Sunday, March 13, 1983

"Do we have everything?" Al asked as he closed the back of the station wagon.

I ticked off on my fingers as I went through the list of items. "Picnic basket, sunscreen, hats, change of clothes, ice chest, chairs, towels, sand toys, floaties, frisbee..." My book, I smiled to myself.

The book club Shari Washington had started at the Fourth of July picnic last year had taken a regular place in all of our schedules, even Donna Eleese's, despite her reluctance. We were meeting on Friday and I hadn't finished reading James A. Michener's Space yet. It had been Donna's choice, and we were all so pleased she'd suggested a title that we'd promptly agreed to read it.

I was behind on my reading because Al had grabbed the book a couple of days after I'd brought it home and spent all of what little free time he had reading it. I didn't have the heart to demand it back, but now I was feeling the crunch of completing it by Friday. I didn't want to demoralize Donna by not being ready to discuss it. Al had finished it a few days ago and I was again working through the thick novel. I planned to read it during the hour long drive to Santa Monica, where we had a beach day planned with the girls.

Grace had requested a beach day as a birthday present on Friday. Since we'd already had a party planned for yesterday (on her actual birthday), we were surprising her and her sisters with it today. Al had hinted to her that it might have to wait for another weekend, so we were anticipating her excitement when we told her.

"Do you remember when we'd head to the beach when we were newlyweds?" Al asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Mmmm," I nodded, smiling. "Those walks near the edge of the ocean, the cool water splashing on our ankles."

He gave me a quick kiss. "We didn't need near this much stuff," he grinned, waving his hand at the station wagon.

I laughed. "Four little girls later..."

"Speaking of which," he slowly released his hold on me, "we'd better get them moving if we want to beat the traffic."

We headed into the house and upstairs. Grace and Theresa had started sharing a room in the fall. They had taken well to it, both of them feeling this made them "big girls" like their older sisters who had always shared a room. It was nice having a guest room again, I reflected. My parents had appreciated not having to sleep in twin beds when they visited for Christmas.

Al held a finger up to his lips and beamed like a little boy as he crept into the room. I quietly followed him. He sat on the edge of Grace's bed and gently touched her shoulder, gathering her hair away from her face.

"Grace," he said in a low voice. "Wake up, Gracie."

She yawned and stretched, blinking her eyes and rubbing at them. She smiled when she saw Al. "Daddy."

"Good morning, sweet pea."

"Morning, Daddy," she yawned. She sat up and saw me. "Hi, Mommy."

"Did you have good dreams?" I asked.

She nodded. "I had dreams about my party!"

The Shirt Tales cartoon was her favorite, and so we had thrown her a party in that theme. Eileen knew someone who was an expert cake decorator who'd drawn the characters in frosting, Grace's favorite Pammy Panda front and center. It turned out that Sandy Chen was a fair artist herself, and she'd volunteered to replicate the characters on posterboard for decorations and a bean bag toss game. Grace's nursery school friends had had a blast. Grace herself hadn't stopped smiling for a moment.

"I'm glad you had a good time," Al told her. His smile got huge again. "How would you like to have some fun today... at the beach?"

"The beach?!" squealed Grace. "Today?! Really, Daddy?" She was completely awake now, her eyes wide and her mouth dropped open. She clapped her small hands together excitedly.

"Really," he said. "Oof!" Grace tackled him in a tight hug.

Her squeals had woken Theresa. "What's going on?" she sleepily asked.

"We get to go to the beach!" Grace informed her.

"Go potty and make your beds and I'll get your swimsuits laid out for you," I told them.

"Can I tell the twins?" Grace asked. "Please?"

Theresa had already gotten up and headed for the bathroom, so we told Grace that was fine. She was up and running from the room in a flash.

"Sheli! Bree! Guess what?!"

Al laughed. "I'd say the surprise was a hit."

I pulled swimsuits out of their dresser and grinned at him. "For sure."

Grace impatiently danced in place as Al finished blowing up the inflatable floatie around her bicep. "C'mon, Daddy, let's go in the water!"

"Just a minute." He took a deep breath and blew into it. "There." He pushed the seal closed and pressed it flat.

Immediately grabbing his hand, Grace started tugging him towards the water's edge where the twins were wading in the surf, occasionally picking up a shell. "Daddy! Let's go!"

"You have control of those three?" I asked. Theresa was building a sandcastle a few feet away from where we'd set up, currently not interested in getting into the ocean.

Al nodded. "I'll holler if I could use some backup," he chuckled. He let Grace "drag" him to the shore a few more steps, before scooping her up into his arms and flipping her onto his shoulders. She squealed in delight.

"Can we go in now, Daddy?" Bridget shouted as he and Grace drew nearer.

I watched the four of them go offshore until the water was about waist-deep for Al then turned my attention back to Theresa.

"That's a nice castle you're building," I observed.

