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Carlos can’t help but to smile down at the 4½-year-old in front of him as Luca storms ahead into the bright sunlight, his impatience obvious by the way he completely ignores how Carlos barely makes it through the closing door with his arms full of all of their swim gear.
“Come on, Papa!” his son cries, waving at him to hurry while at the same time pulling on the floaty around his arm to keep it up. “We’re gonna be late!”
Carlos huffs out a laugh, stepping close to ruffle Luca’s brown curls. “No we’re not, mijo. We’re actually really early. Let’s put our stuff down first, okay?” he says, nudging the little boy towards a nearby lounge chair. His son takes off like a rocket, his blue flip-flops smacking against the pavement.
“Hey, hey, hey, no running by the pool, nene!” he says, his voice rising along with his worry. TK likes to joke that Carlos’s face is going to be covered in stress lines before they’re 35, but he can’t help it. He’s a very protective person, even more so when it comes to his little guy.
Carlos reaches the chair, dropping their things before sitting down to meet Luca’s soft brown eyes, his expression serious. “What are the rules, Luca?”
Luca averts his gaze, a sheepish expression appearing on his face as he lets out sigh. “No running or skipping or jumping around while we’re at the pool,” he mumbles softly.
“That’s right,” Carlos says, holding onto his small shoulders gently as he ducks to meet Luca’s eyes again. “I know you’re excited, mijo, but we have to be safe in order to have fun, right?
Luca nods, the gesture exaggerated as if to prove how deeply he understands the concept. Carlos smiles, leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead. “Let’s put on our sunscreen, yeah?”
His son’s face breaks out into a wide smile, his eyes twinkling with anticipation. Saturdays are his favorite days of the week, especially now that he’s started taking swim lessons. Luca loves the water almost as much as TK and Carlos do, his average bath time about three times longer than it needs to be, and even that’s not enough for him sometimes. They’ve been bringing him to the pool every summer since they adopted him two years ago, keeping him safely connected to them at all times, but this is his first summer taking swim lessons, and he could not be more thrilled about it.
Every week is the exact same routine: Luca bounds into their bedroom around 7:30, jumping on their bed to wake them up. They make pancakes for breakfast as quickly as possible, and then Luca is running around to get all of his swim gear on, including his Paw Patrol swim trunks and shirt, his blue floaties and flip flops, and even his green goggles. TK has tried to tell him that he can wait to put those on until they get to the pool, but Luca refuses to hear it. Once he’s all dressed, he’ll take his towel and sit down on the couch, his legs bouncing impatiently until TK or Carlos says it’s time to leave.
“Shirt off,” Carlos directs, helping his son pull off his floaties before reaching down to grab the sunscreen out of the bag. He squeezes some into his palm before rubbing his hands together, watching as Luca’s shirt gets caught around his head. The little boy laughs as he untangles himself, Carlos joining him, before he throws the t-shirt down on the ground, pushing his curls out of his face.
He covers every inch of his son’s body in sunscreen, briefly taking off his goggles so that he doesn’t miss a spot. When he’s done, Carlos reaches for his own bottle of sunscreen, squeezing some into Luca’s outstretched hands so that he can cover Carlos’s arms and face, taking the time to draw smiley faces on his cheek before rubbing them in with his little fingers.
Once they’re both fully-protected, Carlos stands up, grabbing the blue floaties and Luca’s hand to walk him over to the edge of the pool, dipping down to push the floaties under the water before sliding them back up his son’s thin arms, making sure they stay there. “Alright, nene, you ready?”
“Yes, yes!” Luca squeals, grabbing for his hand to turn them towards the clubhouse where the class meets. As they approach the group, a lifeguard turns towards them, her face lighting up when she sees the little boy.
“Hi, Luca!” she says, reaching down for a high-five, which Luca immediately returns.
“Hi, Miss Charlie,” he answers, his face brightening with an even bigger smile. It fills Carlos’s heart, how much he loves his little man.
“I think we’ve got it from here, Mr. Strand-Reyes, isn’t that right, Luca?” Charlie says, grinning up at Carlos before nodding to Luca, raising her eyebrows for confirmation.
“Yeah, we’ve got it, Papa,” Luca says, stepping close to wrap his arms around Carlos’s legs in a quick hug before moving away towards Charlie, who reaches down to take his hand.
“Okay, have fun,” Carlos laughs, ruffling his son’s hair one more time before stepping back. “Dada and I will be here when you’re done,” he assures him, getting a wave from Luca as he walks over towards the other kids in his class, immediately joining their in-progress conversation.
With a sigh, he heads back over to their lounge chair, glancing around to make sure TK hasn’t reappeared. His husband had stopped inside to say a quick hello to Dottie, so he doesn’t really know when he could expect to see him again.
The pool is empty now, since it’s closed until after lessons are over at 9:30; most parents just drop their kids off for the hour, but since the pool is basically home to them, TK and Carlos like to stay and swim, taking advantage of the lack of people. All of the lifeguards know who they are by now, Dottie having told them way more stories than they care to hear, and no one says anything about the two of them wasting time in the water.
