I got a puppy and a baby what a man.

The trip back home was an adventure. The puppy seemed to think it was supposed to swim the whole way and kept trying to jump out of the boat. The only good thing about that was Renee was so busy trying to control the puppy that she didn't get seasick.

She laughed and cuddled the monster sitting in the back. She looked and smelled much better they just wondered how long that would last. 

They pulled up to the dock and Renee let her loose. Seconds later she was taking a dump right as you step off the dock.

"That is probably why she wanted off the boat so badly," Keith said watching the runny mess fall right in their footpath. He helped Renee onto the dock and tossed two boxes and the freezer bag on the dock as he climbed out of the boat. Collecting up the shovel by the house he scooped the mess and tossed it in the ocean. Disgusting as it was the fish loved it swarming around the mess. 

 Renee got a big pot of rice boiling and unpacked the groceries. Keith was fishing trying to fill his quota for the day and feed the small moose they brought home. He was kind of glad she found her. She will entertain Renee while he works. He feels badly that he is so preoccupied, and she is on her own so much of the time. But when he gets in the zone the words just flow and he must put it down. Right now, it is a disjointed mess; but soon he'll bring it all together. 

Renee put the pregnancy test on the toilet to wait for her morning pee as instructed. She'll wait for a reaction when he comes to bed. Most days he pees on a palm tree but at night he does his business in the compost pot. He claims he can only be so savage. Keith came out of their room excited with the test in hand. That smile on his face told her everything. 

In the morning they hugged happily once the test was complete. Keith felt like the king of the island and his woman was pregnant. 

The month rolled on and Lucy never made a mess in the house. They did leave the front door open, so she had free access to the outside world. Renee had to put string up around her garden to keep Lucy out. She loved the tomatoes and carrots. She was growing big and strong and was smart as a whip. Either that or Renee was a good trainer. She came when called and sat to await instructions. He always wanted kids but hadn't found anyone worthy to carry them until now.

She knew the beach and the dock and went on command. She would wait at the gut table for tidbits as Keith spoiled her daily. This was their lives with an easy flow they couldn't have been happier. Renee and Lucy spent hours on the beach playing in the water with Keith on the porch typing away trying to catch a cool breeze. Summer was upon them, and it was getting warmer. Their daily downpour was now every few days.

 *

May came and Renee knew she had to ask if Monica and the kids could come for a visit. Chuck her husband has asked to come also. He says he can help rig up a water catchment system as an incentive to let him come. He knows Renee never liked him, but he would like to come and enjoy a vacation for once in his life.

 "I know it will be crazy around here for a week or so, but I would love to see my family," Renee told him as they ate dinner. 

 "I think I can cope with a house full of kids. It will give us practice for the horde I want to have with you."

 "You want a horde out of me you're crazy. You'll be lucky to get two from me," Renee warned and grinned at him. 

"I got my first one quick so we will see who wins this race," he offered and took a bite of his rice and fish dinner she made. It looked a lot like Lucy's dinner just a little more spices. 

"Well let's see how the first one goes before we get too excited."

"But your sister has five so what's the problem?"

"The problem is, I think she is crazy to have so many. They can be wild Indians if left unchecked."

"That is called being a kid and I hope they enjoy every minute they are here. So what time frame are we talking about?"

"I was thinking the second week of June for a week or ten days." 

 "Sounds good we need to get on Amazon and send a bunch of stuff to them to bring. We are running out of stuff," Keith told her.

 "You need to talk to Chuck about your idea on the catchment system maybe they can bring that also."

 "Good idea and with that many they will be able to bring more than usual. But even with the added shipping cost it will be cheaper to bring the stuff than buy it here," Keith told her. 

"Let me contact Monica and let her know the plan and see when Chuck can sit down and discuss your ideas. That only gives us a month to get it all together. Plus, we will need to buy water and fruit and have it here before they come,"

 "We'll have Thomas round us up someone who would be willing to help bring them out here and all the gear in a much bigger boat."

