It only took two rounds of the song before Cadence was merrily singing along. Three rounds later, they were all laughing, and another two rounds after that and the rain stopped.
“Okay, you little monsters,” Cadence laughed, ruffling Izzy’s hair where their daughter was splayed across both her parents’ laps. “I will now be thinking about that for about a hundred years, but it did stop me from worrying about the rain, so thank you… I guess.”
Izzy gave Tyler an upside-down high five.
Across the cove, they could see the rest of the class starting to come out from their impromptu hiding spots. One of the parents, someone too far away to recognize, made a big summoning motion over their head, then pointed toward the waiting bus.
“Ah, time to go home,” Tyler said, feeling a pang of sadness that this wonderful, strange day was over. They hurried back through the wet sand, which clung to their feet and legs. It didn’t take a lifetime living at the beach for Tyler to know that he’d be finding sand in his car for weeks to come, no matter how many times he vacuumed.
Not that he would trade it for the world, of course.
Getting all the kids back on the bus was a flurry of chaos, Tyler lifted backpacks and directed children and lifted the coolers, which were much lighter than they had been that morning, when they’d been full of drinks and ice. The time passed in a flash, and another smattering of rain struck beforethey all got boarded onto the bus, which sent the children into peals of laughter, interspersed with some shrieking.
By the time they all sat down, everyone was sandy, soaked, and smiling.
Tyler didn’t think about whether or not he ought to sit next to Cadence and Izzy until he’d already done it, but fortunately, Cadence didn’t seem to mind. She stroked Izzy’s damp hair, their daughter dozing against her shoulder. She reached up to push a strand of her own damp hair aside, but paused when she saw the sand clinging to her fingers.
On impulse, he reached out and tucked the hair aside himself. The look Cadence gave him was grateful, but still tinged with sadness.
The ride back to the school was a quick one, and Tyler spent it thinking about his father’s words, about how teamwork really helped remind you of the merits of loving through selflessness. He hadn’t doubted Jared’s words, of course, but that day had been a potent reminder.
He hadn’t really thought about it much, and now he realized this had been a big error, but he’d spent so much of the time that he and Cadence had been focused on conceiving thinking about his own troubles. Oh, he’d thought about the physical burden that it had placed on Cadence, since she was the one who would be pregnant, but he hadn’t totally given consideration to her emotions in everything. He’d assumed they’d been the same as his own, but that had been just that.
An assumption.
Somewhere along the way, he’d forgotten that he and Cadence weren’t meant to be fighting each other. They were meant to be fighting their problems together. And neither of them had given the other person the opportunity to share those burdens. They’d withdrawn.
And maybe a foolish part of him had rationalized that he was doing this to protect Cadence from his pain, but in hindsight, it seemed like nothing more than cowardice.
He’d been afraid to show how scared he was of the way things were going between them.
He didn’t want to be scared anymore. He didn’t want to be selfish anymore.
He wanted to do whatever it took to get his family back.
Everything was bustling again when they got back to the school, and for a moment, Tyler feared that Izzy and Cadence had slipped away in the chaos. He was relieved beyond measure when he saw them waiting, leaning against their car. He jogged over.
“Oh, I’m glad I caught you guys,” he said.
“Izzy wanted you to put her in the car,” Cadence said, ruffling their daughter’s hair. “Something about ‘Daddy doing it the right way?’”
Isabelle shrugged, although she did not look the slightest bit repentant. “Sorry, Mommy,” she said.
Cadence chuckled and shooed them along, so Tyler buckled Isabelle securely into her car seat. When he was done, Cadence hadn’t loaded up. She was still standing outside the car.
“Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” she returned.
A beat passed between them, not entirely uncomfortable, but not entirely comfortable either. He could practically feel the moment, the last one of this wonderful day, slipping away from him.
“Cadence, can I take you out?” he asked, heart in his throat. “It doesn’t have to be a huge event just… maybe we could have a chance to talk, to reconnect.”
She bit her lip and he knew she was going to say no before she said it. Despite everything, he still knew her. And he understood. It made him feel a bit as though his heart was breaking, but he did understand.
“I’m… really busy at the gallery,” she said vaguely. “So, yeah. It’s just not a good time.”
He hated how nervous she looked.
