The Breakdown
Chapter 9-Gator
Gator had been shocked when he heard of Admiral Slattery's attempted suicide. God knew, the man had been to hell and back. Or maybe he stayed there and none of them realized it? He put on a front and it was certainly believable, but it was a mask.
After the war with Gran Columbia, Gator had retired again. He was a high school history teacher now, married to his high school sweetheart, Maggie; with a three-year-old son, named Felix and a daughter who was eight-months-old, named Skylar. Gator had stayed in touch with Mike after his retirement, and had heard about him getting the confirmation of his wife and daughter's deaths, and Maggie had told him he should send him a card, but Gator had forgot. As he sat down to write on the card that Maggie had so carefully picked out for Mike, he remembered Mike showing up at the hospital after Felix was born. Maggie had been sleeping, so Gator took Mike to the nursery to see Felix. He was totally shocked when Mike handed him a huge bag full of diapers, wipes, little outfits and a savings account book. It was in Felix's name, with $1000 deposited in it. A few weeks after Skylar was born, a package with the same amount of diapers, wipes, little outfits and a savings account book, with the same amount of money in her name arrived from Mike. On Felix's birthdays, another $500 appeared in the savings account from Mike.
"There he is. He looks a little bruised." Gator pointed out to Mike.
"Yeah, that's normal. It'll go away in a few weeks. Are you nervous?" Mike said.
"I'm a little nervous to hold him. He's so tiny." Gator remarked.
"Can they bring him out here? I'll show you a trick." Mike asked and Gator gestured for the nurse, and showed his wristband. Soon enough, Felix was brought out and both Mike and Gator washed their hands. Mike gently picked Felix up from the bassinet and nodded at Gator. "One hand under his head, one under his upper legs. Gently hold one of his legs so you have a hold of him, then settle him in the crook of the arm, like a football. Its not hard at all. Babies this age, really kids; love being close. The biggest thing is the hand on his head." Mike said. He was handling Felix with ease.
"You make it seem simple." Gator remarked.
"Parenting isn't so different then navigating a ship. On a ship, you have sonar, radar and at worse; king fisher. Parenting; its more like dead reckoning, but get to know your kid, and you will be able to figure out when they are hungry, mad, wet, cold, hot, or sad. Not so hard. Don' t overthink it, keep it simple. We know you can dead reckon." Mike answered.
Gator realized how true those words were. It seemed like funny advice at the time, but it worked. It made him wish he had seen Mike interact with his own kids. It would have been amazing. Gator could only hope someday Mike would recapture some happiness.
