AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I mean, if it had been a woman he could have followed her, or would have anyway. He would not have been afraid to really live. All those years, wasted.” She shook her head.
“You are not your parents any more than I am mine.” Connor took her hand. “We will not make their mistakes.”
“You do not know that.”
“No, I do not.” Connor admitted. “But I can help you remember the lessons.”
“Will that be enough?”
“Yes,” he said sincerely. “Just wait and see.”
**
Connor went into the water, his body plunging into the waves and his arms moving in long confident strokes. He could see Sandra ahead of him, swimming parallel to the shore, her dark head bobbing above the white capped crests.
He knew he should tell her to get the hell out of the water, it was late September and she was due any day but he did not have the heart to. Sandra had already given up sailing for the moment and this would likely be the last good day for swimming.
It was a beautiful day. He could see the hills in the distance, their tops rising above the gray ribbon of the highway that wound around them. Clouds rolled across the sky, the breeze was warm, and the scent of pine hung over the odor of the sea.
Boats moved along the water farther out and he spat a mouthful of the salty stuff from his mouth while the gratitude that always swamped him every time he stepped into the water filled him yet again.
Sandra had taught him to swim. He rolled onto his back, floating on the waves, drifting there. He looked up at the sky and smiled, “She is a good one Gina,” he said and then he blew a kiss to the woman he had loved, but who had never been able to show him how to let go and trust enough to float in the endless ocean. It was not a reflection on Gina, or the love that they had shared; it was simply a testament to the new one.
Sandra, swimming ahead, felt the cramp strike her back and belly again. She swam a few more feet and counted until it came back. When it did her she knew her suspicion was correct, she was in labor.
She spotted Connor afloat a wave and she swam over to him. “We need to go.”
He lifted a hand, “Go, nobody will care.”
Sandra, a little frightened at that point and fighting not to show it could not keep the edge out of her voice when she asked “What?”
“If you have to pee just do it.”
“I am in labor. We need to go to the hospital. I already peed.” She did not know why she added the last part.
Connor’s head went under and he came back up sputtering and gasping, “What did you say?”
“I said I am in labor.”
Oh shit!” He grabbed her arm and started to tug her toward the shore, forgetting that his feet would not touch the bottom. Sandra began to laugh helplessly even as she began to bawl.
They made it to shore and Connor sat her down in a chair while he rushed around grabbing an odd assortment of things, forgot the car keys, and had to go back to the upper floor to get them while she sat watching him run past.
He ran past her and that time she heard the garage door open. She watched the car shoot out and down the driveway before he recalled that she was still in the house, reversed and burned rubber back to the front stairs.
Sandra groaned with pain as another contraction hit her. Panicked beyond reason Connor carried her bodily down the stairs, not caring if he threw his back out doing so.
The road unfurled as they went down it, their hands entwined. The gold wedding rings that they wore flashed in the sun, the diamonds on hers winked at the sky and Sandra stared at it, remembering the day that she had taught Connor to swim and the proposal she had said yes to right after.
Her mother had been correct; love did not always make things convenient. Oh, but what she was willing to do for the one she had with Connor. The things they had taught each other were life’s most precious lessons.
THE END
