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“Oi! Feet off the couch! Renting this place isn’t free, you know.”
David rolled his eyes, smiling softly. It was quite a surprise to their little family when he’d gotten a large bonus check from his non-summer job and they’d decided that they’d do something fun and rent an Airbnb out in California, near the Redwood forests. “It’s fine, Gwen. It doesn’t need to be spotless, we just need to clean it up before we leave.”
Gwen huffed and tossed a throw pillow back onto the couch. “The least we can do is try not to stain anything,” she grumbled, but flopped onto the opposite end of the couch. She paused for a moment, considering her words carefully, before speaking up. “So, what do you have planned for tomorrow?”
David’s gentle smile quickly turned into a blindingly bright grin as he pulled a green binder out of seemingly nowhere. “Well, since we’re headed into the forests I’ve made a scavenger hunt for the kids to identify native plants. After that, I was thinking we could head down to the campgrounds for lunch and join in with the park staff with their arbor day celebrations- they’re going to be planting more redwoods this year. I’m so excited for the boys, this will be something that they’ll be able to show their kids, and their grandkids, and their great grandkids…”
David’s rant continued, but Gwen didn’t hear it. Quietly, she slipped her airpods in and turned up the volume, still nodding along to whatever David was going on about. Her eyes scanned the room and finally settled on the window. Outside were the two little nightmares she’d subjected herself to the woods for. Harrison was concentrating hard on a small pile of rocks. She watched as he picked one up and then let go, allowing it to float in the air for a moment before waving his hands over it again, separating the rock from the crystal that had been embedded in it. Max was next to him with a large bucket, taking the crystals out of the air and dropping them inside. The two of them working together? Now that was suspicious…
Gwen was pulled out of her thoughts by something being thrust into her hands. She looked down to see a steaming bowl of popcorn, neon orange from fake butter and filling the room with a salty smell. She looked up to see David at the TV, putting in an old videotape of Bob Ross. She looked back out the window and shrugged, putting her headphones back in their case. That’s a tomorrow problem, she told herself, and curled up, setting the popcorn on the couch.
David walked back over and sat with her quietly, occasionally taking some of the popcorn in the bowl between them. After a few minutes, he let out a chuckle, and Gwen raised an eyebrow at him.
“What?”
“Feet off the couch, Gwen.”