Merry Christmas if you celebrate.
In the 12 years I have been writing in have always made sure to post a chapter on Christmas day for anyone that needs a break. If you need an excuse to hide in the bathroom with family knocking on the door, demanding you come play charades, here you go. If you're alone and need a little something fun, here you go. If, like me, you're stuck home alone with Covid, here you go.
I'm sorry for disappearing in October, I do have a good reason but Christmas day is not the day to share it.
Take care of yourselves xxx
18. Swimming Lessons
Morgan was trying to sit still while Mommy braided her hair, but it was hard. She was so, so excited. She was so excited it felt like there were lots of Petey's butterflies in her tummy.
Today she was finally allowed to swim in the lake!
She knew how to swim because she'd had lessons as long as she could remember, and Daddy called her a water baby so maybe many when she was a baby, too—she didn't know. But usually she was only allowed to paddle in the lake up to her knees. But now she was four and Mommy and Daddy finally said she could go deeper.
She had to wait for the weekend because Daddy said Petey would be sad to miss her first swim in the lake and he came at the weekends. Morgan hoped he'd arrive early Friday like he sometimes did, but it was almost bedtime before he knocked on the door so she had to wait until after breakfast and a little wait longer because Mommy and Daddy couldn't agree on how long she should wait in case of cramps.
But now both Mommy and Daddy said she was ready so Morgan had put on her pink flowers swimsuit, which was her favorite because it had frilly shorts, which made her look like a flower, too, and was now having her hair braided so it didn't get in her eyes and then she had to have sun lotion put on and then she could swim!
"Okay, honey, you're done," Mommy said, patting her shoulders.
Morgan jumped out of her chair and raced out of her bedroom, down the hall to the living room where she heard lots of laughter coming from outside. She hurried out and saw Petey and Daddy were both wearing their swimming clothes, but they were wrestling with sun lotion all over their hands!
They were trying to smear it over each other, making their skin all white and slimy, and they were both laughing a lot. It made Morgan giggle to see them being silly. Mommy came out behind Morgan, and she made a huffing sound and said, "Really, boys?" in a cross voice, but when Morgan looked she was smiling.
"Sorry, Mom," Petey said.
He stopped wrestling but Daddy didn't. While Petey wasn't looking, he tried to smear a huge blob of lotion over his cheek, but Petey dodged out of the way before he could.
No one apart from Morgan could catch Petey off guard. He always seemed to know when people were going to do something to him. Like at Daddy's birthday party, Uncle Steve tried to throw Petey in the lake but Petey jumped onto his back and stuck to him in the way only he could until Mommy tickled him and made him fall off. But Morgan could sneak up on him and tickle him and he could never get away.
"Tony," Mommy said.
"Yeah, Tony," Morgan said, copying Mommy's annoyed voice.
Petey started to laugh, and Daddy swept Morgan into his arms and gave her a big kiss. "It took long enough for your brother to call me Dad—I am not letting you call me Tony, Miss Maguna."
Morgan giggled. "Okay, I'll call you Daddy forever and ever."
"And ever and ever?" Daddy asked.
Morgan nodded. "Promise."
Daddy kissed her again, swaying her gently from side to side and then set her down and said, "Let's get some sun lotion on you before you swim."
Morgan stood still with her arms out like a scarecrow so Daddy could get the lotion on quickly and she could swim.
Mommy asked Petey, "Did you actually get proper coverage while you and your father were playing?"
"I could do with a little more on my back," Petey said.
Mommy took the lotion from the table and squeezed a big blob onto her hand and then rubbed it into Petey's back.
"Mom! Cold, cold, cold!" Petey cried.
Morgan giggled. Daddy remembered to rub his hands to make it warm for her, but Mommy had forgotten.
"I'm sorry, honey," Mommy said. "Let me just rub it in and get it done."
"Okay, okay, I can handle it," Petey said. "But you know I can't thermoregulate, right, so if I get hyperthermia or something…" His teeth started to chatter, but Morgan thought he was doing it on purpose, and she laughed.
"I hope you're just messing with me," Mommy said. "Because if you really are that cold you're not going in the lake. You'll have to go back to bed to warm up."
Petey immediately stopped chattering his teeth and said, "Oh, nope, I'm fine."
"Thought so," Mommy said.
Daddy laughed and turned Morgan around and rubbed the lotion into her back. She was getting fidgety again, looking at the lake which twinkled with the sun. She wanted to be in there!
"Done," Daddy said after a very long time.
"Me too," Petey said.
Morgan jumped up and down. "We can go swimming now?"
"One moment," Mommy said, and Morgan made a big sigh. "I want a family photo."
She rushed inside and grabbed her camera and then got them in their places so she could take the photo with one hand and get all their faces in it. Mommy called them selfies and she also said that Daddy couldn't take them without chopping people's heads off. That was true, but Morgan told Daddy he was very good to make him happy. But it was always better when Mommy or Petey took them.
Petey was very good at selfies and he had lots and lots on his phone that Daddy saved for him. Morgan knew all about his friends and family that went away because he showed her photos and videos and told her all about them. Morgan knew, though he never told her, that Petey saw the people that went away because she heard him talking about it to Mommy and Daddy. She also knew that the people that went away were coming back soon, even though she wasn't supposed to know
Morgan was looking forward to them coming back. She knew Uncle Steve's best friend and Petey's bestest big brother Bucky was one of the people that were gone, and she really couldn't wait to meet him.
Mommy took the photo, checked it and nodded, then said, "Okay, kids, let's go."
Petey grabbed Morgan's hand and they run to the lake. Morgan thought they'd go to the shore where she paddled, but he ran to the dock where they fished with Uncle Rhodey. He let go of Morgan's hand at the end and dived in. Morgan watched as he disappeared under the water and then popped up a long way away where he'd swum under the water.
