Chapter 4

"Can I have dessert, daddy?" Sebastian begged as soon as they were seated in the Italian place, Sergio's Italian bistro
"You'll have to ask your mother that question," Dave told his son. "If she says no, you're not to beg or plead or cause a scene. If you do, you will be punished once we get back to our suite."
Sebastian looked at his mother, his expression pleading.
Livia appreciated Dave asking for her opinion, but then they were both Sebastian's parents and while Dave could've made the decision on his own, they were a unit when it came to their children.
"Please, mommy?" Sebastian begged looking at his mother with puppy dog eyes.
"Who can resist those puppy eyes?" Livia asked Dave and Kendra.
"Certainly not I. I mean they are both so cute and adorable how can you resist them?" Kendra admitted, and Dave nodded in complete agreement. His children could get him to do things that normally he'd never do, just because of their puppy dog eyes, but then again, if you couldn't spoil your family, what was the point of life?
"Yes, you can have dessert, but only if..." Livia paused for a few seconds to make sure that Sebastian was paying attention then continued, "you clean your plate and you don't give Kendra any trouble when she puts you to bed tonight no fussing about bathtime understood? If you're good tomorrow, we'll see about a reward for good behavior."
"Yes, mommy," Sebastian said lighting up at the thought of dessert, but knew he had to clean his plate first, because his mother was serious about him being on his best behavior, which meant he had to obey all the rules and not argue about a bed or bathtime.
Sebastian was an intelligent little boy and knew that his mother would punish him in her own way if he didn't live up to his promise, but so would his father for disobeying and not keeping his word. Living up to his promises, was very important to his father in particular, and he didn't like to have his dad disappointed in him, so he always tried to live up to whatever he promised.
"OK, then," Livia finally agreed looking at Dave who nodded.
The waiter appeared as if by magic right at the instant every adult had decided on what they wanted to eat, and everyone at the table gave their orders. Livia was the one who chose something off the kids menu she knew her son would like, since he was only starting to learn to read.
As for Dunston, he was in a highchair, and Dave did the ordering for his younger son.
"Do you know what happened while me and the boys were at the pool while you were at the spa?" Dave asked Livia.
"It must be interesting if you're bringing it up during dinner," Livia said with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, it is," Dave said. "Really, it was more an annoyance than anything else."
"I can guess where this is headed," Kendra, who was listening said. "Some woman tried to come on to you, didn't they?"
"Well, we kind of have to expect it to happen," Livia said not jealous in the least, because although she might not like how Dave spent money on her that didn't mean she doubted his loyalty. She had been having visions of Dave since her powers as a seer had begun to emerge and she had never seen Dave with another woman in those visions.
"Her name was Melinda Karsak, and she had a daughter who was playing on the waterslides, but was unaccompanied by a husband or boyfriend," Dave said. "She saw I was alone, and we got to talking, about our children and then she started to ask me out for a drink since I was alone. I was quick to tell her that my wife was just at the spa and that I was not interested in having a fling while on board the ship, but she kept making little hints, hoping to change my mind. Even the wedding band I wear didn't detour her."
"You have to admit that romantic flings often happen on cruises," Kendra observed softly, even as she distracted Sebastian with a coloring sheet that had been provided by the restaurant to keep children entertained.
"That's true enough, but I told her I wasn't interested when she started hinting in that direction and she refused to take my word for it and kept trying to persuade me," Dave said. "I'm just wanting to warn you sweetie, that we might run into this woman sometime before the cruise is over and she might hint in that direction whether you're with me or not. I just don't want you to get upset if that happens. If she keeps being persistent and won't leave me alone, I can always report her to guest services if need be. If Ms. Melinda Karsak only came on this cruise to find a man, then she's going to have to look elsewhere. There are thousands of people on this ship and I'm sure there are some men with their kids that aren't married and might be willing to take her up on her offer."
"I trust you, but if this woman doesn't take your very obvious hint that you're not available for a fling then we will report her to guest services and that's only if I don't scratch her eyes out for going after my man and not backing off when you told her you were married," Livia said keeping her voice down.
"Well, hopefully she won't cause trouble," Dave said smiling at Livia, for even though Livia's voice had been lower than normal due to the other diners and also their sons, the steel in her tone told Dave all he needed to know about what Livia would do if pushed. Livia had every right to defend her territory, and he was definitely hers and no one else's.
It wasn't like he hadn't encountered women like the one at the waterpark that he had taken his sons to before, but to encounter someone like that on his first cruise with his mate and sons was annoying in the extreme.
