I wake up to find Daniel's side of the bed empty. The morning light is seeping in through the blinds. I grab my phone from the side table and check the time to make sure I haven't over slept on such an important day. I'm relieved to see that I haven't and still have two hours till my alarm was supposed to off.
However, I do frown at the empty bed because Daniel said he won't go the office today so he could drive with us. I throw off the covers and go the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a shower. Once I'm done, I change into a pair of jeans and a white polo shirt. Then I blow dry my hair and leave the bedroom to go find my husband.
As predicted, I find him in the library, going over some papers.
"Hey! You're awake early." He comments as I walk in.
"Too nervous to sleep." I reply as he pushes back his chair so that I can sit on his lap.
"It's Hazel's competition." He reminds me, rubbing my back.
"I know! But I'm scared for her. What if she gets hurt or disappointed?" I worry aloud.
Daniel leans forward and holds my gaze. "She won't."
I sigh and lean back against his chest. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my head. We sit like this for about ten minutes before I get up to have some breakfast made for us and to make sure Hazel's belongings for the competition were all in one place.
By the time I finish doing so, it's time to wake up Hazel. The first thing she asks is, "Is today the swimming competition?"
I nod at her and stroke her hair. "It'll be okay. Just have fun, alright?"
But I was wrong assuming she was nervous or scared because she starts jumping on her bed, screaming in excitement, then runs to Vanessa on the floor and they both roll on the floor, one screaming and the other barking.
"Is everything alright?" I hear Daniel ask from the door.
"Well, at least she's not nervous." I shrug and he walks away laughing, making me shake my head after him.
"Let's get you changed." I tell Hazel.
She takes a shower and then I help her put on a pink t-shirt over a denim skirt and help her into a pair of white sandals. Then I grab her swimming bag which contains her swim suit and other required items.
When we go to the dining room, breakfast has been laid out by the chef but I can't help smile at the sight before me. Daniel's wearing jeans with a white polo shirt too.
"We're matching!" I exclaim.
"Coincidence? I don't so." Daniel winks at me over the newspaper that he's reading.
I blush as I force Hazel to eat some cereal before letting her have a piece of chocolate cake. After we're all done, Daniel has the car brought to the front from the back garage and we leave the house.
When we get to the club's parking, it's all full already even though there's still half an hour left. Daniel drops us off at the front entrance and then leaves to find a parking spot.
I take Hazel's hand and make my way to the changing rooms. There are about five other children there with their mothers each of them wearing a number tag. The instructor, Amelia sees us walk in and rushes over to us.
"This is Hazel's number." She tells me, handing me a water proof sticker with the number five on it. "After she's taken her shower, take her to the kid's pool so that she can proceed with her warm up exercises."
"Okay. Thank you." I smile at her as she rushes to another mother who just arrived.
I find an empty cubicle and help Hazel into her pink and purple swim suit before pulling her hair into a tight bun and pulling her swimming cap over it. She puts on her goggles and then steps into one of the showers before taking my hand and going out to the kid's pool.
While she practices her under water breathing, I look around and I am impressed that Hazel's much better than the other children. The stands around the actual pool are filled to the brim, I spot Daniel on one of the front rows which must be reserved for the participant's parents.
When Amelia walks out and asks the parents to take their seats, I give Hazel a quick kiss on the cheek and tell her that I love her no matter what.
"I love you too mommy." She says, kissing my cheek.
I grab her towel for after the race and then join Daniel at the stands.
"How is she?" He asks, putting an arm around me.
"I actually feel confident about this." I reply, sighing in relief.
Amelia has a microphone in her hand and she announces each participant by their allocated number. When she calls out number five, she adds that Hazel is the youngest participant, at the age of three years and ten months. At this the whole crowd cheers for her as she steps up to her spot, smiling, which makes Daniel and I laugh.
Amelia announces the rules next. It's a simple race. The contestants swim to the opposite end, grab the plastic rod and swim back to their place.
When the whistle blows, I watch Hazel stumble for a minute, put off by the sudden whistle but in no time she's in the water, passing the contestants one by one. I hold my breath and feel Daniel stiffen beside me as one of the boys reaches his rod first, but during the time that he's turning around, Hazel grabs her rod and effortlessly rolls forward, pushing off the wall with her feet, giving herself leverage.
Hazel starts back towards the finish but the boy is close on her heels. I gulp as they near the end and then my eyes don't believe as it happens but Hazel cuts through the ribbon marking the end of the race.
Daniel, I and the whole crowd are on our feet, cheering as the participants pull themselves out of the water. The minute Hazel's out, I run over to her, forgetting that she's dripping wet and pick her up, pulling her into a tight hug.
"YOU DID IT, BUNNY!" I scream, kissing her cheek.
She laughs and hugs me back.
"Well done, Hazel!" I hear Daniel shout from behind me. He takes her from me and tightly hugs her because I can see words failing him too.
When he sets her down, I wrap the towel around her and pull her into a hug again.
"Guys!" Daniel calls out, holding out his phone to take a selfie. We don't need to smile for the picture because we're already laughing.
"Hazel! That was brilliant!" Amelia calls out, walking up to us.
"Thank you." Hazel replies, still laughing.
"Amelia, can you take a quick picture?" I ask her.
"Of course." She says and takes Daniel's phone as the two of us kneel on either side of Hazel for the picture.
"One with you!" Hazel says, running to Amelia who lifts her into her arms and they both smile as I take their picture.
"We're going to be handing out the prizes in a few minutes. Then join the swimming coaches for lunch at the veranda." She tells us as she's called away to the front.
I kiss Hazel's wet cheek once more. "We're so proud of you."
"We had ten marvelous contestants, each of whom did equally well! But the two most remarkable performances were...Our runner up, Ben Higgins!"
We all cheer for him as he accepts his silver medal from the judges.
"And our winner...HAZEL AARON!"
I let go of Hazel's hand and she walks to the judges, back in her dry clothes which she wore from home to accept her medal. She shakes the judges' hands before they put the gold medal around her neck, Daniel takes a picture as she poses with them.
When she runs back to us, she's grinning from ear to ear.
"Someone's happy." I say, tickling her.
"I love you, mommy." She says, smiling at me.
"I love you too, Bunny." I smile at her, wiping away the tears of happiness.
"What about me?" Daniel asks, pretending to look offended.
"I love you too." Hazel smiles at him.
"We love you, Bunny." Daniel and I say at the same time.
Hazel won! I've always wanted how to learn how to swim, but never got the chance to and now I'm in my A levels, which leaves NO time for learning to swim. I do know how to float though, where you leave your body weightless so that it floats to the surface and then paddle with your feet to move.
So, I thought why shouldn't have a swimming champion in the story? ;)
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-T
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