"Mikey, look at me!" Katie giggled as she swam from one end of the pool to the other. "I can swim!"
"I see you, Katie." Michael nodded to her. He readjusted his sunglasses. "You're doing a very good job."
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and everyone (including Luke, who pretty much invited himself) decided that they didn't need to do anything but sit around and be lazy all day. It only early spring but it was surprisingly too hot to go out somewhere and Katie's house had a pool, so it all worked out perfectly.
Michael was actually prepared to go swimming this time, he didn't have to go in the water in just his jeans anymore, and he was pretty proud of himself for that.
He was standing in the pool at one end with Luke while they watched Katie swim back and forth. Melissa was at the other end, making sure that nothing happened to Katie. Parker was sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water, because he was still too scared to jump in.
"Do you want to get in now, Pac-Man?" Michael asked, turning and poking Parker in the stomach.
"I don't want to jump." Parker shook his head quickly and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You don't need to jump, bud." Michael said, holding his arms out for Parker. "I can just hold you."
"But what if you drop me?" Parker questioned, still not seeming very sure of this. He brushed some of his long hair out of his eyes. He needed a haircut again, but Michael didn't want to take him. They all loved Parker's long hair. "Don't drop me, Daddy."
"I won't, Park, I promise." Michael assured him, turning towards Luke for a second. "I won't drop him, right Luke?"
"No you won't." Luke nodded. "You'll be okay, Parker, and even if you do fall in the water it won't be that deep. You might be able to touch the bottom here."
"Really?" Parker asked skeptically and looked down at the bottom of the pool.
"Yeah." Michael promised, holding his arms out for Parker once again. Parker stood up slowly, for a moment looking like he was going to get in the water, and then sat down again. Michael sighed loudly.
"I'm scared." Parker pouted.
"I know, bud, but there's really nothing to be scared about." Michael said. He pushed himself up out of the pool so he was sitting on the edge next to Parker.
"I could drown." Parker looked up at Michael and squinted, the sun being too bright for him.
"I would never let that happen." Michael assured him. He sighed again, wishing that Parker would just get in the water. Michael wanted Parker to enjoy himself, and it seemed like he wasn't when he was just sitting off to the side.
"I'll be right here too, Park." Luke spoke up.
"Yeah Park, Luke's gonna be right here too." Michael said softly, rubbing Parker's back. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you, alright? I promise."
"Okay." Parker finally nodded, standing up again. "Should I put more sunscreen on?"
Michael let out a loud laugh at this and so did Luke, because most four year olds didn't bring up the fact that they need to reapply their sunscreen, they left that job to their parents.
"Uh, sure." Michael chuckled, standing up. "We can put some more sunscreen on."
They walked over to where Melissa had left all of the pool stuff, like sunscreen and toys and things like that. Parker ran over and grabbed the sunscreen himself, holding it out for Michael.
