Defend

by Lindsay Paige

  Logan chuckles. “When it comes to the people you care about, yeah, baby, you’re quick to judge. Don’t give me that look. You did the same thing to Carey, and look at what happened after you got to know her? You like her a lot more. I hate to break it to you, sweet cheeks, but time to act like a grownup, play nice, and get to know her. No better time than when we’re about to be stuck on a ship with her for a week.”

  “Fine. But what happens when it turns out I still don’t like her?”

  “Suck it up because I don’t think Brent is getting rid of her.”

  She sighs. “Sometimes, I don’t like you.”

  I hear him laugh. “I don’t care because you love me anyway.”

  I really hope that Kayla finally gives Jamie a true chance. That will make this trip one of the best. Plus, it’ll mean I can return to getting along with my daughter instead of repeatedly reminding her that my girlfriend isn’t going anywhere despite her current feelings toward her.

  “Brent?” Jamie mumbles in a half-asleep voice.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are we there yet?”

  I laugh. “We’re still on the plane, so no.”

  “I have a confession,” she whispers. “I’ve never been on a cruise. I’m kinda scared. I’ve never even been on a boat.”

  A small red flag slowly rises and waves with an imaginary breeze. If she’s never been on the water, I might want to keep a lookout for motion sickness, just in case. I take her hand from her lap and intertwine her fingers with mine. “You’ll be with me, so you’ll be okay.”

  “I never promised to spend time with you,” she reminds me.

  “Don’t even think about teasing me, Jamie. It’s my birthday and you’re my present; you’ll be with me.” Especially since I know that Kayla will be making an effort to give her a chance.

  Jamie smiles at me and kisses my cheek as it’s announced that we’ll be landing soon. We’re all in our own little world as we land, get our bags, and meet our shuttle, which will take us to our hotel for tonight as we don’t board the ship until tomorrow.

  We check in, drop our bags off in our rooms, and then head out. Everyone wants to see the Space Needle and it’s not too terribly far from the hotel. We have to wait a little bit to go up after buying our tickets since they send people up in groups. It’s always interesting to people watch. We even see a group of protestors walking down the road, though we aren’t sure what they are protesting, or maybe rallying for.

  Soon, we’re all in an elevator heading to the top. The attendant welcomes us and tells us some facts on the ride up. The view is wonderful. Once we step to the outside portion and walk around, we can even see some cruise ships. Kayla is our official photographer on this trip, so she snaps away.

  “Will you take a picture of Logan and me?” she asks me.

  “I don’t know how to use this thing.”

  Jamie laughs and Kayla says, “Just press this button.”

  They find an empty spot against the railing and I snap a photo.

  “That’s a good one,” Jamie praises. “Do you want one with Kayla and Gregory? I can take it.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” I hand the camera to her and switch places with Logan while Gregory joins us.

  She snaps a picture and returns the camera to Kayla. “Let’s walk around again,” she says to me.

  “Wait,” Kayla says with a sigh. “Dad, do you want a picture?” Her eyes flick to Jamie.

  With a smile, I look at Jamie. “What do you say, honey? Want a picture with me?”

  She frowns and wrinkles her nose. She even pulls away from me. “With you? No way.”

  I laugh and tug her over. “Too bad. Smile and look like you love me.” With our arms around one another, Kayla takes the picture. I smile gratefully at her before Jamie leads me away. “See?” I point out to Jamie. “This trip will be better than you thought it would be.”

  “Her being a little nice to me after all this time scares me.”

  “Let’s hope it’ll be a normal thing soon.”

  We meet back up with the rest of the gang and travel back down. After we spend some time in the gift shop, we walk down the street toward the hotel. All we have to do today is survive dinner together. Then Jamie and I get a night in the hotel room. Tomorrow, we all board the ship. I pray this trip goes well.

  “I felt like we were cattle being herded on board,” Jamie says as she grabs an alcoholic beverage from a waitress as she stops by. “This ship is huge, too.” She takes a sip and looks out over the water. We’re standing on the top deck at the railings. The wind is mild for the moment.

