Page 29 of Momcom Vacation

My heart pounds violently and blood rushes in my ears.

What am I saying? I have no chill. My fiancée has the chill. Dylan is good with kids. Dylan is good at answering my mother’s texts. Dylan is my chill. And she isn’t here.

The chaos makes my skin crawl.

I twist my neck from side to side and dig my phone out again.

Me: Kids don’t die from eating sand, right?

My phone beeps instantly.

Firefly: They do not. It happens on the beach all the time. Addie ate her weight in sand two summers ago and look at her.

With a deep breath in and back out, I watch the three-year-old as she runs along the sand dunes, laughing.

Firefly: Need me to come over?

Yes. But I don’t want to bother her. She’s here to relax, not to reassure me when I’m panicking.

Firefly: We could make sandmen.

Me: Sandmen?

What the heck are sandmen? I run the hand not holding my daughter through my hair.

Firefly: Christmas at the beach means sandmen instead of snowmen. The kids would love it.

I chuckle, and already, the tension ebbs. Dylan always has that effect on me.

Me: We’re good, baby. I’ll send pics of the sandmen.

“Hold Willow. And for the love of god, no more sand.” I pass my daughter to Ro. “I have a plan.”

“Got you, Man Bun.” He holds her with one arm, and my little girl immediately yanks on the hair hanging over his forehead.

I push up to my full height and clap to get the kids’ attention. “Okay, team. We’re going to have a contest.”

Liam groans.

The twins, however, break into kind of creepy smiles.

“Contest?” Phoebe shuffles my way with Collette on her heels. Neither girl would ever turn down a shot at superiority, regardless of the challenge.

I nod. “We’re going to see which team can make the best snowman out of sand.”

“Mine’s going to have the best outfit.” Like a cartoon character, Finn takes off, his feet moving before his body goes anywhere, and darts over to the twins. Kai follows. “Let’s be a team.”

The twins eye Winnie and Addie and then each other. “Yes, fine.” Collette lifts her chin. “We’ll take the boys.”

“Great.” I smile. “Liam, you two can team up with the girls.”

Liam scowls, but when his new friend moves over to Addie and Winnie and says, “I love your bracelets,” he follows like a puppy.

“You have pretty hair,” Addie says. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Jasmin.” She squats on the sand at the preschooler’s side. “Want to be on my team?”

“Sure!” Addie grasps her hand and drags her over to me.

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