Family Vacation: >4

It was my Dad. He'd already made it upstairs. We all followed his voice and saw him staring, forlornly, into one of the bedrooms. It was a small room, painted seashell pink, with two lacquer-framed twin beds. He looked at all of us, exasperated, as if the tragedy of this was self-evident.

"On the website, they said it was two beds for four kids," Dad said, "I didn't realize they meant it would be in the same room."

"Maybe there's another bedroom," Mom said.

"Sure, Deb, I looked all over the house, but I bet you'll find the secret place I couldn't see," Dad snapped. Everyone looked at each other, I could feel the uncomfortable like it was the temperature, rising up my skin.

As we explored, we found that, as my Dad had so politely pointed out, there were only two other bedrooms in the house. Both had Queen-sized beds clearly intended for the adult couples. There was a sectional in the living room, as I'd mentioned, but there were no other places to sleep except that tiny room with the two skinny beds.

"I'm sorry guys," Dad said to us kids after we'd canvassed the house. "I'm sending a complaint, but at this point I can't pull another bedroom out of my ass.

"That's OK, Uncle Gary," Marissa said, "Even if you could, we wouldn't want to sleep in anything that came out of your butt."

My Dad gave her a rare smile and went to help Mom set up the kitchen. Meanwhile, we went upstairs and flopped down on the beds.

"I guess we'll split boys and girls?" I said.

"So, you two will be nice and comfortable while us guys sleep halfway on the floor?" Liam said. He and I had been having such a good day up till then, too. Maybe Dad's bad mood was contagious. "I'm just saying, it makes more sense to sleep boy-girl. That way there's enough space for everyone to be comfortable."

the bed with our siblings?" Marissa

said, "It's not like I'm putting the

was going

fine," Logan said. His deep voice strangely

*

a daffodil (what else?) one piece and pulled a long, white coverall over that. Then I

room.

a fairly conservative cut. Logan and my brother were both in trunks (Liam's were red, Logan's were a green

shore!"

for dinner!" Aunt

beach. The sun seemed even brighter now, somehow, and I quickly slipped on my new sunglasses. The house was only a block from the shore. The road was quiet and speckled with sand. My legs were stiff from two days in a car and I felt

stared out at sand and endless ocean. It was quiet, only a few people jogging by. Women pushed their babies in strollers. A few towns over, the strip got rowdy with t-shirt shops, pizza places, and bars mini-golf. But here, the town ordnance only allowed for houses near the boardwalk, so it was

wooden steps on the other side and stepped onto the beach. The sand was speckled and warm, littered with broken seashells and the occasional discarded plastic cup. The ocean -- green-brown water with tight, violent waves -- roared. We walked down close, to just beyond where the

the ground. I unrolled my towel and sat down in my chair. I'd brought a big floppy hat and I put

is

busy enough, but not crowded. A few families bobbed in the ocean; kids played in the sand. It was a suburban beach, for better or worse. The fun stuff happened a few towns over, like I said. But it was also relaxing, and it was nice not to get ogled by

so the water was cold, but not icy. I only went about thigh deep, but it was nice to feel the ocean on my legs. I saw my brother and cousin out deeper, jumping the waves. I'd left my sunglasses and hat on, so I didn't try to join them. When the boys saw me, I waved. They both seemed to take that as a sign, and headed back to

to our setup.

my

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