Chapter Text
Levy and Lisanna lay in the hammock in Levy’s yard looking up at the clouds in the sky. They were taking a well deserved rest from their busy day.
Levy had been roped into sitting her nephews while Freed and Laxus ran the summer camps for their respective teams. Gajeel was attending the football camp and working as one of the assistant coaches, so he couldn’t watch the boys. Wendy had to work all morning, so she was out of the question as well. Normally Grammy and PopPop, Levy’s parents, watched Cliff and CJ when their dads had camp at the same time but they were still on their way home from visiting a friend out of town. Lisanna had agreed that they could postpone their last adventure till tomorrow and had even asked if she could accompany Levy and the boys for the day. What a day it had been!
It started off making breakfast for the boys, big and little, as well as for Wendy, before they all scattered to the four winds. Then they packed lunches and made sure everyone had sunscreen on as they headed for the neighborhood park. Levy and Lisanna pushed swings, turned the merry-go-round, and in general trailed after the boys as they climbed, crawled, and romped over various pieces of equipment. Just as the boys seemed to be losing interest in the playground the water features were turned on. They started shooting the water canons, waiting for the buckets to fill overhead and dump their contents on them, dashed through the tunnels made from a ton of tiny spray nozzles, and splashed in every puddle they could find. Levy called a halt when CJ’s lips had started turning purple. For boys that claimed they weren’t hungry they certainly wolfed down the sandwiches and chips quickly. Levy insisted on re-applying sunscreen and half an hour in the shade before the boys were loosed on the park again. When CJ and Cliff started arguing over who got to sit in one swing in particular, Levy announced it was time to go home. When Cliff asked why she told him it was because that’s where the ice cream lived, and he was much more eager to get in and buckle up than he had been previously.
Lisanna thought the boys would be getting out of their wet clothes as soon as they got home, but Levy knew her nephews and there was no need to change right away. They each got to choose a popsicle to eat in the backyard, and while much of it made it in their mouths some did indeed end on face, hands, shirt, and in CJ’s case toes. Levy got the boys cleaned up and had them choose one book each to read together on the hammock outside. CJ had insisted on sitting in Lisanna’s lap while Levy read with Cliff between them.
Freed had come to pick up his kids while they were still reading and commented on how cute storytime looked. The boys thanked Lisanna and Levy, and Freed payed them for their time, before taking off.
Now they were sitting in the hammock enjoying the peace and quiet while the sunshine filtered down through the tree leaves above them.
As it turned to late afternoon Levy started to get text messages from her family members. Her mom said that they were going to dinner with Freed and Laxus and then heading to a movie, since they didn’t need to hurry home. An hour later another message from her mom let her know that Gajeel was going to be spending the rest of the day with other assistant coaches from the camp and not to expect him for dinner.
The text from Wendy was a little more cryptic: “I’m saving it for the announcement. No worries. I won’t interfere.”
When Levy asked her for clarification, Wendy went silent. Levy continued to spam her sister’s phone until she finally received a reply. It was a single photo. Lisanna with CJ and Cliff eagerly watching Levy read to them. The look on Lisanna’s face made heat rush to Levy’s cheeks.
“I think we may have made too much food,” Levy said as she brought out the vegetable skewers. Lisanna had already started the coals for the grill after they had cut up fruit and vegetables to barbecue.
“Really?” Lisanna looked up from fanning the flames to get the coals ready to cook. “Who’s missing?”
“Um, all of them,” Levy said with a grimace.
Lisanna merely laughed. “I guess we really do have, too much, especially since we factored in Gajeel and his ravenous appetite.” She looked at the stacks of skewers and then asked, “So, what should we do with all of this?”
“Let’s grill it anyway,” Levy replied. “It’ll make great sandwiches for the park tomorrow.”
Dinner had been simple and delicious followed by a viewing of the stunning black and white, modern version of “Much Ado About Nothing.”
“What do you say to some dessert?” Levy asked when the credits started rolling.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well since there are some coals that are probably still hot, what would you say to making some s’mores?”
“Oooh, I think you can’t go wrong with toasted marshmallows and chocolate between graham crackers,” Lisanna said with a grin.
As they sat in the backyard roasting marshmallows Levy asked Lisanna what her favorite activity of the summer had been.
Lisanna thought for awhile before answering. “I’ve really enjoyed all of our outings so it would be hard to choose just one, but if I had to I guess I’d say...”
“Yeah?” Levy held her breath.
“I think just hanging out today with you and the kids was probably the best of all.”
Levy’s smile lit up the night. A thought occurred to her, “Does this mean you don’t want to go to Mashima Gardens tomorrow to see Shakespeare in the Park?”
“What? No way do I want to cancel! You promised me a summer full of Magnolia’s best adventures.” She nudged her with her shoulder before adding, “Besides, who knows, tomorrow might be the best one yet?”
Levy laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. And I did think that the show would totally be the best conclusion to the summer.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s just the title of the play seemed so fitting,” Levy said with a twinkle.
“What are we going to see again?” Lisanna’s brow furrowed as she tried to recall. She remembered and broke into laughter.
Together they said, “All’s Well That Ends Well!”