FOOTPRINTS IN THE (BAD BAD) SAND

If someone had told Leo that by the time he was thirty he'd be married and with three kids, he would have laughed himself to death. At six, he thought he was gonna become a pirate. At eight, he thought he was gonna be a pilot, an astronaut and a race driver. At fifteen, the only thing he wanted was Blaine. Kids had never been in the picture.

Then, Timmy arrived – which wasn't exactly a positive experience for Leo. He couldn't see the whole bundle of joy thing and, in his humble opinion, the kid was in the way of his and Blaine's life together. Timmy was the typical case of unexpected child, except that someone else burdened Blaine (and consequently Leo) with him – besides, in no possible way it could have been an unwanted pregnancy.

Also the twins were not programmed, at least not for Leo. Once he got out alive through the worst period of his life and he came to accept – and also love, actually – Timmy, he thought that was it. He and Blaine got married, they had a kid. That was how the rest of their life was gonna be. But Blaine wanted another baby, who halfway through the pregnancy turned out to be two. And that was it.

Now, at thirty and fifty, they've got three kids and Leo's dream of having a holiday alone with Blaine in some cool place is gone forever. With kids you don't have free time, not mentioning alone time, and the coolest place you can be is wherever the kids won't bug you because they are bored.

Now, they're rich enough that they are not forced to stuff a car and undertake a ten hours journey just to get to a lousy camping and sleep in a bungalow. But still, their destination must be decided taking into consideration a couple of two years old who need quiet places to nap in the afternoon, and a teen boy of fourteen who won't be happy if there aren't suitable things for him to do alone, because he won't – for any reason – want to spend time with his dads and siblings.

Blaine rented a summer house in Sardinia, an all time favorite with him and Leo, They used to go there with Leo's parents when Leo was just a child and Blaine was still Kurt's best friend. Plus, they both love Italy and Blaine has planned some little trips to the major art cities, hoping this holiday can also be educational.

The house his too big just for the four of them, but their home too is unnecessarily huge, so it's not like they're not used to all that space. Blaine chose it because it's situated in a place whose name roughly translated in “Stars Tower” which was both extremely romantic and vaguely fantasy. Blaine has been trying to say the name in Italian since they found out about it, but to no avail. He sucks at foreign languages as much as Leo does.

The house is a two stores villa with four bedrooms, all of which with a double bed, sea view and doors opening to a terrace. One of them will be utterly unnecessary since the twins sleep together, but it's equipped with TV, DVD and game consoles, so Leo will probably going to take possession of that one too, and declare that his own little kingdom. There's a private swimming pool and secluded gardens with a large BBQ area, in case they want to organize a get-together with their fellow vacationers, which they don't because they hate other people.
The only thing missing is a proper private beach, but the place is so isolate and exclusive that they're gonna find very few people anyway. Plus, Blaine hates to socialize, but he wants his kids to play with other kids, so he's okay with sharing some miles of golden sand with someone else as long as nobody bothers him.

This is the second year at the beach for the twins but they don't remember much of last year because they were just one, so their excitement is over the roof. The moment they reach the beach, Logan starts running as fast as he can and dives head first in the water, still in his t-shirt and shorts. He can't swim yet, but he's not afraid of the water, so he compromises by lying on his belly in three inches of water and splashing around.

Harper always does what her twin brother does (and vice versa) but she doesn't feel like running, so when she sets a foot in the sand, she feels that it burns, and refusing to wear her clogs as she stubbornly did seems suddenly a very bad idea. She stands on one foot and then the other, jumping on the spot. It doesn't occur to her to start walking fast – because the sand is hot! – and her stupid fathers are too busy laughing at her to tell her. She's wearing an impossibly frilly swimming costume ruched on her bum and she's hilarious while she's swinging it left and right, occasionally blowing at the sand to make it stop burning.

Feeling helpless and mocked, she eventually starts crying, forcing them to stop being so amused by her struggle in dealing with the evil beach. “Oh, come on! It's not that bad!” Leo says to her as she lifts her arms and asks to be picked up. She hugs him at his neck the moment she's in his arms, sniffing and pouting. “Did you burn your feet?”

She nods and sniffs again. She's not crying anymore – on/off crying, one of the best features of little kids – but she's got an angry face. She looks like she wants somebody to pay for all the pain she felt, but she doesn't exactly know how to slap the sand on its sandy hands.

