The next chapter is posted! Enjoy!
2 Years Later...
"Then he…. then he…." She ended with a frustrated sigh.
Mia leaned back in her computer chair while running her hands through her hair.
This had to be the first time in a while since she has experienced writer's block, because of this, it was so easy to forget just how frustrating it can be.
But then being her fourth book, perhaps she was running a little out of steam. Not to mention, she has been working on it almost nonstop for a while now with hardly any breaks, it seems like. Which could be why she's having a bit of a mental block right now.
As her gaze drifted to the window, she saw the sunlight peering in and some birds chirping about.
Wondering what time it was, she picked up her iPhone and checked the time.
'It's only 9:42am!?' She thought.
That was shocking, it felt like she had been stuck behind this computer screen for much longer than that. Seeing as she had a pretty early start, getting on her laptop around 8:30am.
Though it seems since she got on, she has been struggling a little typing things down for the current chapter.
Mia wasn't alone for long when someone came wandering in.
She shifted her gaze and smiled when she saw who it was and waited for them to come wandering over to where she was.
"Hey, Sweetie. You coming to visit me?" She asked, as she looked down at the toddler that came walking over.
Aurora waddled over with a smile and came to a stop right next to her mommy. Then she reached up and placed her tiny hands on the side of her right thigh.
"Momma!" She said.
Mia couldn't help but smile.
Then she reached down and picked the two-and-a-half-year-old up and placed her on her lap. The toddler leaned back against her.
"Looks like you're still struggling, Wilwarin. Perhaps, it is time you take a break." Came a familiar raspy voice from the doorway.
Mia shifted her gaze to the source and smiled.
"You can tell that too, huh?" She inquired, as she held Aurora in her lap.
Aerin, returned the smile.
He had finished his first book a few months back. It surprisingly ended up being a big hit, and many copies of it were produced by Mia's publisher.
On the first page of the book, he put a small dedication message in it to his Beloved Wife and Daughter.
"Not that hard to tell with you. You have been stuck for the last few days now." He replied, as he stepped into the room.
"So, you implying I should take another little vacation again?" She teased.
"Yea!" Aurora blurted out.
Both parents couldn't help but laugh at that.
For someone who was only two years and three months old, their daughter was very smart and already pretty good with a few words at her young age.
"Well, there you have it. And you didn't even hear it from me. But from our own child." He says, with laughter in his voice.
"Yeah, and she sure told me. And I suppose seeing that it is nice out, we should start our beach day early. Though I can tell you two are already ready seeing as you're both in your bathing suits at this time." Mia replied.
"Bea! Bea!" Aurora said, excitedly.
That was the toddler's way of saying, beach.
"Yes, well we figured we'd get a head start and sneak out without you this morning. But that clearly didn't work since this little Losse here decided to make a b-line straight into your office to where you're sitting." He teased.
"Or maybe she came in here to inform me of your plans of sneaking out." Mia teased back.
Then she shifted her gaze back to Aurora who was still seated on her lap.
The toddler had gotten ahold of her iPhone and was tapping on the dark screen without any success because she didn't know you had to press the little round button at the bottom of the screen first to turn it on.
"That true, baby girl? You knew what daddy was up to and you came in here to let me know?" Mia asked her.
"Yea!" She said again, out loud.
Her mommy couldn't help but chuckle a little at her enthusiastic reply.
"And here I thought, we were going to be good partners in crime. If this is the case, you cannot let her know what we are up to, my Darling." Aerin says to their toddler daughter.
Aurora just giggles up at him.
"I guess now is the time to reveal that she has been secretly employed as a spy by me to watch and listen to everything you do that maybe against me. And her walking in here was just so she can report back to me that you planned on sneaking out to the beach without me." Mia jokes.
"Oh really? Working as a little double agent, are we? You know what we do to those who are caught slipping info to the other party? It kind of goes a little something like this." Aerin said.
Then he lifted the small toddler from her mother's lap and up into the air.
Afterwards, he pulled her down a little and blew raspberries on her belly causing her to giggle and kick her feet.
He did this a few times, until her tiny peals of laughter filled the room.
Then he placed her back down at his side, while giving her a bright smile. The tiny girl pressed her head to his shoulder afterwards, and he leaned down and placed a kiss atop her head.
"That was a very quick punishment and apology afterwards. But with a face that cute, I can see why." Mia stated, with an amused grin.
"Can't say you're wrong there." He says.
She couldn't help but chuckle a little at his reply.
"Ok, you two hams. Just give me a few minutes and I'll change into my bathing suit." She told them.
"Sure, try not to be too long. I think this one is starting to get a little antsy." Aerin says, while gesturing to the toddler in his arms.
