Kristin's POV:
I handed Tommy his cup of fizzy water and his vitamins. "There you go bud." He took them the way we'd been teaching him to and then pointed at the piece of paper. "Yep, that's him, your new swimming teacher remember. And this afternoon, you're going to go meet him and do some swimming."
"Yea."
"Mhm, and these are the pictures of the swimming pool." He studied the pictures we'd been sent by Jimmy Solidarity. He was a swimming teacher who did mostly swimming with disabled people. He did do it in groups, but we'd decided to give Tommy that time to himself. He needed things that were his and his only. Jimmy seemed like a lovely guy who Phil had found online after the first lady he'd been talking to said she wasn't going to be able to fit him in for a few months. He had an indoor, heated swimming pool purpose built for his job.
It seemed very well set up. When we'd booked in our first session, he sent over an information pack. It contained pictures and information about him, and then a tonne of pictures of the swimming pool and changing area. We weren't sure whether seeing all the information before he went and did something was helpful for Tommy but we'd agreed with Eret to continue doing it as long as it didn't cause any harm. Speaking of, Phil was on the phone with Eret now. The weekly phone calls had made a massive difference for our understanding of Tommy, Techno and Tubbo. Eret was qualified to help with all of the conditions and needs and mostly just reassured me and Phil we were doing our best and our best was more than good enough.
Monday evenings were hectic. Techno's driving test was not long off, so his fortnightly driving lessons would be stopping soon. But Kelly had gymnastics on a Monday and Mumbo had three hours of music lessons at our house. We were now in the routine of Tubbo going first, feeding Tommy, Kelly and Kristin during that time, then Tommy having his lesson, then Wilbur having his whilst I cooked/ reheated dinner for everyone else. Poor Mumbo asked for a cup of coffee and a 10 minute break between each of the boys to get things sorted and that was it.
But now, Tuesdays would involve trying to get all the boys back home in time from school, then speeding off to swimming with Tommy. I'd get home from work, start making dinner. Then when Phil and Tommy got back, we'd eat dinner as a family. And the rest of the evening would continue as 'normal'. Our weeks were only going to get busier, but Phil and I were loving it.
I got a food bag out and placed Tommy's goggles into it. We had his towel and change of clothes in a drawstring bag they'd got in Sports direct. He was wearing his swimming shorts and UV shirt so he was ready to go. He was still studying the pictures so I just checked Kelly was okay. It was a really nice day out today and we'd spent most of the day in the garden. She was jumping on the trampoline and quickly confirmed she was really enjoying herself and there was nothing to worry about.
"MA!"
"I'm coming bud, what's up?"
"When am I going swimming?"
"Nice talking," I praised. 'Nice talking' was our new way of saying well done for using his iPad to talk to us, "Phil is going to take you at 4:10. It takes you 20 minutes to get there. You've got 10 minutes to get changed, a whole hour of swimming, then 10 minutes to get changed, then 20 minutes drive home, then we'll have dinner. Okay?" I was pointing at each step on the piece of paper. We'd created a timeline of sorts to show how the swimming lesson routine which he'd now be doing every Tuesday for as long as he wanted to.
He nodded and tapped each part of the paper over and over in the order it was going to happen. He was content and entertaining himself so I left him to it and checked my phone for the billionth time. We'd let our three eldest boys go out into town by themselves and despite the fact we'd told them we trusted them and so on, Phil and I were petrified of something going wrong. Both of us had been stress-checking our phones since he dropped them off earlier.
There were no messages. I went to call Techno but paused, took a deep breath and stopped myself. They wanted more independence and I needed to give it to them. I sighed and grabbed an energy drink from the very back of the fridge, we hide them from the boys, which is probably not good but it's what Phil and I have to do if we want to be able to drink them. I'd grabbed them from the corner shop yesterday after gymnastics, just in case the boys had another rough night and we'd need the support. Tubbo had been fine, as far as we knew, Phil mentioned that he didn't seem to come and get us even though he'd been having nightmares since coming home. But Tommy had one. I got up and helped get him back to sleep, but I was now tired out of my mind. Still, Phil was taking him swimming and apart from having to go pick up the boys whenever they called, I'd have a bit of time to calm myself and chill.
I took another swig of my energy drink and decided to make myself helpful. Whilst doing a bit of cleaning, Phil came downstairs. "Eret thinks that Tubbo isn't coming to us about his nightmares because he doesn't know how to approach an adult for help."
"I suppose it's been a long time since he did it. Also, just because Tommy's got his headphones on doesn't mean he can't hear us. You know we have an agreement with all the boys that we don't discuss any personal information with anyone without their permission."
"Thanks for pulling me up on it. He's watching Doctor Who so I genuinely think he wouldn't have heard a thing but you're right."
