rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

He listened to the specials and they all sounded good to him. "I think I'll do that grilled skirt steak with tomato salad. That sounds like it'll hit the spot." Ray told him with a grin. "You should join me. We can have some food and catch up." He shrugged. It had been a minute since Ray had been in there so it'd be nice to do. "What do you say?" @sebastianxthomas

Yes, Sebastian was the chef, but he still liked to check on tables and staff when he could. The type that, if a person asked, he would visit a table and talk over the menu. But soon he walked up to Ray, who was the major in town. "Sir, hello," he smiled, giving a handshake. "Good to see you too," he smiled at the other. "Well, I did add a few summer specials," he smiled as he pulled out the specials menu. "Grilled Skirt Steak with Tomato Salad.... and Grilled Flank Steak with Salsa Verde if you want to go with steak, something else, Chicken Francese is good," he smiled. he loved what he had made. "But what are you craving?" he asked with a smile. @rayxclairmont.

[rayxclairmont]

Ray was ready for this trip. After everything they've been through for the last two years, he truly felt that him and Lenny deserved this getaway on a cruise. The girls were with his family, probably being spoiled as they spoke, and it was just the two of them for the trip. As they got to their room, he closed the door after him and followed his wife out to the balcony. "It is." He said and wrapped his arms around her. "It's so beautiful. Just like you." He placed a kiss to her head. @lennyxclairmont

starter for @rayxclairmont

location: a cruise

Placing the key card over the door, it clicked open and Lenny stepped first into the balcony room. The room already held their bags, having been brought up before they boarded. "Wow," Lenny breathed, moving to the balcony door and opening it up. Though they had only departed a few minutes ago, the breeze lifted the salty ocean air to their room. Inhaling deeply, she stepped out, placing her hands onto the railing and looking out. "I'm so glad we did this," she said, knowing Ray wouldn't be far behind her. Though Lenny didn't love being away with the girls, she knew that they were in good hands with Raymond's family and that, more importantly, they needed a trip for just themselves. "This is so amazing already."

[rayxclairmont]

He smiled and nodded. "That I am." And he took both jobs seriously. He never thought he'd be so happy in his life, but he definitely was. "Good. That's great you're having a good summer." Ray beamed and his eyes went over to his kids. "We're good. Lenny and I are gonna go on cruise for a few days so the town will have to survive without me for a bit." He chuckled. "But it'll be nice to get away with the wife." @lancexbrowne

The teacher chuckled softly, "I totally do not blame you. After all you are the mayor of the town and plus a dad too," he replied. Lance imagined that the other would be so very busy trying to balance everything, family and also work. He did not have kids and his job was not as stressful as a mayor. "Gotcha, I can understand that for sure," he added nodding his head.

"I am good and summer is treating me well. Catching up on projects and spending time with my god kids," he answered. "How are you and the family?" @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

The mayor chuckled a little. "I'm definitely not doing that. It concerns me a bit that you are, though." Honestly, he had no room to talk since he had been known to stay up late working as well, but he just wanted to make sure Carmen got enough sleep. Ray sat down and laughed once again. "Oh, I'm sure. I'm already jealous. All I have is a town to take care of. Though, I will say the amount of glitter in my life has increased substantially lately." @carmenxfontenelle

The laughter between conversation of the children warmed her heart. Carmen could be working anywhere and while she still freelanced some of her work, her heart held the most space for the moments like this. Seeing how excited the other kids were. Carmen had paused what she was working on, watching them a moment longer before she caught the eye of Raymond. "Hi, Ray," she smiled at him, plucking the pin that was tucked between her lips before speaking. "I think unless you're hand-beading a dragon tail at two in the morning, you might be safe." She teased, him, pushing out the other chair with her foot so that Ray could sit. "Though if we are competing, you might be a little jealous of my pay scale," she continued to smile brightly, "I mean, caffeine, chaotic energy of children and lots of glitter. I think that makes me practically unstoppable." @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

"Are we ever not?" He teased a little bit and nodded. "Sounds like the perfect time." He said. It didn't sound too bad so they had nothing to worry about leaving for a few days. Though, it could've been a week or more and he'd get it to work. Anything for his family. "I guess we'll just have to relax for once." Ray teased his wife more and rubbed her skin. "Me too. It's going to be perfect." @lennyxclairmont

END

"I'm glad we are on the same page," she said, leaning into his kiss. "The cruise in a month, a Friday to Monday." It wasn't terribly long, but just long enough for the two of them to feel like it was a getaway. "I don't know what we will do with no schedules, no chaos." Just the two of them was a dream for Lenny. With all that had been going on in their lives, they hadn't taken much time for themselves as a couple. Her hand found his, squeezing it gently when she did. "I'm glad we are going to do this, Ray." @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

closed starter for @carmenxfontenelle location: lilypad theater

Ray smiled as he watched Claire run over to her classmates and start talking them up before practice started. He loved seeing her like this and knew she loved doing the theater stuff as well. He went to sit with the other parents when he spotted Carmen and waved at her. “Hey. Working as always, huh? I’m starting to think you work more than me. I may need to put more hours in to compete with you.”

