Archive of Our Own

Grace breathed in the scent of the fresh air off the lake, closing his eyes to bask in the calming sound of waves lapping. The four-hour drive it took to get to the cozy, isolated cottage now seemed worth it. Not that the drive had been all that torturous, thankfully. He'd cued up some very interesting podcasts regarding recent new findings in his former field to listen to on the drive. But Grace was really looking forward to having a leisure week right on the water.

He was mildly sad that his best friend, Rocky—and by proxy, their partner, Adrian—hadn't been able to join him for the week. While Grace and Rocky together often led to chaos that Adrian had to soothe, it was always lots of fun when they went on trips together. Alas, both Rocky and Adrian had some big projects they were working on for the summer months, the only time Grace got off work. So while Grace would miss the companionship of his best friends, he was still looking forward to a calm week relaxing. He'd brought a good stack of books he was hoping to get through, plus he could get a head start on his lesson planning for the year. He'd rather been putting that off while at home. He'd thought he'd clean up his apartment that summer, but, well, the cleaning had just left his apartment in a further state of disarray. But that was something to deal with after his vacation.

After bringing his stuff in from his car, Grace kicked off his shoes and socks and walked out to the beach to feel the sand between his toes.

Suddenly, there came a cry of an unhappy child, sharp, piercing Grace from his quiet, peaceful reprieve. He sighed to himself; he was on vacation to escape this kind of thing. Lucky he was so fond of children that it didn't bother him too much.

“Not fair!!” Came the child's cry. “You’re being mean!”

Suddenly, a tiny child with long dark hair flying wild behind them ran out onto the beach, stumbling over their own feet in wails. They threw themself into the sand only a few steps beside Grace, alarming him.

“Woe, are you alright there?” Grace asked in concern, bending down at his knees.

The kid's face lifted, red and blotchy from crying, sand sticking to it. They sniffled at Grace.

“Rosalie!” A man's voice came along in a blur of a shadow coming over, the sun glaring in Grace’s eyes so that he couldn't quite see them properly. “I'm so sorry.” The voice came deep, dark, raspy, rich.

“No, it's okay.” Grace shielded his eyes from the sun, standing fully back up to look up at the man. His breath caught at the sight of them.

The man's face had a significant red birthmark over the left half. He had dark eyes and wild, lush dark hair. They were terrifyingly attractive.

“Rosie, you can't just run off.” The man walked to the little girl. “Come back into the cottage. Come help me put together our dinner.”

“I d'oh wanna!” She smacked her hands into the sand. “I wanna go swimming.”

The man huffed, clearly exasperated with his child's meltdown. “We're done going swimming for the day.”

Rosie just cried, sniffling.

“Come on.” The man scooped her up and over his shoulder, sending her screaming and kicking.

Grace winced, offering a gritted smile, sympathetic to the man's plight.

“Sorry.” The man blushed, carrying whom Grace assumed to be his daughter to the next cottage over.

“It's fine,” Grace assured again, watching them go. 

Grace could still hear the girl’s cries, but as he padded to the end of the dock, they lessened. His own stomach was grumbling, and there was a chill already starting in the air. Dinner sounded pretty good. He figured he could slap together a quick sandwich and then call it an early night. It had been a long day, a long drive, for him after all.

After slapping together a sandwich, Grace brought his panini meal outside with a drink and a book to lounge outside till it got to be night. He soon heard his neighbours returning outside.

“I wanna help.” The girl’s voice came.

“Of course you can help.” The man’s voice came out soft and gentle. “Help me grab small bits of wood for the kindling.”

Grace looked past the deck of his cottage to see the little girl and her father moving towards the fire pit. His eyes flicked between his book and the family as they built their fire, finding their interactions amusing and endearing.

“Remember to stay back; it's hot and can burn you, which would hurt really bad.” The man said, then a few seconds later, “Blow on it gently like this.”

Soon a fire was started, and they sat in their fold-up chairs around it, making marshmallows. The girl’s chatter rolled over Grace, making him smile. She prompted her father to sing songs, and he was pretty rough, but it made the girl laugh, and Grace smile more.

Soon mosquitoes came to bug Grace.

The girl began to get overwhelmed. “Aah, Daddy, make them go away.”

“I can't, Rosie.”

“D'oh like bugs. Wanna go inside.”

“Alright, let me just put out the fire, then we can go inside.”

Grace moved inside shortly after the family's fire was put out, and they packed up to head inside.

