Page 15 of Honeymoon for Seven

“Then let’s go.”

For a fraction of a moment, she thought he was going to take hold of her hand again, but all he did was slip his hands into his pocket and lead the way across the ship to the family’s suite.

Using the keycard in his short’s pocket, Nick slowly shoved the door open.

“Back so soon?” his mother smiled up at them, setting her own paperback down on her lap.

Quickly crossing the room, he sat at his mom’s side. “How are you doing?”

“Really well. Even managed to see a man about a horse.”

The confusion on Ginnie’s face must have been obvious, because Nick rolled his eyes and then softly chuckled. “That’s Mom’s favorite euphemism for the ladies’ room.”

“I see.” She didn’t. Why wouldn’t she have just said bathroom, restroom, or ladies’ room, but no reason to speak up now.

Nick’s gaze shifted to the wheelchair still in the corner where they’d left it and his brows buckled. “How did you get there?” Immediately, his eyes flew open wide. “You didn’t walk on it, did you?”

This time his mother rolled her eyes. “No.” Then she smiled at him, lifting her chin, looking very proud of herself. “I hopped.”

“Oh, Mom.” She could hear his sigh from across the room. “You could have fallen and hurt yourself more.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. It’s not like I joined the conga line on the pool deck.”

Ginnie had to cover her mouth to hold back a chuckle.

“Mother!”

Now Ginnie bit on her cheeks. She could picture this exact scenario between herself and her sisters with their mom. No matter where you were raised, some things simply didn’t change.

“Oh, get off your high horse. I can hear Phoebe talking to herself again. She’s probably ready to get up, and I could use some more ice. It’s been a while.”

“Do you want me to take care of Phoebe or the ice?” Ginnie asked.

Nick chuckled to himself. “I’ll get Phoebe. You’re too nice to make you change diapers.”

Too nice. She didn’t know if she should grin excitedly, or object to being spared a diaper change.

“That’s my boy,” his mom cheered. “While you’re at it, dear, could I have a glass of water too? Carrying water and hopping do not go well together.”

“Of course.” She spun around and wrapped the ice before pouring a bottle of water into a glass. A few more minutes and his mother was all settled and Phoebe was grinning happily. For the next couple of hours, Ginnie and Nick were on the ground playing with little Phoebe, occasionally refreshing the ice for his mother’s ankle, and everyone was relieved when they received a call from Theresa. As they suspected, the couple were enjoying the quaint hotel the ship had set them up in, even though the storm was still heavy over the port, the lovebirds didn’t seem to care.

At one point when his mom rose to use the ladies’ room again, Nick hurried to grab the wheelchair and wheel her to the bathroom. “No one is hopping around on my watch.” After that, he arranged for his mother to have crutches for short trips.

The next thing she knew, with Phoebe on her hip, and Nick pushing his mother in the wheelchair, they were picking up four children from the Kids Club and fielding a plethora of squeals and stories and giggles and laughter and pleas to do the movie night.

The older boy, Jake, walked backward down the hall to the dining room. “Dad said that we didn’t have to follow bedtime rules on the ship.”

“He did, did he?” Nick stared at the kid while his mother nibbled on her lower lip in an effort not to smile.

“Yes,” the second boy chimed in, now walking in reverse like his brother.

“Mom too.” One of the girls spun about like the boys.

“Mommy said so,” the other girl confirmed. Though Ginnie had the feeling that like her kid sister Jo, this little one would have sworn the sky was green if her sister said so.

Corralling the five kids and one mother in a wheelchair into the dining hall was a bit more lively than Ginnie had expected, though it shouldn’t have been. The more she thought back to her own childhood, the more she realized what drama she and her two sisters had often caused her parents.

At one point, the boys decided tossing the bread was easier than passing it around. All Nick had to do was clear his throat for the boys to stop. Then there was the argument between the girls over whose napkin belonged to whom. The grandmother stepped in for that one, and Nick leaned into her. “I’m sorry about this. They’re usually much better behaved.”

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