"Are you sure Lacey doesn't want presents for her birthday?" Emma asks, on the phone with Ruby.
"I'm sure, but be sure to bring dollar bills, though."
Emma rolls her eyes. She watches Henry as he swims laps at his team practice. Regina is also with her, checking her phone occasionally.
"I'll talk to you later," Emma says, hanging up on Ruby.
Regina is biting her lip. "What's wrong with Henry?"
"What do you mean?" Emma asks.
"He's swimming a lot slower than usual."
"How can you tell?"
"Well, look at him."
Emma peers over the railing balcony of the pool viewing gallery and picks her son out of the twelve other boys. She sees his light coloured cap go bobbing in and out of the water during breaststroke and sure enough, he's tailing his other teammates. Emma sighs, knowing this probably has to do with his mood and recent lack of confidence.
"Maybe I should take him out of swimming," she mutters out loud.
Regina doesn't say anything at first, just watches Henry go back and forth to the coach's whistle during front crawl.
"Wider arm strokes Swan!" the man hollers at him.
"I mean I know it's good exercise and all, but he's obviously not having fun," Emma says softly.
The pool was an Olympic size and very deep. It was divided by a large platform to allow other teams to practice as well. The water was always cold according to Henry and the chlorine stung his eyes and nose, despite him wearing goggles. The boys were only allowed to wear Speedo suits and had to have diving caps, adding to her son's mortification and dislike for the activity.
The coach's whistle blasts to stop them.
"Alright, everyone take a break. Re-hydrate. Swan, come and see me."
Emma leans over the railing of the balcony as she watches her son pull himself out of the water and walk towards his coach. Emma is practically over the railing, wanting to know what he's to her son talking about. Nothing positive probably.
Henry removes his swim cap and goggles, grabs his water bottle and goes to his coach. He knew the coach was going to criticize his lousy performance, which did not surprise him in the least. He used to like swimming a lot, but now his heart wasn't in it anymore, especially since his dad wasn't around to cheer him on. He had his mom and Regina, but it still didn't feel right.
"What's wrong with you Swan?" the coach says gruffly. "You're lagging behind everyone today. Your time is too high."
"I know," Henry mumbles, not wanting to look at his coach. He chugs from his water bottle.
"Are you sick?"
"No."
"Are you tired?"
"No."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Then what could possibly be your excuse for such a poor performance?!"
Just then the synchronized swimming team comes out of the change rooms in their sleek and colourful bathing suits and diving caps. Several of them giggle at the boys in the Speedos and a few girls wave flirtatiously. Henry immediately turns bright red and wishes he had his towel to cover his skinny, speedo body. Most of the boys, including Henry, gawk and let their eyes wander towards the girls as their coach gathers the girls up, ready to practice their routine. One of the girls locks eyes with Henry and waves. He does his best to smile and wave back.
"If you don't get your time lower, I won't allow you to compete in the race next month. Understood?"
Henry suddenly looks back at his coach and nods obediently.
The swim team coach's whistle blasts right in Henry's ear. "Everybody back in the pool. Distance swim time."
Half the team groans, Henry included, as they climb back into the cold water. Music begins to play on the other end of the pool meaning that the girls are starting their routine. Henry would do anything to see them. He suddenly decides to put more effort into the distance swim so he could catch the end of their routine, besides he knew how to pace himself and distance swim was easier than any heats.
"Look at Henry go!" Regina comments. Emma is equally surprised that Henry has had a sudden shift in confidence, pushing himself and leading the boys in their distance swim. "He must've got an energy boost or something."
Emma looks over at the other end of the pool with the girls doing graceful acrobatics in formation.
"It might be more than that," she mutters.
...
"Good job boys, call it a day and we'll see you on Saturday," The coach calls, ending the practice. The coach then grabs Henry. "A much better performance Swan, keep it up."
"Thank you," Henry says before he goes towards his mom and Regina who are waiting for him by the change room.
He gives a reluctant smile at the two women when the music for the synchronized swimming team ends.
"Good job, girls, same time on Saturday," their coach calls.
All at once, girls in colourful swimsuits climb out of the water in search of their towels and water bottles. Henry's heart is racing as he weaves through the brightly clad ladies, trying to get to the change room when he accidentally bumps into one of them causing her to drop her water bottle. Henry immediately dives down to pick it up.
"I'm sorry," Henry says frantically as he hands her the bottle.
"It's okay," the girl says with a slight giggle.
Henry gets a good look at the girl, meeting her eyes for the first time. She has deep brown eyes that reflect his hazel ones back at him. Her bright swimsuit brings out the pink in her cheeks and the warmth in her smile. His heart his hammering against his chest as the girl removes her bathing cap to reveal long dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"I...uh... saw the end of the routine," Henry says, his face and ears flushing red. "It...it looks really good."
"Thank you," the girl says in a very harmonious tone. "We're hoping that routine takes us to the district finals."
"It's really good," Henry repeats.
The girl giggles a little bit and Henry forces a wide smile.
"You look familiar, do you go East Boston High School?" the girl asks.
"Yes I do, do you have Mr. Javier for Spanish?"
"Yes I do," the girl says earnestly. "It's such a small world."
"I guess it is," Henry says quietly.
"Violet," one of the girls say coming up to her. "Come on, your mom agreed to drive us to go shopping."
"Oh right," Violet says. "I'll be right there."
Henry looks at Violet again.
"I'm Violet by the way. Violet Roberts."
"Henry Swan-Cassidy,"
"Swan-Cassidy, that's a nice name."
"It's a bit of a mouthful. My parents wanted to keep their names when they met."
"Are those your moms over there?" Violet asks. She was fine if the boy had two moms, he'd be the first she'd ever met since she lived in a conservative family.
"Oh no," Henry says quickly. "The blonde one is my mom. The brunette is my mom's friend. She was also my babysitter for the longest time...not... not that I need a babysitter anymore. She just comes to cheer me on..."
"Oh okay..." Violet says, biting her lip.
"My Dad left awhile back," Henry blurts and turns bright red. He can feel tears coming to his eyes in embarrassment. He wants to just disappear into the pool deck now.
"Oh... I'm sorry," Violet says gently.
"It's okay... I guess I..."
"Come on Violet!" the same friend calls from the change room.
"I'm coming," she hollers back. "I should really go. I'll see you around Henry."
"Okay, bye Violet," Henry says and he watches as she walks away.
Henry wants to burst into tears then and there. He acted like a total idiot and girl probably thought he was a total freak like the rest of the school did. Why couldn't he control what he said? She probably thinks he's weird and won't ever talk to him again. He hangs his head and walks towards his Mom and Regina.
Emma watched the whole exchange and her son's mortified body language. Immediately her heart goes out to her son. He had never known how to talk to a girl, it was one of the things his dad would've taught him to do. Emma wanted to badly to help her son, but that kind of conversation would not go over well and probably hurt their relationship more. She needs to find a way to connect with Henry again, but she can't think of one. She once again curses Neal for leaving when Henry needed him most.
I wish Killian could help, but that might not work, she thinks to herself. Why does raising a teenager on your own have to be so damn complicated?
Regina offers to treat the family to hot cocoa for Henry's excellent effort today and to cheer him up after what happened with the girl. The three of them sit in silence in the café, Emma and Henry's cocoas having whipped cream and cinnamon on top, just the way they like it, but the warmth of the beverage does little to raise the cold relationship between mother and son.