The next morning, Grace woke feeling chipper about the day. He put on his sunscreen, then his hat and a Hawaiian shirt, and put on his prescription sunglasses. He grabbed a towel and his fold-up chair to head down to the beach with a book and a drink.

As Grace set himself up on the beach, he noticed the little girl from yesterday playing in the sand, wearing an adorable one-piece swimsuit with colourful polka dots and a pink skirt attached. Her father was at the start of the beach, in a chair, reading in the shade.

Grace came casually over, waving in greeting. “Morning.” He called, giving a friendly smile.

“Morning.” The man replied curtly from under his shades.

“What do we have here?” Grace squatted down to look upon the girl’s sandcastles. “Looks like you're building a whole city. It's pretty impressive.”

The little girl shifted uncomfortably under Grace’s attention.

Grace stood back up, backing off a bit. “Maybe I'll see you later out in the water.” He said, then returned to his chair and book.

After a bit of lounging in the sun, Grace was feeling hot enough to head into the water. He walked to the end of the dock and let his legs dangle in, feeling the temperature. He then slowly eased himself off the ladder of the dock into the water, then dropped the rest of the way in. His chest went tight at the shock of the cool water, and he let out a sound before it settled over him, cool and refreshing. He then lazily kicked backward on his back in a sort of sitting position.

“Daddy, I wanna go swimming.” He heard the girl cry.

Soon the girl and her father were swimming. She had a little yellow life jacket on with some kind of print Grace couldn't make out. The girl was swimming towards the floating dock with determination, her father encouraging her on. When they got there, the girl went up first, then her father pulled up, water dripping down his muscular form and chest. He had some scars that made him unfairly attractive. He had two notable scars under his pecks– pecks that Grace couldn't help but ogle. He whipped his hair like a dog would shake water out of its fur. Grace felt some sort of something pull in his gut.

Mighty, that man was attractive. 

“Daddy, watch me jump.” The girl called before jumping off the dock in a pretty big splash, popping back up.

“Wow!” A smile tugged at the man’s lips.

“That was a big splash,” Grace laughed.

“Daddy make big splash!” The girl called.

“Alright, here we come!” The man took a running start, then cannonballed into the water, sending up a great splash and rocking the floating dock behind him.

Rosie squealed in delight, slapping the water around her. Grace wiped water from his face as the man popped back up, pushing his own hair out of his eyes.

“Good splash.” Grace laughed.

“Sorry, man.” The father looked apologetic.

“No, no. It's alright. All in good fun.” Grace smiled, treading water nearby them.

He respectfully gave them some space as he kept swimming about till he pulled out of the water. He threw his Hawaiian shirt back on and combed idly across the beach. The family continued to play around the floating dock, jumping off it.

…

Simon shook the water off of him as he pulled out of it, stepping onto the beach, shivering lightly. Behind him, Rosie was still splashing idly in the water, still playing around.

“Want me to get your towel, Rosie?” Simon asked her.

“Yes.”

“Stay near the shore, okay?” He began to walk back to his chair, retrieving Rosie’s towel.

Rosie got out of the water for Simon to free her from her life jacket and bundle her up in the towel like a burrito. The towel had a hood, and Simon thought she looked absolutely adorable in it. 

He carried her across the sand and sat down in a beach chair in the sun, with her in his lap, to dry off. As Rosie shivered against him, Simon’s gaze couldn’t help but flicker over to the other resident on the beach. The man was picking at the shells, soft blond hair glistening under the sun. Fuck, he was beautiful as an angel. 

Simon buried his head into Rosie’s towel, trying to avoid gazing at the man. He brushed water off, pulling away as Rosie’s little voice came. “Daddy, can I have snacks now?”

“Alright,” he grinned at her.

She jumped off his lap as he fished through his bag, offering a collection of snacks till she settled on a bag of chips. She carried it over to her little sandcastle village. 

The other man was slowly coming back towards Rosie. “Hey, would you like some shells for your castle?” He knelt to offer an open palm of the shells to her. “You can use them for decoration.”

Rosie took them, saying nothing, and turned back to her building.

“Say thank you, Rosie.” Simon prompted.

“Thank you.” She muttered.

“You're welcome.” The man backed off a bit, just watching Rosie work. He then slowly walked towards Simon. “Sorry, never introduced myself, Ryland Grace.” He offered his hand.

“Simon.”