She grinned and nodded, scrutinizing the side of it and sizing it up with the shells she had gathered. She pressed a scalloped shell into one of the turrets she'd constructed.

I watched her sculpt another turret and then start carving out a moat around the castle. She wasn't the only sandcastle builder on the beach today. Several others were going up all around. Theresa took a piece of driftwood to make a drawbridge fording the moat.

"Who lives in your castle, Resa?"

Theresa looked up at me. "A princess. A mermaid princess. She turns into a mermaid when she gets in the ocean but she's gots legs when she's on the sand."

"How convenient." I smiled at her imagination. "What's the princess' name?"

She pondered a moment as she pressed more shells into the side of the castle. "Monica."

I grinned, knowing she was drawing the name from where we were. "Princess Monica the mermaid. I like it."

"It's done!" proclaimed Theresa. "I'm ready to go play in the ocean now, Mommy."

"Let's get your floaties on you, first," I said, rummaging in the bag for the remaining pair.

Theresa pouted, "Can't you just hold me, Mommy?"

I shook the inflatable arm bands at her. "If you want to go in the ocean with your sisters and Daddy, we put the floaties on." They weren't equivalent to a life jacket, but the extra buoyancy provided a small peace of mind for me.

She looked longingly at the water and then thrust her arms straight out at me. I slipped the floaties on her arm and proceeded with blowing them up.

"Finally!" she exclaimed when the valves were sealed and pushed flat. She took off running towards the shoreline. "I'm coming! Here I come, Daddy!"

Laughing, I followed after her. She hesitated when the cold surf hit her legs, then plunged in. Bridget and Michele reached towards her. I stood a moment as the waves struck and receded against my ankles, feeling the sand collapse beneath my feet, engulfing my toes. The juxtaposition of the cold water and the warm sun on my shoulders relaxed me.

Al, still holding Grace's hand, turned to face me. "You coming in, Beth?" he called.

I breathed in the salty sea air and nodded. "Yes. Just enjoying the view." And I was. Seeing Al splashing about with all four of our girls was just as beautiful to me as the blue sky meeting the turquoise ocean. I waded in, letting out a small gasp as the cold water's level took over more of my skin.

"Mommy, this is great!" Grace shouted when I reached them.

"Yes, it is, sweetie," I agreed.

"I love the ocean!" she proclaimed. The other people playing in the ocean who heard her chuckled at her enthusiasm.

The four girls were now splashing each other, jumping up and down, and shrieking when a wave lifted them off their feet for a moment. Al came closer and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"I'm glad we did this today," he said. "We've got progress checks starting tomorrow, so I'll be working late all week. I'm soaking this up."

I kissed his cheek, tasting saltwater. A wave lifted Grace and Theresa and carried them towards us. I reached for Grace and Al grabbed Theresa. Both girls giggled exuberantly.

"I wanna do it again!" Grace shrieked. She lunged out of my arms and got a face full of sea water. Coughing and spluttering, she started laughing. You are my water baby, Grace.

Al put Theresa down by the twins and joined Grace's laughter. "Come here, silly girl," he said, picking her up.

"Mommy," Bridget asked, "can we ride the waves to the shore like that?" She pointed at a nearby family who had a raft toy with them.

"We didn't pack a raft, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

Her face fell. "Oh." She wasn't able to be disappointed long because Michele splashed her, giggling. Bridget turned and splashed back and a good-natured wrestling match began. I intervened when it began devolving into holding each other underwater.

Putting a hand on each of their shoulders I pushed them apart. "Take it down a notch, please."

"Sorry, Mommy," apologized Michele. "We got carried away."

A chorus of squeals erupted to our right and I looked towards them. A few families started hurrying back to the beach. I grabbed Al's shoulder. "Al, are those fins?"

He instinctively snatched Grace and Theresa into his arms. He made a half turn towards the shore then stopped and stared harder. "Those are dolphins, Beth!" He bounced the girls and nodded with his head. "Look, girls, dolphins!"

"Where?!" the twins exclaimed.

I squatted down and pointed along their eye level to the fins we could now see were attached to a small pod of dolphins breeching the water and arcing in elegant leaps. To a person, everyone in the ocean and on the beach gasped in awe as the dolphins made their way across the waves.

"They're so pretty!" Theresa breathed.

I agreed, but couldn't find the words. We all stood transfixed by the beauty of the ocean mammals.

"Today was a good day to come," I told Al.

He nodded. "Remember this, Grace. You got to see dolphins for your birthday."

Grace watched the dolphins until we couldn't see them anymore. "Thank you for today, Daddy." She kissed his cheek and hugged his neck tightly.

Author's Note: Several years ago, user CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur left a review requesting a "really fantastic" event for this date. This is a long overdue fulfillment of that request, and I hope it made you smile, CapriceAnn. -JLR