He didn't want such an incident to where they were forbidden from taking another from this particular cruise line again. However, probably not, considering this was their first cruise, that wasn't likely for the first shipboard incident, as it would take many more incidents, for a cruise company to ban you from ever taking a cruise on any of their liners again. Any cruise company always looked at their own bottom line first, and he was very wealthy and influential. Still, all he wanted was to be left alone to enjoy this cruise with his family, not to be annoyed by a woman who couldn't take the obvious hints he had given her that he wasn't available for a shipboard fling.
You would think that Melinda Karsak would know if he was at the waterpark with his sons that he was likely married. Just because she was divorced and was taking her daughter on this cruise, which was geared towards families, didn't mean that men with children were available for her to try to start something with.
He knew he was a handsome man, but then, all the men in his family were and he had that shifter appeal, which a lot of people responded to human or otherwise, even if they didn't know about his true nature.
"This is a big cruise ship, so how likely is it that you'll run into her again?" Kendra asked Dave.
"Well, she does have a daughter, even if she's looking for a man at the same time, so if I take the boys to some other activity, there's a good chance I'll probably run into her again," Dave answered honestly. "This is a cruise geared towards families with plenty of activities for families to do together or separately."
"Well, if you do and I'm not with you, just try to avoid her if you can," Livia said.
"I'll certainly try and hopefully, be successful," Dave said grimacing.
"So, any plans for tomorrow," Livia asked Dave changing the subject.
"I thought we could try the karaoke bar one night," Dave answered.
"Why in the world would I want to do that?" Livia asked Dave in astonishment. "I'm a terrible singer."
"Because it's a new experience for both of us," Dave said simply, which stopped Livia from protesting further, though she had to bite her tongue.
"It'll be fun, as we'll be among other terrible singers and we might hear some decent voices if we give it a try," Dave said, "We don't actually have to sing, and we can just listen to other people if that's want you want."
"I suppose we can give it a try one night so long as you don't expect me to get up on the stage and sing," Livia said. "Karaoke has never been an interest of mine, but I suppose, we are here to have fun and who knows it actually might be."
"There's also a production of Fiddler on the Roof," Dave said. "I think it's something you might enjoy, as I've seen several versions of it over the years."
"It's supposed to be a great musical," Kendra put in. "I've never had a chance to see it, though I would love to."
"I think that could be arranged one night before the cruise is over," Dave told Kendra. "Consider it a thank you for earlier."
It took Kendra a few seconds to figure out what Dave meant but then realized that Livia must've told him about what she had said to her this morning, and this was Dave's way of thanking her.
"I would appreciate that, sir," Kendra said. "You don't have to, though, as you pay me quite a hefty sum as it is."
"It will have to be on a different night then when me and Livia go, and we'll watch the kids that night too," Dave said.
The food arrived, and they begin to eat enthusiastically as the food was really good.
The food so far on this cruise was first class.
"You know it's too bad we don't have an Italian place within a few blocks of where we live," Livia said.
"So, there are several restaurants a few miles from us. I never thought about taking you before, as the only times we've had Italian is when we've been in some other city," Dave said. "We'll have to go, as we don't always need to stick close to home, though I know we usually don't go too far from where we live, and the Italian restaurant is at least 3 miles away instead of just one."
"I would enjoy that," Livia said instead of protesting like Dave half expected, but she didn't usually protest when it came to eating out just about anything expensive, he bought her.
He'd had Kendra buy her some bath products including expensive soaps made out of all natural and exotic ingredients from a specialty shop, and while Livia loved them, she had protested the expense. She knew how much the soaps and lotions had cost, which were much more than the mass-produced products that she had used at that time.
Each lotion, shampoo or soap were concocted from ingredients from foreign countries like Brazil and because of that these products were much more than stuff produced in the states or been made from ingredients that didn't need to be imported from elsewhere. Each hard little soap were many different bright colors and were made out of things that could only be found in the Brazilian rainforest and other exotic places. As for the lotions they carried many exotic scents they were made out of the same flowers as the bar soap, just in liquid form.
Each little bar of soap could be more than $50 for just one bar, which wasn't very big and that was too much for Livia's sensibilities to buy for herself, even though she had money now. It had never even occurred to her to start using something like expensive soaps and other bath products, as she just continued to use what she always had, which was a cheap generic brand, which could be rough on skin.
It had occurred to Dave though, but he had sent Kendra to buy these things for him as he was sure she knew what he was talking about and that had soon proved true.
