Make sure you check out my bestie, UghSt00pid 's chapter before this one! <3

Chapter 71

Make sure you check out my bestie, @ughst00pid's chapter before this one! <3

Camden's POV

"Mama? Where we go?" I hear my princess ask my wife.

"It's a surprise, baby." Scarlett turns to look at her in the backseat.

"Mommy? Where we go?" She tries again. I make eye contact with her in the rear view mirror and smile at her adorable little face.

"No way, princess. It's a surprise." She pouts at me and I squeeze Scarlett's thigh.

"It otay Bwie!" Mila chirps from her car seat.

After a little incident involving some hair pulling and some jealousy; Hazel and Scarlett decided to let Mila ride with us. She is feeling a little territorial over Briella, and Genny being the "big girl" she is, said it was okay if she rode with her Mommy and Daddy. Technically, she is older than both of them in headspace.. combined.

"We're almost there." Scarlett smiles and looks in the side mirror, watching Theo and Henry follow in their vehicles.

The girls first meeting could have went better, but we're all putting it behind us.

It takes forever to get to the underground parking. We only have to walk a block from here, thank god. Walking in downtown with three crazy littles is going to make my anxiety insane.

I park, getting out and opening Mila's door. She eyes me while I unbuckle her car seat straps. I wink at her and smile, causing her to giggle with her fingers in her mouth. I lift her up on my hip and make my way around the car to Scarlett and Briella's side. Hazel comes over from their parking spot, smiling when she sees her daughter.

"Hi pea, did you have a good drive?"

Mila reaches for her mother with a big smile when she gets close.

"They were angels." Scarlett kisses Briella's head.

"Good girl." Hazel mumbles with her lips against Mila's cheek. Mila is eating up this attention, I can tell.

"Should we catch up to everyone else?" I look for the rest of the group seeing them all gathering around the Thomas's rental. We make our way over and all start the trek to the kids surprise.

"Where are we going, Daddy?" Genny looks up at Henry as she swings their hands.

"You'll find out in a minute, doll." Henry winks at her and I look away. It's still really weird to see Genevieve like this. And hearing her call them Mommy and Daddy is something that will take some getting used to. The guys all pull ahead with their long legs. They aren't paying much attention and I can see Theo and Henry deep in conversation. I've never seen Henry quite so animated. My face must show my confusion because Hazel rolls her eyes.

"They're debating Canadian vs. American law. They will probably be at it all day."

I laugh, shaking my head when Kelly and Genny turn to face us, waiting for us to catch up. I rush ahead of the girls and get my phone out. I want to capture their little faces when they see where we are. I turn and start recording right as Genny figures it out. She gasps and stops dead in her tracks.

"The aquarium!" She points up at the display in front of Ripley's aquarium. Mila and Briella look at it wide eyed before Mila starts wiggling to get down.

"Wait until we're inside, pea." Hazel adjusts her grip, so she doesn't drop the squirming toddler.

Once we get inside and corral the kids, Mila is set on her feet.

"Can I?" Genny cuts herself off, nibbling on her lip. She looks at Hazel's feet, clearly nervous. She never was good with meeting new people. She seems more timid in headspace. I step behind Genny and make eye contact with Hazel. I nod for confirmation that the girls will be okay, and lean down to Genny.

"Do you want to hold Mila's hand?" Genny jumps at my question, not realizing how close I am. She nods slowly and kicks a pebble that's on the ground.

"Stay close, okay girls?" Hazel smiles as Mila grabs her new friend's hand and Briella takes her other one. We all take pictures of them as they walk to the first tank and have a look. Thankfully, it's not that busy today.

"They're absolutely adorable." Kelly's smile is so big as she bends down for a better picture angle. Her red curls bounce as she jumps up and shows me the pictures she just took.

"Please send me that one! It's so good, what kind of phone do you have?" I point out my favourite picture, I seriously can't believe how good it turned out.

"I have the same phone as Scarlett." Kelly sends me the picture before pocketing her phone.

"You're talented. Scarlett can't take good pictures, even if her life depended on it." I quickly look around for my wife, " Don't tell her I said that."

Kelly laughs, she's loud for a little thing. She's a good 3-4 inches shorter than my wife but she has a big personality. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Mama! Da fishies!" Mila screeches, grabbing Hazel and Scarlett's attention.

"Mom? Can West and I do our own thing?" One of Hazel's boys asks when he walks up to her. That one must be Kai.

"Don't leave the aquarium and make sure you have your phone on you, please." Hazel calls after them. They bolted as soon as they got permission in the direction of the shark exhibit.