 "Make sure you tell them limited clothes, three outfits, and bathing suits is all they need," Keith reminded her how little they wear during the week.

"You do know you have to wear something while they are here."

 "Sure, and I'll even wear something when I talk to Chuck and not embarrass you"

"That is so kind of you. Thank you for agreeing to let them come. My ex wouldn't even let them swim in our pool much less step foot in the house," she said as they hugged. She was excited to have them come out and enjoy the life she was living. 

 "Maybe it is good he didn't, there is no telling what he might have done to the girls," he told her and that set her back in her chair.

 "I hadn't thought of that. I did question what he would do to our children and was grateful we didn't have any." 

 *

Renee spent an hour going over a shopping list with Monica as they planned their stay in June. She got the sizes for the kids and their junk food preferences. Spending a few hours on the Wal-Mart website she bought everything she could think of to make their stay memorable. She also bought swim masks and fins for the kids and a dozen more towels. 

Her biggest concern is the water situation. The desalination system could only pump out a hundred gallons a day. That many people will use it up fast. She visualized herself washing towels at the beach all day. They will have stiff salt-encrusted towels for the duration of the visit. With any luck, they will have rain to rinse them as they hang out on the clothesline. The place would begin to look like Ma and Pa kettle on the farm with that many people here. 

 Her computer pinged around 7:00 that evening Chuck was ready to discuss the catchment system. Renee sat back and listened as they talked and heard a lot of laughing as Keith had both computers running to find what Chuck had found on the Amazon site. 

They went over the pros and cons of the different systems and discussed the way the house was built. Chuck told him to buy a tarp and some rope after he saw the pictures of the place. They plan to stretch the tarp in the trees and catch the water that falls from the sky almost daily that way. With the other one attached to the house gutter system.

Chuck told him they were so excited about coming they hadn't had a real vacation the whole fifteen years they had been married. Renee chuckled they hadn't been married fifteen years they had two kids before he married Monica. Maybe he meant that was how long they had been together. She will give him that. She was just happy they seemed to get along so well. It will make the visit much easier if they get along. 

She could just imagine Martin spending a week with them. That would have been a nightmare for them all. It would have never happened if Martin was still around. First, he would never move to a place that anyone would want to come visit much less spend a vacation with them. Beggars can't be choosey, but she wanted to give the kids something they will always remember. A week here may do that. It could inspire them to work hard so they can afford someplace like this one day. 

If she could inspire just one of them to try for more than they have up until now she has accomplished a lot. She has put aside money for them to go to college if they want to or trade school. She doesn't see Hank in college. A welder, a plumber, an auto mechanic maybe she could give him a job she thought as she went back to making her list for the Wal-Mart site. 

 "That Chuck is kind of crazy, but he is smart. We have it all figured out and they are going to use the catchment barrels as luggage for the trip. We will send their stuff back in boxes." Keith told her coming up from behind and hugging her tightly and quickly going after what he wanted most, her body. 

 A few weeks later they went back to Vista Del Mar taking Lucy with them. She needed her shots and Keith needed to arrange for transportation for their company and all the stuff they were bringing. 

Renee wanted to wait until the end of summer to have Lucy fixed. She was worried about how she would do with all the kids and being cut open just weeks before they came. 

 They are going to fill their boat with bottled water in gallon jugs. She is going to buy lots of fruit the kind that wouldn't spoil quickly knowing they would be back in two weeks. Renee would take the others shopping while the men loaded the boats when they got here. 

Lucy managed to jump out of the boat one time. Keith immediately cut the engine and pulled her back in as Renee clung to her leash. She seemed to decide that was not as fun as she thought it would be and calmed down for the rest of the trip. Thomas was on the dock waiting as he said he would be. Keith smiled and waved as they pulled up. Once tied up to the dock Lucy ran and did her business and came right back to Renee as they walked to the waiting cab.

"We are so excited my sister and her family are coming for a week to visit soon," Renee told Thomas and Keith began to tell him what they needed to get them all to the island. Swinging by the vet they left Lucy so they could shop. She needed another pill to kill the fleas she may get while on the mainland.