The all-natural stuff Livia used now was gentler on her skin then the stuff she had been using previously and Livia certainly appreciated what it did for her skin and hair, though certainly not the price. Still, Livia knew you got what you paid for, and you couldn't just buy cheap if you wanted to truly take care of your body.
Buying cheap was her natural inclination.
A lot of soap brands could often have harsh additives that were not good for your health in general much less your skin. Those additives could irritate and redden your skin if it was particularly sensitive and also cause other health issues.
The skin of Livia's hands and face were certainly softer than they had used to be the dry skin having disappeared, because she had started to use all natural products to wash them now. Her hair also had more volume and a healthy glow to it than before.
"We'll take the time to do that when we get back home then," Dave proclaimed, even as everybody continued to dig into their food, and Sebastian in particular ate enthusiastically more than ready to get to desert.
"Slow down, Sebastian you don't want to choke," Kendra gently admonished the six-year-old boy.
Dunston meanwhile was eating his own dinner, though it had been chopped up into little pieces by Kendra so that the small boy could easily eat the pieces of chicken without trouble.
"I'm done mommy can I have dessert now?" Sebastian asked his mother a few minutes later once he was finished eating.
Livia surveyed her son's plate and nodded rather pleased seeing it was mostly clean with only a smear of gravy from the mashed potatoes on one side and a couple of green beans.
"You did a very good job Sebastian," Livia complimented her son. "You have earned your dessert, but remember, you're not to give Kendra any trouble at bedtime, as she needs a break too."
"Yes, mommy," Sebastian agreed.
"Now, what would you like for dessert?" Dave asked his son picking up the menu that he had asked the waiter to leave so they could look at the desserts after dinner was finished.
"Let's see they have an apple pie with vanilla ice cream, a sundae with chopped nuts, caramel and fudge sauce, and also fudge chunk brownies," Dave said, reading the dessert menu out loud to Sebastian only reading the items he knew his son would like not bothering with the rest of the desserts.
"I want the sundae," Sebastian announced.
"Of course he does. He would have to go for the highest caloric, biggest dessert on the menu," Livia commented with an ironic smile. "That's a bit large for such a small boy."
"So, we'll ask for five spoons and bowls. All of us can take bites out of it," Dave said. "I'm sure Dunston will also enjoy it, even if he'll get it more on his face and the front of his shirt then in his mouth."
The amusement in Dave's tone was clear. Dave's philosophy was that clothes could be washed and if a stain wouldn't come out then something new was bought. Children were known for messing up their clothes on a regular basis, and there was no point of fussing at the child who did so, as it was part of growing up, learning how to be a neat eater. Of course, not every child learned how to be neat when eating and constantly got stains all over the front of their shirts, even when they were adults.
"That sounds like a good idea," Livia decided. "At least that way it'll all get eaten, although I'm pretty full from that delicious dinner. Still, I'll take a bite or two."
"So will I," Kendra said.
"With all of us taking a bite or two it'll soon be gone, and I'm sure that Sebastian will eat the majority of it," Dave said.
The waiter returned just then and asked, "dessert anyone?"
"We'll take the sundae five bowls and spoons please," Dave requested politely.
"Right away, sir," the waiter said taking the menu that Dave had kept too look at the desserts with him.
"So how would everyone feel about going back to Egypt in a few months?" Dave asked Livia and Kendra.
"It's OK with me as we go every year anyway," Livia said. "But Sebastian will be in school when we usually go, so if we go at our usual time Kendra will have to make sure that he gets to school."
"That's OK with me as Egypt is way too hot for me, so I'll be glad to stay home," Kendra said. "I'll be happy to make sure Sebastian gets to school and pick him up every day. I'm sure he'll miss you while you're gone, but you'll only be gone two weeks."
Kendra had been with the Rossi to Egypt several times until Sebastian school-age and started first grade.
"We can take Dunston with us since he hasn't started school yet and leave Kendra and Sebastian at home," Dave said thinking about it.
"That's what we did last year, and it worked out well," Livia said, and Dave nodded.
"The only problem is that Sebastian really enjoys going to Egypt with us, so either we need to go in the summer when there's no school or he'll have to miss a couple of weeks, something that I definitely won't allow, as education is important," Dave said.
"No, I agree that he needs to be in school and he seemed fine with our absence when we went last year," Livia remembered. "We also left Dunston, as he was still a bit too young for Egypt last time we went, but we did take Sebastian when he was Dunston's age, and I don't know why we can't do the same with his brother since he'll be three by the time we go."
"Yeah, we started taking Sebastian as soon as we didn't have to carry so much baby equipment with us," Livia remembered.
