Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
Serenity relaxed and nodded. She stayed silent and looked around before she looked at me. Her eyes were wide, but they lost that afraid look when I promised her that I would watch her back and keep her safe.
"TACOS!!!!!!" Bryson yelled from above us while he ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped into the water.
I swam over to Seren and helped her stay above it while he jumped in, followed by a few of my cousins and siblings, each one of them cheering while they did so.
Melody screeched in shock and annoyance when they jumped in and splashed Bryson as soon as he came up for air. "Stupid!" she exclaimed and splashed him again, and he laughed. "Why are you being so fucking stupid?"
Bryson laughed again and splashed her back, and I rolled my eyes at the two of them. "Because I am always stupid," he said, and I had to bite my lip to keep from snorting because what he said was true. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"I do," Rosie said as soon as she was above the water and splashed her brother. "I can not believe that I share the same blood as you."
Bryson scowled but didn't splash water on his sister because he knew that she would win any splashing battle against the two of them. "Very funny," he said dryly. "You were the one that splashed me after Mel did."
Serenity watched them with her mouth slightly open. She looked nervous and shocked, but she didn't indicate that she wanted to get out of the water just yet, but I made sure that I stayed near her in case she did.
"Whose clothes are up here?" Julius yelled from the top of the cliff, interrupting Rosie before she said something else.
"Serenity's, so leave them alone, Julius," I warned, and my brother shrugged but did what I told him to do and left it alone.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I have my phone in my pocket," Serenity replied, and she slowly started to relax as if she knew that they weren't going to her. "So please don't mess with it."
"Oh, ya, phones are a thing," Rosie said, and realization dawned in her eyes. "I hope my boyfriend is not trying to contact me because I don't have it with me."
Serenity looked at Rosie, shocked, and her mouth was agape; I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing because she looked so cute. "Are you even human?" she asked, and my family had to bite their lips to keep from snickering.
If only you knew again...
"Sometimes I question if I am or not," Rosie said and wrinkled her nose in disgust. She looked at my brother, who was still on the ledge. "Come down here, Smalls," she yelled and changed the subject before Serenity could push any further. "The water is fine."
"I'd rather not," Julius said and backed away from the ledge. "I don't know why you all dragged me this way to get to the cove."
"Because it is fun," Bryson replied. "Now get your ass down here or else I-"
I narrowed my eyes at my cousin and scowled, signaling him not to continue that sentence with a look.
"Or not," Bryson said and shrugged, acting indifferent. He gave me a curious look, and I shook my head, indicating that it wasn't the time to discuss it. "It doesn't matter to me." He looked at my brother, and my brother stayed silent.
"Come on, Juls," I said. "You'll be fine, or do you need someone to go up there and help you down?"
Julius hesitated but nodded. "Please," he said, his voice soft, and I knew that without my acute hearing, I wouldn't have heard him. "Can someone come up here and get me?"
I nodded and nudged Serenity a bit so that she was on my back before I started to swim to the shore.
"What's wrong?" Serenity asked while she held onto me. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew that my family could hear her.
'Ya, what is wrong? Why isn't Julius jumping in like he normally does?' Bryson asked. 'Did something happen?'
"It's not my place to say," I replied both out loud and through the link. 'If Julius wants to say something, then he can, but don't push him. Understood?'
'Awww, look at TJ being a dad,' Bryson said mockingly, and I held back an eye roll and a scowl. 'I wonder what it'll be like to have little TJs running around.'
'It'll be the same as having little Thomases running around,' Mel said teasingly, 'but this time, it'll have a little bit of Serenity in them.'
'We share the same blood,' I said while I got to the shallow part, and my sister shrugged. I stopped swimming and looked at Serenity. "You can let go now, Seren. You can stand and do not have to swim."
Serenity hesitated but did what I said and stood. She watched as I stood and smiled when I smiled at her, even though hers looked a little more hesitant.
"If you want to stay on the beach, then you can," I said and started to go towards the shore. "I will be back in a bit."
Serenity wrinkled her nose in disgust but nodded. "Ok," she said, and I could tell that she didn't like it but knew that I would go up there regardless of how she felt. "Can you get my clothes while you are up there, please?"
I nodded. "I can," I promised. 'Mel, do you want to be on shore, too?'
'Absolutely,' Mel replied and started to swim to shore.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Bryson asked but didn't reach for her because Mel did kick and had kicked him before when he grabbed her last.
"The shore," Mel replied.
"But we just got here," Bryson complained.
"Exactly," she replied, and Rosie snickered.
"It looks like that you pissed her off enough so that she had to leave," Rosie teased.
"Shut up," Bryson complained. "I didn't do anything. All I did was splash her when I jumped in."
"And that is why I am leaving," Mel said. She walked onto the beach and grinned at both me and Serenity. 'Go get him down,' she said and looked at me. 'I'll make sure that she stays safe.'
I subtly nodded, relieved that my sister was doing this for me. 'Thank you,' I said while I looked at her. 'You're amazing.'
'I know,' she replied, and I had to hold back an eye roll. 'Now go.'
"I'll be back," I said while I looked at Serenity.
Serenity smiled and nodded. "Ok," she said and sat down, and my sister sat down beside her. "Later."
I chuckled and left, leaving to get my brother from on top of the cove, knowing full well that he wasn't comfortable getting down on his own.
Hopefully, one day he would, but I knew that wasn't the case today.