She let go of Blair’s hand and jumped out of the bed before Blair could get to her again. “Who wants to go to the beach today?” she asked, while raising her own hand.

Nolan jumped off of the bed and waved his hand in the air as well. “Me! Me! Me!”

After getting changed and fighting with Nolan to eat breakfast, they finally made their way down to the beach. As soon as Nolan’s feet hit the sand, he began to run toward the water. Erin had no idea how she was supposed to catch him with her hands full, but before she could start running after him, Blair dropped the few things she was holding and ran after him. It only took a few seconds for Blair to catch him and scoop him up in her arms.

Erin watched as Blair put him back down onto the sand and held his hand. The two of them slowly walked toward the ocean and stopped right on the edge of where the dry sand turned to wet sand. Blair pointed toward the ocean and spoke to Nolan who appeared to be hanging on to every word she said. Erin wanted to join them, but she was too distracted watching their interaction to get her feet to move. Aside from her family, which didn’t really count, Erin had never seen Nolan take to someone as quickly as he had with Blair. It really was like he had known her forever. That fact kind of made her want to throw caution to the wind, but it also made her want to bury Nolan in the sand to make sure he didn’t get hurt. Not that she actually believed Blair would ever hurt him. At least, not intentionally. But she worried Blair was oblivious to how special she was.

A big wave crashed in the ocean, causing water to reach where Blair and Nolan were standing. As soon as it touched his feet, Nolan jumped in the air and ran back toward Erin.

When he reached her, there were tears running down his cheeks. He pointed out toward the ocean. “I don’t like that water. It’s scary.”

Erin bent down and wrapped Nolan in a hug. Even when he was being dramatic, she still hated to see him cry. “Aw, buddy, there’s nothing to be scared of. I promise. Mommy would never let anything hurt you.”

“Yeah, neither would I, buddy.”

Erin looked up to find Blair crouched down behind Nolan rubbing circles across his back. “I’m really sorry,” she said when her eyes met Erin’s. “I wouldn’t have taken him so close if I knew it would scare him so badly.”