Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 56
Late September 2005.......
Lynn and Paul watched Mackenzie as she tried to put the round block into the square hole of her toy. She'd move it around and finally turned the toy over and found the round hole. She smiled when it went in.
"She's so smart," Lynn said, glancing at Paul. He nodded and smiled.
"We're back," Britney said as she came in through the patio door.
"How was the walk?" Lynn asked.
"It was nice," Justin said, throwing his keys on the counter.
"Yeah, the beach wasn't crowded at all," Britney agreed.
"Mommy," Mackenzie said, holding up her toy.
"What you got there?" Britney asked as she knelt down next to her.
"We watched her put that round block in there all by herself," Lynn said, proudly.
"You're getting good at that, aren't you?" Britney asked before kissing her on the top of her head.
When she stood up, she almost lost her balance but Justin was standing behind her and held her arms to help balance her.
"You okay?" Lynn asked.
"Yeah....just stood up too fast," Britney smiled at her.
"We were thinking about having a little picnic on the beach for dinner tonight," Justin said.
"We found the perfect spot," Britney nodded.
"Sounds like fun," Paul agreed.
"Good morning," Jamie said as he entered the kitchen.
"Morning," everyone chimed in.
"Where's mama?" Britney asked, looking around the room.
"I think she went for a walk as well...she mentioned something about going to look for seashells" Lynn said.
"Of course," Britney laughed. "Mama loves doing that for some reason."
Mackenzie stood up and still held her toy in her hand as she walked over to where Britney and Justin were standing. She looked up at them and in doing so, lost her balance and fell back and landed on her butt but then fell all the way back and hit her head on the floor.
"Oh," Britney said quickly but she didn't make a move. Sometimes Mackenzie only cried because people made a big deal about it so she was going to play it out and see if she was really hurt.
Mackenzie looked up at her parents and then started to cry as she sat up. She rubbed the back of her head.
Justin leaned down and scooped her up.
"What is it with you and your head, huh?" he asked, kissing the spot where she was rubbing.
"Dadddyyyy," she cried.
"I know," he said, cradling her in his arms. "You still don't have the balance thing down, do you?"
Britney rubbed her back and then quickly walked out of the room to head to the bathroom.
Justin leaned down and moved Mackenzie's toy out of the way so that no one would step on it.
"I was just talking to Bryan," Jamie said. "He tells everyone hi."
"I wish he and Lauren could have come down, I'd love to see that baby of theirs," Lynn said.
"He's growing like a weed," Jamie said.
The all chuckled.
Britney came back in a few minutes.
"I'm going to fix some breakfast....anyone not want eggs and bacon?" Lynn asked.
"I think I'll just have cereal," Britney said, holding her stomach.
Justin gave her a sympathetic look and rubbed her back.
"You not feeling too well?" Lynn asked. Again she was trying to hide her smile since she had already figured out their news.
"It comes and goes. Must be some kind of strange virus."
Lynn nodded and proceeded to get the items she needed to make the breakfast.
About an hour later everyone was fed and started to get ready to spend a day on the beach together.
There was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Britney said since she was the closest. "Hi Randy," she said with a smile.
"Hello there, pretty thing," he said pulling her into his arms. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing great, thanks."
"Hi daddy," Justin said from over Britney's shoulder.
"Hello son," Randy said with a big smile on his face.
They embraced when Britney got out of the way.
"Paw paw," Mackenzie said from down below.
Randy looked down and crouched down so he was more eye level with her.
"Well hello there beautiful. I think you've gotten even more beautiful since the last time I saw you. What do I have here?" he asked, holding out his hand.
Mackenzie smiled when she saw that he held a packet of stickers.
"Oh you found one of her favorite things," Britney said.
Mackenzie took the stickers from him.
"What do you say?" Justin asked.
"Pease...." then she looked up at Justin and he shook his head.
"That was nice but what else do you say?"
"Fank you," she said.
"You're very welcome," he said before giving her a big kiss on the cheek.
"God she's adorable," he said, standing up.
"I'd have to agree with you," Justin said, slapping him on the back. "We'll let you get settled in if you want, but we're heading down to the beach in a little bit."
"Sounds good. I have a couple of calls to make but then I'll be right down."
Mackenzie screamed in delight as she ran across the sand.
"Oh good Lord, Justin stop her from doing that," Britney said, sitting up a little on her mat. She was shading her eyes with her hand.
Justin chuckled and grabbed Mackenzie from behind before she could get any farther.
"Come here you little sand flea," he said, trying to tickle her. "Your feet have got to be getting hot. You want to go into the water with me?"
"Yes," she said.
"Okay, here we go."
He slowly inched his way into the water, letting the waves hit his legs, which splashed water onto both of them. Mackenzie giggled every time the waves crashed.
"What am I going to do with you two?" Britney said as she stood up and grabbed Mackenzie's floaties and then walked over to them.
"Don't go in there with her without these," she said.
Justin held her while Britney put the arm floaties on Mackenzie.
"So are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lynn asked Lynne while they laid out on their mats that were next to where Britney was just laying.
"I think so. How far along do you think she could be? She's not showing in the least bit," Lynne replied.