  “They have bigger ones,” Gregory says from the other side of her.

  “We’re going to get lost,” she mumbles. Jamie looks at me. “You can’t leave me alone. I’m not to be left alone, Brent. I’ll never find my way around this place.”

  I laugh, wrap an arm around her waist, and tug her close to my side. “I won’t let you get lost.”

  “Thank you.” She kisses me softly before returning her gaze to our view.

  There’s a lot of small talk. Kayla takes pictures and is able to get someone to take a group picture. Gregory talks about how he plans to find the teen center after dinner. He also tells Jamie about how we’ll all have to meet up for the crew to go over safety protocols.

  Jamie looks at me with wide eyes. “I don’t want to know what to do in an emergency because just the thought of something going wrong is freaking me out.”

  I don’t get a chance to reassure her before Gregory decides to torture her. “We could all get sick. The ship could crash into something and sink. We could tip over. We could run out of fuel and starve before anyone brings us more. Something could go wrong with all the toilets.”

  “Gregory!” She playfully slaps his arm. “Here I thought we were friends.”

  He smiles. “That’s how I treat my friends.”

  “Why don’t we check out our rooms and see if our bags have been dropped off yet?” I suggest.

  Everyone agrees, so we navigate through the ship until we find our rooms. The rooms are right next to one another and both have balconies. Our room has one bed while the other has two twins, plus a twin that comes down from the ceiling over one of the beds. But for now, Jamie and I are in our room.

  Jamie flops backward on the bed with her arms out wide. “Did you see that shower? How am I supposed to shave my legs in there?”

  I laugh. “Get creative.” I don’t think it’s that small, but it’s definitely not roomy. “What do you think so far?” I ask, lying down next to her.

  “I still think I’ll get lost because I have no clue how we got here.”

  “It’ll get easier as we move around some more.”

  There’s an annoying rapping on our glass sliding doors. We both turn to look and see Gregory out on our balcony.

  “How’d the hell did he get there?” Jamie asks as I stand.

  “There’s a divider between the balconies; he probably opened it.” I slide the door open. “You miss me already?”

  “No, I missed Jamie,” he says while pushing me aside to come into our room. “Kayla’s getting on my nerves already.” Gregory sits down on the bed next to Jamie. “Can I check out the teen center?”

  “Yeah, just be back early enough for us to get a head start on walking to our muster station for the drills.”

  “Yes, sir. See y’all later.” He leaves through our room.

  “Want to check out our view?” I ask.

  Jamie gets up and we step outside. She peers over the edge and hums. “We can spy on people below us. Do people do kinky things on cruise ships?”

  “Let’s hope we don’t find out,” Kayla says as she and Logan step out of their room. “Where’s Gregory?”

  “He went exploring,” I say. “Are you two going to be able to room with him?” He never did say why Kayla was annoying him; maybe she can tell me what happened.

  “It’s not like we have a choice now. He just needs to make sur
e he’s not a snob.”

  “Pooks, he wants to live out of his suitcase for a week, let him,” Logan tells her. “At least he got his clothes for formal nights out.”

  And there it is. Kayla probably wanted him to unpack more of his clothes and Gregory didn’t want to. I think they had this same argument the last time we went on a cruise.

  “Well, you have one week to be the perfect siblings. It’s my birthday, so get along.”

  Kayla narrows her eyes at me. “How many times are you going to use that against us?”

  “Until we get back home.” My birthday isn’t until tomorrow, but that gives me a lot of extra days to use it against them.

  She rolls her eyes. “We’re going to do the scavenger hunt. Do y’all want to go with us?”

  “Do you want to explore some more?” I ask Jamie.

  “If you want to. Our luggage might be here by the time we get back.”

  With it decided to join them, we all find our scavenger hunt cards in our rooms. We’re supposed to go to various spots on the ship, get the card stamped, and then turn it in to possibly win a prize. We don’t win anything and Jamie still has no sense of direction on the ship, but it does waste some time. When we return to our rooms, my and Jamie’s luggage has arrived.

