“Wow,” Ivy whispered. “I want to be a mermaid.”
“Me too,” Laura agreed.
“Not me,” Dallas said as they walked down the stairs. “I'm going to be Aquaman.”
“Do you guys want to go swimming first?” Ethan asked. “Or have some food?”
“Swimming!” Laura, Ivy, and Dallas all exclaimed at the same time.
Ethan laughed. “Okay. Our bungalow is just over there. Our swimsuits should be all laid out in our rooms.”
Together they walked off the private runway and down a sandy path to a little house sitting over the water. They walked along a bridge to the cutest little home Laura had ever seen. It was a three bedroom house sitting on top of the water with stunning ocean views from every window.
“Dallas, your room's over here, and Ivy's room is right next door,” Ethan explained pointing to the first set of doors. “Laura, you and I are over here.”
They crossed the kitchen and a beautiful living area to a big room with a huge king sized bed in the middle.
“I like that it's far enough away from the kids we can have some privacy,” Laura said as they stepped inside.
“Yes,” Ethan agreed. “I also rented the bungalow next door if we want more privacy. There's a private walk through that door.”
Laura laughed, finally feeling relaxed. Ethan had thought of everything.
She hugged him. “Thank you for this. It's perfect.”
He grinned. “Well, don't say that until you've gone swimming.” He frowned and looked at the bed. Only his swim trunks were laid out. Laura's suit was nowhere to be seen.
“I guess I'm going skinny-dipping,” she teased, looking around.
Ethan sighed. “It must be next door. I'll change and meet the kids. You take your time.”
She kissed his cheek. “Okay. But if it isn't there, I am going skinny dipping.”
His eyes dilated as he looked her over. “Don't tease me. I'd like you skinny dipping.”
She grinned and hurried out the back door. The sun was warm on her face as she went to the next bungalow. It was much smaller than the first one with just one room with a large bed. Laying out was a brand new polka-dot bikini with a beautiful sundress to wear over it. She shook her head and smiled. Ethan really had thought of everything.
She quickly changed and freshened up in the bathroom before heading back along the path. Ethan was gone from the main bedroom, so she walked through the house and out to the beach. Everywhere she went she could hear the soft whoosh of the ocean. She loved it.
“Ethan?” she called as she walked through the house. “Dallas? Ivy?”
“Over here,” Dallas called back. She exited the dining room and stepped out onto a porch suspended over the water and gasped.
It would have been a beautiful porch in normal circumstances. It was large and led straight out into crystal clear turquoise water, but today, it was covered in rose petals. Dallas and Ivy stood on either side of Ethan, each with a sign and big grins on their faces.
Dallas' sign read, “Will you” and Ivy's “marry me?”
Ethan grinned at her and dropped to one knee, holding out a black satin box. Laura wasn't sure how her feet moved, but somehow she was standing in front of him, looking down at the man she loved.
“Laura, I love you,” Ethan said, looking up at her with those green eyes that made her melt. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It's tradition to ask the bride's father for approval, so I asked the two people that mean the most to you instead.”
He nodded to Ivy and Dallas. “They said it was okay,” Ethan told her.
Laura chuckled and smiled at her two siblings. They grinned and waved their signs at her.
“So, Laura Corbett, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?
Laura couldn't breathe she was so happy. Her brain forgot how to use words.