"When is she not? She's always been very active. Like the energizer bunny." Mia joked, as she stood up from her seat, after closing her laptop.
"This is true. Seeing as there is hardly a time, we are not chasing her around." He replied.
Afterwards, they left the office and split off.
Mia walked down to their bedroom while Aerin carried Aurora into the living room to wait for her. He already had a beach bag packed for them. Plus, another little separate bag that held beach toys for Aurora like her sand buckets, shovels, and plastic shape molds.
Tundra was already lying on the couch when they came over and plopped down next to them.
He wagged his tail when he spotted Aerin and Aurora. Then he sat up and started licking the toddler, making her smile and giggle a little.
Ever since they brought Aurora home from the hospital as a baby, Tundra has been acting like her bodyguard. Always keeping a close watch on her and sleeping right under her bassinet and later her crib at night, instead of his bed.
He wouldn't be surprised if the dog will start sleeping by her bed when she eventually moves into one when she's a little older.
"You ready to play in the water, Losse?" Aerin softly asks his young daughter.
She looked up at him and gave him a bright smile.
"Yea, Dada!" She said.
It really amazed both him and Mia that she already had very good comprehensive skills and a pretty good vocabulary at her age.
Sure, elven children could talk and even sing and dance by the time they're one year's old. But it usually wasn't the case for human children. Usually, they were slower to mature both physically and mentally from the time they are born up to their childhood years.
It was the same with uruk children as well.
But Aurora has proven to them that she was a smart little cookie. She was walking by the time she was about eleven and a half months old and has been talking since she was a year and a half.
If anything, she has always been quite the chatterbox. Even before she could talk, she would babble on in baby talk to them, which they would find both cute and amusing.
He and Mia would talk to her, and almost right away she would babble right back to them trying to communicate.
Then around three months ago when she turned two, they both started working with her, saying simple basic words and trying to get her to repeat them.
At first, she didn't comprehend what they were trying to do.
But saying words like momma and dada repeatedly enough eventually sunk in with her. It was only earlier this month she finally repeated the words back to them.
Both he and Mia became rather excited when she finally called them 'momma' and 'dada'.
After that, she started picking up other small words like 'yea' and 'no'. The other day, she pointed at Tundra and said the word 'dog'.
Mia was quick to get ready.
She slipped out of her tank top, shorts, undies, and bra, then replaced them with her floral bikini. Even with exercise and diet, she still had a very tiny pooch left over from her pregnancy over two years prior. Still, she was in very good shape regardless.
Mia pulled out the bottle of suntan lotion and started applying some of it, trying to be quick with it because this is what took up most of her time getting ready.
Once she finished, she slipped her cover-up on over her head and slid back into her slides.
She then grabbed a couple things like her sunglasses, the latest book she was reading, and her small, portable speaker for some music.
Lastly, she went into the closet to grab her beach towel.
Though when she reached up and pulled the soft bin down that usually held the towels, she saw hers wasn't in there. Most likely, Aerin already packed it. Seeing as the beach bag wasn't in the walk-in closet in its usual spot either.
So, she ended up walking out of the bedroom with the couple of things in hand that she wanted to bring and saw them sitting on the couch waiting for her. That is when she saw the beach bag and Aurora's smaller beach bag filled with beach toys next to it on the couch with them.
"I see you already went ahead and packed the beach bag. Is my towel in there too? Because I didn't see it in the closet when I went in there." She said.
"Yes, I packed all our towels and her sunblock, a couple of snacks for her. I also packed a couple water bottles for the three of us and threw in a book for myself." He informed her.
"Did you pack one of her little hats too?" Mia asked.
"Yes, I threw one in there." Aerin replied.
"Ok, is there anymore room left in there for some of this stuff?" She asked, gesturing to the small handful of things in her arm, like her book, suntan lotion, and speaker.
Her cover up she was currently wearing had pockets and her iPhone was in one of them. So, she didn't need to shove that in the bag too.
"Yes, there is room." He replied, then he unzipped the bag next to him, opening it.
Mia walked around the coffee table and shoved the things in before zipping it back up.
"I'll grab both bags and my beach chair, seeing as it has straps on it. All you need to grab is your beach chair and the umbrella." She told him as she picked the two bags up and shouldered them.
"That's fine." He said.
He then got up from the couch, with Aurora still tucked to his left side.
Then they headed for the front door. Tundra jumped off the couch, intending to join them and walked to the front door with them.
"He coming this time too?" Aerin asked.
Mia's gaze shifted to the large dog.
He had his icy gaze on her, wagging his fluffy tail.
"Yeah, sure. Why not." She says.