Simon shifted forward to give a firm handshake. Fuck, the man's hand was so soft. Simon felt so sweaty and awkwardly pulled away.

“Your daughter?” Ryland gestured back.

Simon nodded. “Rosie. She's four.”

“She's adorable.” The man’s smile cut in a beaming thing that Simon couldn't help but return.

“Yeah, she is.” Simon’s eyes flicked down to Rosie patting sand into another tower.

“Here for the week?” The man asked.

Simon nodded his head up.

“Me as well.”

“I hope we don't cause you too much strife.”

“Honestly, it's no bother.” Ryland waved his hand in the air. “I'm a middle school teacher, so kids are my second nature.”

“Middle schoolers are a whole different ballpark from a preschooler, though.” 

Ryland snorted a laugh at that. “Don’t I know it. Honestly though, I love kids. And like not in a creepy way.” He rushed out, waving his hands frantically, turning flush.

Simon snorted at that. “Yeah, you could have gone without saying that. Makes you seem creepier even more now.”

“I…” Ryland floundered over his words. 

“It's chill, man,” Simon smirked at him; he'd been teasing a bit.

Ryland stayed flushed.

“You here by yourself?” Simon asked.

Ryland nodded. “Usually take a week-long vacation during summer break with my friends, but they were busy. So just enjoying some leisure time by myself.”

Simon nodded.

“Is this something you do a lot with your daughter?”

“We did camping last year, but it’s our first time at a cottage.”

“Nice. Just…” Ryland shifted a bit on his feet, brushing hair back. “Just you and her?”

“Yeah.” Simon nodded, reading Ryland’s eyes as he said the next words. “Rosie’s other parent isn't in the picture.”

Ryland nodded slowly. “Anyway…” he let out an awkward breath, making a smile tug further at Simon's lips. “I'll leave you both to it then. Go read my book.” He thumbed over to his chair.

“Enjoy.” Simon nodded back as Ryland slipped off down the beach.

Simon’s gaze lingered after Ryland, stomach growling low with desire. Holy hell, that man was hot as fuck.

…

Grace's relaxation was shortly interrupted after a couple of chapters into his book.

“Ahh! Daddy, dare's a gross thing in my moat!” The girl’s cries came. Grace couldn't help but snort at that.

“Alright, let's see.” Simon came over to where his daughter had dug a small moat in the sand from the water.

“It's a big leech!” Rosie proclaimed in a disgusted tone.

Simon poked into the pool of water. “I don’t think that’s a leech. I think it's some kind of fish.”

Grace was mildly interested and slowly got up to approach. “Can I see?”

Simon shrugged and moved over, letting Grace join them to look in the puddle. Grace fixed his glasses, crouching down to find a small black raindrop-shaped critter swimming around.

“Oh, it's a tadpole,” Grace told them.

“It's icky!” Rosie cried.

“It's going to grow into a frog.”

“Icky!”

“It's not hurting you.” Grace chuckled 

“Make it go away!” 

Simon scooped the tadpole up to put into the lake, and Rosie calmed down.

“Not a big fan of critters, are you?” Grace smirked at Rosie, pushing his sunglasses back up his face.

Rosie shook her head firmly.

“I used to love catching frogs and collecting tadpoles when I was your age. My mom told me this one story about a little boy who found a water horse egg in the shallows, so I used to think I could find one myself.” He chuckled softly at the memory.

“What dat?” Rosie questioned.

“Well, they are a magical creature that lives in the water. Some people call them sea dragons. They have four limbs and a tail. And their eggs look like rocks.”

“How are dey magical?” Rosie asked as her father sat down beside her.

“Well, I think they mainly have healing powers. But if you befriend one, then it can make you able to breathe underwater.”

“Are dey like a unicorn?”

“Yeah.” A smile tugged at Grace’s lips.

“Daddy says dare scary monsters in da water.”

“That's just me being silly.” Simon rubbed Rosie’s shoulder. “Hey, maybe a water horse can live in your moat to protect your castle from any more gross tadpoles.” He joked.

Rosie nodded firmly. “Wanna go swimming now.” She stood up.

“And we’re back to swimming.” Simon huffed, but a smile played at his lips. “Coming to join us?” He looked back at Grace.

“Oh,” Grace jolted. “Maybe later.” He offered a soft smile.

Simon nodded.

“Daddy, help me,” Rosie called, already putting on her life jacket.