"If we take Dunston with us that means you only have Sebastian to worry about," Dave told Kendra who had been listening.
"I'll be happy to look after both of them just like I did last year," Kendra said. "I love them both so much that I certainly don't mind."
"I know you do, and it was a great day when we hired you," Livia told her.
"Well, there's no need to worry about our plans for Egypt right now, but it's something to consider over the next few months," said Dave, as the waiter finally appeared with Sebastian's sundae.
"Here you go young man," the waiter said placing the huge sundae in front of Sebastian. "I'll go get four extra bowls and spoons," The waiter told Dave who nodded.
The waiter the left immediately on his task and Sebastian dug into the sundae without hesitation making yummy noises.
The waiter soon returned with the required bowls and silverware, and Livia divided the desert between the other four people at the table.
The dessert really was massive, especially for a six-year-old boy, though Sebastian was making good headway on what remained after it had been divided amongst the group.
The sundae was three scoops of ice cream, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry with nuts spread liberally over it all, two different kinds of syrup and to top it off, there were three cherries, one for each scoop of ice cream.
"Just don't make yourself sick Sebastian," Livia admonished her son, even as she ate what she had taken from the main dessert dish, which was really no more than a few bites.
The dessert was very good, but Livia hadn't really expected anything else considering how much she knew, Dave had paid for all of them to go on this cruise. The dessert was perfect just the right amount of sweetness without it being cloying, the nuts and cherries giving it a different texture and taste from the ice cream.
"Did you enjoy the waterpark, Sebastian?" Livia asked her son.
"Yes, he really did," Dave answered, and Sebastian was busy eating his sundae. "He must've gone down the waterslides at least half a dozen times each, probably more, but I lost count, because of that subject I mentioned previously. We just had time to get back to the suite and change out of our swim trunks before dinner. We hadn't been back long when you and Kendra finally came back from your day at the spa."
Sebastian's hair had indeed still been wet, still so soaked it wasn't curling at the ends like her own did when dry when she and Kendra had finally entered the suite after their spa day.
"I'll need to wash it tonight to get the chlorine out then," Kendra commented.
"I'll help you, as it'll go faster if we both do it," Livia offered.
"That would be appreciated," Kendra said as she ate her small portion of the sundae.
"And what about Dunston?" Livia asked as her younger son finished off his portion of the desert.
"There's a height requirement. He's not tall enough yet unfortunately. Maybe next time we take a cruise he will be," Dave said, "so he spent the time with me sitting in the lounge chairs by the waterpark. He slept most of our time at the waterpark, against my chest, as I held him in my arms the whole time. He was so disappointed to not be allowed to go down the waterslides."
"That's too bad," Kendra said.
"Yeah, it's too bad Dunston had to miss out on the fun," Livia agreed.
"Yeah, it is," Dave agreed, even as he observed his younger son who had chocolate ice cream and caramel sauce all over his mouth. "Dunston is going need a bath as well if only to clean him up from the mess he made with his portion of the sundae."
"Luckily, there's two bathrooms so Kendra can do Sebastian, and I'll do Dunston, that way, it should only take a few minutes," Livia said.
"Well, I think Sebastian has just about finished demolishing the rest of his sundae, so I'll pay the bill, and we can head back to the suite," Dave said.
The sundae was indeed just a little bit of melted ice cream, caramel and fudge sauce in the bottom of the original bowl.
"I'm surprised he could eat so much considering he'd just had dinner," Livia said.
"Children often have big appetites," Dave said. "I certainly did when I was his age."
"I guess I can blame his big appetite on you then," Livia teased him.
"I'm sure you had a big appetite too when you were young," Dave said.
"I won't deny I didn't, but I grew up in foster care and they fed you at mealtimes and that's about it," Livia reminded Dave, who sobered at that reminder.
Dave was silent and Livia was immediately sorry she had brought up her childhood in foster care, but didn't have a chance to say anything as the waiter appeared with the check. Dave handed him his credit card and the waiter went to run it through the register deducting the bills amount from it.
"Have a good evening I hope you enjoyed your meal at Sergio's
"We did very much," Livia told him even as she accepted Dave's hand to rise to her feet. "It's too bad the cruise only lasts for three weeks, or I would suggest we come back."
"We can still come back one night if you like, just you and me before we disembark at the end of our trip," Dave suggested, as he lifted Dunston from his highchair.
"We'll see," Livia said, as she took Sebastian into her arms, although he was getting a bit heavy to carry.
The family left the restaurant once Dave got his credit card back from the waiter and headed for their suite of rooms.

~~~Dave and Livia~~~