Chapter 15 Part 1: Little Talks

“Because you are beautiful. I enjoy looking at beautiful people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence”

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

 Chris Spencer, Toddler

 Rapunzel and Merida Spencer, Teens.
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I woke up to the sound of chickens clucking in the distance and a hand gliding up and down the fabric of my pajama pants.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” Bart whispered into my ear, pressing his lips on the back of my neck.

“Why do I hear chickens?” I groaned, burying my face into my pillow. I could feel Bart laughing behind me.

“Probably because we own chickens.” Bart’s lips moved down to my shoulder, and he slid his hands under my shirt, resting them on the side of my stomach.

“How long have we owned chickens?” I mumbled, my voiced smothered by the pillow.

“Hmmm,” Bart ran his hand higher up my shirt, finding the snap on my bra and pushing it open.

“We do this every morning,” I giggled, lifting my head off the pillow. I brought my hand to his neck, lifting up his head so that it was facing mine.

“I like doing this every morning,” Bart grinned slyly, bringing his lips to meet with mine. I spun around so that we were facing each other and responded passionately to his kiss. “Hey,” Bart said, breaking away. “I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Shoot.” I propped my head up on my arms, smiling at him.

“Well, what do you think about boats?” He hinted.

“Hmmmm,” I made a thinking face and he burst into a grin. “I guess they’re alright. Why?”

“Well, what would you say if I told you I rented us a houseboat and we’re going on a vacation?” Bart watched me carefully, awaiting a reaction.

But instead of responding to his question, I kissed him. He kissed back for a moment, before remembering what we were talking about and breaking away. “So, I’ll take that as a ‘yes’?” He grinned and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Of course,” I laughed, before rolling on top of him, his back pressed down on the bed. “But first, let’s finish things up in here, shall we?”

“Sure,” Bart smiled, pulling my shirt up and over my head. He leaned up, bringing his lips up to meet with mine.

Most days went like that; a whirlwind of clothes flying off and wrinkled sheets, chuckles, and moans.

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“So,” Bart yawned, stretching his arms as he got out of the taxi. “We’re here; this is the houseboat I rented for this trip.”

“It’s…” Merida stuttered, taking in the sight of the brown houseboat. Bart looked worried, as if he was afraid they’d hate it.

“Awesome!!!” Rapunzel finished for her, taking Merida’s hand and running inside. Chris toddled after them, yelling “Wait up, sissy!”

“Well, I guess that was a success.” Bart laughed, smiling down at me.

“Guess so,” I joked, pulling Bart towards the house that was bobbing in the water. “Now, let’s go explore the house, yeah?”

“Aha, sure.” Bart followed along as we wove our way through the house, checking out the room the kids are going to be residing in and finding our way into our bedroom. “Ah!” Bart exclaimed, jumping onto the bed. “Waterbed!” Bart bounced, a childish grin on his face.

“You are such a kid,” I laughed, leaning down to kiss him. I rested my knees on the bed, Bart’s hands finding their way to my hips, sliding them up my back, his fingertips grazing my skin.

A chuckled escaped my lips and Bart shot me an inquiring look. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, just…” I pressed my lips to his again, before pulling away. “Waterbed.” I smiled and Bart’s grin grew wider.

“Waterbed.” Bart laughed with me for a moment, pulling me closer.

I brought myself closer to him, resting my forehead on his before the door flew open and Rapunzel, Merida, and Chris walked in.

“Hey Mom can we go to the bea---oh.” Rapunzel’s eyes grew wide as she took in the scene, her voice coming to a stop mid-sentence.

“Oh, hey.” I fell off Bart, landing on the space on the bed beside him. I straightened my shirt, smiling at the wide-eyed kids in the doorway. “What’d you need?”

“Uh…” Merida sighed. “The beach. We wanted to know if we could go to the beach.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, smiling. “Give us a minute to get ready, ok?”

“Alright.” Rapunzel said, exiting and closing the door behind them.

Bart and I sat in awkward silence for a minute before getting up and gathering our clothes for the beach, exchanging embarrassed glances and a few chuckles.