“Okay. I know what we can do,” Leo says, dusting her feet. He takes his backpack off without letting go of her and walks toward the sea, where his son is literally rolling around on the shore, squeaking in pure joy every time a foamy wave laps at his legs. “We can wash them in the water.”

“No,” Harper says, clinging to him.

“Why not?” Leo asks. But Harper doesn't answer. This day can be fatally ruined after this rocky beginning, if he doesn't do something about it. “What about dad tries first?”

“Yes,” Harper says, watching the water suspiciously. What if it's mean too? You can never be too sure.

Leo is not a normal parent. He's not even a parent, just a very tall toddler himself. So, instead of stepping barefooted in the water to show her water is okay, he just sits down cross-legged on the wet sand, his long shorts soaking instantly, and he places Harper on his lap, so she's still high enough not to get wet.

Meanwhile, Blaine is settling under their beach umbrella. He and Leo are both famous and rich enough to be one of those star couples that bring a baby-sitter with them on holiday, but Blaine would rather die than being that kind of father. So he grabs all the bags and stuff they have to bring with them whenever they go somewhere with the twins and places them under the umbrella. Luckily, his older son is helpful enough.

When Blaine finally sits down on the lounger to put some suncream on, Leo is still sitting on the shore with Harper in his lap and Logan hanging from his back like a little monkey. All he can see is a mess of curly black hair. He smiles as he watches him, feeling the familiar surge of love he always feels every time Leo plays with the kids.

“So, did you see? Water is okay,” Leo says, scooping up some water in the palm of his hand. Harper cautiously dips her tiny finger in what water is left now. It's warm but not hot like the sand, and in no way threatening. She chuckles and splashes it a little. “Wanna try again?”

“Yes.”

Leo scoops some more water up and this time Harper is ready to splash her hand in it before it disappears through her father's fingers. “What about we try with our feet?” Leo asks. He scoops up water again and offers it to Harper. She stomps her foot on his hand, sending water flying everywhere. She chuckles and the second after, she's already wiggling her way out of his father's arm to go stomping in the water with her brother, all fear and anger towards the evil sand completely forgotten.

“Do you want to go there too?” Blaine asks playfully to Timmy, who lies on his belly on the second lounger. “You can ask Leo to put your feet in the water too.”

Timmy glares at him with the most unamused expression ever. “A-ah, funny. No. I'm gonna wait here until it's time for me to go surfing, thanks.”

Blaine chuckles. “Right. I also heard there's a climbing gym nearby,” he says, conversationally.

“One step ahead of you,” Timmy smirked. “Already booked a climbing lesson for tomorrow.”

Blaine chuckles again and then sighs. “Will we ever see you during this holiday?” He asks. His baby boy's all grown up, he will never get over it.

“Not if I'm lucky,” Timmy says, but then he smirks again and Blaine squirts some water at him from his squeezable bottle. His son screams in indignation but he's ready to respond in the same way.

They're both soaking wet and laughing by the time Leo gets there. He sits down on Blaine's lounger and forces him to make room for him, even if there's a free lounger for him too. “Wow, I leave you two alone for five minutes and you start having fun without me,” he jokes. “I hate you both.”

Blaine wraps his arms around him and kisses him on his neck, which is sign enough for Timmy to get up and see if the surfboard rental shop down the beach is already open. “I don't wanna see anything,” he declares, waving them goodbye as he walks away.

“Are you having lunch with us?” Blaine asks.

Timmy doesn't turn around to answer, but by the tone of his voice it's clear that he's joking. “I'll see what I can do.”

Blaine chuckles and then kisses Leo again. “So, are the princess' feet alright?”

“Better than ever,” Leo nods. “She declared water the ultimate weapon against the evil sand, or something on the line of bad bad sand, I like water more.”

“Well, that's a complete sentence. I'm impressed,” Blaine chuckles, and looks over to the twins who are whispering to each other, clearly plotting some evil toddler master plan. “So, what are they doing now?”

“I don't know. I sold them to the mermaids, so we could be alone,” Leo says, leaning against Blaine's chest as they both lie on the lounger and watch the twins.

“Nice plan,” Blaine nods, and then chuckles. “We should run before they know what they bought.”
Leo chuckles and asks for a kiss.

If someone had told him that by the time he was thirty he'd be married and with three kids, he would have laughed. Nobody told him, but luckily he's laughing anyway.