“Good morning.”
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“After writing, yes, I did. Very well.”
“I’m glad you got some done. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Okay,” she sounded hesitant.
“Can we go to the water park in Atlantis Resort?”
Daniel and Sydney came running into my room with egg all over their faces.
“Please?” Sydney asked.
“There’s a water park on the island?” Brooke asked.
“In one of the hotel resorts, there is. Atlantis is open to the public during certain hours. Apparently, the kids want to go,” I said.
“Sounds like fun. You should take them.”
“Would you and Morgan like to join us?” I asked.
“Please, Miss Brooke?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah! Pullleeeeeeeeeeeze!” Sydney asked.
“Well, how could I say no to them?” Brooke asked.
“Perfect. Want to meet us at the entrance in an hour?” I asked.
“I’ll roll Morgan out of bed and we’ll meet you there.”
I hung up and scooped my twins into my arms. I carried them both into their bedrooms and helped them get ready for the water park. I called a cab for us to get there and piled us all in, and the kids chattered excitedly the whole way to the park.
When we pulled up out front, Brooke and Morgan were already waiting. Brooke avoided my gaze but opened her arms wide and smiled big for my kids. Something felt a little off, but I figured she just didn’t want to give anything away about what had happened between us the night before.
Despite some early awkwardness, it ended up being a great day. We all went down water slides and ate overpriced food. Morgan and Brooke kept going down the massive pyramid water slide to try and convince the twins to go down it with them. I knew they would never tackle something that big. The smile on Brooke’s face throughout the day was priceless, and it filled my heart with so much joy to see her happy.
This was the type of happiness a woman like her deserved.
We had so much fun with the water slides and the rides that the reason I had invited her there in the first place completely fled my mind. But on top of that, I had no idea how to even bring the idea up. Asking her to babysit meant stretching out her vacation as well. I wasn’t sure she’d go for it, especially if it meant staying alone, or even with us, after Morgan went home.
“Daddy! Watch this!”
I watched my daughter take Brooke’s hand as the two of them jumped into the water. Daniel jumped in after them, swimming underneath to try and get all the way to the bottom. I was poised, ready to jump in if they didn’t come up for air within the next couple of seconds.
And just before I took off, Brooke emerged with Sydney wiping at her eyes.
“I went down far! Did you see, Daddy?”
“Yes I did, sweetheart,” I said, as I took long deep breaths trying to slow down my racing heart. “I saw it all right.”
They did it over and over again, putting me on the edge of a damn heart attack every time they sank to the bottom. I had paid a lot of money in private swimming lessons beginning when they were only two. I knew that they knew how to swim fairly well for their ages, but the pool at the park was much bigger than any they’d ever been in. And filled with way more people.
We stayed the entire day until the kids were practically falling over with exhaustion. I gathered everyone up and loaded us into the car, then I dropped the girls off back at the pier. I wanted Brooke to come back with us so we could sit down and talk, but I also didn’t want to ruin the day. The kids had a blast and I had fun watching Brooke play with them. The water slides were great and sharing lunch together had been full of laughter and good times.
I didn’t want to ruin that with a conversation that could possibly go south.