Grace returned to his chair, smiling as he watched Simon play, tossing his daughter around in the water, the little girl giggling adorably.

…

After lunch, Rosie was back in the water, and Ryland joined them, indulging in a game of sharks. Okay, maybe Simon wasn’t exactly helping his child overcome her fear of creatures, but she had so much fun with the game. When she was done swimming and tired, Simon decided to run with getting a break. He let her colour in the cottage as he showered off. After his shower, she was moaning that she was bored.

“Can we go swimming again?” She asked.

“I just showered, Rosie. No more swimming for the day.” He smiled, amused at her. “Why don’t we go find a game to play outside?”

Ryland was still reading on the start of the beach as they walked to the toys area.

“How about some cornhole?” Simon suggested to Rosie. They'd played it a few nights before, as it was a relatively easy game for her to be still able to succeed at.

“Hey, Ryland!” Simon called. “You want to play some cornhole with us?”

Ryland jumped up in his seat. “Oh! Cornhole? That sounds fun.” He was up out of his chair the next second.

“Rosie, you can go first.” Simon prompted.

She huffed her beanbag, and it landed close by.

“Not too bad.” Grace complimented. 

They played for a bit, going easy on Rosie, cheering her on till she had her fill and wanted to move on to something else.

“Play hide n’ seek?” She asked.

“Alright. You up, man?” Simon looked to Ryland.

“For hide-and-seek? Always.” He smiled back.

So soon, they were swapping hiding and seeking. Grace talked out loud while trying to find them, saying things like, “Hmm, I wonder where they are?” It all made Simon snort. God, the man was adorable.

By Simon's fifth turn, he grabbed Rosie up in his arms, swinging her around, sending her squeaking in laughter. “Alrighty, I'm starving. I think it's supper time. Maybe I'll eat you.” He moved his head down, pretending to eat Rosie.

“Daddy, no!” She squealed and squirmed in his grasp. “D'oh eat me!”

Simon chuckled, pulling off. Ryland was chuckling softly, smiling at them.

“Hey, you want a hamburger?” Simon asked Ryland.

“Oh, that’s too kind. You don’t need to.”

“Another person to play with us, right, Rosie?” Simon shrugged.

“Uno!” She cried.

“Oh, I love Uno,” Ryland replied, smiling.

…

“You like burgers?” Grace chuckled at Rosie, who hummed happily over her burger, sauce on her mouth. Simon wiped it off.

Grace returned to finish his burger off before wiping his own mouth clean.

“Thanks again for the meal.” Grace offered his gratitude to Simon.

Simon just shrugged casually from across the picnic table they were sitting at.

“I might have some freezies I can share with you guys.”

Rosie's eyes widened, and she sat up in excitement, looking to her father.

“But only after a few rounds of Uno.” Grace teased.

“I think we'd like that.” Simon smiled from Rosie up to Grace.

Grace offered to help clean up, and Simon let him while Rosie mostly puttered around. 

“You wanna show Ryland your colouring?” Simon prompted Rosie.

“You know,” Grace spoke up. “I'm kind of used to being just called Grace, or Mr. Grace. Feels so formal being called Ryland now.”

Simon hummed, eyes raking over him. He had such intense focus that it put Grace a little at unease.

“Okay.” Simon simply replied.

Grace appropriately cooed over Rosie's colouring before they got ready to play Uno. Simon helped Rosie, but she was actually pretty good on her own. Grace, for whatever reason, had never been particularly good at the game. Simon was annoyingly like a wizard at the game.

“No,” Grace grumbled as Simon put down a card to force Grace to pick up four extra cards. “You’re so evil.”

Simon just smirked at him.

After a few rounds, Rosie got bored and started asking for a fire.

“That sounds fun. Gonna do s'mores?” Grace asked.

“S'mores, s'mores!” Rosie chanted.

“Now you started her.” Simon glared at Grace.

“Sorry.” Grace flushed. 

“It's okay.” A smile cracked over Simon’s face. “But if we're doing s'mores, then you owe us your freezies tomorrow.”

“Deal.” Grace nodded, smiling back.

The fire was fun. They made s'mores and sang campfire songs. Grace was about to offer to show Rosie some constellations, but he wasn't sure how late Simon wanted her to stay up. 

Sure enough, Simon was prompting bedtime before it was even dark. Rosie wasn't too happy about it. Grace put on a show of being tired, ready for bed too, promising to play with them tomorrow.

