She giggled. “How?”
He hesitated, feeling a little foolish. “Song can help you remember things. Like, cats are cute. C-a-t.” He sang out the last few words, feeling himself redden.
Lilly laughed, and even Marina chuckled. Feeling embarrassed, Evan was about to tell them to forget it, but then Marina spoke. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Lilly, let’s try that tomorrow, all right?”
“Yes, please!” she said, sounding delighted.
Evan looked down at the ground and smiled softly, feeling content.
The fish must have been active that day, because they did not have to wait long. Soon Lilly got a tug on her line. She startedto jump up and down with excitement. “I caught something! I caught something!”
“Keep both feet on the ground. I do not want you to slip,” he said. “Now, you’re going to reel it in slowly and steadily. You don’t want to let it get away.”
Lilly’s face twisted in concentration as she pulled in the fish. Eventually, she pulled it out of the water. She squealed in delight as she looked at the wiggling creature caught on the hook. The scales glinted in the sunlight, almost shimmering as the fish moved around.
Marina clapped her hands in excitement. “Good job, Lilly!”
The little girl beamed.
Evan smiled at her. “Very good,” he said. “You just caught your dinner.”
Her smile disappeared in an instant. She looked at him as if he had just kicked Prince William. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “Dinner?”
“Yes,” he said. “It’s a fish, after all.”
“No!” she shouted as tears started to stream down her face.
Before he could respond, Marina put a hand on Lilly’s shoulder. “Lilly, honey,of coursewe’re not going to eat the fish. We’re going to look at it for a bit and then toss it back.”
Lilly’s sobs turned into hiccups. “R—really?”
Evan watched the two of them, awestruck. With only a few words, Marina had managed to calm Lilly down, which was a skill he wished he could possess. All he could do was hope to remain a picture of strength that they could both depend upon.
“Yes! In fact, why don’t you give it a name?” Marina smiled at the girl encouragingly.
That’s irrational. Why would you name a fish only to toss it back into the river?But he kept the thought to himself. Lilly was no longer crying, and that was what truly mattered.
“I want to call it Princess Delphinium the Third,” Lilly said matter-of-factly.
“The Third?” Evan raised his eyebrows. “Who are the first and second?”
Lilly giggled at him. “The mama and grandmama, silly.”
Silly?He had been called many things before. Silly was not one of them.
Marina covered her mouth with her hands. “Yes, he is a silly goose, isn’t he?” she said while clearly holding back laughter.
He felt a small smile tug at the corner of his lips as a warm feeling spread through him. He did not understand why either of them saw fit to call him silly or why they were laughing at him, but at the same time, he did not care. He was just happy that both of them were having fun.Maybe I’m having fun, too. Certainly more fun than I was expecting.
Marina turned to the fish. “We don’t have a lot of time before we have to throw the fish back. But look at the fins. They help the fish swim in the water. And do you see the lines right there, behind the head? That’s the fish’s gills. It’s how they breathe underwater.”
“They breathe through the side of their neck?” Lilly asked, sounding perplexed.
“In a way, yes.”
“How?”
Marina smiled at the signs of the child showing interest. “I don’t know how. But perhaps we can find out.”
