Page 53 of A Little Campfire Blues

The finale was a riot of colors and explosions, with wiggly little butts dancing up and down the shore as they screeched, leapt, and pointed at all the colors. A collective awe went up when the final traces faded from the sky and nothing else followed it. Slowly, the gaggle of littles and pets began to disperse as they slowly returned to their blankets. My trio came trudging back, dragging sandy feet. Axis yawned, then popped his binky back in his mouth before flopping down on the blanket and pressing his face against my thigh.

“Tired, Daddy,” he muttered around the binky, which bobbed and fell from his mouth as he yawned again. Thankfully, he had it clipped to his T-shirt so it didn’t land on the sandy blanket, but it was definitely time to start packing up so I could get them back to the cabin.

“Arf!” Roman said, nudging Axis’s side with his shoulder as he slid in behind him and looked like he was about to settle in for a nap.

Yup, definitely time to go.

“Daddy, it feels like there’s a milkshake in my belly,” Ezzy said, rubbing it as they stood on the edge of the blanket. “My tummy isn’t happy about that.”

Oh boy.

“I’m sure all of your jumping around and wiggle-butt dancing didn’t help it any,” I told them as I held out my hand to them.

They came and sat in my lap so I could rub it for them. I hoped I could get it settled before they were forced to rush for one of the nearby trashcans. Sighing, they rested their head on my shoulder, and I held them while around us, others continued conversations or began packing up to head back to their cabins. While I’d have loved for us to do the same thing, it would probably be easier to wait for the rush to be over, because the parking area was about to get crazy as everyone tried to leave at the same time.

“Now don’t go falling asleep on me,” I cautioned them as I continued to rub Ezzy’s belly. “If you do, we’ll all have to sleep out here and let the mosquitos have us for supper.”

“No itchy bugs,” he murmured.

“Then no falling asleep on Daddy.”

“Okie,” he groaned, then let out several small burps that had me worried for a moment. “Ohh, nice.”

Phew.

No wearing ice cream and brownie bits for me, at least not at the moment.

A soft snore soon clued me in that at least one of my other boys hadn’t been listening when I’d saidno falling asleep. With Ezzy in my arms, I couldn’t see which one it was. I could only hope they didn’t slip too deeply into slumber, or waking them was going to be a bitch. Soon only a handful of scattered groups remained along the shore, as even the kitchen crew had called it a night and headed in.

“How’s your tummy feeling now?” I asked as they let out another series of little burps.

“Much, much better, Daddy.”

“Good,” I said, running my fingers through their hair. “I think it’s time to head back to the cabin then, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” they said, following it up with a yawn as they tried to burrow against me.

“Okay then, you’ve got to get up and help Daddy wake Axis and Roman.”

“Wake up!” they screeched, nearly deafening me.

Axis jerked, fingers digging into my thigh a little while Roman huffed, grumbled, and sat up, growling at them.

Ezzy stuck their tongue out in response and reached out to boop Roman on the nose, only to jerk their finger back when Roman playfully snapped at them.

“We’re up!” Axis grumbled, hair plastered to his cheek as he sat up and pouted at Ezzy. “And you’re loud.”

“Daddy said to help.”

“I think you just helped every mommy and daddy within earshot,” I told them, nudging them until they got the hint and climbed to their feet. Axis reached up, so Ezzy helped him to his feet and hugged him when Axis swayed, looking utterly tuckered out.

“Let’s get our shoes on so we can fold up the blanket,” I told them, grateful to see them all move to do as they were told without needing any more prodding.

Something told me that at least one of them was going to need help getting ready for bed tonight. It might be easier to stick Axis and Ezzy in the same shower and wash them off myself to move things along. My pet at least looked a little more awake than the boys, though not by much. Too bad none of the cabins came with a shower built for four. It would have made things far easier for me that way. Since I’d already repacked the empty containersin the basket, I moved it aside, hastily folded the blanket, and gathered both up for the walk back to my truck. It was a far slower trip than the way they’d sprinted to the lake when we arrived, but we got there.

Bouncing over the campground's dirt road kept them awake long enough to reach the cabin, but they were slow to get out and even slower going up the steps.

Yup, my trio was worn out.

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