Page 44 of Alfie: Part One
“I’m gonna try, but Colm’s a fuckin’ mountain,” I replied.
“Hey.” Colm shot me a look as Ryan climbed up his back. “What if I have body issues?”
I smirked. “Do you?”
He snorted a laugh. “Nah. Let’s go!”
“On the count of three!” Kellan hollered. “One! Two! Three!”
I took off in a sprint, with Ellie squealing in my ear, and everyone in the pool cheered as we jumped in. I managed to pull up my legs right before we hit the water, and Colm and Ryan were right next to us.
Fuck, this felt good. I hadn’t had this much fun in a long-ass time.
Ellie and I resurfaced to more cheers, but Colm and Ryan were once more declared the winners of the biggest splash.
“Damn it all!” Ellie cried out.
“All right, that’s it.” Finn pushed himself out of the pool. “Come on, shortcake. You and I will show Colm and Ryan how it’s done.”
“I will win, Daddy!” Ryan guffawed.
“You’ve won enough, son,” Finn replied.
I grinned and swam to the edge to help her up. “Okay, go with Finn, baby. I’ll cheer for you.”
“Yessss!” She was game.
Perfect timing for me. While she ran for Finn, I swam over to the stairs where Trip was sitting, happily eating his soft-serve cone with the best amount of jimmies. As in, a shit-ton.
“You in a sharing mood, son?” I approached like a predator, and he eeep’d and struggled to decide. He couldn’t contain his grin, at the same time as he was possessive of his ice cream.
“One bite!” he bargained.
One was fine.
I chuckled and eased up like a whale on the last steps, and he extended the cone to me. I went for the melting top and got a mouthful of rainbow jimmies too—fucking perfect. Then he immediately backed away to keep the cone out of the water zone.
“Delicious.” I gave his knee a squeeze. “You havin’ fun, sweetheart?”
He smiled goofily. “Very. I almost taught CJ to swim. He’s struggling.”
Well, CJ wasn’t five yet, so he had time.
Speak of the devil…
CJ splashed toward us and removed his floaties as soon as he was on the stairs, and he?—
“Don’t take them off until your belly button’s above the surface, son.” Liam swam over too. “If you break the rules, I pay for it when we get home.”
“I can stand, Daddy!” CJ huffed.
“Tell your mum that,” Liam challenged. “It’s her fuckin’ rule.”
I shook my head in amusement. Glad to see he and Luna were a united front.
Reagan and little Kian bobbed closer too, wearing both arm floaties and life jackets, which was the only way Emilia couldrelax some. ’Cause these kids were wild. Little Eddie was the same. Everyone under four needed two pairs of eyes on them—and all the flotation help.
“Hi!” CJ pulled up his trunks and sat down on the step below the top one. “Are you my uncle?”