"Yea."
"The boys called yet?"
"Nope, no, they must be having the time of their lives."
"Tubbo's in the wheelchair which he seems better with now so they'll be fine I'm sure. Techno's got everything else they could need in his backpack. Wilbur helped him pack it."
"Are we sure Wilbur didn't pack the kitchen sink in it?"
"Umm," he looked over at the kitchen sink, "no I think it's still here." I laughed and leaned into his touch for a hug. "You alright?"
"Mhm, just tired, hospitals are draining."
"How was he this morning?"
"Ethan's good. But he's got a lot of physio to do before he'll be able to walk. I think he was having his first session in the wheelchair this afternoon."
"Maybe Tubbo could give him some tips?" We laughed a little.
"Oh I forgot to tell you, hospital called this morning. Tubbo's splints and insoles have come in. Dr Maxwell hopes it'll make a big difference."
"That'll be good."
"And he confirmed that the appointment for Tommy is booked for August the 1st. We'll have to take him to Tubbo's physio session and wait around a bit and then to his appointment."
"Download a few episodes of Doctor Who and he'll be fine I'm sure."
"We'll work it out. Anyway, hopefully getting him involved with the swimming will help him."
"He seems excited."
"I think his anxiety sometimes comes out as extra energy that makes him seem excited too."
"Yea, of course. Anyway, he's had another snack and we've gone through the pictures again."
"Okay then. I need to put a wash on for Kelly, she's barely got anything left to wear."
"Wilbur's clothes are in there currently but if you help me put them out on the line?"
"Got it."
Jimmy's (not Mr Beast, Jimmy Solidarity, like as in Solidarity gaming, also known as Timmy) POV:
I doubled-checked I'd placed all the dinosaur diving toys on the side of the pool and then checked the changing room was clean from the group session I'd just had in. Phil and Tommy would be arriving any second and first impressions were important.
The doorbell ran. I slipped into my crocs and answered the door. "Hey!"
"Hey Jimmy, I'm Phil. This is Tommy."
"It's nice to meet you Tommy. Come in, come in."
I led them through to the changing area. "So, we don't allow outdoor shoes in this area unless you've got those things on them," I pointed at the shoe covers I had in a box on the side.
"Got it."
"But you guys are welcome barefoot. So if you just want to take your shoes off, that's perfectly okay. Sorry, I can't remember, were you getting in the pool with him?"
"I was today just so he's more comfortable. But if he's happy with just you, I'll sit on the side in future."
"Great, just come through that door when you're ready and we'll get started." I smiled and left them to it.
They joined me five minutes later and Tommy looked at me nervously. "I like your UV top, it's like mine, see." Mine had a Captain America shield symbol on it which I often used as a talking point to help people engage.
Tommy tapped his top and looked at Phil. "Yep mate, like your's."
"Now, when we go swimming we can't run because we might get hurt and we've got to listen. I bet you're good at listening." Tommy looked at me with a face of disgust, maybe I'd been treated him like a baby unintentionally.
"Tommy, you got that? No running, and make sure you're listening." Phil said.
"Yea."
"Good, sorry I shouldn't have spoken to you like you weren't going to understand me. I'll do better to remember that. Would you like to get into the pool now?" He nodded and dragged Phil along by his hand.
"Tommy, mate, remembering what we have just said?" He sighed and slowed himself down.
"When we get in, we get in at the shallow end and we go down the ladder with our hands holding on at all times." I said in a more clear and stern tone, hoping it wouldn't scare him and wouldn't come off as babyish. I went first and then gestured for him to do it. "Well done, you did that perfectly. First time as well!" He smiled at me and giggled.
Phil got in and stood with Tommy. "Is this okay mate?" Tommy nodded and slapped the water with his hands. "I, umm, I don't know what you wanted to get started with Jimmy but he just loves being in water, so yea."
"First session I like to see how much they can already do, and then pretty much just play games, which we tend to do in every session anyway."
"Cool, yea sounds good."
"Tommy, I'm going to swim out there, when I say go, can you try and get to me as quickly as possible." He half-nodded and looked up at the lights.
I trod water in the deep-end for a moment and took some breaths. "Tommy, are you ready? Go!"
Tommy looked at me, then at Phil. He walked calmly over to the side of the pool and shuffled his way along it, turning at the corner and holding onto it as he looked at me. I didn't know what to say. "Nice to know you can find the edge of the pool and shuffle along it safely. Well done, do you like high five's?" I held my hand out tentatively and he whacked his against it. "You're just way too smart for me huh?"
He giggled again, "yea."
"Yea? Alright then, if you're super smart, can you swim from here to Phil? Swimming this time yea?"