"Probably not long at all. I mean Britney's still young and is in great shape but I have a feeling she'll show a little more quickly this time since her body has already been stretched out once."
Lynne nodded.
"Maybe six weeks or so?"
"Maybe.....do you think it was planned?"
Lynne shaded her eyes and looked over at Lynn. "I don't know. She never mentioned them trying to get pregnant to me."
"Me either."
"They seem happy," Lynne shrugged. "Whether it was planned or not, they're adapting to it well."
"Well look at how well they adapted to the news last time," Lynn chuckled as she nodded toward her son and daughter-in-law.
"Beautifully, I think," Lynne chuckled.
"There, now you and daddy can go into the water," Britney said before giving Mackenzie a kiss on the arm.
"And so can mommy," Justin said, grabbing Britney's hand.
"No, Justin...I want to go lay out," she said, trying to pull away from him.
"Uh uh.....Mackenzie wants you with us, right?"
Mackenzie wasn't paying attention to her parents, she was too busy watching the water as Justin walked in deeper.
A huge wave splashed Justin's waist and got all three of them wet, but Mackenzie just wiped off her face and started to laugh.
"Oh you thought that was funny, huh?" Britney chuckled.
"Again," Mackenzie said.
"Do you think they know that we know?" Lynn asked.
Lynne chuckled. "I don't think they have a clue. The men don't even know what we know."
"True," Lynn laughed. "They're so clueless."
Once Justin and Britney were in water that was up to their chests they stopped because the waves were a little more steady out this far.
Mackenzie started to splash her hands in the water, but Justin grabbed them with his free hand. "Please stop doing that," he said.
Britney stepped on something she wasn't too sure about so she started to wade in the water. "Ewww," she said.
Justin chuckled. "Here," he said, holding his arm out.
She swam to him and he held her in one arm and Mackenzie in the other.
"We're a close family, aren't we?" Britney asked as she pulled Mackenzie's suit down a little in the back.
"You feeling better?" Justin asked.
"Yeah....I don't know where that wave of nausea came from this morning. I haven't been as sick this pregnancy. Do you think your mom noticed?"
He chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure she did. Our moms are pretty smart, they pick up on those things."
She nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Well, we're going to tell them tonight anyway."
Mackenzie laid her head down on Justin's shoulder and her eyelids started to droop.
"Looks like the sun is making someone sleepy," Britney said.
"Let's go back," he said.
When they walked back up on the beach Britney laid another towel down next to hers and put the small umbrella up.
"That's cute," Lynne said.
"We got it just for her."
When Justin knelt down and tried to put Mackenzie down, she struggled because she didn't want to take a nap.
"Hold still, I have to get these off of you," Britney said sternly.
As soon as Britney got the floaties off of her arm she stood up and started to walk away but didn't get far before she started to hop a little and cry.
"Yeah, hot sand," Justin said, picking her up and placing her back down on the towel.
She sat there for a second and pouted.
"Come on, lay down, like mommy," Britney said, laying down on her side, facing Mackenzie.
Mackenzie sat there and stared at the sand, not budging.
"I'm going to go talk to my dad," Justin said, looking up over at his father.
"Okay...we'll be fine," Britney said.
"So, what kinds of things should we bring to this picnic tonight?" Lynn asked.
"I thought we'd keep it simple and have fried chicken or something. Doesn't that sound good?" Britney asked, looking over her shoulder.
Both of them nodded.
Later that evening Justin came back in from outside.
"I think I've got everything set up," he said to Britney.
She smiled. "Good. I'm hoping Mackenzie falls asleep right after we eat or we're going to have our hands full."
"What else should we bring?" Jamie asked as he walked to the door holding the cooler.
"Mama's got the basket of chicken and corn...."
"We've got rolls and napkins, utensils...."
They listed off a bunch of items.
"Mackenzie?" Britney yelled.
Mackenzie came walking into the room holding a doll.
"You ready to go?" Britney asked.
Mackenzie nodded and walked over to Britney who was holding out her hand.
"This was a nice idea," Lynn said as she leaned up against Paul's side. Everyone had finished their food and sat back to relax now.
Justin had prepared the area with tiki type torches and blankets.
Britney was right, Mackenzie was laying with her head on Britney's lap about ready to fall asleep. The sound of the ocean was her lullaby.
Justin leaned down and kissed Mackenzie's cheek before kissing Britney's.
"I know you guys are wondering why we decided to invite you out here suddenly," Britney started.
Lynn and Lynne glanced over at each other and smiled.
"Well, okay, maybe a couple of you already know," Britney chuckled, noticing their moms looking at each other. "Anyway.....Justin and I are going to have another baby."
Everyone talked all at once and stood up, which made Justin and Britney have to stand up. Britney let Mackenzie lie on the blanket still as everyone exchanged hugs.
"You guys knew, didn't you?" Britney asked her mom and mother-in-law.
They both looked at each other and nodded.
"But a mother can tell these things," Lynne said.
"You're glowing," Lynn added, touching Britney's cheek.
"I'm so happy," Britney said, glancing over at her husband with a big smile on her face.