Mari & Ilna- you guys are the absolute best. Thanks for EVERYTHING! There are no two people I'd rather be on this ride with. Mari—this one's especially for you.

Sandy-what would I do without you?

REAL Worlders-I can never fully express what all your amazing support means to me. All I can say is that in our fourth calendar year your support and encouragement keeps me as enthusiastic as I was about this project day one.

Livin' the Dream (1/1)

Elizabeth placed the book she'd been reading aloud on the small side table and continued to rock a now sleeping Angie for several minutes, reveling in their quiet time together. She'd been out doing some shopping and stopped by the beach house on the chance her granddaughter might be awake and available for a story. Her timing was impeccable as Esther had just fed and changed Angie and was preparing to put her in bed. She graciously agreed to let Elizabeth do the honors while she cleaned up from tummy time and prepared a late lunch.

After several minutes Elizabeth kissed Angie in the cheek, placed her in her crib, checked that the baby monitor was on then headed downstairs.

"C'mon, Cammie," she said softly. "She'll be fine."

Cammie checked the sleeping baby one more time then dutifully followed Elizabeth to the kitchen.

"Thanks for letting me put her down." Elizabeth smiled genuinely at Esther who never seemed to mind when either she, Joseph or Grandma Ang popped up unannounced during the days she was watching Angie.

"Not a problem at all." Esther put the finishing touches on two plates of shrimp salad. "I love it when you guys stop by. I know Angie and Cammie do too. And you being here today is perfect timing because, if you don't mind, I need to ask a favor."

"Name it," Elizabeth replied without hesitation.

"I'm testing a new recipe Kame wants to add to the menu." Esther slid the plates across the island to the side with the stools. "I was hoping you might give it a taste and let me know your honest opinion."

Elizabeth opened the drawer beside the dishwasher and pulled out two forks. "I'd love to."

The two women sat chatting amiably about a variety of topics as they ate their lunch. Not only about the shrimp salad, which Elizabeth dubbed light and delicious, but also about Esther's new story idea and how the Rollinses were adjusting to fall in Hawaii.

"As long as I can still get a steady supply of pumpkin spice lattes I think I'll be ok," Elizabeth chuckled.

Just then Cammie darted into the room barking and prancing happily.

"Shhhh!" the two women said instinctively even though Angie had proven she could sleep through almost anything.

"What's up, Cammie?" Esther asked as she leaned down to pet the clearly excited dog. Her voice took on an edge of alarm as she said, "And why is your head soaking wet?"

Both women jumped up and followed Cammie as she headed to the den. As they entered the room they saw the plaster ceiling sagging in the middle and a steady flow of water running from what was obviously a leak upstairs.

"We need to turn off the water," Elizabeth said immediately.

Esther was already on the move calling, "The shut off is the garage," over her shoulder as she left the room.

Five minutes later all the water to the house had been turned off though the residual liquid from the pipes continued to drip into the den.

"I'll call Joseph to come over and take a look at it right away," Elizabeth offered.

"Sounds good. I'll check on Angie to make sure the barking didn't wake her then call Steve and Catherine and let them know what's going on."

As Esther left the room Elizabeth quickly dialed her husband who picked up right away.

"Hello, sweetheart, having fun shopping?"

"Actually, I'm at Steve and Catherine's and we have a bit of a situation here."

"What's going on?"

She could tell by the sound from the other end of the phone he was already on his feet and ready to spring into action.

"Everyone's fine," she assured him quickly. "But there's a leak in the den ceiling and from the look of this plaster it isn't gonna be long before …"

The sound of the soggy crash was loud enough for Joseph to hear on his end. She grimaced she surveyed the soaking wet plaster now splattered all over much of the contents of the room.

" … it collapses," she sighed.

"I assume you already turned the water off." Joseph grabbed his car keys. If there was one thing he was certain of it was that his wife knew how to handle household emergencies. She'd done it for many years when he was deployed. "Just hang tight, I'm on my way."

"Steve and Catherine both said to keep them informed," Esther said as she reentered the room to find Elizabeth moving as much as she could out of the path of the water and gathering up a few books and knick knacks that were going to need to be cleaned.

As she did so Cammie seemed to be having the time of her life splashing in the puddles that had formed on the floor.

"Joseph is on his way." Elizabeth picked up a framed picture of Steve and Catherine from their academy days and added it to the pile of items that needed to be cleaned. "I thought I'd try to get some of this stuff picked up before he gets here."

