“You keep that shit up and we’re gonna go home.” Kyra bellows across the beach, having just watched Adina sling an entire handful of sand directly at an unsuspecting little boy trying to play in the water. Adina stands up and plants her little hands on her hips, glaring back at her mother.

Ken shakes his head as Kyra pipes up again. “Don’t tempt me, little girl. I’ll do it.”

“I think she likes him,” Ken quips as Kyra gives him a look. “What? It’s how you used to flirt with me.”

A smirk crosses her lips as she turns her attention back towards the water and her daughter who is now apparently digging a hole in the sand – God only knows the reason why. “Well, that’s different.” She finally responds after watching Adina for a few moments, and feeling content enough with the fact that it would take the little girl at least a half hour to dig a hole big enough to bury that poor little boy in.

“Yeah, different. I don’t think she’s going for attempted murder.”

“We’ll see how far she gets on that hole she’s digging… Then we’ll know for sure if she tries to throw him in.”

Ken uses his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looks over at his now daughter. She was a hellion, just like her mother. Satisfied that she’s not trying to dump a body, Ken turns to his wife.

“What do we have on the schedule for next week?”

Kyra rolls onto her side and props her head up on her hand, grinning. “Well you get to sit back and watch Mama go to work.”

“I do like watching Mama work,” he says as he rolls over and takes her hand. “After that. You know, before Wrestlepalooza or whatever it is.”

“You’ve got that cruise, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Ken frowns, giving Kyra’s hand a gentle squeeze. “You got anything going on? I mean this will be our first time being apart since we got married. You gonna be okay?”

Kyra doesn’t answer right away, instead she eyes him up suspiciously. Finally she clears her throat. “I think the real question here is are you gonna be okay with that arrangement?”

“Funny you say it that way. What if I told you I went behind your back and talked to JD about taking Adina so you could come with me?”

To say Kyra looked shocked would be an understatement, but that shock quickly turned into a soft smile. “You really did that? Jesus Christ, you must really like me or something to subject yourself to that.”

“We can skip all the details about the man to man talk about taking care of his little girl and me telling him I’m not trying to take his place and the standard passive aggressive threats starting with ‘If anything happens to her…’ Aside from that, it was a good talk.”

Kyra’s eyebrows raise once more. “Did that motherfucker threaten you?”

“Not a real threat. Just your typical trying to act like an alpha male bullshit.”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head as Ken pulls her hand to his lips and places a soft kiss upon her skin, glancing up into her eyes.

“But, yes, I want you with me every second of every day.”

A light shade of pink comes over Kyra’s cheeks. “Well you’ve got me. You’re stuck with me and apparently you’ve taken care of everything so.. Of course I’ll go with you. Can’t turn down Honeymoon Part two, can I?”

“I mean you could,” Ken smiles as Kyra punches him in the arm. “But, you know, I don’t see that happening.”

“You know me too well.”

“I should at this point.” Ken looks up at the sky, his concentration broken by the loud boom of thunder. “Well, I think we need to get going. Good news, we won’t have to wait to see if Adina puts a kid in that hole.”

Kyra laughs while she pulls herself to her feet and turns towards the water. “Damn, and I was just getting ready to find a wedding venue for them. ADINA! Get your hands off of that poor kid, let’s go!”

 

Stepping into the living room, Kyra found Adina sitting on the couch peacefully (for once) watching TV.  She didn’t think much of it as she moves through the room, picking up a few toys off the ground.

“…Ladies and gentlemen, he is the host of The Piercing Truth, you know his name, the Icon of Entertainment, the King of Charisma, he is…TRAVIS PIERCE!”

That is, until she heard that.

“Adina, what in hell are you watching?”

Instead of answering, however, Adina simply shot her mother a dirty look and turned back to the television just in time to see Travis Pierce turn around slowly in his chair behind the desk.

“Yeah, welcome to the show. I’m your host, Travis Pierce, and let’s get right to top stories!“

Being the curious person that she is, Kyra takes a seat next to Adina and the two of them proceed to watch the show known as ‘The Piercing Truth’.

“Mommy?”  Adina gets Kyra’s attention just as Pierce finishes his first story.

“Yeah?”

“Did that Konrad guy really eat that other guy?”

Kyra couldn’t stop the snort of laughter as it exited her mouth.  “No, sweetie.  Travis was making a joke at Konrad’s expense.  Which isn’t hard to do, honestly.”

Adina sat back and continued watching, but anyone could tell that the little girls brain was working overtime as she listened to story after story until finally–

“…Just remember it’s not my fault, that the truth…hurts.“

“Mommy?”  Adina asks again, this time turning her head to stare at Kyra, who turns the TV off and directs her attention towards Adina.  “What’s wrong with that guy?”

“I haven’t a clue, Baby girl.  One would think he’d get the hint that he should stop making jokes about the people who kick his ass week in and week out.”

Adina opens her mouth to say something just after she hears the brown word come out of Kyra’s mouth, but Kyra shakes her head and stops her before she can say a word.  “Nope.  Gone through this.  Grown ass woman.”

The little girl shoots another dirty look in Kyra’s direction and sits back on the couch with her arms crossed.  After a few moments of silence, Kyra figures that the discussion is over and moves to get up, only for Adina to chime in once more.

“Maybe no one watches his show, Mommy.  So they dunno what he says.”

Kyra glances over her shoulder at her daughter, trying not to look too proud because she doesn’t need to encourage Adina to act anymore like herself than she already does.  “Maybe you’re right.  Who knows?  Kinda like NASCAR.   Ain’t no one watches that anymore either.”

“Nascar?”

Kyra sits back on the couch once more and turns the TV back on, scrolling through the channels until she finds a replay of last weeks race.  “Yeah, a bunch of schmucks driving cars in circles for hours at a time.  See?”

It didn’t take very long for Adina to be sick of watching.  “Why are those guys so excited?  This is dumb, Mommy.”

“I know it, Baby girl.  But you see that car there?”  Kyra points at one car in particular and Adina nods her head.  “That’s Konrad’s car.  The guy that Travis was making fun of.   This is what he likes doing when he’s not failing in a wrestling ring.”

“He’s a wrestler too?  Have you fought him Mommy?”

Kyra nods.  “I’m going to in a few days.  Him and Travis, actually.”

“Wow.”

Kyra shrugs her shoulders.  “It’s not as wow as it seems, but yeah.   Maybe I’ll get to shove Travis’ head even further up his ass.  Maybe it’ll even swallow him completely so we don’t have to suffer through anymore of ‘the piercing truth’.   I mean, the truth does hurt… But not in the way he intends, I’m sure.  As for Konrad, maybe I’ll be the one to do everyone else a favor and send him permanently to a place where he can actually succeed.  God knows we could all use that win.”

Almost instantly, Kyra realizes she’s talking to a five year old and she shakes her head.   “I mean, yeah.  Just forget everything I just said – You’re enough trouble already.”

A devilish grin crosses Adina’s features and Kyra can’t help but shake her head.

“Come on, let’s get some breakfast, huh?  Maybe we can take some upstairs for Daddy.”

At the mention of making Ken breakfast in bed, Adina immediately jumps off the couch and goes running for the kitchen, with Kyra following not too far behind.   Adina stops in the doorway and turns around, nearly tripping Kyra.

“I hope you beat them up, Mommy.”  She says sweetly before turning and disappearing into the kitchen.

Kyra smiles and follows her in, speaking under her breath.  “I hope so too, Baby girl.  But I’m afraid they’ve already done most of my job for me…”