Work Text:
"I'm taking my grandson to the beach," Lorraine had said over the phone. "And I was thinking, maybe you could come along?"
Elise hadn't been planning to. Made up all kinds of excuses in her mind. I live too far out, I don't have the time. She even thought about simply saying the truth. That she shouldn't be with them. She'd hate if something happens now after everything, especially not to the poor boy.
Alas, here she is.
She would have brought Specs and Tucker along, but she didn't want them to accidentally say something they shouldn't. Elise would really prefer if Lorraine didn't have to be reminded about all of that.
"There you are." Lorraine waves her over from the picnic blanket she's sitting at. There's a toddler sitting beside her. He's maybe 3, if Elise were to guess. He's got a little plastic shovel, scooping at the sand near his feet. "I was worried you wouldn't make it."
"Of course I would," Elise responds, sitting on the blanket with her. "Wouldn't miss it."
"This is Dalton. Dalton, say hi to my friend Elise."
Dalton looks up, grinning at her. Elise waves at him, getting a big wave back. Such a sweet boy, Elise thinks.
"So what's been going on with you?" Lorraine's digging through a basket now, pulling out containers. She opens one full of watermelon chunks and puts it down in front of Dalton. The boy drops is shovel immediately, digging his dirty hands into the fruit.
"Nothing much," Elise responds, leaning over to take a piece. "I'm un-retired."
"Really? That's good to hear."
"Well, I don't know about that." Elise laughs. "But I've got these new coworkers who are absolute idiots. They make it fun."
The rest of the afternoon passes by rather fast. Lorraine brings Dalton over to the sea for a while, and they help him build a sand castle. But, mostly they just talk. All the way through to sunset.
And now they're packing everything up.
"Thanks for joining us," Lorraine says.
"Oh, no, I was in town anyways—"
Lorraine leans over and takes Elise's hand, effectively curbing her attempt at nonchalance. "Thank you for coming. Really. I like having you around."
Elise smiles. It's been a while since she's heard that. She doesn't really talk to a lot of people outside of work, now that she's thinking about it. Not since Jack died. He was always the more social one of the two of them. He knew everybody, everyone loved him.
She squeezes Lorraine's hand back. "Well, I like being around."
"You know, I was wondering if you'd want— Dalton!" Lorraine lets go, grabbing the hands of Dalton, who was now trying to eat sand. "Not food," she scolds gently. "You don't wanna go back to your mom and daddy sick, now."
Elise smiles, watching Lorraine fuss. The sun shouldn't be allowed to set like this. The oranges and pinks make her look like some kind of angel. She is so unbelievable screwed.
"Okay," Lorraine says, pulling Elise from her thoughts. She's successfully wrangled Dalton now, holding him in her lap. "I think it's time to get going, he's gotta sleep. Can you grab the blanket for me?"
"Yeah," Elise agrees, pushing herself up. Oh, she's getting old. Her knees didn't use to hurt like this. She folds up the blanket, tucking it into basket. "I'll walk you to your car."