He was grinning, but when he saw Morgan on the dock he looked sad and swam back to her.
Mommy and Daddy came to her and Mommy said, "What's wrong, honey?"
"It's a big… jump," Morgan said carefully.
But that wasn't what she was thinking. What she was thinking was that a lake was very different to a swimming pool, a lot bigger and the water wasn't as clear. There were fishes in the lake, she knew because she'd caught them. And there were geese and ducks that they fed with bread out of the kitchen.
Morgan wasn't sure anymore that she wanted to swim with fish and ducks and geese.
"Of course," Mommy said. "Shall we go in from the sand? Then it's a little bit of water at a time."
Morgan nodded, but she still wasn't sure that was what she wanted. She was cross that she was losing her happy feeling, because she'd been so excited before.
Mommy took her hand and walked her off the dock to the shore. Morgan felt better here, she was used to paddling, but when the water got to her tummy, she got worried again.
Daddy came in with her and called to Petey, who swam over really fast.
"What's up, Mo?" he asked.
"It's a little…" Morgan bit her lip.
"It's bigger than the pool?" Daddy suggested.
"Uhuh. It's bigger."
Daddy looked to Petey and said. "Ideas?"
Petey frowned and then said, "Morgan, do you remember that really old movie Mom made us watch about the boy and the whale?"
"Willy. They had to save him," Morgan said as Mommy scoffed and muttered, "Really old?"
"Do you remember how the boy swam with Willy? When he rode on his back?"
"Yeah. That was the best bit apart from Willy swimming in the ocean with his family."
Mommy smiled. "That's my favorite part, too."
"So… Would you like to ride on my back like Jesse did Willy?" Petey asked.
"Are you sure about that?" Daddy asked at the same time Morgan jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "Yes! That would be the most perfect thing."
Petey grinned at Morgan and then said to Daddy and Mommy, "I'm not thinking of piggybacking her around the lake…" He lowered his voice and covered Morgan's ears but she still heard as he said, "I can fly, remember."
Mommy's eyes widened, her mouth opening a little, but Daddy grinned and Morgan heard his muffled voice as he said, "Absolutely."
Petey removed his hands from Morgan's ears and she looked at Petey. She knew she wasn't supposed to know what they said, that she shouldn't have heard, so she pretended that she hadn't and said, "Mommy, can I swim with Petey?"
She was very excited about trying now.
She didn't know before that Petey could fly, but she supposed he had so much more magic that it shouldn't surprise her that he had some she didn't know about before. She wondered what else he could do and when he would tell her. Maybe when she was five. That was a good age to be to keep secrets, even though Morgan had kept secrets her whole life—like that Petey came to see them every weekend even though he was one of the people that went away.
"You know she'll be safe, Pep," Daddy said.
"That's true," Mommy sighed. "This is just a little…" She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, Pete. Of course I trust you. You two go ahead and… ride."
Petey grinned and gestured for Morgan to climb on his back like he normally did for piggy backs. She climbed on and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his tummy.
"You ready, Mo?" he asked.
"Yep," she replied, giving his neck a little squeeze.
"Mom?"
"Yes, honey. You two have fun."
Petey laughed a little and then he was walking deeper into the water, which was a little scary, and then they were flying. It was a little like swimming because they were in the water like swimmers, but Petey wasn't using his arms or legs at all—they just flew along in the water like Willy and Jesse did. Morgan shrieked and laughed and squeezed her arms and said, "Faster!"
Petey went faster until her braid was flying behind her and she wasn't at all scared of the lake anymore. Now she was excited about being in it, and she thought she could swim all day and not be scared even though flying was so much more exciting than swimming could ever be.
But she wanted to swim now. She knew Petey was only doing this with her to make her not-scared and she was not scared now so she wanted to show him it had worked.
"Can we go back now?" she asked, and Petey took a big turn in the water, which made big waves, and flew them back to Mommy and Daddy who were watching. Mommy had her hand on her chest, looking shocked, and Daddy was smiling widely, like he was proud of them.
They came to a halt in the shallow bit and Morgan climbed down from his back and danced. "We flew! Did you see us fly?"
"We definitely did," Mommy said, her voice a little breathy.
"I've not seen you fly in a long time, Pete," Daddy said.
Petey grinned. "Yeah, I guess you haven't." He turned to Morgan. "Did you like it?"
She nodded eagerly "Yes, yes, yes. But I want to swim, too, so I have done it."
"Awesome!" Petey cheered and stepped deeper into the water. "Coming?"
"No," Morgan said and gave a little smile. "I'm gonna jump!"
She ran out of the water, splashing everywhere, and onto the dock. She knew Mommy and Daddy were chasing her, but she wasn't in trouble—they were just taking care of her like always.
She ran all the way to the end of the dock and jumped, high, high into the air and then she dropped down and landed in the water with a big splash.
Just like in swimming lessons, she kicked her legs and swum up to the surface until her face broke the water and she breathed in a big breath and breathed out as a laugh. "I did it! I did it!" she cried, kicking her legs and moving her arms to stay on the surface, just like in the pool.
Petey swam up to her, smiling extra big, and Daddy called behind them, "Move over, kids, we're coming in!"
Petey pulled Morgan away and turned her in time to see Mommy and Daddy jumping off the dock, holding hands and smiling widely.
Morgan and Petey laughed as they disappeared then swum up .
Morgan felt the butterflies in her stomach again, bouncing all over, with happiness this time. She had done it, swum in the lake like she'd wanted as long as she could remember, and now she could do it all the time. She wouldn't be scared again, not after flying with Petey.
She had the best brother in the world.
Until next time...
Jadey xxx
