"THIS IS LOVELY, DARREN," ELLE said. She rested her head on Larson's shoulder and was holding his hand as they strolled at a slow pace.

"Delicious," Keri said, taking another bite of her hamburger. They'd just taken a drive-thru – "the American way to eat lunch," Darren had said – on their way to Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, a Jacksonville staple that Darren had wanted to show his family ever since he'd first seen it. He knew they would love it.

Elle shook her head, laughing. "I wasn't talking about the food, K."

"What were you talking about?" Keri asked, her light brown hair swirling when she turned around to her mom. Her hands were still raised and held her hamburger up to her mouth, ready to take another bite the moment she'd swallowed the previous.

"This place..." Elle motioned to their surroundings. "It's so green, and... alive." She sighed, and Darren took a moment to look around them once again. He could see it through her eyes: she saw vivid colors embracing them, big trees curling over them as if to protect them, squirrels running around. Darren had gotten used to the squirrels, but to his Scottish family, they were quite the sight.

"You haven't even seen the water yet," Darren said. It was the real showstopper of the park: the bright blue washed out all other colors. As he thought about it, he picked up his pace, rushing to show his family. The only one who could keep up was his dad.

"Why so fast?" Elle asked him, her voice fainter in the distance. "We've got time."

"It's at the end of this bridge." Darren's footsteps thudded on the wooden bridge, underneath which flowed a small stream of water, and his feet hurried across the crackling pathway that would lead to the sandy beach. Elle, Larson, and the girls didn't follow him at the same pace: they were enjoying the solitude of nature too much to rush through it. And the girls were still eating their hamburgers, and they couldn't eat and run at the same time.

Darren's feet were the first to touch the sand. He was slightly panting when he halted, and he put his hands on his hips as he took in his surroundings. This was his favorite place to be. The park was as close to Scotland as he could get, the colors reminding him of the nature in his home country, and the beach was the best Florida could offer and seemed like it came out of a nature magazine, so tropical and bright as it was. This small piece of land were his two worlds combined into one.

Ryan caught up with Darren and put his arm around his son's shoulders. He didn't say anything but just looked around in peace. Together, they enjoyed the quiet that lasted until the family joined them on the beach.

"Can we go swimming?" Keri and Brielle ask in unison at the sight of the water.

Darren understood the question: the water was just asking to be swum in. Surprisingly, not that many people were swimming, but that might have to do with the fact that it was October and an ordinary Saturday.

"Towels are in the bag," Elle said, sliding her bag off her shoulder and letting it fall onto the sand. "Leave your hamburgers here, and keep calm because..."

The girls ran off, leaving behind a trail of shoes, socks, and dresses. Their laughter became fainter with distance.

"... because you've just eaten," Elle finished, her tone having changed into a flat one. She was used to the girls not listening to her in their enthusiasm to take on a new activity, so she turned to Darren, her voice turning lively again. "This is a beautiful place, D," she said. "I know I've said it before, but really... It's wonderful."

Larson wrapped his arms around her neck from behind her and kissed her on her cheek. Darren got a warm feeling inside when he saw that: he loved seeing his mother happy, and this man did that.

"What do you think of doing the wedding here?" Larson asked her, his voice quieter but not quiet enough for Darren not to hear. However, Darren turned around and pretended not to hear. "We'll make it a beach wedding," Larson continued with a smile on his lips. "Can you imagine? This bridge will be the aisle, and I'll be waiting for you over there..." He pointed to a spot on the beach. "We'll stand under one of those beautiful arches, it's perfect."

Elle let herself fall into his arms. "It would be," she began, "but you know we can't. The entire family has to be flown over for the wedding, and our friends too."

"Anything for our wedding." Larson gave her another playful kiss.

"I bought my wedding dress already, and it's not beach-appropriate."

"You'll get a new one."

She turned around and put her hands in his neck while his arms slid down to her waist. "I doubt Florida will be this beautiful in the winter. And having the wedding in Scotland is the perfect excuse to get Darren back home. I'm afraid he won't want to come back if we don't make him."

"I heard that!" Darren said loudly in a jolly tone.

"I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to go back to Scotland," Larson said. "Look around."

Ryan now got himself involved in the conversation. "Scotland can be beautiful too," he said. To Darren, he said, "You better go home at every opportunity you get."

"I agree," Elle said. She released herself from Larson's grip and they only held hands. "Scotland is beautiful."

"I'll come back," Darren assured his parents. "Scotland still has a special place in my heart." He'd been thinking about wanting to go back to Scotland for a while now, just to see his family. He hadn't known then that his family were already on their way to see him.

"You'll come to the wedding, right?" Larson asked.

