𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫.

022.

cindy stopped at the kitchen where belly and jeremiah watched victoria making margaritas.

"how'd you learn to make these?" belly asked as cindy sat next to victoria.

"so I actually spent a summer in this desert town in texas near the border called marfa." she explained, pouring some margarita in the cups.
"and there was a bar there that served these, and I told the bartender that I would not leave until he showed me exactly how he made these."

"can I try a sip?" cindy asked.

"are your parents cool with that?"

"yeah, yeah, no, they don't care." she shrugged it off.

"oh, then, sure. I'm gonna take this out to belly's dad." she handed one of the cups to cindy. " do you mind taking those out to susannah and laurel?"

"yeah, sure."

"thanks, love."

cindy grabbed the cup and took a big sip of the margarita.

"oh, well, how is it? strong?" jeremiah asked.

"that is amazing." cindy exclaimed.

belly tried a sip. "yeah." she agreed and passed the cup over to jere.

"mmm. no wonder you like it. it tastes just like a slurpee." jeremiah assured after taking a big sip.

"yeah, exactly.but i have an idea." cindy announced.

"oh, no." belly laughed.

"sous-chefs, i'm gonna need some more pomegranate juice." cindy demanded.

"you got it your highness." jeremiah nodded.

"what are you guys making?" conrad walked in.

"pomegranate margaritas." cindy answered.

"but with a twist." belly smirked.

"well, you got to use the good blender." conrad went to get the blender.

"oh, i-i haven't used that thing since the great kool-aid debacle of 2011." jeremiah recalled.

"i remember, the counters were sticky for... two summers?" cindy laughed.

conrad set the blender on the counter and they started to put the things inside of it.

"yeah. just about." jeremiah agreed. "dad kept his, uh, briefcase in my room for a year. as a reminder that all mistakes are not reversible."

"wait, won't he be mad if he finds out?" belly asked as cindy walked over to get the tequila bottle.

"well, he's not gonna find out." conrad shrugged.
"he's not coming."

they continue to put the ingredients inside and cindy opened up the bottle she had in her hands.

"oh, she's going for the good stuff." jeremiah gestured to her.

cindy started pouring the tequila in the blender, going a little over board.

"stop it, stop. no, stop." belly laughed.

"a lot more, a lot more tequila." cindy continued pouring.

when she finished with the tequila, it was time to blend it all together. conrad put the lid back on and turned on the machine.

"no, keep your hands on it. keep your hands on it." jeremiah instructed.

"man, you know what I miss?" conrad began.
"watching laurel put dad in his place. you know, she'd walk in, she'd be like-"

"adam?" laurel questioned, right on time.

adam fisher was right behind them and they were using his blender.

"shit," cindy mumbled.

"happy fourth." the man smiled giving laurel a hug.

"dad!"  jeremiah ran over to hug his dad. "you came."

"hey." adam smiled, hugging his youngest son. his attention was then turned to the other three at the counter. "hey, guys. hey, Connie."

cindy could immediately tell that conrad wasn't happy about his dad being there.

"i'll have a little of what you're mixing up there." adam laughed, pointing towards the cup in cindy's hand.

"ooh. yeah, sure." she nodded handing him her cup.

"hey, thanks, cindy."

"oh, you're gonna love the firework show this year." jeremiah ranted. "it's gonna be the best one yet."

"i believe it."

"where'd everyone go?" susannah entered the house.

"hey." adam greeted his wife.

"adam." susannah was shocked. she wasn't expecting her husband to show up. "you managed to get off work."

"yeah, couldn't miss the fourth with my family."

"all right, well, let's get back to the party." the  woman suggested.

"okay, let's go, kids." laurel nodded agreeing, gesturing for the kids to get out. she could totally see that something was off with susannah.

"all right." jeremiah shrugged heading out the back door. cindy got up from her seat at the kitchen counter and walked towards the back door, following the boy.

—

"may I present the belly and cindy special?" belly announced arriving at the beach with the margaritas in hand.

"oh, very nice." nicole complimented. "those look awesome."

"uh, we saved you the inflatable unicorn." gigi told belly.

"well, thank you." belly plopped on the unicorn, gesturing for cindy to sit next to her.

"hey, guys. hey." jeremiah yelled, as everyone turned to him. "check out who I found. it's cam cameron and matthew."

"cam!" belly exclaimed.

"matt!" cindy called out and conrad offered them some margaritas but they refused.

"oh, I'm good, man. thank you, i don't drink." cameron shook his head.

"i don't really wanna drink right now." matt declined.

"more for me." conrad shrugged and drank from the cups.

cindy got up from the unicorn and gestured for cameron to sit next to belly.

"um... what is that?" cam asked when he sat next to belly.

"it's... a pomegramate margarita." she answered.

"it's not a race, con." nicole looked over at the boy  who was drinking extremely fast.

"yeah, save some for the rest of us, please." steven laughed.

"okay, wait, wait, wait." cindy caught everyone's attention. "but what if it was a race? i mean, isn't that... isn't... isn't that the premise of, like, every drinking game?"

"you want to play a drinking game?" matt questioned her, laughing.

"why not? i mean, it's the fourth of july, right? fuck it." cindy exclaimed.

"alright, let's do it." belly shrugged and everyone cheered.

the teenagers had been playing and drinking for a while. cindy and jeremiah decided they wanted to try some tiktok trend where jermiah had to flip her, which somehow ended up with cindy on the ground and jeremiah right next to her.