“Precious cargo. I’ve got it.” I pause. “Better yet, you should come out with us.”
“I’ll work up to it eventually…maybe.” She grins. “Today, I just want to watch you two.” She waves her phone. “And take pictures. That is the cutest wet suit I’ve ever seen.”
“It had Chloe written all over it.”
That gains me a kiss, and then she goes to get Chloe ready while I put on my suit.
Ten minutes later, Chloe and I start our lesson on the sand. First, I tell her how important it is to never go into the water without her mom or me with her. Dahlia and I have been saying that over and over, and she hasn’t even tried togo outside without us, but it bears repeating. I show her how to sit and lie on the board, how to pretend paddle, and how to jump on and off safely. And then we’re wading out. She’s in the front, and I’m kneeling behind her, hands on her waist. We stay in knee-high water and both sit as I push us toward the first small wave. She loves it.
After a few runs of that, I think she’s ready for a little more.
“Okay, this next time, I’m going to pick you up and stand. You ready?” I ask.
“Ready!” she yells.
I take her a little farther out, and when it’s time, I pick her up against my chest, and we ride the wave all the way in. She giggles nonstop, and it makes the rest of this horrible week fade out of my mind.
I find Dahlia, and she’s beaming at us, phone up like she’s recording.
“Say hi to Mama,” I tell Chloe.
“Hi, Mama!” Chloe yells. “Again!’
We do it the same way four more times. Each time, she wants to go right back in.
“We’ve got a little surfer here,” I tell Dahlia.
“It’s unbelievable!” she says. “I’ve never seen anyone so little out there like that. I love it.”
“She’s a natural.”
The next time we go out, I tell Chloe to get on my back and hold on.
“Don’t let go,” I remind her. “You ready?”
She scrambles onto my back like a monkey, holding my neck so tight I can barely breathe.
“Ready!” she squeals into my ear.
I paddle us out again. When the wave lifts us, I pop up smooth, reaching back to grip both her little hands in mine.
“Don’t let go,” I tell her.
“Don’t yet go!” she echoes, voice high and fierce.
I grin. Dahlia and I have been happy that her L’s are still going in and out. Dahlia thinks maybe a “good mom” would be correcting her to teach her the right way, but I told her that’s bullshit. She’s the best mom and doesn’t have to worry that Chloe will be saying her L’s as Y’s as an adult.
Chloe’s whole body vibrates with excitement against my back. We glide in, straight and perfect. She cackles the entire way—pure joy.
When we step off the board, she throws her fists in the air like a champion.
“AGAIN!” she roars to the entire beach.
From the shore I see Dahlia—hand clamped over her mouth, eyes huge, but she’s jumping up and down like Chloe does when she’s excited. Dahlia runs to us, laughing and crying at the same time, wrapping us both in a hug that almost knocks us over.
“Amazing!” she says.
She grabs Chloe and kisses her salty cheeks and then turns to me.
