I shake myself, lowering my hand. “Sorry… I’m fine.”
Bo looks toward the same table, the small baby in the woman’s arms, and back to me. He purses his lips and nods, letting his head hang between us. “I’m worried that our kid will be really into sports, running or soccer or something, and I won’t be able to keep up.”
I detach from my haze and snap back to focus. “What? No. Bo, you’re working on a prosthesis that hardly fits, and you’re still doing great. Soon you’ll have one that works much better, and you’ll be able to run or do whatever you want. Plus, you kick with your right foot, not your left. Even if we come against barriers, we’ll figure it out.”
“I’m worried they’ll be embarrassed, though. That their dad is different.”
“No, they’ll be our kid. They’ll have empathy and kindness and—” I stop myself, noticing Bo’s proud smile.
“Go on…” he says teasingly.
No, I don’t think I will.
“You were saying?” he asks, a cheeky smile tipped into his glass of water.
“Were you tricking me into talking to myself just now?”
He nods, his shoulders lowering as he places his elbows on the table and hunches forward. “Maybe…”
“How did—how could you tell? I—”
“You frowned when she picked up her fork the second time,” he interrupts.
I look away, feeling far too perceived for my liking. And yet a piece of me is grateful for it. It’s so much easier to communicate insecurities when you don’t need to communicate them at all. Isn’t that all we ever want? To be seen and heard? Validated, even when we’re not able to ask for it.
“Well, it’s different for me. It’s not the same.”
“How so?”
“Think of all the expressions there are just for moms. ‘She’s going to have her hands full!’ Or ‘you’re going to need an extra set of hands!’” I tuck my hair behind my ear. “It’s intimidating. There are a lot of things I can barely do for myself, let alone for someone else. I mean, you’ve seen me with buttons.”
“We’re going to find solutions though, right? We’ll make it work. Like you said, we’ll figure it out together.”
“Yeah, I know,” I agree, though I can hear how unconvincing I am.
“As capable as you think I am, it’s far less than how capable I think you are,” he says, argumentatively. “Maybe what we lack in limbs, we make up for in enthusiasm and wits. Who else do you know that could go swimming, launch a business plan, and name a baby all before lunch?”
It’s a late lunch, though, to be fair. “We did most of those things together, so I can hardly take credit.”
“And that’s what we’re going to keep doing. Working together. That’s the whole point of this.” He gestures between us. “Isn’t it? Being a good team?”
“Yeah,” I agree, a little more convincingly.
“Win, Bo, and Gus are gonna take over the world,” he says in an obscenely dramatic, theatrical voice.
“Gus? Seriously? They’ve been named for less than ten minutes, and they already have a dorky nickname?”
“What would you prefer? Aug? That’s not a name. It sounds like the sound someone would make after stubbing their toe.”
I roll my eyes, smiling toward my lap.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Bo says arrogantly. “Admit it. You love it.”
I sigh out. I don’t know if I love it, or if I just love that he does. “I do. It’s cute.”
“Damn right.”
“If our food doesn’t arrive soon, I’m going to eat my other hand,” I say, unfolding my napkin.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bo says exaggeratedly. “You can eat mine. It’s far bigger.”
CHAPTER 23
Seventeen Weeks Pregnant. Baby is the size of a pear.
“Okay, buddy!” I say, kneeling in the shallow end of the pool. “Now I want you to ball your hand up in a fist.” I help Henry fold up his bigger hand. “Perfect! Now we’re going to swim as normal, okay? I just want to try something.”
Henry nods, presenting me two thumbs with both fists before he falls onto his tummy and starts swimming toward the far end of the pool. Cam hovers by the side of the pool, waiting for him there and shouting words of encouragement.
Henry’s smaller hand is a lot like mine but with a slightly less-developed thumb. It’s on the opposite side of his body, too, so it takes some trial and error to find the right method for him.
But we do.
Forty minutes into his one hour of private swim, he’s swimming straight and maybe even faster than he was before.
Because of me.
“You did an awesome job today, Henry!” I say, kneeling next to the pool as he shakes water out of his floppy hair like a puppy, giggling.
“I was so fast!”
“You were!” I say, smiling up at Cam over his shoulder as he approaches.
“And I’m not bumping into the rope anymore. I went like an arrow! Straight!”
“Like an arrow, exactly.” I squish my face together, smiling so hard I can’t help it. “Great job, buddy.”
“Thank you, Winnie!” He throws his arms around my neck. “I’m gonna be a swimmer like you,” he says quietly before letting go.
I stand up, watching Henry walk toward the glass door where his parents are waiting for him. I wave to Cam and turn to walk toward the women’s changing rooms, but he stops me.
“Hey, wait. Come meet his parents. They’re going to want to thank you.”
“Oh, no, I don’t—”
“Win, c’mon.” Cam brings his hand up in the air, waving me toward them, in view of Henry’s parents. It’d be rude not to now.
I follow behind, wrapping a towel around me as I do. They’re bustling with excited conversation by the time I make my way over, and Henry is bursting with pride as his mom wraps him in a towel and a hug.
“Hi,” I say, waving shyly.
“Tonya, James—this is Win.”
“Win is the best swimmer of all time!” Henry shouts.
His parents laugh. “We saw that,” Tonya says, smiling at me. “Thanks so much for coming. We could see how much confidence it gave him from all the way out here.”
“And Cam says you’re opening a camp?” James asks.
“Oh, well, not really. It’s more of a dream at the moment. We’re starting to make plans. Next step is finding investors, and then we have to find property. It’s a big uphill climb, but…someday,” I say.
They immediately look disappointed.
“I’m sorry. I’d love to have Henry at any camp. Maybe in a few years, huh, buddy?”
Henry nods, hitting me with a beaming smile with missing teeth and a wrinkled nose.
His dad, James, clears his throat. “I, uh, I don’t normally do this, but…” He pulls out his wallet and hands me a business card. “If you’re looking for investors, please get in touch.” I take the card hesitantly. “We’ve seen what you can do in an hour, and I’m impressed. Other kids should get that chance.”