Sure enough, the roller blades were heavier than all hell, but those years he’d spent as a brace-faced teenage lifeguard hadn’t been for nothing. He yanked Oliver toward the surface. Breaking through to oxygen, Gavin heaved air into his lungs and boosted Oliver up to the waiting arms of his mother.
Molly looked equal parts relieved and ready to explode—a toxic combination with the opposite sex, in Gavin’s limited experience. That mix of emotion had never boded well for him, personally.
With Oliver safely back topside, Gavin swam a side-stroke to the ladder nailed to the dock. He climbed up, cursing internally but keeping his mouth shut, since he didn’t need the boys repeating any of the words simmering in his brain.
Gavin emerged at the edge of the dock to four sets of wide, shocked eyes.
Molly was mid-removal of the rollerblades. She opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it closed. He swore she growled toward her son.
Gavin pulled himself to stand on the dock, dripping his own lake at his feet. “Kellan.”
“Dad,” Kellan said, the tremble in his voice clear.
I love my kids.
I love my kids.
I love my kids.
“Brady,” Gavin said. His other son hadn’t been actively involved in the incident’s filming, but he hadn’t done the right thing and gotten an adult, either. And they’d all three absconded from the reception when they’d been told the rules.
I love my kids.
“Dad,” Brady said with a gulp.
“Why?” Gavin asked, keeping his tone calm but unable to totally remove the ice from the word.
“We saw it on MyTube.” Kellan lifted a shoulder. “Thought it looked fun.”
“What were you watching on MyTube?” Gavin asked. They had very specific channels they were allowed to view, and none of those channels would have included rollerblading off the dock.
“I wanted to try the stunt, Mr. Gavin,” Oliver piped up, his voice wobbly. “I asked Kellan to film it so we could show our friends.”
Molly’s expression darkened.
“Don’t be mad at them. It’s my fault,” Oliver continued.
“You and I are going to talk about this, and a punishment, and how you’re going to make it right with Gavin for…” Molly glanced at the now-still water. “That could’ve been bad. Really, really bad.”
Given the weight of those rollerblades, she wasn’t wrong.
“Kellan. Brady. Straight back to the reception,” Gavin said, his tone even. “Your mom deserves her special day. We are going to give it to her without any more distractions. Understood?”
They both nodded.
Today was not the day for this. Not when Rachel deserved a break from all the madness of kid wrangling so she could focus on her wedding.
He’d promised himself he’d do his part to ensure the day was everything Rachel needed it to be.
Though he’d never loved her the way she deserved, he respected everything she’d done for their little family. Respected her enough to want to do his part to make her special dayspecial.
“I told them it was a bad idea,” Brady said, the words coming fast. “I told them something bad would happen.”
Gavin wanted to ban them from any fun for forever and ever. He wouldn’t, of course, but that’s what he wanted to do. Instead, he sorted through his brain to think of something Rachel would do here. She’d know what to say. Parenting came so naturally to her.
He was more of a work in progress on the whole dad front.
“What did you learn?” he asked, settling on something he’d heard her ask the boys a thousand times before.
