A thousand pound wet blanket was not what Beau had been planning on dealing with today. As he struggled to force the water out of it, he could only glance back and see Sarah was trying to help his beautiful wife feel better. God. If he just hadn’t pissed off that woman, or better yet stayed by August’s side the entire time. Mindy might not have done anything. Maybe. He wasn’t sure. All he knew was his wife was crying and there was nothing he could do aside from try and get everything back.
Thank god she had her phone on her at least. Beau knew they couldn’t afford to replace it just yet. After the accident she kept ending up in spots where her knee would go out or she’d fall and need help, so she got into the habit of keeping it with her at all times. August must have had it on her since she was heading to the bathroom, just in case.
With the sun out, he and a few of the other mothers started spreading out what they could on the fence. One of them was getting some hair clips she had to help hold things in place. Just as they did, Mindy could be seen getting escorted away by a local security guard. “Guess it’s another one month ban for her.”
“How often does she get banned?” Beau looked at the woman who spoke, Martha he believed it was.
“Oh about every other month. Can’t make it stick because her family donates too much here. Her father-in-law more than anything. Mr Warton donates to a lot of places around here, good man. But his son is rotten. He goes around cheating on her when he’s up in Dallas. ‘For Business’.” Martha made some light quotation marks with her fingers before setting up the chair in a sunny spot with Beau. “So Mr. Warton always gets her out of spots out of guilt.”
Beau looked at the blanket, the rainbow fabric waving slightly in the light breeze. “I just… wanted to bring some romance back. August does so much and worries so much. Not to mention the pain. If I could do just a little bit more…” He trailed off, certain this woman had to be judging him. In the past she had made a few comments he wasn’t sure if they were jokes or not about his lack of employment.
Instead Martha put a light hand on his shoulder. “Hey… if my husband did half as much as you, we wouldn’t be considering a separation right now. But, if you ever want some advice on some romantic stuff, let me know. Right now, I bet taking her for some ice cream without the girls would be seen as a real treat.”
“We can’t leave the girls alone they’re only-”
“Ten. They are Ten, Beau. Ten year olds can be left at home for an hour or two unless you got real terrors. Take your wife out later if the girls have calmed down and just make sure they know what’s going on. Easy.” She looked back as the girls started to swim again. “I mean, special needs or not they gotta learn a little independence sometime right?”
With everything hung up, Beau thanked everyone for their help and headed back, thinking about that. It was true, when it came to the girls well… he still saw those cute little 5 year olds who weren’t about to be in middle school or enter puberty or any of that mess. While they did need help with a lot of things, the fact was the girls were also frequently able to be left to their own devices for a few hours. Maybe one hour getting a treat would be good. He could even bring back a little something. Especially if he put his money into the joint account to pay for the bill later. Beau could even use it for practice for the lunar eclipse.That would last a few hours and the girls would rather watch a movie or something he was sure.
As he mentally made plans, Beau sat with his dear wife gently hugging her and holding her close. His sweet little Aug had been so disappointed over her surprise being ruined. By now Sarah probably told her what happened and maybe Aug was a little mad at him. Well, he’d make it right. He’d take her out and then-
“Well, no beating up but what about pizza? We can go to Clawsomes.”
Beau tried to hide his surprise but couldn’t hide the worry. August must feel bad about interrupting the girls' practice today. “Do we have the money?” His worry was almost drowned out by Raven’s squealing and the sound of the twins quickly heading to the car.
“We got a gift… you convince the girls to change. I’ll catch up ok?”
What else could Beau do but nod and follow his beloved’s directions. A gift from who? Sarah? Maybe from work? The second made more sense. After all, there were always nice folks donating things to the library and the librarians. Someone must have wanted to be nice and August was going to surprise him and the girls this whole time.
Everything else to the restaurant felt like a happy blur at least. Everyone was talking away. Beau was enjoying hearing Alexandra’s ‘robot voice’ as she shared her thoughts and feelings about everything. A few debates about the type of pizza and dessert everyone would eat. Even when the girls ran into the dragon themed restaurant, glancing back to see August was starting to move better now, it seemed lighter. Beau wished he was that good at raising the mood of a situation. August made it seem so effortless. Even the staff seemed to be in a good mood. Which was saying something considering they were teenagers being made to dress like they were in a ren faire.
Once August was in with the payment, Beau had a plan. He’d move quickly and get the drinks. The ice cream machine was open and so was the rootbeer. A rootbeer float would be exactly what his sweetheart would want after how the last 24 hours had gone. It was her favorite after all. Then he’d make sure to get a slice of the desert pizza he knew was about to come out and would be out by the time she got down there while he got his food. He kept an eye on the girls as they got their pizza, getting several small bites to try instead of whole slices.
Well… maybe he could be the fun dad and… no. August told them vegetables first didn’t she? He needed to respect that. It was so easy for Beau to want to fall into fun dad mode. Well. Fun husband was what was needed. For now, the float. Beau made his way to the machine and put his cup under with the twist setting on. August preferred her ice cream in the cup first to get the ‘crust’ she called it. Then a little bit on top. Thankfully the machine wasn’t too far from the drinks. Honestly Beau was almost worried he’d get into some trouble, but the one teenager that paid attention to him seemed to be taking note rather than be interested in getting a manager. Well, that was minimum wage for you, Beau supposed.
Honestly the hardest part of this was carrying all the drinks. August was a lot better at getting all four than he was. But he didn’t want to risk August seeing him and making a fuss before she could enjoy her treat. He got over with the drinks just in time to see August setting down the tray she had been carrying with one hand. There were already two plates with pizza. One with a couple of her favorites and some unusual ones to try, and one with all of his favorites. At least 4 slices. Granted they were cut small but still.
She just smiled at him, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I just wanted to take care of our food before the girls get hyper.”
God. She was so perfect and thoughtful. How did he ever marry a woman like her? The girls quickly slid into their seats as he started to hand out the drinks. Raven was already making a big show about how she was eating her tomatoes as Alexandra made a face over the way they squirt in your mouth. August was smiling and saying how she was proud they were making good choices.
As he sat down the last drink, Raven’s pout could be heard. “No fair, why do you get ice cream now? We had to eat our veggies first!”
Beau slid into his chair, trying not to slump. Sometimes being a fun husband accidentally made more work for not fun dad and mom.
“Your father deserves a treat sometimes too girls.” August spoke calmly as she tried one that looked like it had chicken bacon and honey on it.
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