At three and a half years old, Tundra was still very active. But nowadays when he ran around, he didn't wander nearly as far away from them like he used to and tended to stick closer to them these days, even sitting or laying next to them when they sat on the beach.
The small family then left the house together.
Before heading out to their usual spot on the beach, they headed for the garage. Mia pressed the button on the side, and the door closest to her automatically slid up.
Then they both went in and grabbed the chairs and umbrella.
What she liked about these new beach chairs is that they both had straps so you can carry them on your back like a backpack.
Mia placed the bags down and slid the chair over her back, before picking the bags back up.
Aerin just slung his over one shoulder, because he was still balancing Aurora in his other arm. Then Mia handed him the umbrella to carry in his free hand.
Afterwards, they left the garage, closed it and started heading out to the beach several yards in front of the house.
Tundra walked circles around them, sniffing the ground as they went.
Within several minutes, they found themselves there only a few meters away from the water. They set their things down and Mia started pulling some things out of the beach bag.
Aerin carefully placed Aurora down on the sand, before going to work anchoring in the umbrella. Thankfully, it had one of those corkscrew bottoms so you can twist it deep into the sand and anchor it in.
Both parents kept their eye on their toddler, so she doesn't wander off as they finished setting up.
Mia then got out some kids' sunblock and was about to call Aurora over.
"I already put some lotion on her earlier after you went to change into your bathing suit, Mia." He told her.
"Oh, ok." She said.
Not surprising, he always thought ahead with things like that.
Still, Mia pulled out her little rimmed hat and put it on their toddler's head to keep the sun out of her eyes and off her face.
Afterwards, Mia pulled her cover up off and kicked off her slides, placing them next to her towel that was laid out on the sand. While Aerin pulled off his t-shirt and sneakers.
As he did this Aurora started walking down to the receding waves on the wet sand.
In a couple of large strides, he and Mia caught up to her. Mia leaned down a little and took her tiny hand in hers.
"Guess someone can't wait to get wet." Mia says.
"No, but then I'm halfway convinced this one is part fish. Probably why we sometimes have a hard time getting her out of the tub during bath time." Aerin stated, with a small lopsided smirk.
"Yeah, she's a little mermaid, this one." She replied, with a small smile.
The toddler girl looked back and forth from the water to her mommy and daddy.
Then she pointed at the water as it retreated back into the surf and started speaking in gibberish a little.
"Water." Her daddy said, very slowly.
Aurora looked at him silently for a few moments, her eyes flickered back to the water then back to him again.
"Wa…Wawa." Aurora says, pointing down at the water as it started coming in again.
"That's right, Sweetie." Mia said.
"Good job, Losse." Her daddy says, with a small smile.
Aurora jumped up and down on the wet sand with a bright smile.
Then she let out a happy little yelp when the incoming water washed over their feet and ankles for the first time.
After that they walked a little closer. Then Aerin took a step behind her and when the waves came in, he lightly grasped her little hands and playfully lifted her off the sand just as the waves came washing over their feet, ankles, and lower shins.
The little girl giggled and shrieked with happiness while lightly kicking her little legs, each time her daddy would lift her up carefully by her hands and letting her dangle as the water rushed by them.
"This is how we jump very high over the water." He playfully told her.
Then proceeded to lift her up even higher when the next wave gently rolled in, which had her giggling even more as he lifted her straight up.
Mia just watched them from the side with a warm smile.
Watching the two of them interact and play was always adorable to her. He was always so good and patient with her, while showing how much of an excellent father he was, that Mia already knew him to be.
After a couple more playful jumps, he placed the tiny girl back on his hip.
"You ready to go in?" He asked her.
The toddler nodded.
Aerin then turned to Mia and placed his free arm around her waist and the three of them went in together.
There really were hardly any waves, the water was very calm and there were no undercurrents.
Even then, they didn't go in that far. Aerin stopped when the water line was level with his belly button, and it was about halfway up Mia's midriff.
Then when a small roll of a wave that barely crested at the surface came in, he knelt down a little letting some of the water rush over the lower portion of Aurora as he held her securely in on his hip.
It was something she really seemed to enjoy and whacked the surface of the water with one of her hands as it brushed past them and headed to shore.
"For mid-June, this water is already quite warm. But then, we kind of did have a mild Winter and very warm Spring this year." Mia said, as she knelt down, dipping her shoulders beneath the surface.
"Yes, the warmer than average temperatures we had during the Spring must've warmed it up quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if the water was even warmer by the end of the month." He surmised.
"Yeah, and by mid or late July, it will probably feel like bathwater. Which is the kind of temperature Tess loves." She replied.
But then Tess was born and raised in Florida for the first fifteen years of her life and was used to the warmer water down there. Even though she's spent most of her life up here ever since, she still prefers the lovely warm temperatures of the water of the Florida Beaches.
