Page 30 of Honeymoon for Seven

“If you insist.” She slid the tube into the massive beach bag and turned to the children. “Last one in is a rotten egg.”

Before he had time to process, Ginnie had her arms over her head and had dived into the massive pool and popped up on the other side with the grace of Esther Williams and the skill of Katie Ledecky.

A moment later all four kids had jumped in and were chasing after her. It didn’t hurt any that, to his surprise, the pool wasn’t nearly as crowded as he’d seen it on other days.

Just as he’d jumped in after everyone, one of the guys responsible for outdoor fun blew his whistle and got everyone’s attention. “Who’s ready for a race?”

Of course every kid in the pool shouted their interest.

“All right. We’re going to line up at the opposite end of the pool, just like the Olympics,” he said as several littler ones looked left and right in an effort to follow the staff member’s instructions. “But first you’ll have to do a height check with the other member of the entertainment staff.”

One by one all the kids lined up, several were deemed too short, but all four of Nick’s family made the cut. He was thankful that Phoebe was at the toddler program or he’d be too distracted to follow the races.

The first effort was pretty entertaining. Using kickboards, the kids kicked and splashed and bumped into each other until all made it across the pool to the applause and cheers of friends, family, and even strangers.

“All right. Now we want kids and parents,” the same guy announced into the mic.

Eyes wide, Ginnie looked to Nick, a hint of panic visible. He couldn’t blame her. What were they getting into?

Chapter Twelve

A handful of kids stood shivering at the crew staff’s side with a parent behind them, a couple of kids had one parent with a hand on each kid’s shoulder, but Nick’s four stood looking over their shoulders at him.

“Come on, Uncle Nick,” Jeff waved him over.

“Yeah, Ginnie,” Rachel shouted, making her smile that she was included in whatever mess they were about to get into.

On a sigh, Nick nodded at her and together they took their places behind two children.

“All right. Since there’s plenty of room in the pool today, we’re going to shift this up. We’re doing raft races, kids against adults.”

Of course the kids erupted in another round of cheers, jumping up and down, and pretty much every adult groaned, with the exception of one or two dads who seemed to have a healthy competitive streak.

“Each child will have a tanning float. The idea is to get to the end of the pool first. Each family will go one at a time. The rest will cheer them on, and after every family has had a turn, we’ll tally the kids and adult times for the winner.”

Some of the kids frowned, a few cheered, and Ginnie waited for the other shoe to drop. She’d been on these cruises and watched these games enough to know there was always more to the story.

“There’s one little catch,” the staffer announced.

Ginnie leaned into Nick. “I knew it.”

“You kids will notice the yellow floats. Those are for you. Each child gets their own float. You have to lay on your stomach and paddle forward till you reach the other side.”

Every kid nodded.

“Adults…”

“Here it comes,” Ginnie muttered.

“The blue wider floats are for you, but we ran out of time to fully inflate them, so you’ll have to finish blowing them up before you can get in the pool.”

One wife laughed, informing her husband since he was full of hot air, he could blow it up.

“I suppose it’s only fair to give us a handicap,” Nick agreed.

“And there’s one other thing,” the crew staff continued.

“Get ready, here it comes.” Ginnie sighed.

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