  Jamie and I are able to quickly unpack a few things before we have to grab our lifejackets. We step outside of our room and I knock on the kids’ room. Gregory is the first one out. He was my main reason for knocking; I wanted to make sure he was back and ready to go.

  “What do you want to do for your birthday?” Jamie asks while we wait for the other two.

  I wrap one arm around her and pull her close. “Well, we’ll be at sea all day. We’ll have to look and see what things we can possibly do.” I lean down and whisper very quietly, “I expect time with you.”

  She laughs as Kayla and Logan finally join us. “Good luck with that.”

  Luck isn’t needed. It’s my damn birthday. How hard will it be to spend some uninterrupted time with Jamie? Lock the door and close the curtain to the glass door. Ignore anyone who knocks. Tell the kids to leave me alone. It’s as simple as that.

  This trip is a good thing because I’m already learning more about Jamie. She doesn’t like to think about possible disasters. She didn’t like listening while on the plane and she seemed a little freaked out after the muster drills. I also think it’s adorable that at any given time, she has no clue where we are or how to get back to where we just came from.

  After the drill, we return to our rooms to put our life jackets back in their place and to change for dinner.

  “You’re going to love eating on the ship,” Gregory says as we make our way to the dining room. “Best food of your life!” A second later, he says, “I wonder if the workers eat the same food we do because if they do, I might need to work for a cruise line. Would you let me do that, Dad?”

  “If that’s what you want to do,” I reply with a shrug. I don’t think he could last longer than a week on a ship, but he can dream about working on one and eating all the delicious food for now.

  It’s our turn to be seated. A man in black slacks, a white dress shirt, and a white suit jacket smiles widely at us.

  “Hello! How are you lovely people? Where are you from?”

  “North Carolina,” I answer.

  “Oh, I love North Carolina! I have cousins who live there.” He glances over his shoulder and then claps his hands together. “Well, let’s get this father and his children seated at a table. How does that sound?”

  Jamie and Gregory immediately crack up. My first thought is about how I’m holding Jamie’s hand, and if she’s my daughter, she’s too old for me to hold her hand.

  “Actually,” I say, feeling the need to correct him as he leads us through the large dining room, “I’m with my girlfriend, my son, my daughter, and who will likely be my future son-in-law.”

  The man glances back at me. “Oh, I see. What a lucky man you are! Here you go. A window table! If you get here early every night, I’ll get you this table, okay?”

  “Thank you very much.”

  We’re seated and I look over at Kayla. Her gaze flicks back and forth between Jamie and me.

  “Doesn’t it embarrass you that he thought you were my dad’s daughter?” she asks.

  Jamie shakes her head. “It’s just something we have to deal with and it’s better to laugh about it than be embarrassed about it.” And I totally agree.

  Our waiters come to our table to lay napkins across our laps, take our drink orders, and talk a little about the menu. Gregory wasn’t lying when he said the food on a cruise ship is some of the best you’ll ever eat. Personally, I think cruises are the best vacations. There’s nothing to worry about and plenty to do, plus fantastic food. Not to mention, the workers are always so nice and friendly.

  When our first course has been served, Kayla makes me proud by asking, “So, what are you going to do now that you’ve graduated, Jamie?”

  My little girl is making an attempt to get to know Jamie! Has hell frozen over? Is it raining cats and dogs? I glance out the window next to me to confirm that it’s not. Jamie gives me a quick look full of skepticism; I nudge my knee against hers. She needs to play along. Kayla is trying. Now is not the time to reject her.

  “I’ll be looking for an apartment in Raleigh and moving to a full-time position at my job,” she answers.

  “There’s openings at plenty of places,” Logan tells her. “There’s probably even one in our building.” Based on Logan’s wince, Kayla likely kicked him under the table. That’s not such a good move for Kayla, but even I can’t say I exactly want her living in the same building as Kayla.