"Explains why John would end up picking her up and carrying her to the water as she kicks her legs and yells in protest." Aerin jokes.
Mia chuckled, "Yeah, that sounds about right. And the kids don't even bother helping her. They just stand there and laugh as they watch him go in with her. Even funnier if there is a large wave coming, then he will duck under it with her still in her arms, getting them both drenched."
"Pretty certain I have also done that to you a few times." He mentioned, with a wide grin.
"Because you have. Can't say I was crazy about it when most of those times you did do that, the water was still ankle biting cold." She quipped.
"Col…col." Aurora said, trying to say the word cold.
"That's right, Love. Cold." Her daddy repeated.
"Col, col…col." She repeated a few more times.
Of course, at this young age, certain letter sounds were a little more difficult than others to say. Like words with the r, t, or d sound in them.
Just yesterday, she called Tundra…'Tunna'.
"Look at you go with your words. Little Miss Smartie Pants over here." Mia says, with a smile.
This just made Aurora smile and start dancing around a little in her father's grip while flailing her arms a bit and kicking her legs out as he continued balancing her on his hip.
They stayed in the water for another fifteen to twenty minutes, before getting out.
Afterwards, they went and sat down where their stuff was. Almost right away, Aurora went digging into her little beach bag and started pulling some plastic buckets, shovels and plastic molds out.
Mia sat with her, while Aerin grabbed the biggest bucket and went back to the water with it, filling it up with water. He then returned with it and poured the water on the sand in front of the toddler, soaking it.
Then both parents showed her how to fill one of the castle molds with the wet sand. They helped her pack it in there, before flipping it over onto the sand's surface.
Mia carefully and slowly pulled the plastic mold up. Once she did, most of the sandcastle came out intact. Aurora clapped her hands as she saw it, thinking it looked very neat.
"Shall we dig a little moat around the castle, maybe fill it with water and possibly add some little sharkeys to it." Mia said and ended it by lightly poking and tickling her daughter's tummy and sides, making her giggle.
"Maybe add a couple of little octopi to go with them." Aerin added, with an amused grin.
"Yea!" Aurora blurted out.
"I think there are a couple of little sea animal molds in her bag. Probably at the bottom." Mia says.
Then she peeked through the top and peered inside the kids' beach bag.
Just as she thought, there were a few little animal molds of a shark, octopus, starfish, crab, and dolphin in there. So, she ended up pulling them all out.
Aurora picked up one of them, and after watching her parents help her fill the sandcastle mold with wet sand, she tried putting fistfuls of wet sand into the little starfish mold in her hand.
Her daddy helped her carefully flip the mold into the sand.
Then the toddler smiled and made some cute little happy sounds as she saw the starfish mold in the sand.
Hopefully, little things like this will continue to amuse her, even as she gets a little older.
As the sun drew higher in the sky and the air temperature gradually grew hotter, they moved Aurora to sit under the shade of the beach umbrella.
Mia then asked Aurora if she wanted a snack, and the toddler nodded.
She took out a couple wipes and wiped off her daughter's hands, before pulling out a little round container and took the top off. Then gave the container filled with small crackers to Aurora, who took it and reached in to grab a cracker and eat it.
Aerin fished out her small stainless steel water bottle and handed it over to his wife.
Mia took it and pressed the button on the top, making the nozzle flip up, before giving it to Aurora to drink.
It was turning out to be a lovely little visit to the beach for the small family.
Everyone was having a good time whether it was in the water or lounging about in the sand playing with their young daughter.
Even Tundra every now and then would get up and jump about in the wet sand as the waves retreated from the shore, leaving nothing but slick sand behind.
"Well, this is definitely turning out to be a perfect day for the occasion." Mia stated.
He gave her a soft smile, "Indeed, Happy Wedding Anniversary, Love."
She smiled back, "Happy Wedding Anniversary, Aerin."
It was hard to believe it was already two years ago today they were married and upon this very beachfront. Time certainly flew since then. But they clearly remember it as if it had just happened yesterday and how joyous it was for them.
They also had a ton of pics from the special occasion, many of them filled one of the photo albums they received as a wedding gift from one of her cousins.
One pic was blown up and put in a nice picture frame, which now sat on top of the mantle above their fireplace. It was a picture as they shared their first kiss as husband and wife beneath the small lattice archway as the kids threw flower petals at them.
It ended up being their favorite picture. So, they choose to have that one enlarged and framed.
Since then, life continues moving on smoothly for them as a family, and they look forward to each day ahead of them.
Quenya Translations:
Wilwarin – Butterfly
Losse – Flower
Until Next Time