A Love Like Ours

2. The Day Before

"Have you packed everything?" Hailey questioned, coming down the stairs while holding Alfie's hand as he slowly took one step at time.

Jay bobs his head from the bottom of the steps, subtly pointing to the rucksack that was leaning up against the door. "Including a spare drink for both of them." He adds, cutting her off before she could ask.

Alfie lets go of his mother's grip when he reaches the last step and he jumps from it before quickly running off into the living room, disappearing out of his parents' sight.

Hailey joins her husband by the front door and tilts her head to the side slightly. "Have you put sunscreen on?"

"It's cloudy out and it's mostly woods, I'll be fine." He replies and he was about to move off to grab his sneakers but he gets stopped by Hailey putting her hand against his chest.

"That doesn't make a difference and you know it," she says, earning a sigh from Jay in response. She quickly shoots her hands up into a surrender and pulls her lips into a line. "Fine, but don't come complaining to me when your freckles have all come out... Has Mae got any on?"

Jay shakes his head. "Not yet."

"Where is it?" She asks.

"In the bag."

Hailey nods once and slides past him, digging through the bag until she found the tube of sunscreen tucked into one of the pockets. She makes her way into the living room, where she found both the kids sat on the couch, watching something on the iPad.

She calls out from the doorway. "Mae, can you come put some sunscreen on?"

Macie groans and tips her head back, almost hitting the back of the couch. "But it's stinky."

Hailey takes a step further into the room and leans over the back of the couch so she was facing her daughter. "I know, but you need it."

"But Alfie doesn't have any." She says, making the toddler beside her look up at his name.

"Well Alfie doesn't have any freckles like you."

The five-year-old quickly turns and points to a dark spot on the side of her younger brother's lower leg. "Yes he does, right here."

Hailey lowers her chin to her chest. "That's a mole."

Macie turns back and stares at her mother with a blank face. "What's the diffence?"

"There's a bit of a difference," Hailey replies. "Can you please just come here and put sunscreen on?" She asks.

A beat goes passed as Macie seems to think about it before she huffs quietly under her breath. "Only if you promise to put sunscream on Alfie's mole too." She bargains.

Hailey nods. "I promise."

Twenty minutes later, Hailey had coated Macie in a layer of sunblock, put a small dot on the lower part of Alfie's leg per her daughter's request and had even managed to convince Jay to put some on (just on his face, but she was counting it as a win regardless) and they had managed to strap both the kids' car seats into the back, as well as both of the kids.

Jay pulled the truck out from beside the curb and drove down the end of the street, coming to a stop to peer around the corner before turning off the block and that's the gentle nudges to the back of his seat began.

He gazed into the mirror and caught sight of the slight grin on his son's face before putting his gaze back on the road as he said, "Alfie, stop that please."

That got Hailey's attention and she turned slightly in her seat so she could see what Alfie was doing. She reached her hand back there to stop her son's leg when his father's words hadn't been enough.