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I pull on her arm, turning her body in the water and pulling her in close at my side. “Ave, you don’t ever explain yourself. I wasn’t laughing because I thought it was silly or too soon. I was laughing because I thought you were going to say something else. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon?”
“Not at all.” I remember the moment I fell in love with Lance myself. Some would call it an infatuation, lust, maybe a little crush back then. But that night at the gala on the dance floor, our first night together, it wasn’t any of those things. I fell for him, and everything promised in his eyes, when he begged me not to leave. I knew somehow, with the wild beat of his heart, I knew. Even if it took me the entire year that followed to let it mean anything. “It’s never too soon to tell someone you love them, Ave. If it’s how you feel, you should always tell them.”
“What if he doesn’t say he loves me back?”
“Sometimes loving someone can be really scary. It’s big feelings and makes you feel a million different emotions on top of the good ones. But you know what the best thing about love is?”
She watches me, waiting.
“You don’t get to pick and choose who you give it to.” I tap her chest. “Your heart does the hard work for you. Tell me, why do you love him?” I ask.
She slips out of my arms, clinging to the edge of the pool and dipping her head back in the water. “He makes me laugh.”
I nod. “You make him laugh, too. What else?”
“His hugs make me feel really safe.”
An ache tightens my throat. “That’s really special, baby.”
“And sometimes, I want to be with him, even when I’m sleeping.”
I smile. “Well, as someone who’s spent the last month watching the two of you, who knows you both pretty well, I’d say the chances of your dad loving you back is moon and stars and beyond kinda high.”
She straightens, her hair sticking to her shoulders. “You do?”
“I do.”
Her eyes light up. “Will you help me tell him?”
I marvel at her happiness. “Of course I will. What do you have in mind?”
“I want to cook for him.”
“Okay… tonight?”
Nerves flutter over her face. “I’m scared.”
Concealing my smile, I look back out over the ocean. “You have that pretty dress Auntie Luce made you. It would be perfect—”
“Yes! I could wear it with my new sandals from Nanny Nes. Will you plait my hair? Can we eat out here on the terrace?”
“Sounds perfect to me.”
“Arschbombe!”
We both wince as Lance enters the water, splashing the sides of our faces. “Arse what?” I clear the water from my face as Lance surfaces with a grin.
“Arschbombe.” Ave laughs. “It meansass bombin German.”
I look back at Lance. “What are you teaching our child?” Flattening my hand, I drag it across the water, scooping it up and splashing it into his face. “And will you be more careful on your leg?!”
“She taught me!” he swears, moving closer despite the onslaught of water.
“Uncle Elliot taught me,” Ave promises. “Can we do handstand competitions? On the count of three we go! One, two—”
The three of us dunk under the water, swimming down until we can flatten our hands on the floor. Ave seems to open her mouth and panic, sucking in air. She rises to the surface.