Slipping a shirt and some clothes over my swim clothes, I headed outside, and our small group started walking towards the beach.

Merida and Rapunzel laughed and gossiped a block ahead of us, Chris hand-in-hand with Bart, talking about anything that came to the young toddler’s mind. Bart smiled and laughed with the child, and it was then that I realized what the feeling that was in the pit of my chest that has been there for a while was. Happiness. Bart looked back at me and grinned, making me smile in return before my phone let off a little ding. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and checked the caller ID. “Mila Autumn”, the screen said. I pulled the little green bar to the side and slid the phone next to my ear.

“Hey, Mi. What’s up?” I stopped for a second, gesturing for Bart to continue walking.

“Hey, Ariel.” Mila’s disembodied voice sounded anxious.  “Um, I have some bad news about Aria. She’s--”

“I’m sorry, Mila, but I don’t care. Whatever happened to her, she probably fucking deserved it. And you can tell her I said that.” I quickly hit the ‘end call’ button, holding the off button until the screen turned black and slipped it into my pocket. I recomposed myself and headed back towards the group.

“Is everything okay?” Bart asked me as I returned to his side.

“Of course.” I sent him a reassuring smile. Aria broke me once; I wasn’t going to give her a chance to do it again. I grab his hand, the warmth of his skin rushing through me as we walked, side-by-side, to the beach.

When we arrived, it was less crowded then I thought it would be. There were a few people, but not nearly as many as I had expected.

The kids ran towards the water, Chris toddling along after them. “Make sure to take care of Chris!” He yelled after them, and Merida stopped to pick Chris up, holding him as he swam.

“You’re pretty good at this father thing, Bart.” I smile, our hands still in contact with each other’s. “Thanks for sticking around, even after Jake and Holden left for college. It’s been a huge help.” I confess, my face growing warm and reddening.

“No problem, Ariel.” He chuckled, reaching up to stroke a few stray strands of hair. “I like being around, it’s fun.”

I heard a voice call towards me, turning around to see a brown and green haired man running towards me. “Hey!” He panted, leaning on his legs. “You looked familiar. Do I know you?”

“Uh, not that I know… Wait, you're a Smores child, right?” I scanned him, Danielle’s features were apparent in him. “I’m Ariel, I’m one of Danielle’s friends.”

“I’m Anubis. It’s nice to meet you.” He stood up, giving me a half-grin. “Is this your… boyfriend?” He scanned Bart, reaching his hand out to shake it. I realized our hands were still entwined, so I pulled away, avoiding eye contact with both of them.

“Aha, no, I’m not her boyfriend.” Bart took his hand, shaking it. I could sense something in his voice, something I couldn't quite point out… disappointment? “I’m Bart, it’s nice to meet you.”

The next 3 hours flew by, Bart, Anubis, and I chatting and gossiping about other challenge mothers and their kids. Soon, though, Merida and Rapunzel asked to be taken to the boat. When we arrived, Merida and Rapunzel sent themselves to bed, and Bart tucked Chris in.

I was gazing at the darkening sky, leaning on the railing when Bart came out, sliding his arms around me. “I had a nice time.” He whispered. I spun around, leaning back against the railing so I was facing towards him.

“Me, too.” I smiled, a genuine, true smile. The kind of smiles that I always had when I was with him. “That Anubis guy is really nice.”

“Hmm, he is…” Bart hummed, his fingers tracing the outline of my shirt, his free hand leaning on the rail with me. “Listen, I've been thinking…”

“Yeah?” I asked, leaning all my weight on the rails. They started to shake, but I wasn't worried. I’m sure it could hold both of us…

Right?

“Maybe, we should…” Bart looked nervous about what he was about to say. “I don’t know, maybe-”

He was interrupted by the rail breaking, sending me flying backwards into the water. A rope attached around my ankle, the anchor attached at the end pulling me under.

I could feel the grazing of Bart’s fingers as he tried to grab for me, but he was too late.

I could feel myself sinking, drowning in the water. I could hear Bart’s screams as he jumped into the water to try and save me.

I could feel arms around my shoulders and an unfamiliar voice whisper in my ear.

Not now, little gazelle.