Simon had already been at the beach for a bit with Rosie by the time Ryland—who apparently actually preferred being called Grace—showed up the next day. 

“Look what I brought.” Grace held up freezies. Rosie was excited to say the least.

A little while later, Grace was sitting in the sand playing with Rosie in her sand kingdom. Simon smiled at the pair. God, he wanted to eat Grace alive. It wasn't fair; he was good with kids too. Simon also enjoyed getting to sit back and reading more of his book.

When Simon was hot and ready to jump in the water, Grace joined them. They returned to goofing around, jumping off the floating dock and such. Grace’s laughter was infectious, and he looked so good sitting on the edge of the dock with his legs dangling in, water dripping down his torso. Grace was so gentle helping Rosie, never touching more than necessary, keeping back but ensuring she was good, safe. It was so sweet. God, Simon could just take a bite out of him.

After their swim, they sat at the picnic table outside, eating lunch and enjoying some juice pouches. Grace showed them a cool science experiment for kids. Fuck, he was nerdy too. Simon had to ask where he lived, hoping he lived close enough. He had to get the man’s number by the end of the week, if not his personal address. He was already imagining pushing Grace down on his bed. Not in a predatory way, in a consensually sexy way. Simon shook those thoughts from his mind. He had a four-year-old daughter; dirty thoughts had to be mostly tamed.

It was day three of the vacation, and Rosie was brushing acrylic paint over Grace’s nails.

“I like your colour choice.” Grace commented on the individual different colours for each nail design she had done, going for a rainbow look.

“Do you have kids?” Rosie asked.

“No.” Grace smiled. “But I teach kids.”

“You can be my teacher?” She perked up.

Grace chuckled at that. “Well, I teach thirteen-year-olds. How old are you again?”

“Four.” She held out her hand, four fingers up.

“So you could be in my class in…” he tapped his chin. “Let me think. Ten years.”

“dat's so long.” She moaned.

“I know.” Grace chuckled, amused.

“How old are you?”

“Guess.” Grace teased.

“One hundred!”

“One hundred!” Grace feigned being alarmed, making Rosie laugh. Simon, painting across the picnic table, snorted at them. “I'm not that old.”

“Your Daddy’s age.” Rosie pointed to Simon.

“Yeah, I'm probably closer to your dad's age.” Grace nodded.

“Are you married?” She asked then.

“No, not married either. I'm single, which means I'm not married or dating anyone. What about you?”

“Dating’s gross.” She scrunched up her face.

Grace smiled. “Yeah, agreed.”

“You’re like Daddy.”

“She means I'm single too.” Simon briefly looked up, meeting Grace’s eyes.

“Oh.” A lump caught in Grace’s throat. Oh.

“All done,” Rosie announced.

“Wow, thanks. You want me to do yours next?”

Rosie nodded vigorously. “I want pink. I like pink.”

“Yeah, is it your favourite colour?”

Rosie nodded. “Pink is for girls.”

“Who said that?”

“Um… I dunno.” She shrugged.

“I like pink too, and I'm a boy.”

Rosie’s eyes narrowed at Grace as if disbelieving him.

“Rosie, remember how I told you pink can be for boys and girls,” Simon spoke up. “Like how boys can play with dolls if they want to, and girls can play with … trucks.” He seemed to settle on.

Rosie nodded vigorously, then readjusted where she sat. “My friend Conner plays dress up with me.”

“Oh, that's fun.” Grace smiled down at her.

…

It was after dinner, and Grace was joining them for their campfire again that night. He’d been talking to Rosie about constellations earlier and offered to show them to her if Simon let her stay up late enough to see them. Of course she wanted to, so Simon caved.

They retired from the fire to lie on the beach where no trees would block their view, and Grace was pointing up to the sky. “And that one is Mars. Maybe one day we'll go there. That'd be pretty cool, huh.” He turned to Rosie between them.

“I wanna go up dare,” Rosie announced.

“You wanna be an astronaut when you grow up?”

“Yeah!” There was a pause before she turned to Simon. “Daddy, can girls be astronauts?”

“Of course, sweetie. We can be anything we want to be,” Simon reassured her.

“There have actually been a few female astronauts.” Grace began.

“Hey.” Grace waved at his phone screen as it connected, showing Rocky’s face.

“Damn, man, you look red as a tomato.”

“Hey!” Grace hissed at him, narrowing his eyes.