[rayxclairmont]

closed starter for @sebastianxthomas location: rustica steakhouse

Ray was out doing a few things and figured he would go to Rustica for lunch. He walked in and greeted everyone before he got to the table and spotted Sebastian walk by. "Hey, Sebastian. Good to see you. Whatcha got on the menu today?" He asked curiously. He had a menu in front of him, but he liked talking to the employees and the head chef was probably the best one to talk to about recommendations.

[rayxclairmont]

“Always.” Ray laughed a little bit and put his wallet into his pocket. “Just some projects at city hall that need my signature and nothing ever seems to be able to wait until an appropriate time.” He felt like lately he was more busy and nothing he did could stop that. He just wanted to spend a little time with his kids. “They’ll have to wait though.” He smiled at the other man. “How are you, though? How's summer treating you?" @lancexbrowne

Lance bet that the male must have been busy with a lot of things on their mind. Sometimes when he himself was busy and had a lot of things in his hand, he often did not realize if something dropped or not. He had lost a few things which were never important but often, someone often bring it to his attention. "No worries, it happens. Just glad that I noticed it. You must have had a lot on your mind?" @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

��Exactly.” He agreed with her and kissed her head. “Well, there you go.” Ray watched her think about it all and smiled. “It does to me too.” He smirked at her and nodded. “I think we can. What days are the cruise? I can start getting things ready to leave and we’ll have nothing to worry about.” It’d been a minute since they took a trip like this. They had taken the kids on vacation before, but nothing like this so it was going to be good. @lennyxclairmont

"The assistant mayor can handle things for a little while," the thought made her voice light with excitement. "A great way for them to prove themselves," she teased, as if they hadn't taken time away before. "I've cleared majority of my backlog at the publishing house. It wouldn't be the end of the world to get away." Leonora smiled at him, "I could write on the ship," she paused with a thoughtful tilt of her head. "Ocean breeze, fresh inspiration and no meetings. That sounds like the perfect writing retreat if you ask me." She grinned at Raymond. "I think we all need this." @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

He smiled at her. "I get it. It would be pretty fun and the girls would love it." He'd love it. It had been a while since he had taken a big vacation like that and with his wife and their girls, it would be perfect. "That's what the assistant mayor is for, right? Could you take the time off at the publishing company?" He asked and rubbed her back softly. "As for your book, you can write it on the ship during downtime, right? If you want." @lennyxclairmont

"Yes? Maybe...I don't know." She said, laughing as she turned slightly in the chair to face him better. "It just popped up in my inbox and normally I'd ignore it, but it actually looked kind of perfect." She reached out for his hand, giving it a squeeze when she found it. "I guess I'm wondering if it's even possible that we can do it. You and me. No town hall meetings, no emergencies." @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

"Me too." He grinned at the man. He was always happy when people of the town were able to catch events like this. It really showed the sense of community there and it got tourists wanting to come back; which led to the insane turn outs, like Briggs said. "I know. I think there's more people than last year. It's great to see." He smirked and nodded. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." He said as the girls started down the beach. "I should catch up, but it was really great seeing you out." @briggsnero

END

Something about the town of Kismet had felt like home since Briggs had moved here. The way that everyone seemed to come together during your best days and your worst ones, it was something he'd admired from the beginning of his time here that only seemed to grow more and more obvious the longer he was here. "I'm happy I heard about this in enough time to make it out." he'd heard about it last year but just a week to late. "This is also an insane turn out, I didn't realize so many people traveled out here for this kind of thing." he smiled, eyes watching the girls that the duo were talking about. He was happy to hear that the mayor and his wife finally got his happy ever after. "I've been good, just trying to keep all of my paperwork up to date so I don't accidentally breaking rules and keeping Kismet in trouble." @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

Hearing his wife, Ray got up from his place in the living room and made his way to his wife's office. She looked excited and he was curious about what was going on as he rounded the desk to look at her computer screen. "A cruise?" He asked and looked it over. "It seems legit to me, but I can send it over to Legal Lighthouse and make sure." He shrugged. "But you wanna do this? You wanna go on a cruise?" @lennyxclairmont

starter for @rayxclairmont

location: the clairmont home

The kids were all at school, the final days approaching quickly for the summer. "Oh, oh my God!" Lenny squealed as her eyes scanned over the email once more. It felt like her eyes were darting over the words, trying to find the scam. "Ray! Ray!" She called out, pushing back in her chair, awaiting her husband to enter her office. "I think we just won a trip on a cruise!" She said as soon as he came in, "I mean," her hand lifted and she pointed to the screen. "Tell me this isn't a scam. I signed up for some giveaway months ago but I didn't think it would come to anything."

