Denial is the Way

The twins first time at the beach: 

 

Vera and Emil are finally ten months old and entered a new year last month. After being with the whole family for Christmas and New Years, Ender and Nevan decided to take the twins to the beach. 

 

As they arrived at the beach, finding a spot and setting up, Ender laid Emil and Vera on the vast towel they put down. 

 

They used sunscreen, suitable for babies, and rubbed it on the twins while also setting up an umbrella to give them shade. 

 

Then, Nevan and Ender put sunscreen on themselves. They were also not in swimsuits. They are wearing shorts and sleeveless jackets, but they never planned to go swimming. 

 

Nevan and Ender only wanted Emil and Vera to experience the beach for the first time. 

 

And as they sat down, watching the twins, they concluded that Vera loves the beach, while Emil hates it. 

 

Vera crawled closer to the sand, staying on the blanket as she touched the sand. She watched it slip through her fingers in fascination and started slapping it. 

 

Ender, not wanting Vera to slap the sand anymore because she spread it everywhere, handing her a small bucket and shovel. 

 

Vera put her shovel in the sand, scooping some up. A few fell out from the way she held it as she brought it to the bucket, pouring it inside. 

 

She stuck her head into the bucket to look at the sand. Nevan had to pull her head out. He did not want her to get sand in her nose or eyes. 

 

"Vera, keep your face out of the bucket, please," Nevan told her. 

 

"Ah!" Vera responded before she started scooping up more sand and dumping it in the bucket. 

 

She started to enjoy the process of dumping the sand in the bucket. Plus, she has barely seen sand before, so she was fascinated by it all. 

 

Now, when it came to Emil, he instead would rather stay at home and chill inside. He is starting to turn into his papa when it comes to being outside and sleeping. 

 

He loves to sleep, enjoys being lazy, and likes to hear stories on the side. And being at the beach only made Emil realize how much he loves those things. 

 

Emil rolled from his back to front and front to back multiple times until he grew bored with it. Then he did like Vera, crawling towards the sand. 

 

It only took one touch for Emil to frown and crawl back to his original spot. He hated the way the sand felt. He even wiped his hand on the towel to get rid of the remaining sand on it. 

 

Ender and Nevan tried to cover their laughter when they saw Emil's expression. It was funny because Emil almost looked disgusted. 

 

Emil put himself in a sleeping position, getting ready to take a nap, when a seagull appeared next to him. 

 

Ender and Nevan were getting ready to get up. They did not want the seagull to hurt Emil if it did attack. 

 

Emil looked at the seagull, giving it a deadpan expression as he waved his hand, "Hoo, hoo!" 

 

Instead of going away, the seagull stayed and stared at Emil. Then, it started to get closer when Ender moved over, shooing the seagull away; the seagull left to Ender, Nevan's, and even Emil's relief. 

 

Ender picks up Emil, moving him to where he and Nevan are sitting. Then, he put Emil in his lap. 

 

Since Nevan and Ender sat close together, Emil stretched his body to where he was in both of his parent's laps. 

 

He got in a comfortable position, finally feeling better than before. Ender laughed, "You probably hate the beach now, huh, Emil?" 

 

Emil looked at his papa for a second longer before closing his eyes and taking a nap. 

 

Hopefully, his papa understood what he meant. 

 

Nevan chuckled, patting Emil's feet, "I think he hates it." 

 

Ender looked at Vera, who happily kept putting sand into the bucket; she was enjoying herself. 

 

"At least one of them likes it," Ender commented. 

 

"Yeah." Nevan agreed, watching Vera.

---

Emil and Vera's first swim: 

 

Ender was at his family's home, in the back, where the swimming pool was. Nevan and Ender wanted to take the twins swimming for the first time, and it is easier to do it at the pool at the family's home. 

 

Nevan was in the pool, holding Vera as he swam her around the pool. Vera giggled, enjoying the water as she kicked her feet. She acted like she was swimming by herself. 

 

Ender sat on a floaty chair with Emil in his lap. They were flowing with the water, lying down with sunglasses on. 

 

Initially, Ender held Emil in the water, swimming him around. But after a few minutes, he and Emil grew tired of it as Ender got them a floaty chair to relax on instead. 

 

Ender wasn't a big swimmer anyway, and Emil did not mind this option at all. If anything involves relaxing, Emil is ready to do it. 

 

After ten months, people knew that Emil is the lazy one while Vera is the active one. 

 

Ender's mother came out with drinks. Two in cups for Ender and Nevan, while the other two were in a sippy cup. 

 

Ender pushed the floaty chair towards the edge of the pool, grabbing his and Emil's drink. He gave the sippy cup to Emil, who held it without taking a sip. Ender took a sip of his drink, though. 

 

"Thanks, mom." 

 

His mother smiled at him and her grandson, "No problem, honey." 

 

Nevan swam near them, holding onto Vera as he sat her on the edge of the pool. He stayed real close to her, ready to catch her if she falls or slips. 

 

He grabbed the drinks from Ender's mother, giving the sippy cup to Vera. Vera instantly started drinking her water. She worked hard with kicking her feet and stuff. 

 

Nevan held his drink, not taking a sip yet, "Thank you, mother-in-law." 

 

"It is my pleasure, son." 

 

Ender narrowed his eyes at his mother, "How come Nevan gets 'son,' and I get 'honey?' 

 

The mother shook her head, "I love you, En." 

 

Ender hummed, although he kept narrowing his eyes at his mother. 

 

Nevan chuckled, "Oh, there goes Ender again." 

 

"Hey!" Ender responded while his mother laughed. 

 

Nevan kissed his cheek. 

 

"You two get back to swimming so that I can get more pictures. I can never have enough." The mother spoke, pulling out her camera as she took a picture. 

 

Nevan drank half of his glass before setting it on the edge of the pool, then he grabbed Vera, putting her sippy cup down as they went back to swimming. 

 

Ender stayed in his spot, letting the water slowly push the floaty chair as Emil lazily drank from his sippy cup. 

 

Ender and Nevan can say that the twins enjoyed their first swim.