Page 20 of Made for Us

“She put on a sequined dress this morning, so you are all welcome,” Abigail shares, looking at Penelope. “Love your hair.”

“Dad did it,” she affirms. I wait for her to look at me, and when she does, it’s like everything in me feels complete. She’s wearing a white bikini top, a white wraparound skirt, and flip-flops. Her hair is piled on her head. “It’s a fishtail braid.”

“That’s very cool.” She smiles at her. “You are one step closer to becoming a mermaid.” She winks at her before she looks at her uncles. “Abigail is present,” she announces before walking into the bus Gabriella just walked onto. I grab Penelope’s hand and go to the opposite bus, just to make sure that I give her space.

It doesn’t take long before the buses leave and an even a shorter time before we get to the marina, where four catamarans are waiting for us. “Two are for fishing, and two are for swimming.” I hear someone say and walk toward the boat that is fishing.

Five guys are waiting to help us set up. Penelope and I sit next to each other with the fishing poles in front of us. There is one seat left on our side, and before I can say anything, Penelope gasps, “Abigail, are you fishing?”

I close my eyes and curse everyone in the universe and even out of the universe. “Yes,” she confirms, looking around, and even she is trying to get away from us.

“Come sit with us,” Penelope invites, and I don’t know if she is guilted into it, but she comes over and drops into the seat next to me. Cooper comes onto the boat with Emma, Mia, and Parker. “Dad, can I go say hi?” she asks, and I nod at her as she goes, leaving me and Abigail alone.

I rub my hands on my shorts because they are so sweaty with nerves. “So you fish?” I say.

“Yes,” she confirms, “when we were younger, we used to go up to Canada where Uncle Max has a place, and we used to fish all the time.”

“Sounds like fun,” I reply, and as of right now, I would like the boat to tip over to shut me up. Neither of us says anything as we sit side by side so awkwardly.

“How good are you at fishing?” Abigail asks.

“I think I’m pretty decent, why?” I ask her and grab a water bottle from the cooler that is tucked in the corner.

“We are going to be on a team,” she tells me. “Biggest fish wins.”

“What team?” I ask her, looking around and see the seats are all set up in sections. “Really?”

“Have you just met my family? It’s always about winning.” She laughs out loud, and then Penelope comes back. It takes a bit more time before the boat leaves, and when we are far enough out, they come around and hand us some bait. The three of us stand, and I cast the pole for Penelope and then myself. Abigail does it perfectly, and I can only smile proudly at her. I don’t know how long we are here. I keep applying the sunscreen on Penelope to make sure she doesn’t burn when her pole tilts a bit. “Oh, you have one,” Abigail says to her, and she squeals.

“Careful,” I urge her, putting my pole in the holder to go stand behind Penelope. “Reel it in easy,” I instruct her, and she starts to wind it in, but the pole gets pulled hard, and Abigail grabs it before it’s ripped out of her hands. “Nice catch,” I praise her as she holds on to the top of the handle and I hold on to the bottom. “Okay, start reeling.”

“You’ve got a big one there,” one of the workers on the boat tells us.

“I can’t,” Penelope says as she tries to reel it in again.

“Yes, you can,” Abigail encourages her. She puts her hand on hers as they work together, reeling it in. “Let’s do it together.”

The three of us work to bring the fish in, and when it’s close enough, Penelope squeals so loud that everyone turns around. We get it closer to the boat before the man leans over and picks it up. “Big grouper,” he says, looking at us.

I wipe my brow with the back of my hand, my arms feeling like they are cramping from holding on to the pole so tight. “I caught a fish,” Penelope declares, telling everyone who is looking our way.

“Look at how big that is,” Abigail says, looking at the fish.

The man hands me the fish for me to hold. “The three of you get together for a picture,” the man says, and I hand him my phone for him to take it with mine. “Can you hold it?” I ask Penelope, who isn’t sure she can.

“We can all help,” Abigail suggests, leaning forward to hold the front end of the fish and I follow her lead by holding the back end. The three of us squeeze in for the picture. The rest of the day is not as eventful, and when we dock, the kids look like they will fall asleep in a split second.

The day after is very low-key with everyone pretty much staying out on the beach or by the pool. Every day that passes by and I see Abigail, it makes me fall even more in love with her. If that was even possible. No matter what she is doing, if one of the kids asks to do something, she is up and doing it with them.

The days fly by faster than I can even imagine, and it’s finally the last night here.

The big bonfire on the beach is bigger than I’ve ever seen. Penelope plays with Parker beside us, and the two have become stuck to each other. “Dad,” Penelope starts when she comes over. “Can I sleep over at Parker's house?” she asks with Parker right beside her as the two of them hold hands.

Cooper now sits up from somewhere beside me. “It’s more than okay with us,” he says, and I just think about it for a second.

I mean, she’s done a couple of sleepovers, but usually, it’s at my parents’ house in the summer. “Please, Daddy?” She puts her hands together, and I just smile at her and nod my head. “Yes!” she shouts as the two of them run away.

“If there is anything, call me,” I tell him, and he just nods at me. Cooper gets up as he wrangles up all his kids as Penelope comes over to kiss me before running back to them.

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