Page 41 of From Maybe to Baby

"How?"

"That was... athletic analysis."

His chuckle echoes across the water, where he boosts Lukas up on one foot and catapults him into the air. The little guylands with a huge splash. "Is that what we're calling it? Athletic analysis?" Jonas asks.

No, I think as his attention returns to his kids, that's not what we're calling it. But I'm not ready to call it anything else yet.

The resort's family activities program provides numerous opportunities for parent-child bonding...

No one is goingto read this shit.

I pause, watching Jonas guide Lukas through floating exercises. His hands are steady under his son's back, voice gentle as he encourages him. "That's it, buddy. Just trust the water."

Through skilled instruction and careful supervision...

Boring.

"Dad, I'm doing it. Let go now." Lukas's face lights up as he floats unassisted for the first time. Jonas's smile brings tears to my eyes.

Almost.

The program focuses on building confidence while...

While what? While making me question everything I thought I knew about family vacations? While showing me what involved parenting looks like? While making me remember...

"You okay?" Jonas's voice breaks through my thoughts. "You went somewhere for a minute there."

"Just taking notes." I gesture with my pen, the shield I'm desperately hiding behind. "Very thorough notes."

"About pool safety? Or about how good I look teaching it?"

He did not just say that.

"You're not as charming as you think you are," I say with a roll of my eyes.

Lukas pipes up, helpful as always. "Gamma says he's the most charming boy in the whole NHL."

"Gamma's biased," Jonas tells him. "And we're focusing on floating here, right?"

I watch them return to their lesson, and try to focus on my own work instead how nice it must be to have a parent who literally has your back. But haunting me, as persistent as the Hawaiian sunshine, is my own childhood memory.

"Daddy, watch me swim."

"Not now, princess. Daddy's on a call."

Always on a call. Always too busy. Always...

"Miss Minty." Jace's voice pulls me back to present. " I'm a mermaid."

She's dog-paddling in a circle, water wings keeping her afloat while Jonas hovers nearby, attention laser-focused on both kids. Doesn't glance at his watch or check his phone, not that he could in the water, anyway. Doesn't do anything except be fully present in this moment with his kids.

The program encourages active parent participation...

Ugh.

"What a mermaid you are," Jonas tells her with complete sincerity. "Show Miss Minty your special song."

What follows is a wet rendition of a song I’ve never heard but which I am guessing is somehow tied into the mermaid vibe.Jace adds her version of splash choreography, and Jonas follows along with the few words he seems to know, oblivious to several moms’ open-mouthed stares.

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