"Yea."
"Alright, good job, off you go." He launched himself into the water and through a mess of flailing arms and legs got himself to Phil. So... he could swim. I mean, we would work on technique. But he knew how to get himself from A to B when he needed too.
I swam back down to the shallow end and met them there. "That was great, we can learn in these lessons how to swim more safely and make you go faster. Does that sound good?"
He nodded aggressively. "He's not swum like that when we took him swimming before," Phil commented.
"I think he's probably clever enough to realise that he didn't need to waste the energy doing it when someone will make sure he's getting around."
"Probably." We laughed.
"Right, you want to play a game with me?" I got a hum in return, which Phil made clear was a yes. "Good. Now, Phil is going to throw these dinosaurs into the pool. We've got to go under the water and get the ones in our colour. We can only pick one up at a time, okay? And whoever can pick up all their dinosaurs quickest wins."
He reached for the dinosaurs on the side. He signed something. "Yea, they're dinosaurs." I copied his sign.
"I completely forget you knew Makaton. Tommy doesn't know a lot. Just a few words here and there."
"That's alright, we can work out how to talk to each other best can't we?" Tommy nodded and began lining up the dinosaurs. "Hey, Tommy, do you need a break?"
"Break."
"Alright, thanks for telling me, I'm going to get the inflatables out of my cupboard and when I come back, we can start again if you're ready."
I got out the pool and walked into the room just off from the pool. It was where I kept all my equipment. I got out a noodle, a kickboard and ring inflatable. After standing still for around five minutes, hoping it would be enough time for Tommy to regulate himself, I went back out.
Tommy screamed. I froze and tried my best to understand the situation. He hadn't screamed because he was scared: he'd screamed because he was excited. I relaxed and placed the equipment in the pool before getting in myself. "You ready to go diving for these dinosaurs now?" He pointed at the inflatables. "I'll cut you a deal, if you can get all your dinosaurs from the bottom of the swimming pool, we can play with the inflatables for the rest of your lesson?" He nodded.
"Where am I throwing these?" Phil asked.
"Umm, I'm going to see if he can dive down, or understands the concept. So drop them in kind of a line going out from the shallow end?"
"Got it."
"Tommy, do you want the red or the green dinosaurs?" He didn't answer me. "Hey, red or green?"
Phil stepped in, "mate, would you like to hunt for the red dinosaurs or the green dinosaurs?" He finally pointed at the red one I was holding. "Good choice, I'm going to go put these on the bottom of the swimming pool. Would it be okay if Jimmy helped you put on your goggles?"
The goggles were practically thrown at me by Tommy and I laughed as I helped him put them on. Once done, Phil swam back to us. "Ready?"
"Yea."
"Alright then, go!" Tommy dipped his head into the water and reached for the dinosaur. Phil took it from him and guided him to get the next one. I watched but made sure I was still picking up my dinosaurs so I didn't come off as suspicious. Tommy could still reach the bottom of the swimming pool on the second one, but he would have to go further down to get it. He did it with no trouble. I refused to believe this kid had never swam before. He understood how it worked, how to move his body in the water to get where he needed to. He wasn't doing it in the most effective way but he was still doing it.
Next dinosaur. He'd have to dive for this one. I went down to get mine at the same time and watched him. He struggled and found himself floating up to the surface. He didn't take a breath though. I swam over, leaving my 3rd dinosaur at the bottom of the pool. At least he knew how to float.
I picked him up under his armpits and sat him up straight in the water. "Deep breath." I showed him how to do it, hoping he'd copy. He did eventually. "Well done, when we go swimming, we've got to take deep breaths so our muscles have enough oxygen to work." He nodded. "Let's take a few more deep breaths and then we can try again."
I was treading water but holding Tommy slightly, just to keep him afloat. "Ready."
"High-five and then we can try again. I'm going to come down with you and help you get to it, okay?" He nodded and squirmed to get away from me. "Ready, deep breath in, and go!" We went under and forced his arms to move in the right way to send him further down. He seemed a little shocked at first and went back up for air.
"Everything okay mate?"
"Did you feel how fast you moved when you did that?" I asked, repeating the movement with his arms. He hummed happily. "One more try?"
"Yea."
Phil looked at me and just smiled. "Ready, deep breath, and go!" We went under and he did what I'd taught him. His fingertips just about reached the dinosaur and he happily floated back up to the surface holding it.
"Nice job mate!"
"I think you've done so well that you can play with the inflatables now?"
Another scream of excitement. I think Tommy and I were going to really enjoy our swimming lessons together.
A/n Hey, sorry this is late, been super busy at the moment and I'm struggling to find time to write. No update on friday to give me a chance to catch up, very sorry again.