“How my damn brother lives with you I’ll never know. You’re a pain in the fucking arse.”
Amy grinned. “I know, and stop cursing in front of my baby. She said balls yesterday.”
“And?”
“Eli was naked at the time and she was definitely pointing at the goods when she said it.”
Laughing, I shook my head and leaned in to kiss Bella’s head. “Okay, but if I hate it I’m not doing it again next week. They’ll have to find someone else.”
Amy grinned and padded off toward the baby pool while I strolled over to the small group of kids now all waiting on the side of the pool. They were various heights and weights, all chatting excitably. All except for one poor kid who was squeezed into a pair of swim trunks, looking about as happy to be there as I was. I was betting his parents had been told he needed to lose weight and this was the nightmare resolution they’d come up with. I made a mental note to keep a special eye on him and more importantly, make sure he didn’t sink to the bottom of pool. All the kids I was teaching were supposedly already able to swim, but I had a feeling this kid hadn’t swum for a good while.
As my gaze ran over the rest of the kids, my heart stopped and despite the cool air blowing around the pool, a sticky heat broke out all over my body. My mouth went dry and I felt as though I was going to be sick as my gaze reached the last one standing alone, pinging the elastic of his goggles and looking over at the older kids doing life-saving drills in the deep end.
He was tall for his age, which was eight, had broad shoulders for his age and dark hair that was styled to perfection in a high fade with a side parting. This kid was bright, did well at school but had a cocky mouth on him at times. How did I know these things about this kid?
I knew because he was my kid. My eight year old son, Frankie West, who I’d never spoken to in my life.
* * *
As each kid did a width of the pool using front crawl, my gaze kept being drawn to Frankie. I’d avoided eye contact with him for the whole hour, nervous that he might realise who I was, nervous about actually looking at him and feeling something. I didn’t think for one minute he’d figure out I was his dad; his mum had made it quite clear that I wasn’t ever going to be part of his life – not that I’d cared, it was for the best. Watching him now though, I couldn’t help noticing the aching feeling of guilt and regret that enveloped me. It wasn’t a totally alien feeling, over the last few years I’d found myself thinking about him and his mum a lot, especially around the time Elijah and Amy were doing the dance of second chances. All the shit they went through had made me wonder what my life might be like, if I was given another go at happiness.
Once I got over the shock of him being there, I’d watched Frankie carefully, looking for anything that he might have inherited from me. As soon as he entered the water, I knew what it was. He was damn good, and most definitely had my swimming genes. His body position was perfectly horizontal and his head central and still, just as it should have been. His kick wasn’t coming from the hip, but even at just eight years of age, he almost had a textbook form.
As Frankie gave a final kick and reached the edge of the pool first, my gaze went back to the other six kids. As I thought, Timothy, the chubby boy, was struggling and lagging behind the rest. Props to him though, he wasn’t giving up. Finally, he finished and I looked up at the huge clock on the wall seeing that it was time to finish.
“Well done guys,” I called as they all held on to the edge or started to tread water. “You’ve worked hard today. Now for next week, I want you to practice in the mirror.”
“The mirror,” a slight boy, who I think was called Toby, scoffed.
“Yes, a mirror,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. “I want you to practice your arms and head movement and check the positioning in the mirror.”
“Are we doing the crawl again next week?” Frankie asked.
My heart thudded like a damn nervous teenager and I was glad my hands were tucked under my folded arms to stop them from shaking. I turned to Frankie and cleared my throat, it suddenly felt full and tickly.
“Yes, probably.”
I breathed in through my nose, anxious as he studied me. I wondered what he was thinking, and hoped it wasn’t that I was a dick. I wanted him to like me for the six weeks that I’d be teaching him to swim. The six weeks that I’d finally be in his life.
“What?” I asked, as he tilted his head still watching me carefully.
“You didn’t even think you’d be back next week did you?”
My eyes widened as I took a half-step back. “Um, I don’t think I ever said that.”
“No, but you thought it,” he sighed, pulling himself out of the pool. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have looked so nervous when you came over and you’d have had a plan and you don’t.”
“I might have one,” I argued.
The look he gave me was pretty fucking withering and I instantly saw myself in his attitude. I’d heard from my source that he was a smart mouthed kid and now I was seeing it first-hand. Quite rightly he didn’t believe me.
“See you next week,” he sighed and ran off toward the changing rooms.
“Hey, no running,” I shouted, anxious that he might fall.
Frankie stopped and then started to do the tiniest steps, with an exaggerated tiptoe walk. I bit my lip trying not to laugh – the little shit.
“Okay, kids,” I said turning back to the rest of the group. “I’ll see you all next week.”