[rayxclairmont]

Ray was watching as Natalie and Claire played with some of their friends in the park. He loved the lazy days like this when they could do this together. It always brought a smile on his face as he did. The moment was interrupted as he got a phone call and he pulled his phone out to walk away for a moment. He talked to his assistant for a moment before hanging up and looking as someone said his name. "Lance, hey." He said and saw the other hand something. He patted his pocket before sighing with a relief and catching up with the man. "Thanks. That would've been bad." @lancexbrowne

starter for @rayxclairmont Location: Kismet Harbor Park.

It was a beautiful day, Lance had went for a run. He loved days like this, he always loved and enjoyed starting his day with some exercise. His run had was his final stretch which took him to the Kismet Harbor Park. He enjoyed seeing people, laugh, run and play with their kids and their pet. He had stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He sighed breathing heavily for a bit when he saw Ray's wallet fall. He picked it up after running to grab it and then running after Ray. "Hey Ray!" he shouted trying to grab the others attention. "You drop something."

[rayxclairmont]

He chuckled a little and nodded at the man. "Well, it's good to you both out." Ray commented. Honestly, he loved seeing everyone in town out like this and those who traveled to be there. It always made him happy to see how the town was loved like this. "Thank you. I think so too." He grinned over at his kids. It took so long to get the family him and Lenny wanted, and now that they had it, he couldn't imagine his life any different. "How have you been? It's been a minute since I've seen it." @briggsnero

Briggs was usually one that was pretty good at donating to local organizations and charity events to raise money for good causes. He had thankfully never been a guy that needed the services of things provided through charity work but he was still big on helping where he could; always had been. So when he'd seen that Kismet was hosting a dog walk, Briggs had the entry fee and brought out his German shorthair pointer, Beau. Just like in most cases where Beau was around other dogs he was chill, just a little more hyperactive when kids came into his premises which always made Briggs smile a little; Beau loved kids. It was the wave of the mayor's hand that made Briggs smile, a wave back as he nodded. "Yeah I'm usually still stuck in a kitchen somewhere this time of day." he laughed, the hint of a joke in his voice. "But Beau and I needed a chance to get out of the house and I think this walk is a good idea." he smiled. "Good to see you, ladies." he smiled at the kids that were standing around their father. "Beautiful family there." @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

He rubbed her back and leaned over to kiss the side of her head. "I know." He felt the same way. They were precious and he didn't want to see them in pain. "She will. She'll probably be climbing on that thing again by June and we'll be reminding her of this." Ray smiled at his wife. "I know, sweetie. Me too. She'll be back up and going before we know it." @lennyxclairmont

END

Lenny let out a slow breath, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah," she gave her husband a tired smile. "I think so." She blew air over her lips. "I just don't think I will ever get used to them getting hurt. The chair she was sitting on was stiff, plastic and not comforting. The only comfort in the room were her only children and Raymond. "She will bounce back, I know that." Leonora was rational at the end of the day, though her heart was still heavy with the pain that she knew her daughter was feeling. "I honestly thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest when she fell." @rayxclairmont

[rayxclairmont]

END

He nodded at him. “I feel that. Claire wanted to get out and do something and how could I say no?” He said and smiled as he looked out over at his daughter while she swam and made some friends as she did. “I’ve been good. Natalie broke her arm, but other than that, things have been good.” Ray nodded and looked back over at Levi for a moment. “What about you? How’s everything going?” @levi-steelexhutchinson

[rayxclairmont]

He nodded. "There's never anything wrong with it." Honestly, he was happy to have that phase around and wished it would be around for a long time. He figured they still had a few years, but he would love to have it forever. Ray watched as his friend bowled and chuckled at his little bow. "Wow. That was truly amazing. Here I was thinking key to the city." He teased before he nodded with a smile. "We should. And yeah, Leah is." Leah was thirteen, almost fourteen, so she could definitely handle watching her sisters and Eloise. "I'm sure Leah would be fine with it. Especially if there was some money involved." @noahsinclaxr

"As if something is wrong with that." Noah chuckled, knowing that he wanted the princess phase to last as long as it could. He once already had the scary thought of his daughter hitting her emo phase and he wasn't ready for that turnaround. After having thrown his ball and it being pretty decent, he decided to turn around with a flourish, giving the other half a bow. "Thank you. I'll take my medal at town hall, thank you." He uttered, then started to look for a similar ball he could use. "We should do something soon, by the way. Bring Len and Gio, maybe your girls could watch Eloise-- they're at the babysitting age, right?" Just because he started taking care of his siblings when he was young, he wasn't sure what other parents deemed to be the required age. "Or hire a nanny for all of them, problem solved." @rayxclairmont