Bright sunlight reflecting off clear blue water practically blinded him. It took himself a moment to orient to where he was, to what was happening. And then he saw and knew exactly where he was.
"Come on, Ella, you can do it!" Nick encouraged. He stood in the pool, a few feet away from the edge, holding his arms out for his daughter.
Ella stood frozen in place. Her little lip was quivering as she tried not to cry from fear.
Cody was already in the water, paddling around wearing his floaties. "Don't be a baby, Ella!" he taunted.
"That's enough!" Jen barked at her son. "Ella's allowed to feel however she feels."
That was sufficient to quiet Cody. He paddled away, pouting after his scolding.
Nick glanced over to his son to make sure he wasn't too sore. But he seemed fine. He recovered quick, did Cody. Nick looked back over to see Jen crouching down to speak to Ella at her eye level.
"Ell, what's worrying you, sweetheart?" Jennifer asked quietly.
"Mummy, I'm scared. What if Dad drops me?" she asked in a small voice.
"I can promise you that your dad would never drop you," Jen assured her. "He caught Cody, didn't he?"
"But I'm taller than Cody! What if Dad can't catch me?" Ella worried.
Jen chuckled slightly. "Dad can catch quite a bit bigger than Cody. Do you want to see?"
Ella just looked at her mother curiously.
With that, Jen stood up and turned to where Nick was watching them carefully. "Alright, Nick," she announced. "Catch me!"
Nick laughed, "Alright. Jump, Jen!"
With a delighted grin, Jen took a running jump into her husband's arms. He caught her without any problem at all and kissed her soundly.
"There, you see, Ella? If Dad can catch me, he can certainly catch you," Jen called out.
But the four-year-old was not quite convinced. She tended to be quite dubious. Ella Bernice Buchanan was a curious and wary child. She was at once patient and insistent. Ella never seemed to tire of asking questions and pushing—sometimes quite stubbornly—until she got an answer she was satisfied with. She had the tenacity of her mother, which Nick was always pleased to see. But she was quite like he was. Little Ella was the spitting imagine of her mother. She was blonde and beautiful and charming, but her bright blue eyes held a pensiveness that Jen always said was like Nick. He would proudly take the compliment. But Ella was so much her own person. Unlike both of her parents, Ella would never leap before looking. It was Cody who had gotten their impulsive nature. Ella was clever and even cunning sometimes. But her reticence ensured that she could get practically paralyzed like this before she had to take a step out of her comfort zone.
Eventually, however, Ella conceded. Apparently she had figured that if Cody could do it and Mum could do it, she certainly could as well. "Alright," she agreed nervously.
Nick let go of Jen so she could swim over to Cody and leave plenty of room for Ella.
"Jump, Ella!" Nick called to his little girl.
With the most adorable deep breath of determination, Ella leapt right into her father's waiting embrace. He hugged her tight and kissed her cheeks.
"I'm so proud of you for being brave. That wasn't so bad, eh?" he murmured into her ear.
"Thank you for catching me, Daddy," Ella replied, hugging him around his neck.
"I'll always catch you, bug," he promised.
Ella smiled up at him. "I know you will."
The happy memory of being in the pool with Ella and Cody and Jen faded from Nick's mind. His thoughts were immediately transported elsewhere. They were not outside anymore. They were at home. It was earlier than that memory. The sky was dark outside, the height of winter. And the babies were still babies.
Cody was on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth, as though about to crawl, but not actually going anywhere. Ella sat nearby, her little legs splayed out in front of her as she played with her blocks.
"Do you think it hurts his knees?" Jen asked. She was sitting on the sofa beside Nick. The children were on the rug in front of them. The coffee table had been moved out of the way so that Nick and Jen could do just this, relax on the sofa while watching telly and watching their babies.
Nick took his eyes away from the rugby highlights and glanced down at Cody. "Nah, he's fine. Babies are tough. And he's on the rug and he's got the fleece little onesie to help cushion his joints."
"I worry, though. He's been doing that a lot lately, rocking back and forth on his hands and knees. We've seen him crawl, but he doesn't seem to even want to do that. He just rocks. Do you think something's wrong?" Jen wondered with concern.
"No, he's fine. He might be about to learn to walk. They do that at about this age, right?" Nick's attention drifted back to the rugby. He was less concerned than his wife about the danger their children might have been in while sitting in plain view in front of them.
And then, as if his ears had been burning, Cody did something miraculous. Jen gasped and smacked Nick rather hard in the arm. "Look!"
Nick was just in time to see the way Cody pushed himself up to standing, all by himself. He was about two feet away from the sofa where Nick and Jen were sitting. And their son, without any further assistance, took three wobbly steps towards them. He swayed like a tree in a windstorm, but he did not fall. He ended up with his baby hands on Jen's knees, practically falling into her. He also made a baby noise that Nick and Jen both knew meant that he wanted to be held.
Jen, laughing with delight and nearly crying with pride, scooped him up into her arms. "You did, Cody!" she gushed. She kissed him till he was giggling and wiggling. "You took your first steps!" Jen turned to Nick, radiating joy. "What do you have to say to your son, the walker?"
"My son, the walker! I can't believe it! Well done, mate!" Nick said to Cody, bestowing kisses in a similar mix of laughing and crying.
All the while, Ella sat where she was. The excitement over her brother learning to walk did not seem to faze her one bit. She was far too focused on her blocks. She was even so focused on her blocks and whatever else she was up to that Ella did not take her own first steps for another six weeks. Apparently, walking was not something that concerned her too much.
It did concern her parents, however, as Jen then called the doctor to ask if Ella was delayed in her development for some reason. But Jen was told that children, even twins, all develop at different rates. Ella had better cognitive skills thus far than Cody. She was starting to speak in words, while Cody had not gotten there yet. And sure enough, by the time Cody knew four whole words—Mama, Dada, yes, and no—Ella had finally started walking. Cody had been zooming around the room for Nick and Jen to both follow like mad, leaving Ella slightly less supervised.
Their brilliant little daughter had clearly determine that enough was enough and she hauled herself off the ground and took her own first steps. Nick had nearly missed it. He had just been walking by when he saw it happen and shouted at Jen to watch. Jen had been a bit annoyed that they had not thought to record either child learning to walk, but it had all come on so suddenly. Nick had promised her that they'd never forget the first steps that the twins too, despite being so far apart. And Nick had learned he was right. Even now, he had not forgotten a single moment of those events.