Page 11 of NYE in The Cayman Islands

I just smile back at her. “Good luck with that. Even I wouldn’t attempt that.”

Dumping all our stuff in the little hut next to the courts that Tate had reserved for us, I hear some yelling and cheering from the courts next to ours.

“For fuck’s sake, I can’t believe it’s them,” Lex declares.

“It’s who?” I ask, spinning around trying to work out who he is talking about.

“Oh, this is priceless.” Tilly starts giggling.

“The little pricks who ran us off our boards this morning,” Lex grumbles.

“Don’t worry about it, let’s show them how real men play pickleball.” Tate picks up the rackets and ball and starts heading onto the court.

“Come on, Lex, you’re on my team, Gray and Mason can be together.” Tate places his arm around Lex’s shoulder and drags him with him. I can see the annoyance on Lex’s face which I think Tate is going to try to use to his advantage. If he is fired up, it might help them win.

“Oh, look, it’s the old-timers, out for a social game. Wonder if they can manage to move fast enough to get to the ball.” The voice comes from the next court over.

“Christ, this is going to get fiery, I can tell,” Mia whispers. “But the good thing is the guys aren’t even going to notice that we aren’t playing. If we just sit here quietly and watch, maybe we’ll get away with it.” Mia quietly moves the chair out from under the table and sits with her feet up on another chair, facing the court so she has the perfect view.

“Great idea, Mia.” I sit down next to her as Gray and Mason are busy talking strategy on their side of the court.

“Our guys don’t need any encouragement to be competitive with each other but add some young guys into the equation and this is going to get ugly. I think it’s time for another round of drinks, ladies, and maybe a charcuterie board. What do youthink?” Paige already has her phone in her hand and is on the app to have it all brought to us.

Mia smiles. “That sounds like the best idea I have heard today. You know sports aren’t my thing.”

The guys hadn’t even noticed that we are settled in the shade, glasses in hand and nibbling away on cheese and crackers.

My phone buzzes on the table, and it’s a message from Annie, my dad’s wife. Attached are several photos of the kids, who all look happy, and then one of my dad, with Millie fast asleep in his arms, looking very content. Annie’s message is so sweet, reassuring me that everything is fine, and the kids are having a great time with their cousins and that I’m not to worry about anything.

I didn’t know how much I needed that message until I opened it. The reassurance I needed that I wasn’t an awful mother who has left her four-and-a-half-month-old daughter overnight with her parents. As much as I knew she would be fine, seeing her so happy and sleeping just helped with the guilt.

I need to just enjoy this time away because it will be short-lived, and tomorrow, when I’m back in the middle of the crazy, I will regret not making the most of it.

I love my kids, but maybe it’s okay to take time for me too.

TATE

Lex is so wound up that it’s almost funny, but if there is one thing we have always done, it’s have each other’s backs.

If he needs to prove a point, then we will help him do it.

The comments coming from these young guys are deliberately loud enough that we can hear them, even though they are making out they are just having a conversation amongst themselves.

So, there is only one way to sort them out and teach them a lesson and hopefully calm the little grumpy ex-lawyer down too. Then we can enjoy the rest of the day and night.

“You boys over there remind me of little dogs who are all bark and no bite. There is also another name for it called little man syndrome,” I call out to them as we finish our last game, with Mason and Gray the victors.

“Oh fuck, you went and threw down the gauntlet, didn’t you?” Mason starts chuckling, knowing there was no way any of us could walk away from the goading that had been happening while we were playing.

It’s exactly what these young guys were hoping for, and we walk straight into what they think was their trap. But I’m not sure they’veve worked out that they may have bitten off more than they can chew.

“Be careful what you start there, old man. Doubt you’d be able to keep up with us if this morning’s efforts are anything to go by,” the guy wearing bright red shorts with pineapples all over them yells out, with all the confidence in the world.

“Oh, quite the cocky little shit, aren’t you, frat boy. You might think you have age on your side, but let me assure you, experience is far more valuable,” Lex replies as he waves his hand across the court to gesture they come and take the challenge.

I can hear the girls laughing off to the side, and we all know this is going to get fiery, but Lex has his cranky pants on, and we are about to see fireworks.

When the four guys walk onto the court, I’m not going to let them just get straight into it.

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