"Boys." Kelly laughs, turning around to see her husband and Theo still talking each other's ear off. "Honey? Are you watching the girls?"

"What? Sorry, darling." Henry flashes her a smile I'm sure gets him out of trouble a lot. Kelly rolls her brown eyes but she's smiling.

By the time we make it to the activity centre, the girls are bouncing with excitement. They run their little hearts out, crawling through the glass tunnels that lead through the fish tanks.

"I'm glad the girls are taking Mila through those. I wouldn't want to crawl through them." Hazel laughs as we watch the girls wave from inside the clear tubes.

We make our way to the touch tanks, where you can pet rays. Theo picks up Mila and her little hand is thrust into the water to touch them as she swim by in the shallow water. She giggles and yells that they're 'slippery'. We all laugh, Genny placing her hand in the tank as she holds Kelly's hand with her free one. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, but as I turn to see Briella clinging to my wife I realize she's scared.

"What's wrong princess?" I ask her quietly, trying not to draw attention to her obvious fear.

"Scary." She mumbles while rubbing her eyes. I see naptime is in order.

"They're not scary. They just look a little funny. I promise they won't hurt you." I give her a smile, "What if Mommy helps you?"

After some contemplation, Bri nods and takes my hand. I move us a little ways away from the rest of the loud group consisting of our friends and wrap one arm around her waist. I take her right hand in mine with her back to my chest. I can feel how stiff Briella is in my hold, so I kiss her head. Placing our hands in the water, we wait for a ray to come close and I reach us out to touch while they swim past.

"See? That was okay." I whisper in her ear and I feel her relax.

"It's fun Mommy."

Her sweet voice is like music to my ears

***

Scarlett's POV

After rounding up all the kids, we decide we're all too tired to go out for dinner and settle on eating in. We go to Henry and Kelly's house so Hazel can have a look at it while we wait for the pizza.

After everyone is fed, Hazel and I make eye contact. The girls are fading fast, so Kelly shows us to the spare room to lay them down.

Kelly sits by the window where she told Hazel she wants a reading nook, and Hazel and I sit on the bed nursing our girls.

"Do you ever think about nursing?" Hazel asks Kelly who sets her phone down.

"Sometimes. I don't know if Genny is little enough to be interested." Kelly twists her lips, "Does it hurt?"

"If the latch is wrong or they get over eager sometimes it can hurt, but I think it's worth it." I look down at Briella and see her eyes fluttering in sleep. "I'm also a bit of a masochist, so." I lift one shoulder and both of them laugh.

"Me too." Kelly laughs, "Camden isn't interested?"

"Oh, no." I laugh, "She isn't as all." My checks tint pink and Hazel gives me a look like she knows there is a story there. "Well, you're both basically family; she has both nipples pierced, and as long as it's not something Briella asks for she's going to leave them in and is more than happy to let me do the breastfeeding."

They both look at me with wide eyes, probably not expecting that. Camden is a doctor. She carries herself a certain way and is really very proper. It's kind of shocking to know she was rebellious and wild in college.

"I didn't see that one coming." Hazel chuckles as she unlatches Mila and lays her on the bed, creating a pillow wall. I do the same with Briella and we all sneak out of the room.

As we walk into the living room, three bodies jump up and yell at the tv. Well, two are yelling about a 'bad call' and one is cheering. I look at my wife's red face and I can tell she's pissed and maybe a little tipsy. As soon as I see the score on the tv I can see why.

"We should have gone to this game!" Theo looks like that cat that got the cream when the Seattle Mariners got another run.

Toronto is losing, which explains Camden and Henry's foul mood. They are both Blue Jay's fans.

Hazel and Kelly roll their eyes. "Should we get Genny to bed before they wake her up?" I point to my sister who's sleeping on the couch beside Henry.

"I'll carry her." Henry gently picks her up and heads to the stairs. Kelly follows her husband up the stairs, and Hazel and I go to the kitchen for wine.

"I'm so glad I waited until now so I could enjoy a glass." I'm going to savour this. I don't get to drink wine very often.

"Me too." Hazel takes a deep breath as we relax, even with the loud tv and argument in the other room.

"I'm glad you guys came up, even if it is kind of for work. We missed you guys."

"Us too! We missed you guys as well. Mila was so excited to see Briella, and now she has two little friends up here." Hazel smiles sadly, probably thinking about how far away Mila's best friends are.

"We'll come down and see you guys next time." I smile at her as we make plans for the next family vacation. Friends that are like family are the best.

For those of you wanting to see the floor plan for the Ripley's aquarium in Canada 💜