Sure enough, I had to wake Jamie to get him inside, but he ran straight to the beach to soak his feet in the water. He barely made it through dinner before I hauled him off to shower and tucked him in. He was asleep before I had finished getting ready for bed.
The next morning, I let him sleep in since nothing we were doing today came with any time restraints. I was checking the daily news and emails on my iPad when he woke up.
“Morning, Daddy.” I smiled at his cute, yawny mumble.
“Good morning, my sleepy boy. How do feel today?”
“Still kinda seepy and my feet are a little sore, but good. Today we get to see the real ocean, right? We can relax, lay in the sun, and dip, dip, dip our toes in the water.”
“That we will. I am taking you to Pacific Beach. You can swim there too.”
“The ocean is gorgeous, but scary. I think I’ll only go in until my knees get wet, if that’s okay?”
“Of course it is. I never want you to do anything that scares or makes you uncomfortable. Stop lights are effective for more than just sex. If something makes you nervous or is scary, all you have to do is sayno,orred,and it stops.”
“Like clowns?”
“Ha-ha. Yes, my love, like clowns, though Daddy is not a fan either.” Why in the hell would anyone think a clown was fun entertainment for a child? They are scary as fuck with all the crazy makeup and evil cackles. Fuck that clown shit.
We took our time eating breakfast and lazily lounged around for a bit before we decided to head out. Once we’d parked, I reached behind my seat in the car and handed my boy the bag that was there.
“Another prezzie, Daddy?”
“Yes. It makes Daddy’s heart happy to give you gifts.”
“A sandcastle set and bucket!” Jamie jumped forward to hug me, but the seatbelt yanked him back. “Stupid seatbelt. I wanna hug my Daddy.” He scowled at the safety device.
“Here,” I released the belt and hugged him.
“Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”
“I love you too, sweet boy. Now, let’s go look for seashells.”
“Yay! Seashells!”
Thankfully it was a weekday, and most people were at work, so the crowd was light. We claimed an area of the beach and laid our towels out on it. After we snapped a couple of selfies with the ocean in the background, I slathered my boy in SPF50 and off he went, giggling as thewaves drenched him. I dove in and swam a bit, but Jamie didn’t like that at all, so I stayed above water next to him after that.
“Daddy, when I can’t see you, I worry the ocean got you. It scared me.”
“I’m sorry, my love. I will stay here right beside you where I belong.” He visibly relaxed and returned to his digging.
“What are you looking for?”
“I dunno. Just seeing what’s down there.”
Eons of sand, but bursting his bubble I would not be held responsible for.
“Are you getting hungry? I saw a wall of food trucks by the shops.”
“Think they have tacos?”
“Not sure, but why don’t we go see.” I gathered our towels, and we walked toward the wonderfully smelling lunch trucks. Sure enough, my boy got his tacos, and I opted for a burrito, then we found a place to sit and dug in.
“It’s so pretty here, Daddy.”
“Yes, it is. Are you excited about SeaWorld?”
His head bobbed up and down. “Yes, I get to see all the Sloffers.”