Thomas waited out front of the biggest grocery store talking with several other taxi drivers waiting for their fares to finish shopping. He was collecting information for Keith on who to contact to bring the family out to the island on their boat. Finding a truck to go to the airport will be easy Thomas has a brother-in-law with one. 

Renee picked up another twenty-pound bag of rice and another bag of dog food. She also picked up several things she had been craving and the fruit. Keith stacked a few cases of beer on top of the water after all Chuck was coming. The store loaned them a flat cart for all their shopping needs. The place reminded Renee of a Sam's or Costco but was way more expensive. 

Renee wondered how the locals could afford this place but noticed most of the people in the place looked American and German from the language she heard. That was how they stayed in business gouging the tourists. They didn't mind too much if they found what they wanted. It is only a vacation to them, but for Renee and Keith, this is life, not a vacation. 

They loaded the taxi to the brim leaving barely enough room for Renee and Lucy in the backseat. They swung by the vet and paid a fortune to get their dog back. They were sold meds to keep the dog from getting heartworms and fleas. The island didn't seem to have fleas or mosquitoes yet, but who knows once the rainy season starts again? "So far there is no standing water anywhere on the island. It was like when they backfilled with sand the rocks, they made sure it all ran off." Keith was telling Thomas their plans as they made their way to the dock. Renee was squirming in the back trying to control Lucy. 

Riding low in the water they made their way back to the island. Lucy curled up and slept near the front of the boat which everyone was grateful for. Once they got back Renee brought the food up as Keith dealt with the water. 

"I need to buy one of those hand trucks you can roll things on it up to the house," Keith complained after his fifth trip in the house lugging the water.

"Or put saddlebags on the dog and have her carry it up here. Her paperwork says she weighs forty-eight pounds and she's not even five months. She is going to be a horse," Renee complained as she looked at the bill. She had no idea a pet could cost so much. Or should she say a well-kept dog? She knows there is no way Monica spends this much on her two dogs. 

Thank God she has her own money. She just put it on her Visa bill wondering if she got the gringo pricing. The locals try to make as much as they can off the tourists. Thomas keeps warning them about being taken advantage of. He has probably saved them more money than he has cost them during their stay taking them to the best places. 

They worked for days with Lucy leaving her at home and going out on the boat. The first few times they pulled away from the dock she swam after them. It took ten tries before the dog began to understand to stay on land they would come back soon. The last time they pulled away she stood on the dock and watched them pull out far and she just waited for them to come back. They prayed when they came back with her family, they didn't have a floating horse to contend with. She has never seen a shark so maybe she would last a while swimming. She spends hours in the water with Renee. She has even learned to dive and pick up things from the sandy bottom of their little bay.

To Renee, she looked like she was just gaining weight, but Keith knew that rounding out her belly was his child. He spent his evenings with his hand cupped to the bump as his other hand roamed. Renee could never complain he didn't pay attention to her. Writing or not if she walked in, she had his attention. The fact she was naked might help. 

They bought a five-gallon bucket that Keith planned to bury it under the eaves of the house to hide their valuables from the kids. Keith's gun will go in there also. Passports extra money anything they don't want to have come up missing. Bucky was a known thief. He could find every fake rock of fake dog poop that hid a key in every neighborhood in a five-mile radius. His only saving grace is that he was so young when he got caught a slap on the wrist has been the punishment so far. Monica says she knows he is still doing it. He had new stuff all the time she sure didn't pay for it. 

Keith made it look like nothing was there and then placed a flower pot on top of the hiding spot. Keith didn't feel bad for doing it. Renee suggested it for their and the kid's protection. Monica knows her oldest has sticky fingers too. That was another reason she left before the kids came home. Bucky could steal her blind and she never knew he was near her purse. Renee expressed her concern about him shooting the place up if he found the gun. 

