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I twist myself to look at her face. “Okay?”
“If you want, while I’m out here watching, you can try to teach Luna how to swim without her water wings.”
The grin that spreads across my face is the most genuine smile that I have had in a very long time. “It would be an honor.”
Caterina isn’t looking at me, but her lips turn down in a frown. “Well, don’t thank me yet. She’s a little bit stubborn and can be kind of difficult to teach. Or change her mind. Basically, if she doesn’t think she thought of it, good luck getting her to do it.”
I laugh. “I believe she comes by that honestly.”
“Oh, you think I’m stubborn?” Caterina folds her arms, her lips in a perfect pout that leaves me no doubt where Luna learned the expression.
I lean forward, still smiling. “No, Caterina. Because I am.”
A red flush creeps into her cheeks, and she looks away. “Well. That’s pretty true.”
I laugh. “Gia, believe it or not, is even worse.”
“That’s definitely true.”
I stand and take a few steps to the pool. I am about to call out to Luna when Caterina’s soft touch on my shoulder stops me.
I turn. “Yes?”
Her eyes are wide, and she searches my face, like she’s looking for some kind of confirmation before she continues. “Elio…” she starts.
I freeze, afraid to break the moment.
Finally, she sighs. “Be careful. She’s a little overconfident without the floaties on.”
I have a feeling that was not originally what Caterina had been planning on saying.
However, I do not press the issue.
I simply nod. “I will be careful with our daughter,” I murmur.
Caterina flushes again but goes to sit on the edge of the pool.
I hop in. “Luna, would you like to learn how to swim without your floats on?”
A cacophonous screech is my answer. I smile, letting myself feel the joy flow like water around me.
This is going to be a good day.
My prediction comes true.
It is a wonderful day.
Luna is every bit as stubborn as Caterina warned me. She does not want to listen to me, she refuses to follow directions, and as a result, she sinks like a stone within about two minutes.
It is only watching me and seeing how easily I am able to cut through the water, with a little bit of speed to aid my cause, that finally she acquiesces to trying anew.
Even then, she is hardly coordinated.
I am soaked, my eyes burn from the chlorine, but as the sun is beginning to turn hazy and golden in the late afternoon sky, Luna successfully swims from one end of the pool to the other without dipping into the water, in a passable front crawl.
As she touches the wall, Caterina and I cheer as though she has just taken home a gold medal for Italy.
Luna’s pride is infectious. She practically glows with joy, and I lift her up onto my shoulders to parade her around the yard.
