A bit longer than my usual updates...and I am not totally happy with it. I may modify it later. Enjoy!
Camping Tip Number Five: “Meet Your Neighbors”
Abby snuggled deeper into the warm sleeping bag and then slowly came awake as she realized she was alone. She opened her eyes and looked around in confusion as she began to remember where she was. She heard the tent door zipper open and lifted her head slightly.
“Okay, dijete djevojka,” Luka spoke quietly as he slipped Lauren into the tent and stood her up against their inflatable bed. “Bring me mommy’s nose.” He grinned and quickly zipped the door shut again. Abby suppressed a grin and opened her eyes just enough to watch Lauren pull herself along the bed to her face. Abby opened her eyes and smiled as Lauren patted her face.
“Mmmmaammm...” Lauren babbled and leaned in to plant a kiss on Abby’s face. Abby laughed and pulled her arms out from inside the sleeping bag and lifted Lauren onto the bed next to her. Luka had dressed her and given her graham crackers from the looks of the front of her overalls. Lauren pushed a strand of her long hair away from her face and shook her head.
“Mmmmm...mmmmmm...” she said. Abby laughed and snuggled her close beside her.
“Sorry, kiddo,” she said. “You’re going to have to let mama go to the bathroom first.”
Luka was frying bacon on his camp stove when she opened the tent door and stepped outside with Lauren in her arms. Abby took a deep breath and grinned. Ray had been right. There really was nothing like the smell of bacon in the piney, early morning air.
“Good morning!” Luka said as he held up a large thermal cup from the coffee shop. “We made a coffee run for you.” Abby kissed his cheek quickly and handed Lauren to him.
“Thanks!” she said. “Gotta go!” Luka chuckled as she hurried off toward the bathhouse. He looked at Lauren who was watching Abby and then he grimaced as she let out a loud wail of anger.
“Stop that right now,” he said sternly. “She’s coming back.” Lauren looked at him with tear filled hazel eyes and her rose bud lips quivered. Luka’s heart melted and patted her back gently.
“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “ Tata je pravo ovdje...eh?” Lauren stuck a finger in her mouth and leaned against his shoulder. Luka smiled and snuggled her close.
With breakfast, coffee and dishes out of the way, Abby looked around the neat campsite and sighed.
“Okay, Kovac...” she asked. “What is on the agenda for today?” Luka shrugged.
“Beach for a little while this morning...hang out around here for the afternoon. I brought a book to read,” he said as he folded the camp stove and set it at the end of their picnic table. Abby frowned slightly.
“No ‘adventure’ planned? That’s not like you.” Luka shrugged, took a deep breath and looked around them.
“This is an adventure...”
“Riiighhhhtt...” Abby chuckled as she lifted Lauren from her playpen. She headed for the tent.
“Your bathing suit, right?” Luka leered playfully. Abby rolled her eyes and nodded.
They spent the morning on the sandy beach as the sun rose higher and warmed the soft, white dunes. Luka delighted in building sand castles and ‘melting’ them again with water to Lauren’s dismay. Abby snapped picture after picture of the two of them from the blanket in the sand where she was soaking in the sun’s warmth. They went for a walk down the beach before heading back to their campsite. Lauren was exhausted from the fresh air and went right to sleep for a nap. Abby slipped out of the tent after settling her down and grinned when she saw Luka stretched out in the folding love seat, asleep with a book on his chest. She meandered over and looked at the title.
“Official NASCAR Trivia?” she chuckled. “And I brought nothing but medical journals...” Luka opened his eyes and grinned. He sat up and pulled her into the seat next to him. He nuzzled her cheek and then glanced at his watch.
“Having fun?” he asked. Abby nodded.
“Yeah...I am,” she replied, a bit surprised at her answer. “It’s... relaxing.”
“Huh...” Luka said. “”Wait till we go fishing!” Abby looked up as a car pulling a small trailer stopped in front of the camp site next to them. She watched as it backed up slightly and then pulled in. Her mouth dropped open as she recognized the vehicle. Luka grinned as she stood up.
“Did you know they were coming?” she asked him incredulously. Luka nodded. Susie Lewis was the first one to jump out of the car and run over to them. She was followed closely by her best friend, Heather.
“It was the best!” she cried as she hugged Abby and threw her arms around Luka. “We came across Lake Michigan on a ferry! Thank you for inviting us!” Abby hugged Heather and then headed over to the car. She waited to hug Chuck as he got out of the driver’s seat and stretched.
“I can’t believe this!” she laughed as Chuck hugged and kissed her. “He never tells me anything!” Chuck lifted Cosmo from the back seat and handed him to her. Abby kissed the little boy and settled him on her hip as she circled to the front passenger door.
“You’ve gotten so big!” she said to him and then stopped short when she saw the misery her friend was in. Susan sat still, holding her head in her hands. Abby tapped on the window and then opened the door.
“Oh my god...” Susan moaned. “Two and a half hours on a ferry across Lake Michigan! Next year we plan this duo vacation, okay? And NOTHING to do with a boat!” Abby laughed sympathetically and hugged Cosmo again before setting him down to the ground. He raced off after Susie and Heather who were headed toward the nearby bath house.
“Sea sick?” she asked Susan. Her friend cast bleary eyes toward her.
“Oh, ya think?” Abby suppressed a grin and waited until Susan had eased herself out of the car. She wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged her gently.
“Come on,” she said. “I think we have a soda in the cooler to help settle your stomach.” Susan sighed gratefully and walked slowly across the empty campsite toward the chair near the fire pit in front of Abby and Luka’s tent.
“I am surprised Beth let Heather come with you,” Abby said as she rummaged through the ice in the cooler to find a can of 7-Up. She opened it and poured a little into a paper cup and handed it to Susan, who was definitely still looking a little green around the gills.
“I guess she figured her diabetic daughter could do worse than spend the week camping with three doctors and a flight nurse/PA in training,” Susan said. She glanced over at the little trailer they had pulled with their car and smiled. Chuck had lifted the top and he and Luka were rummaging around for the tent and tent paraphenalia that had been packed away. Susan smiled and settled back in the chair.
“Have a seat and watch, Abby,” she said. “‘This should be pretty entertaining.” Abby frowned and glanced over at their car. She saw the new tent bag and Luka and Chuck.
“Oh...yeah,” she said with a grin and sat in the chair next to her friend.
An hour later, they were still watching them struggle with tent poles and stakes, the directions long discarded. Meanwhile, Susie and Heather and set up their little tent, blown up an air mattresses, changed into their bathing suits and headed for the beach trail with Cosmo in tow. Lauren had woken from her nap and was busy playing nearby. Susan had lost interest in the the progress of the tent and was studying the baby in the playpen in front of her.
“She definitely has Luka’s hair...lucky girl,” she sighed. “Your nose and mouth...” Lauren looked up at her and smiled. Susan melted.
“Aww...his dimples.” Abby was studying the frustration of the two men working on the tent.
“I think I’d better go help them,” she sighed. ‘Are you feeling better?”
“Now that my feet are on solid ground? Much better,” Susan sighed. She glanced down at Lauren and then sat up with a start.
“Abby, she’s flirting with me! Already!” Abby chuckled.
“Uh huh,” she said. “Luka’s been teaching her how to work those lashes...and he doesn’t even realize it.” Susan dropped back into her chair.
“He is going to SO regret doing that...”
“I think he already does!” Abby laughed. She crossed the camp area and picked up the papers that had fallen from the tent box. “Are you guys ready to read the directions yet?