Rocky just chuckled.

Adrian popped into frame. “Hello, Grace.” They greeted. “You’re looking nice and tan. How’s the vacation?”

“It's really nice. Can't believe it's halfway over.”

“We miss you.”

“I do too,” he sighed as Adrian popped back out of frame.

“So, what have you been up to?” Rocky asked.

“Just kind of hanging with this other family here.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, it's this dad and his kid. She's four and adorable.”

“Oh? A dad?” Rocky quirked a brow. “Single?”

Grace flushed. “From what I gather, yes.” he cleared his throat.

“And is he hot?” Rocky teased.

“Rock, the man's unfairly too attractive to be seen coming out of the water.”

“What's going on?” Adrian was back.

Rocky was chuckling. “Grace is crushing on a hot dad there.”

“Oh! Get that DILF.”

“I hate you all,” Grace grumbled.

“Come on, have some summer fun, Ryland.” Rocky teased. “Lord knows you could cut loose for once in your life.”

Grace grumbled more as Adrian piped in, “He's right, you know.”

“Alright, alright. I think I've had enough of you guys for now. See you in a few days.”

“Get a piece of that ass for me,” Adrian called.

Grace groaned, rubbing his hand into his face.

Rocky just chuckled. “Love you, man. Don’t do anything without protection.”

“You're the worst.” Grace tacked on, “Love you too.” Before quickly signing off of the video call.

“I swear, I do not understand this game at all,” Grace grumbled as he sat across the table from Simon and Rosie in their cottage.

“It's meant for children.” Simon chuckled. “You just gotta collect the gemstones.” He moved his piece across the board a few squares. “One more for me, if you could, please, Rosie.”

“We’re gonna beat Grace.” She said as she handed a toy gemstone from the game’s box over to her dad.

“We're gonna completely crush him.” Simon teased.

“I feel like you have an unfair advantage,” Grace grumbled. “How am I supposed to beat both of you together?”

Simon shrugged as Rosie giggled.

Suddenly, from outside, the patter of rain began to sound.

“Didn't see rain in the forecast.” Grace glanced out the window, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“I'm sure it'll just pass.” Simon waved it off.

Only, by the time they finished their game, the rain started to come down harder.

“I don’t mind if you hang out here till it passes.” Simon offered. “We could watch a movie or something.”

“Movie!” Rosie cheered.

Grace agreed, and Rosie chose a princess movie, which Grace said he didn't mind, and they settled in. Simon idly played with Rosie’s hair as the movie played. It helped soothe him as the rain began to come down harder. The first loud bang of thunder jolted him out of his skin.

“Wow, that was loud.” Grace proclaimed as Rosie giggled.

The next one came hard, with a flash of thunder making Simon's chest tighten. 

Breathe, he told himself.

But before he could, the next splitting one snapped, making even Rosie jump. Simon pulled her tight to him.

“Daddy.” Her little voice came out so small and scared.

Simon just had to hold her close, protected. He felt like he couldn’t breathe under the thundering cracks booming overhead, his breath coming in short spurts.

“We’re going to be okay.” Grace’s voice came soft and gentle. “It can't hurt us.” Simon didn’t know if Grace was talking to him or Rosie, but it helped a little.

Rosie whimpered, and Simon rocked. Whether it was to soothe himself or her, he wasn’t sure, but it helped.

…

Grace had witnessed some of his students have a panic attack before. It seemed the loud booming thunder had sent Simon into one. He was gripping Rosie tightly, rocking. It didn’t look like he was crushing her, which was a good thing. It looked more like he was trying to keep her close and protected. Grace couldn’t help but feel Simon might be scaring poor Rosie more, though.

Grace carefully leaned over to place a hand on Simon's shoulder, hoping to ground him, though wary of the touch overwhelming him more. Simon just tensed a bit but stopped rocking.

“There was this trick my dad taught me to keep me calm in thunderstorms when I was younger,” Grace said half to Rosie, trying to get the girl’s focus off her father. “I used to get really scared too, you know.”

“Really?” she called back.

Grace nodded. “Yeah. So you count the seconds between strikes. The more seconds between strikes, the further away the storm's getting.”

The next strike hit and both Simon and Rosie tensed.

“One.” Grace breathed out, then in. “Two.” Another deep breath. “Three.” He gestured for Rosie to mimic him, and she began to count with him.

At five, the next strike came. Simon jumped a bit, but Grace started counting again, and Simon breathed in and out with them. 

