Face family's first boat trip! :D
Here you go! đź’–
Mutiny on the Family Boat
Word Count: 597
“Just you, me, the boys, and the glistening bay. What could be better?” Francis asks, leaning back in his deck chair and taking a sip of a mango smoothie that he decided to pack in the cooler.
“I don’t know — perhaps if I wasn’t the one forced to man the boat,” Arthur grumbles back.
“Well, you’re the only one with nautical knowledge, and you refused to let us rent kayaks.”
“Because kayaking is more stressful than it is enjoyable.”
“Right, so we rented a real boat. You can’t have it all, Arthur.”
How typical. Even during their first family boating trip, he’s expected to do all of the hard work. Unbelievable…Then again, he wouldn’t dare to trust Francis’s navigation skills. “Can you at least keep an eye on the boys? Alfred is trying to maneuver his way out of his life vest again.”
“Alfred! What did I say earlier about boat safety? Take that life vest off and your father will turn this ship around and bring us straight back to the dock. Do you want that?” Francis chides him.
Alfred snaps his head up like a deer caught in headlights and stops fiddling with the clasps of his vest. “But I know how to swim!”
Matthew, always the more reasonable child, tries to explain to his brother that “that’s not the point,” but he might as well have not said anything at all because Alfred dashes down to the end of the boat and starts pointing at the fish in the bay instead, already distracted.
“Mattie, Mattie, let’s do that scene from Titanic! You can stand up on the edge and I’ll hold you!” Alfred suggests, barely able to contain his excitement. “And then we can switch!”
Arthur rubs a hand over his face and wishes he hasn’t heard those words come out of his son’s mouth. Where does he get such ridiculous and reckless ideas from? Such an odd child. Always coming up with new ways to cause mischief. Can’t they even go one day without someone getting hurt or putting themselves in a dangerous situation?
“I’m not sure…What if I fall or you let go?” Matthew asks.
“You had better not even think about it!” Arthur interrupts, putting an immediate end to the plot. “No standing on the railings!”
Francis comes up behind him and puts his hands on his shoulders, trying to knead some of the knots out of his muscles. It’s no use — Arthur’s fairly certain his knots are a permanent structure of his body now. “Relax, mon amour. I will dive into the water if one of them tumbles overboard.”
“How considerate. You’d best be careful that I don’t throw you overboard, frog.”
“You wouldn’t dare! I spent two hours styling my hair this morning!”
Arthur can’t give up such a prime opportunity…With a devious smirk, he gives Francis a good shove — careful not to be too forceful, of course. His husband easily loses his balance and ungracefully plops into the water.Â
Unfortunately, Francis’s precious hair does not get as wet as Arthur would have liked it to become, given that the life vest prevents his head from sinking beneath the surface of the bay.
“Traitors!” Francis yells as the boys begin to giggle at him. “My own family has turned against me!”
Arthur rolls his eyes and begrudgingly holds his arm out to help Francis back up.Â
And Francis, without missing a beat, yanks him straight into the water with him.
He should have seen it coming…
“There, now we’re even,” Francis says, sticking his tongue out.
