Page 13 of Endless
“No, I got it.”
I kept my arm near him just in case, but let him be as he slowly eased more of his legs into the water. At the last moment, when he let go of the edge and hit the water with a splash, he did grab my arm with a frightened gasp. The water wings kept his shoulders and head above the surface, so he was completely safe.
I brought Daren close to me anyway, drawing him into a hug while wishing Mari could see this. “Good job, dude! I got you, you’re okay.”
Lily and her mom both clapped in support, which made Daren go shy and hide his face against my side.
“Aw, son, I’m proud of you.” He continued to hold my arm as I lowered into the water, bringing my face level with his. “You did it! How do you feel?”
“Okay. It’s not so bad.” He was trying to play it cool in front of the ladies, but I could see the elation on his face, the pure rush of having conquered one of his biggest fears.
“You handled that like a champ.” I resisted the urge to hug him tighter and plant a huge kiss on his face. I could wait until we were home to embarrass him. “You want to grab ice cream when we’re done here?”
“Yeah!” His eyes lit up. “Can Lily come?”
“If it’s okay with Lily and her mom.”
Anna’s hands moved rapidly as she relayed the question to her daughter. “Lily, love, do you want to get ice cream with Daren after your swim?”
Lily’s head bobbed up and down in an enthusiastic nod and began signing rapidly at Daren.
“That’s a yes, if it wasn’t obvious,” her mom laughed. “She’s asking Daren what his favorite ice cream flavor is.”
“Peanut butter chocolate!” My son forgot all about being afraid and started an adorably clumsy swim toward his friend. “My sister’s is strawberry shortcake, but she likes everything pink. Pink and llamas.”
Anna hurriedly translated Daren’s words before the kids started swimming off. “Ah well, they’ll figure it out,” she laughed. “She couldn’t stop talking about making a friend on her first day of school. I was so worried about her adjusting to living here, so her finding Daren is a huge weight off my mind.”
“I’m glad to see it too,” I told her, propping my arms up on the ledge. “He’s a quiet kid, usually keeps to himself, so it’s nice to see him coming out of his shell. Especially for someone who needed a friend.” We watched the kids quietly for another minute before I asked, “Where are you all from?”
“Illinois, originally. But we moved around a lot after the Collapse and came here from Jerriton.”
“Ah, it’s not too bad up there anymore, is it?” We were in regular contact with the folks running the Jerriton territory, many of them were the same people who pulled through for us against the Sha.
“Oh no, we loved it up there! Sadly, the schools were lacking, especially for Lily’s needs. And my husband landed a great position at the hospital here, so it was a no-brainer.”
“Oh, what’s your husband do? He’s probably met my wife.”
“He’s an EMT. He was actually a medic in the Jerriton army when they overthrew the last governor.”
“No shit, Mari did the same! She was a nurse, then a war medic, and now she just became a gynecologist.” I folded my arms and rested my head on them, smiling at the thought of her. “She wanted to deliver babies, and now she finally gets to. The whole crumbling of civilization just derailed things a bit.”
“It was the same for Colby.” Anna laughed lightly. “We’re ready for a quiet life. He just wants to drive an ambulance and hang out with the kiddo.”
“Well, you guys came to the right place.”
I looked over my shoulder to watch Daren, but he was absolutely fine. Lily seemed to be coaxing him to put his face in the water, even handing him her goggles so he could see. He pressed the lenses to his eyes and took a big breath before barely skimming the water with his face. When he looked up again, Lily clapped and encouraged him.
I already knew those two would be inseparable. Hopefully, we could talk Lily’s parents into coming over so they could keep hanging out, and we could have new adults to talk to as well. Even though all of us were well known and respected in Four Corners, some of the other parents were still weirded out by four of us being married to one woman.
Logically, I could understand it—I was the same way years ago. It didn’t make the judgments and assumptions any less annoying. But all that mattered was that our kids were safe. We, theirfiveparents, just needed to keep providing a stable environment for them and continue being blissfully happy with our dynamic—which worked out great for childcare, by the way.
Anna and her husband would figure it out eventually and make that judgment call themselves. If they didn’t want to hang out with us, it was their loss. We threw the best parties in town.
I only hoped, if they did feel that way, they wouldn’t keep Lily from seeing Daren. Sending my friends away was one of my dad’s favorite ways to be an asshole when I was a kid. So far, I was pretty good at doing the opposite of everything my old man did, and I had no intention of breaking that streak.
“Hey, Daren!”
My son looked up. He’d gotten as far as sticking his nose and mouth in the water and blowing bubbles. I didn’t expect to see that for another six months.
