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"Papa, Papa!" a young voice cried from behind Cody. "Daddy says if you're not in the car in thirty seconds, he's gonna scare all the sharks away!" Cody chuckled and gathered the last of his equipment. The work he was doing today was just for fun. They had promised no work to each other, and to the kids. He really only wanted to gather a few underwater cameras and some other light equipment. He was hoping to see if he could find Opal today, a great white with some gnarly scars on her back. She hadn't been seen in a while, and the tags weren't registering. She wasn't coming near the surface for some reason. Found a new food source? Or was she too injured or dead? Cody was hoping to find out today. But not for work. Opal was his favorite shark, as she was Hopper.
Hopper was bouncing in the doorway, waiting impatiently for Cody to pick him up. Cody swung him onto his hip, smiling at the laughing five year old. "Opal! Opal!" he said, loudly, and Cody would have flinched away if it had been a few months earlier, but he had gotten used to how loud his adoptive children were. They had been informed of a tragedy that had taken place a few town away from them. There were five kids, and they needed emergency placement. Obi-wan and Cody had fostered in the past, and their credentials were still good. And they had a big enough house. Bant wouldn't have called them if it wasn't an emergency.
And that night, they met their five children, although they didn't know it then. Mantis, Beetle, Hopper, Dragonfly, and Ant had arrived on their porch with nothing but the clothes on their back and tears on their face. Obi-wan had gotten them into some old clothes of Anakin's, and Cody got their rooms set up. They had two to a bed, with one person sleeping on a pull out couch in the living room temporarily. When they woke up the next morning, all five were asleep in the living room. It didn't take long for Cody and Obi-wan to decide they wanted to adopt the five children, and Bant was stunned, but she helped them expedite the process. As of today, the five children were officially theirs, and to celebrate, they were taking a road trip to the beach.
"You ready to go?" Obi-wan asked, coming in with Ant on his hip and the other three clinging to his legs. He was smiling at Cody, and he melted under the gaze. Obi-wan meant the world to Cody, which was humorous, considering the two strongly disliked each other in the beginning. They had a rivalry in their fields and to which sea animal was better. Sharks or Whales. Cody was correct in believing that sharks was better, but Obi-wan still wouldn't see the light on that. They still had a bit of rivalry, arguing their points, but it was more for fun and old times than an actual debate.
"Of course, darling," he said, ignoring the faces his kids made at that. Obi-wan chuckled and then gave him a peck.
"Ew!" Beetle said, and he jumped away from the two of them, scampering off to the car.
"Wait for us!" Obi-wan called over his shoulder at the child, chuckling at his antics. The two herded the other four children out to the SUV, getting them all buckled up, and Ant put in a car seat. He pouted, not liking it, but he didn't struggle. Cody rewarded him with a kiss to the forehead before climbing into the passenger seat. Obi-wan turned to look at the kids. "You guys ready to go?" He backed up to the chorus of yes. Cody chuckled, leaning back in the seat.
The drive down the road lasted about thirty minutes before Dragonfly was complaining about having to use the bathroom, and Hopper was hungry. Ant was in a mood because of the car seat, and he was less willing to put up with Beetle's teasing. He started sniffling. Cody exchanged a look with Obi-wan, and Obi-wan pulled over at the next Exxon. NEW They took the kids out of the car, telling them to be good or they'll put them in the backpack leashes. The kids grumbled but promised to behave before the two adults and five children entered the gas station. Cody grabbed snacks while Obi-wan helped the children in the bathroom. After all five had gone, which was an ordeal in itself, although they were decently behaved, Cody allowed them to pick one snack each, not including the snacks he had already grabbed. Then they paid and left, not before Cody noticed the relieved look on the cashier's face. He was amused, having worked retail before and the amount of children that were let loose on stores was astonishing. Cody waved at her with a small smile, picking up Ant when he lifted his arms. And they were on the road again.
They made several more stops, inevitable with five little ones. It was okay. They had worked this time into their plan, knowing that it would come up. They weren't in any rush, taking their time to see the sights and allow the children to enjoy their time on the trip. If one of them saw that something that "Daddy, Papa, we have to see," then they pulled over. Sometimes the kids were disappointed, because what they saw was not as cool as what they expected. Sometimes, it met their expectations. Sometimes, it exceeded their expectations, like when they saw whales off the coast, and a calf breached. The squeals and jumping made Obi-wan grin as Cody. Cody rolled his eyes at that, making a point to stop at another beach, where Great whites were known to lurk. And they were able to see a shark feeding on a seal, which maybe should have been horrifying to the children, but considering that they have two marine biologists as parents, they found it awesome. They were bouncing around and spinning in circles, pretending to be sharks. Cody gave Obi-wan a triumphant grin. It was Obi-wan's turn to roll his eyes, and Cody reveled in it.
The warm air against their skin as they stopped at a scraggly line of beach to have their lunch. With the picnic blanket spread out, intended to keep away the sand, the light breeze cooling them off, and the waves crashing against the shore, the family of seven ate. The kids were eating various sandwiches, ranging from peanut butter and jelly to turkey and cheese, as well as chips and fruit with some Gatorade. Obi-wan was munching on his own turkey and cheese sandwich, while Cody ate a Rueben.
"Daddy?" Ant asked, "Why do whales travel?"
Cody watched as Obi-wan paused, setting his sandwich down. He seemed to ponder something. "Well… do you know how we move for work sometimes?" he asked, and Ant nodded. All five of their children were watching him with rapt attention. Cody leaned back and watched too. He was more interested in whales now than he was when he first started getting into marine biology, simply because he loved the way Obi-wan lit up when he talked about whales. Which he was doing now. His eyes were wide and bright as he stared off into the horizon, imagining thousands of whales there. Cody could be sure of that, as he did it with sharks.
Ant nodded. "Yeah, like we just moved!"
Obi-wan smiled, also nodding. "Yes, we did. And we moved because I had a better job somewhere else, right?" Ant nodded eagerly, sitting up on his knees. "Well, whales move to get to better places for themselves. So in the winter, the humpback whales move down to Hawaii, so they can find their partner for the year or give birth to their calves. In summer, they move up north to Alaska to eat all the food. It's still chilly, but not as cold as the winter, and by that time, their calves have grown and have a lot of blubber from their mother's milk that they can survive the chilly temperatures." The children giggled. "Do you know what we call these long journeys?"
Dragonfly shouted loudly, "Migrations!"
Cody watched Obi-wan chuckle at his excitement, thoroughly enjoying his family's happiness. He basked in the sunlight, feeling the heat of it like a blanket against his skin. The smell of the ocean breeze whispered untold stories to him of sharks and whales and family. He was pulled back from his thoughts and imaginations by Hopper squealing as Obi-wan tossed him into the air, talking about how high the whales breached. Seems like Obi-wan won this trip.
But that's okay. Cody would win next time.