Soon they were making it past twenty in their counts. Rosie returned to her excitable self as Simon appeared to be calming down.

“I think it's moved on now,” Grace commented as a light patter of rain sounded overhead.

“Why is thunder so scary?” Rosie asked.

“That's a good question.” Grace went on to describe what caused a thunderstorm, which held mild interest to Rosie.

“I need to use the bathroom.” Simon pried away from Rosie. “You should start getting ready for bed.”

“Aw.” She pouted.

“You can have a cookie for being so brave during the thunderstorm.”

She squirmed excitedly and jumped off to get one.

“Give Grace one too.”

Simon disappeared to the bathroom as Rosie got a cookie for Grace and herself. Simon soon returned, his face a little damp, like he'd splashed water onto it.

“You okay?” Grace asked softly, trying not to alert Rosie.

“Yeah, fine. Thunderstorms can just… trigger me.”

Grace nodded in understanding.

“Do I get a cookie too?” Simon leaned over to Rosie.

“I should be heading out,” Grace spoke up. “But I'll see you both tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Simon nodded.

“Hey,” Simon greeted Grace as he and Rosie came out onto the beach.

“Hey,” Grace replied, smiling. “How are you doing today?” He shielded his eyes from the sun.

“Good, better. Thanks for, um… last night.” Simon rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. “For keeping us cool.”

“No problem. As I said, I used to get pretty freaked out by thunderstorms too, as a kid.”

Simon nodded back.

“Grace, are you gonna come swimming with us?” Rosie asked, pulling at his hand.

“Why, of course.” Grace smiled at her

…

Later, after their swimming, Grace read Rosie a book, the pair sitting in chairs beside each other. Simon swore he was going to propose to the man right then and there. But maybe he should first work up the courage for the guy's phone number. He made up a plan in his mind.

Step one: use his adorable daughter as bait. Not exactly morally right, but whatever.

Step two: impress Grace with his severe lack of cooking skills. Looks like he was offering Grace a burger again.

Step three: suggest something intimate and cozy to end the night. Stargazing was good, but another movie meant more chance of getting away with sneaking in closer to brush arms.

Step four… somehow get Rosie out of the way. Once again, not especially morally right, but Simon had made enough sacrifices as a single father, damn it. It'd be easy enough if she fell asleep maybe during the movie. But that was a give or take. Still, Simon was willing to risk it.

Simon's plan was going flawlessly so far. Unfortunately, when he tried to sneak into Grace, the moment they started touching, Grace pulled away. It left Simon pretty disappointed. Shit, was he crushing on the wrong guy? It would hurt, but… he would deal.

Rosie got sleepy, snuggly and yawning, but she wasn't falling asleep. After the movie ended, Simon lifted Rosie to hold against his shoulder to see Grace out the door.

“Say goodnight to Grace and thank you for playing with us today.” Simon prompted Rosie, and she tiredly repeated it back.

Grace smiled. “No problem. It's been fun hanging out with you too. I’ll be pretty bummed out when it's over.”

“Yeah?” Simon met his eyes, hopeful.

“Yeah. Well, see you tomorrow.” Grace spun off quickly.

Grace took a deep breath. Today was the last full, real day at the cottage, as he planned to leave tomorrow morning. He had to work up some courage for once in his life and ask for the guy’s number. If he didn’t, he was sure he’d spend the rest of his life regretting not doing so. The least he could do was try, and if the guy denied, it’d be chill. But Grace's stomach twisted in worry. He kept getting a bit in his head. What if, once the guy actually got to know him, he'd find Grace weird like everyone else?

Grace huffed as he pushed his hair off his forehead. Too bad Rocky or Adrian weren’t here. While they definitely would have embarrassed Grace more in front of said crush, they would have gotten his number for Grace. But then Grace would have never reached out. 

Grace grumbled, sinking in on himself. Why was this so hard? He was a full-grown adult; this was supposed to be easier now!

As he came outside, he found Rosie and Simon making bracelets on the picnic table in the shade outside. He waved his greeting to them.

“Grace, look what I made!” Rosie held her bracelet up.

Grace smiled and came over. He ended up helping tie Rosie's bracelet around her wrist, expressing how solemn he was about their leaving tomorrow.

“I doe wanna go.” Rosie deflated. 

“Agreed. We're just having so much fun here, right?”

