“Not on your—!”
“Daddy! Daniel hurt me!” Sydney cried.
“Sister,” I finished, breathlessly.
I scooped Sydney up in my arms and she wrapped herself around me. I buried my face into the crook of her neck, shushing her to get her to stop crying. I shot Daniel a look and he got off the bed, his head bowed as he sat on the chair in the corner. My little princess was sniffling, her tears wetting my shoulder as she cried.
“You okay, sweetheart?” I asked.
“Daniel hurt me,” Sydney said again.
“I know he did. And he’s going to apologize. Right?” I asked.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said.
“Can I go swimming now?” Sydney asked, suddenly recovered.
“Of course, you can.”
Miraculously, her tears dried up, so I put her down and she went to go pull out her swimsuit. I helped them into their gear and fought them every step of the way to get their floaties on. I hauled my stuff into my room at the end of the hall and changed, then met them at the top of the house by the waterslide.
“You guys ready?” I asked.
“Can we go down together?” Daniel asked.
“On three,” I said. “Come on. Get in my lap.”
I pushed us down the waterslide that jutted off a small balcony at the top edge of the house. We rounded down, the water pushing us as we went careening toward the ocean. We tumbled off the side and went underwater, the salted mixture engulfing our bodies.
The sound of my twins giggling warmed my heart as they emerged.
“That was awesome!” Daniel shouted.
“I wanna do it again!” Sydney added.
“Then go on! Do it again! I’ll watch you guys from here,” I said.
I stood in the waist-deep water and watched my kids slide down over and over again. They were having the time of their lives and it filled me with joy.
Their mother didn’t know what she was missing out on.
Her fucking loss.
After hours of playing in the sun and realizing I didn’t put enough sunblock on them, I got my kids inside and washed up. My stomach was growling for some food, and by the time I had them ready to go it would be dinner time. I got us all dressed and loaded into the golf cart I’d purchased to ride around the island in, then we set off into the small Caribbean town in search of food.
I nearly drove off the small cart path when my eyes landed on the woman standing just off to the side.
No. It couldn’t be.
Fuck.
Standing there, not ten feet in front of me was my ex-wife, Sarah; the absentee mother of my children. Of all places to run into her after all these years. “Kevin,” she said, looking as surprised to see me as I was to see her, “What brings you here?”
“Spring break. With my kids. You?” I asked.
I made sure to emphasize the ‘my’ in case she got any ideas.
“I’m here on vacation with my boyfriend,” she said. “I guess this place has always been my favorite after you introduced me to it. It always feels like home.”