"Of course he will," Elle said, and only after saying that did she turn to look at Darren. "That's why we are doing it during Christmas break."

Darren calmed their nerves with a smile, reassuring them he would come home over Christmas. "I'm coming," he said. "I'm looking forward to it."

☆

Ryan sat next to Darren in the sand, his legs stretched out before him and his upper body supported by his arms. Sweat had already stained his black long-sleeve shirt; he hadn't anticipated the heat during this time of the year when he'd packed his clothes back in Scotland. He turned to Darren, and their eyes met, but without saying anything, Ryan turned away again and looked at the girls splashing around in the ocean.

Darren chuckled. "What?" His eyes glimmered and didn't steer away from his father.

Ryan just shook his head, and his lips curled up.

"You wanted to say something," Darren said. "Say it."

Ryan looked into his son's eyes, and seeing their genuinity made him decide to speak his thoughts out loud. He looked in Elle and Larson's direction first, but they were caught up in their own conversation. "You never told us where you were this morning." His voice wasn't angry or concerned but rather curious.

Without intending to, Darren laughed softly at the memory of this morning, and he lost eye contact with his father.

"I'm happy everything is all right," Ryan continued. "I'm just used to knowing a lot about my son, such as when you go to school and the people you hang out with and who your teachers are. All of a sudden, that's not the case anymore." He stared at his lap. "I guess I realized that his morning."

Darren's head turned to the right, where his father sat. "You want to know who my teachers are?"

"What you were doing this morning would already calm my nerves a bit, so no."

A laugh escaped Darren's lips. "Well, it was nothing serious. I was hanging out with a friend yesterday, and we lost track of time. Before we knew it, the sun was rising, and I had dozens of missed calls from the McCostas."

"You were 'hanging out'?" Ryan's brows furrowed together, but from his expression, Darren could see it was nothing serious. "You never used to do that back home."

"I hang out," Darren defended.

Ryan raised a single eyebrow.

"I do." Maybe not often, but he wasn't the lonely hermit his father made him out to be. He had friends in Scotland too.

However, Dakota had said it too: "You need to explore the world a little more." It was the argument that had convinced him the night before to go out with her, simply to prove that he did more than going to school and staying at home.

"Maybe I've changed," Darren said, folding his arms over each other. "Going on exchange is pretty adventurous, isn't it?"

Ryan chuckled. "It's not me you have to convince." He was much like Darren in most ways: a quiet explorer. Big social events weren't his thing; he rather hung out with a small group of family or in nature.

Darren stared straight ahead. "The point is, I had fun last night. We went to a party." While the party wasn't the best part of the night, he mentioned it anyway, awaiting his father's reaction.

"Who is 'we'? Do I happen to know the friend you hung out with?"

Darren nodded. "I've mentioned her before." He tried to recall the conversation in which he'd introduced Dakota to his father. "She's the one who lost both her parents and now lives with her foster brother."

Ryan recognized the story and nodded in understanding.

Darren folded his hands together and his thumbs played with one another. "Her name is Dakota." The words came out absent-mindedly.

"Is there anything else I should know about Dakota?"

Darren looked up. "Like what?"

Ryan had an expression of you-know-what, but when Darren made clear he didn't know, Ryan said, "Is she going to be part of the family–"

Darren shook his head. "No, no, no," he rushed to say. "No, dad, we're just friends."

Ryan smirked but didn't object. "If you say so."

"We're just friends," Darren repeated again, more calmly this time. "Boys and girls can be friends without anything more growing out of their relationship."

His father shrugged. "I just thought it would be nice. You've never been in a relationship before – a romantic one, that is." He gave Darren a meaningful but playful look.

"You wouldn't want to get to know her first?"

He bit his lip while thinking, but then shook his head. "No. If she makes you happy, that's good enough for me." He stared straight ahead at the sparkling sea. "I guess I was just afraid that because of me and your mum..." He glanced at Elle, who was laughing at something Larson said. "That maybe you would be scared to get into a relationship."

"Dad..." Darren looked at his father, who had a feeling of guilt in his eyes. Ryan was afraid the divorce between him and Elle had crushed Darren's belief about a happy ending in love, and Darren didn't know what to say to put him at ease.

"I know you didn't grow up in the ideal circumstances, Darren," Ryan said. He looked his son directly in the eyes. "But I don't want it stopping you from getting out there and experiencing the adventure that is love."

Darren nodded. "It won't."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"What do you promise?"

Darren saw the playful glimmer in his father's eyes. "I promise I'll get a girlfriend."

"Before you're fifty years old."

"Before I'm fifty years old."

And they laughed.