This was Keith's best idea. He saw it online and went for it. She didn't see Bucky digging more than a few inches if he thought something was there as lazy as he was. Three more pots spaced around completed the disguise. Renee cleaned the house. Sand was the biggest problem as she swept it out the door. She knows most came from Lucy, but she knows Monica was not a great housekeeper either, so she was not overly concerned with her opinion on her house cleaning job. 

Keith swept the porch and had all the storm windows pulled down and they needed to leave to meet Monica's plane it was set to land in an hour. 

Lucy ran from the dock to the beach and then back as they boated away. Renee kept yelling at her to stay and be good. Her last look back Lucy was sitting on the dock, and she prayed she stayed there. The ride in was uneventful and Renee seemed to be over her seasickness. She slathered sunscreen on her and Keith on the way. It was June and it was hot even on the water. On the island they have so much shade it keeps them cooler. 

She was so excited to see Monica and the kids which she finds strange. She has never looked forward to a visit with Monica's family before. Maybe her excitement is because she is bringing them to her world which she loves. 

Renee paid for the passports which only came in last week and the tickets were waiting for them at the airport. Monica called and she could hear the excitement coming from the kids as they boarded the plane. She sounds overwhelmed already. She was not a drinker, so Renee didn't know what to do to help her relax. Except give the kids something to do besides bugging her. 

Thomas was waiting on the dock. Keith called him ten minutes out. With a wave and a smile, he knew this was a big day for Renee. Everything was ready for them, but it was going to cost Keith quite a bit. Amazingly he didn't seem to care. Two docks up sat a man with a much larger boat. Thomas called out to him and walked with Keith to him to introduce them. 

"The flight lands in half an hour we will be back as soon as we can and then we will go," he assured him with a smile. Thomas told him not to pay him until the trip was over. Don't trust any of them was what Renee took from the conversation. 

They made it to the airport in plenty of time and she and Keith went inside for the cool air conditioning to wait for them. Customs may be a problem as they looked at the mountain of stuff they brought. Renee thought she may have gotten carried away, but it was better to have too much than not enough.

They came rolling out of double doors fifteen minutes later. Renee rushed to greet them and hugged everyone as they commented about her dark tan and wild hair. She had gone native and didn't care what they thought. Chuck rolled one of the barrels and the two older boys rolled the other. Monica and the girls carried the carry-on luggage. 

An old Ranger pick-up pulled up behind Thomas waiting for their luggage. Chuck stopped rolling his catchment and shook hands with Keith and the boys grinned and kept rolling as Keith pointed out where to go. It took five of them to pick the catchments up and put them in the bed of the truck. The boys sat in the back of the truck after Renee assured Monica it was not illegal there the rest crowded into the taxi as Keith rode in the truck to the dock. A few minutes later the ocean came into view and the kids all got excited seeing the clear blue water. Thomas turned to the docks taking their excitement away. The boats brought it back knowing they were closer to their goal in a matter of minutes. 

They loaded the boat and headed out with kids hanging over the side running their hands in the water squealing about seeing fish and one claiming to have seen a shark fin. Chuck and Keith haven't stopped talking since they got in the boat. Their island came into site and Renee stood and pointed it out. That took everyone's interest, so they watched as it got closer. 

Everyone was on the rented boat while Chuck and Keith were on his boat leading the pack. Lucy was on the dock still waiting, Renee was so proud. She couldn't believe how she worried was about that silly puppy. You could tell the second she recognized their boat. She ran to the beach out in the water turned and ran back to the dock like she was trying to figure out how to get to them the fastest. 

This was the longest she had been left alone in her life. Keith pulled up to the dock and had to contend with Lucy until the other boat docked. She was so excited to see him that she couldn't contain herself. Once she saw Renee she was out of his boat and onto the other wiggling excitedly wanting hugs and kisses as everyone collected their things eager to get on dry land. 

The kids ran off to look things over as Monica and Renee took the tour of the property. They left the barrels on the dock as Keith paid the boat owner and sent him on his way. He and Chuck opened the house as the others stood on the beach taking in the view. Lucky for them the tide was out. Unlucky for them storm clouds were coming. At least it waited until they got to the island.

