their water-guns and was making careful surety to properly soak his father while Elizabeth clung to his back with arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He might have been suffocating, given how he was struggling to stand upright and balanced while holding a terrified Evan in his arms, but she wasn't sure.

She chuckled before her eyes turned just a few yards away in a quieter corner of the pool where Henry was holding Charlie out in front of him, blue floaties on her lithe arms. The man was smiling, letting the girl play safely in the water away from the chaos of the other swimmers.

Eleanor felt her mouth turn upward into a tender smile as her husband caught her looking at them and waved. She raised her hand in likewise manner as the two returned to their own activities.

"It's nice letting them just do their own thing, you know?" Clara voiced beside her, head tilted up beneath dark sunglasses.

"It really is," the woman agreed. "They love their papas anyway."

Her friend smiled. "They sure do. And they get so little time with them anyways."

Eleanor sighed exasperatedly at that. "Ain't that the truth..." she murmured tiredly. The success brought from the company their husbands had been building for the last six years certainly gave them a lot of security, comfort, and financial stability the woman hadn't expected, but it definitely came at a different kind of price.

Which, she supposed, was what made outings like this all the more special.

She opened her eyes as she heard wet feet approaching, looking up to see Henry walking toward her with a soaked Charlie on his hip.

"Hey, bugaboo," the woman greeted, sitting up as the girl was lowered to the ground and hurried over to her, setting wet hands on Eleanor's knee seriously. "Mommy," Charlie said, looking at her mother intently. "Papa says we need to drink lots of water because we're in the sun."

The woman couldn't help a smile as she raised an eyebrow, glancing at Henry who merely nodded with a small grin, hands on his hips. "Well, he's very right," she acknowledged. "We don't want to get dehydrated."

"But Mom, you're not in the pool!" Charlie exclaimed obviously, hands raising above her head to demonstrate her seriousness. "You really need to drink!"

Eleanor laughed. "Oh, yes?"

"Yes!"

The woman decided not to argue about whether or not being in the pool negated the need for water and leaned over her chair to fetch their bottles, passing one to her husband who opened it up to share with their daughter.

"Good thing we've got Charlie to keep an eye on us, huh, Ella?" Henry spoke with a smile as the girl beside him took greedy gulps of water. Eleanor nodded. "A very good thing," she agreed.

Clara sat up on her chair a yard away, glancing at the cooler next to her. "Good for us too, probably; I'm sure those rascals need a drink themselves," she said thoughtfully, leaning over to check its contents. Eleanor opened her mouth to comment on it before water spattered the concrete in front of them as the rest of the Afton family appeared, completely drenched. Clara laughed.

"Hey, honey."

William groaned, trying to set Evan down, who seemed dead-set on holding onto his father with all the might his small frame provided. Which, surprisingly, was a lot. Elizabeth was trying to regain her position on her back while Michael complained about hunger behind them, water-balloons in his hand, the remnant of some still clinging dutifully to William's hair.

The man managed to shake his daughter off, carefully prying Evan's hand from his shoulders as he clumsily set the boy on the edge of Clara's beach-chair.

"Your turn," he managed through heavy breathing, trying to find a place beside her to sit.

His wife chuckled. "Oh, I don't think so," she differed as Elizabeth jumped up next to him, yanking on his arm and he grunted, stumbling back a few feet before his eldest children shoved him back into the water.

The three adults laughed as William tried vainly to get back out onto dry ground, trapped by two very determined kids who were doing their due diligence keeping him in the pool.

"Have fun, Will!" Henry called teasingly as Eleanor re-did Charlie's braid.

She smiled to herself, fingers moving delicately through her daughter's hair. It was days like these, days with her family whom she loved that reminded her of what real happiness was.

And she'd be sure to cherish it.