Rosie nodded sadly. “And den we ave to say goodbye.”

“Rosie hates goodbyes.” Simon put in.

“Yeah, me too.” Grace agreed.

“See you next time?” Rosie asked hopefully.

“Huh? Next summer? I mean… maybe.” Grace’s throat turned a bit tight, and he awkwardly cleared his throat. “I mean, that'd be pretty cool.” He fixed his glasses.

“And we can go swimming and play games and sing around da fire and make bracelets all over again.” Rosie’s arms waved up.

Grace chuckled. “Yeah… I'd like that.” He smiled softly.

…

After a swim, Simon planted himself down on the sand next to where Grace was drip-drying. Rosie, meanwhile, was playing around in the shallows with her life jacket still on.

“Hope we didn’t disturb your relaxing getaway too much this week,” Simon told Grace.

“Simon, no, honestly you were a highlight.” Grace reached up to fix his glasses before seeming to remember they weren’t there. He blushed and ducked his head down.

Simon chuckled at that. “Yeah.” He smiled.

Grace rearranged how he sat, folding his legs to sit crisscross and rubbing his ankle. Simon glanced up at him to see his face all screwed up.

“You good, man?” Simon asked, a little concerned.

“I just…” Grace grumbled. “I don’t want to leave this vacation regretting…” he grumbled again.

“Regretting what?” Simon sat up.

“Not…” Grace’s voice became a mumbled whisper. “Not getting your number.”

Simon's heart swooped out of his chest, and he laughed warmly. “Of course you can have my number, man. In fact, I was not about to let you get away with not getting yours.”

“What, really?” Grace looked over at him, blinking.

Simon’s smile tugged further on his face. “Last night's movie night may have had some alternative motives.” He admitted.

“Oh.” Grace blushed.

“But when you pulled away…I thought…” Simon trailed off, rubbing the grains of sand below them.

“I just didn't want things to be uncomfortable.” Grace rushed out. His flushed face ducked down, and he too rubbed at the sand under them. “You and Rosie are so awesome.”

“I think Rosie would really like it if we could hang out with you again.” Simon offered.

“Yeah?” Grace smiled tentatively over at him. “You know, there's this adorable little play barn, petting zoo thing by my home with farm animals.”

“That sounds right up her alley.” Simon smiled back.

Grace’s smile seemed nervously excited. 

“Why don’t you join us for lunch today?” Simon offered. “But be sure to bring your phone so I can ensure we swap numbers properly.”

Grace laughed nervously, blushing profusely. 

God, Simon wanted to kiss him so bad, and some other more unsavoury things that he tried to quell.

“Hey, hey. Don’t cry.” Grace smiled sadly over at Rosie in her booster seat in the car as they were saying their goodbyes. “Remember, your dad arranged a play date for us. So we'll get to see goats and pigs and chickens and bunnies.”

Rosie sniffled some more.

“And maybe we can even get ice cream.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” Grace said sincerely.

“Say bye to Grace.” Simon prompted, about to close the door.

“Bye, Grace.” Rosie sniffled into her blanky before Simon closed the door.

“She’ll be fine,” Simon assured. 

“Text me that you got back home safe.” Grace looked up at him, feeling a rush to assure they would be alright.

“Will do.” Simon nodded. “So I guess I'll see you for our date then.” A smile teased at his lips.

Grace flushed at that. “Yeah… um… yeah.” He stuttered nervously.

Simon just chuckled as if amused. “Drive safe.”

“You too,” Grace called as Simon got into his van and waved goodbye. 

Grace waved after them as they drove off.

When Simon’s van was gone, Grace pulled out his phone to text Rocky that he was just about to head back.  As soon as he was in his car, Rocky started calling him, and Grace accepted the call.

“Did you bang the DILF?”

“No, I did not bang anyone.” Grace grumbled.

“You’re so boring.”

“Rocky,” Grace grumbled more.

“Did you at least get his number?” Adrian’s voice chimed in.

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“Grace! I’m so proud of you!”

“We even planned a date.”

“What!?” Rocky’s voice was one of surprise.

“I know. Well, it's more of a play date with his kid, but still… I'm…” Grace rubbed his hands over his steering wheel. “Well, I'm excited.”

“Wow, man, I’m proud of you,” Rocky replied. “Now get back here so you can tell us all the dirty little details.”

Grace chuckled back. “Alright, see you in a bit. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Adrian chimed in with Rocky before the call ended.