It was the normal afternoon shower. Moisture collects from the rain forest in the heat of the day and the wind blows them to the coast. They know it will be a short shower and it helps to cool things off for a while. Everyone took off for the house except Renee she has learned to take advantage of the daily shower to wash away all the salt on her body. If it had been a normal day, she would have stood naked and just enjoyed the shower, but with company, she kept moving to the house. She went and changed into dry clothes as the kids staked their claims to beds looking the place over. Lucy wouldn't let Renee out of her sight always wanting a head rub.

Renee came out to find the kitchen overrun with kids. Each one wanted to eat, and Monica was not sure what to feed them. Renee brought out a big bowl of fruit. The kids looked at her like she was crazy but took something when nothing else was offered. 

 "The rain is over, and we need dinner," Renee announced to Keith the dinner catcher. The men and boys went out they had a few rods and reels from what the owners left them, so he will have plenty of help. They guys sat around the dock fishing as Renee and Monica sat on the porch drinking tea and the girls were on the beach playing with Lucy. She was in heaven with so much attention. 

Once dinner was caught and ready to cook the guys will work on the barrels that were still on the dock. None of them seemed too excited about moving them. Bucky told Keith about the problems they had at the airport in Austin. The Southwest people were not happy to have to deal with the large heavy barrels in baggage claim. The kids knew all the goodies were in those barrels so that inspired them to help.

 Everyone had a ball as the kids roamed the island and explored everything in their six-acre prison. The boys found a cave on the south side of the island and set up camp three days into the nine-day stay. This was fine with everyone let them play Swiss Family Robinson. They slept in hammocks without any mosquitoes they enjoyed the freedom. They only saw them at meal time and Lucy spent many nights out with them. They swam with their masks and caught a few fish by hand. They would make good characters for a remake of Lord of the Flies. 

 The daily rain showers were welcome to everyone and most of them just kept going until they dried off. They ate most of the garden the second it was ripe, and Chuck and Keith made a trip back to town mid-week for more fruit and rice. The kids weren't thrilled with the menu selection; but they were promised a hamburger on the way home from the airport, so they are placated.

Renee couldn't understand their complaints. Rice fresh veggies, fruit, and fish were a wonderful meal to her plus she was keeping her weight down. Her biggest fear was getting a huge ass while she was pregnant.

Chuck and Keith hooked up the catchment system and built an outside shower. So, for washing and cleaning, they had lots of water. They were able to wash the fish at the gut station with fresh water instead of ocean water. That made Renee happy. 

Her little belly was getting bigger all the time. The final day arrived, and Renee chose to not go to the airport making that trip didn't sound good to her. The boat was full enough as it was, and she was exhausted from getting them ready to go. Taking only dirty clothes back with them they packed it all in one suitcase bidding her goodbye. 

Keith came back two hours later with more food and lots of hugs and kisses for a nice vacation from them all. Renee was naked and cleaning when he entered the house. Displaying her little belly, he couldn't resist and took her to bed. He couldn't believe how excited he was for this baby to get here. He had visions of the Blue Lagoon floating in his head. He wanted to swim with his child and enjoy the beach with him.

"Ok I will give you this much, five maybe too many," Keith offered lying across the bed with his head on her stomach. 

"Oh yeah and if I think up something that dumb again you have the right to shoot me," Renee told him after seeing the mess they had to clean up. Even the dog was exhausted. 

Later that evening, Renee went out to her garden to see what she had left and to plant some more carrots and cucumber seeds. She found the evening a good time to work it has cooled off quite a bit. She took their SAT phone with her because Monica was supposed to call when they got home and tell her all about their hamburgers. 

She was thinking about the visit and chuckled. She knows they all had a good time and won't forget this vacation ever. She knows she won't nor will Keith. He never complained and seemed to enjoy them all. She knows he will make a good father if he can keep his sense of humor with that crew, he is a good man.