  “Do you have any siblings?” Kayla asks, clearly wanting to change the subject.

  “An older sister. She’s getting married next year and will make me an aunt, too. We have a relationship about like yours and Gregory’s, I guess.”

  “Sounds like an annoying sister,” Gregory says, making her laugh. “I’m sorry, Jamie.”

  “Now, now, children,” I hurry to say before Kayla can fire back. “Let’s keep the peace.” That’s all I want on this trip. Peace. And with how Kayla is being right now, I think I might get it.

  After dinner, Gregory goes to the top deck to watch a movie and the rest of us see a show with singers, dancers, and a comedian, who was hilarious. While it seems early, I’m actually tired and there’s nothing else Brent and I really want to do or see, so we separate from Kayla and Logan to return to our room.

  “How was your first day?” Brent asks me once we find the elevator and step inside.

  “Crazy, but good. You know your daughter more than I do; is she up to something or is she genuine? I’m not sure I trust her turnaround. Sorry, but it’s weird.” I give him my best apologetic smile and hope he understands where I’m coming from.

  “I believe she’s genuinely trying to get over her issues. For all of our sakes, be open to it, hon.”

  The elevator doors open and we step out with Brent leading the way. He doesn’t see me slightly bristling at his comment. I’ve never stood in Kayla’s way; why would I start now? Even when I wasn’t exactly nice to her, that was only in response to how she treated me. Brent should know that I’m not going to be the one to screw this up.

  Once in our room, I use the restroom and change into my pajamas. I go out onto the balcony while Brent does the same. Though dark, I can see the water within a short distance. Most importantly, I can hear it. It’s pretty choppy.

  “I’ve put a do not disturb sign on the door and here’s our other sign,” Brent says as he slides the divider closed between our room and theirs and locks it. “Are you doing okay? No motion sickness? The water isn’t as calm as other cruises we’ve been on.” He stands behind me and rubs my shoulders. The warmth from his hands is welcoming; the wind is chilly.

  “I’m okay so far.”

  “Good. But if you start to feel bad, let me know.”

  “I
will.”

  Brent turns me around to face him, blocking me in with an arm on each side to rest on the railing. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Why? So you don’t have to sleep alone? Or would you share a room with Gregory?”

  He grins. “I’m glad you’re here because I’ll get birthday sex.”

  “Brent!” I slap his arm, totally not expecting him to say something like that. “Just because it’ll be your birthday doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with you.”

  He grabs my waist and while checking over his shoulder every so often begins to walk backward into the room, closing the sliding door after I step inside. “I’d have birthday sex with you. In fact, I promise I’ll have birthday sex with you.”

  “On a ship?”

  The frown is unexpected as he sits down on the bed and brings me down to straddle him. “You want me to take off of work again in two months?”

  “Tsk. Tsk. What I’ll do for you, you won’t do for me. And you sound like the workaholic I’ve been trying to help you prove to everyone you aren’t.” I was only teasing, but I don’t think he knows that. “Relax, Brent. I was kidding. A weekend getaway would be nice, though.”

  “Deal. Wherever you want to go.” He slips his hands underneath my shirt and kisses my neck.

  “Starting your birthday celebration early?”

  Brent chuckles. “Honey, I’ll be celebrating all week. Maybe all month or all year. Maybe for the rest of my life.”

  I hum and run my fingers through his hair. “I think you’d be celebrating something other than your birthday if it’s for the rest of your life.”

  “What’s that?” he asks as he unhooks my bra and removes both my shirt and bra.

  My laugh causes him to lift his gaze from my breasts to my eyes. “I don’t know if I want to answer that.”

  “Why?”

  “Seems either pretty sure of myself or you’re going to gloat again.”

  It takes a moment, but the grin I was hoping wouldn’t come slowly rises. “I’d be celebrating my new marriage and wife; that’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?” Brent kisses me quickly before twisting and laying me on the bed. “If I didn’t know how much you liked me being a gentleman, I’d think that you’re going to propose to me soon.”