"Great idea," Esther agreed. "Let's get it into the kitchen where it can dry."

In very short order Joseph arrived, retrieved a ladder from the garage and managed to locate the leak as Cammie continued to revel in the unexpected arrival of her own indoor water park.

"I have some bad news for you, Cammie," Joseph chuckled as he watched her happily slap her large paws against the puddles on the floor. "One quick trip to the hardware store for parts and I'm gonna have this leak fixed in no time."

"It looks like an easy leak to fix," he reported as he entered the kitchen where Esther and Elizabeth were wiping off items with the aid of several bottles of water and placing them on the counter to dry. "I just need to run to Home Depot to get a few things."

Elizabeth smiled at the plaster debris in Joseph's hair and on his face. She checked her watch. "Since it looks like you're gonna need a shower when you're done anyway how about if I run home and grab our costumes and we can just change here and go straight to the party."

"Sounds good," he nodded.

"The Halloween party at our condo complex is tonight," Elizabeth explained to Esther. "Costumes are optional, but we decided to go ahead and go for it."

"Grandma Ang is already dressed and helping get things set up." Joseph took the paper towel Elizabeth offered him and wiped off his face and hair. "I checked with her on my way out and she said she was fine."

Elizabeth grabbed her own car keys, happy at a time like this their cars had arrived from the mainland a few days earlier. "I'll let her know what's going on, grab our costumes and meet you back here."

Joseph kissed her cheek. "Sounds like a plan."

Three hours later Steve and Catherine pulled into the driveway at nearly the same time and headed for the house, not sure exactly what they were going to find. Esther had assured them both the situation was completely under control but still, they knew what a disaster water leaks could be.

They entered the kitchen and saw Joseph washing his hands in the sink while Esther wiped off several picture frames and Elizabeth dried the pages of a book with a hair dryer.

The person who immediately caught their eyes though was a smiling and cooing Angie, perched in her seat in the middle of the island, dressed in a yellow rain slicker complete with hat and tiny yellow boots that Carrie had bought for her during a particularly wet week in September.

"Well don't you look adorable," Steve cooed as he lifted her out of her carrier and kissed her cheek.

"I thought that was the perfect outfit for the occasion," Esther grinned.

"And you look like you were having some fun," Catherine laughed as she petted Cammie's wet head and observed her soggy paws.

After a quick trip to the den to check out the damage Catherine and Steve returned to the kitchen.

"Thanks for taking care of that, Joseph," Steve said sincerely.

"My pleasure." Joseph dried his hands on the nearest dishtowel. "Let's give it a few days to let the wood dry out and some night next week I'll come over and we can patch up that plaster."

"Are you sure, Dad?" Catherine asked. "You already did so much fixing the leak. You don't have to help fix the hole too."

"Are you kidding?" Joseph's face erupted in a bright smile. "The navy gave me the chance to travel all over the world, see all kinds of amazing things, and challenged me to be the best man I could be. But this? Living close enough for you to call me to be an emergency fill in nanny or fix something that goes wrong around the house … to be a part of your everyday lives …" he spread his arms wide, "This is livin' the dream."

Catherine wrapped her arms around her father and kissed him on the cheek. She couldn't find the words to express how happy she was at their current situation as well.

She didn't need to.

He understood.

So did everyone else in the room.

Esther decided to hang around for a few minutes to help Catherine continue the clean-up and to see Joseph and Elizabeth's costumes. Once they yelled down that they were ready Steve, Catherine, Esther and Angie gathered in the living room for the reveal.

"Close your eyes," Elizabeth called down, still out of sight behind the guest room door.

They all did as instructed, except for Angie, and several seconds later, after some quick shuffling around on the stairs, Joseph said, "Okay, open them."

Catherine couldn't escape the squeal of delight followed by a long "awwwwwwwwww" that escaped her lips. She looked at Steve who was beaming himself. Both had suspiciously watery eyes.

Esther pulled out her phone and began snapping pictures.

Joseph and Elizabeth were dressed in matching Hawaiian print shorts, sandals, and sporting identical t-shirts emblazoned with the words 'Ask me About My Adorable Granddaughter'.

Under one arm Joseph carried an oversized teddy bear and in the other he carried a large photo album. Elizabeth carried a stack of books in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other.

"We're proud grandparents," they said excitedly in unison.

"The best costume we ever had," Elizabeth beamed.

"Especially," Joseph's eyes sparkled, "Because we get to live it every day."

THE END

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