This morning, Carlos decides to rest while he waits for TK to come out. He lifts his arms to take off his tank top, spreading sunscreen on his chest and stomach and as much of his back as he can reach, before he lays back on the chair, closing his eyes as he looks up at the bright morning sun.
He doesn’t know how long he lays there, soothed by the gentle sounds coming from the kiddie pool and the familiar smell of chlorine. He hears a few noises from the large pool closer to him, staff members getting in some laps the way that he and TK used to do before work when they were lifeguards. Other than that, it’s quiet and relaxing, something that Carlos desperately needs after a long week at work.
Without warning, he hears hurried footsteps, followed by a yell - “Incoming!” - and a thump next to him, and suddenly, his arms are full of a wet body as he opens his eyes to find TK crouched above, dripping water on him as he smiles like he’s no older than their son.
“You’re an absolute menace, Tyler,” he huffs, staring down at the water falling on his chest before looking back towards his husband’s face, rolling his eyes at the wicked smirk he finds there.
TK leans in, moving his hands to place them on either side of Carlos’s head as his tongue darts out to lick his already-wet lips. “You love it, babe, don’t lie,” he says saucily, and Carlos glares at him. He does love it, but he doesn’t appreciate that his husband uses it against him every chance he gets.
They stare each other down for a moment, waiting for the breaking point, until Carlos can’t take it anymore. With a groan, he reaches up to grab TK, pulling his body down on top of his own as he captures his lips in a furious kiss.
He loves that after knowing each other for seven years, TK only has to do the bare-minimum to drive him absolutely wild. He pulls on his husband’s bottom lip, loving the way that he causes TK to moan, as he somehow presses even closer, running his fingers through Carlos’s curls the way he always does when they’re making out like teenagers.
They slow down before it can get too out-of-control and Carlos has to arrest them for public indecency, TK pulling away to drop his head down next to his, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. They’re quiet for a moment as Carlos runs his fingers up and down TK’s quickly-drying back, relishing in the peace that comes with being so close together, even after all these years.
He feels TK shift against him, bringing his attention to how close their hips are to one another, and how much he likes it. His husband must sense it too, as he huffs out a laugh. “Calm down, Carlos, our son is literally within eyesight,” he says, pressing his lips to his ear to tease him.
Carlos turns to glare at him, his mouth moving into a hard line. “Now you’re just being mean to me,” he says with an exaggerated pout.
TK nods in agreement, owning up to it. “Yeah, but I’m going to make it up to you later,” he says, leaning in to press a quick kiss to his lips. “My dad texted, he wants to take Luca to that new Pixar movie tonight, so it’s just going to be you and me. Alone. With no distractions. For hours.” TK punctuates every sentence by tapping his finger against Carlos’s lips, and he can feel his blood start to pump faster in his veins at the hungry look that TK gives him.
“Fuck,” Carlos breathes out, cupping TK’s face in his palm. “Okay, you’re forgiven, I love you again.”
“Oh please,” his husband says, rolling his eyes as he rises off of him, sitting back on the end of the lounge chair. “You wouldn’t know how to not love me, don’t lie.”
Carlos can’t even pretend to disagree with him, and he pulls himself up to a sitting position, reaching for TK’s knee to squeeze it in agreement. He’s eyes glance at TK’s bare chest, his muscles on full-display. “Did you put sunscreen on?” he asks him, raising an eyebrow.
TK rolls his eyes again, a fond smile appearing on his face. “No, Officer Sunscreen, I did not. Would you mind helping?” he whines, turning away from Carlos to straddle the chair in preparation.
“Don’t act like you don’t want my hands all over you,” he huffs, reaching forward to gently poke at his hip before turning to their bag. He’s surprised to find a Paw Patrol ring wrapped in plastic laying on top of their gear. “What’s this?”
TK doesn’t even bother to turn around and look. “Dottie,” he replies, shaking his head as Carlos pours sunscreen into his hands. “But don’t worry, she told me we don’t have to take it home, we can just leave it in her office for next time. And when I reminded her that her office is already housing the last 10 toys she bought for Luca, she just huffed and said that she’d find an empty storage closet somewhere if she had to.”
Carlos laughs as he runs his hands along his husband’s arms and up and down his back, covering every exposed inch of him. Dottie has always taken her role as godmother to Luca very seriously, so this isn’t super surprising news. When he’s ready to do TK’s front side, he pushes forward to sit right up against his hips, guiding his husband to lean back against his chest as his hands come up to apply sunscreen to his collarbone. He rests his chin on TK’s shoulder, happy to just be near him in a place that means so much to who they are.
“Ah, they’re moving to the big pool,” TK says with a nod a few minutes later, cutting through the stillness. Carlos looks over to see the swim class walking towards the 3-ft section of the larger pool. He can clearly see Luca towards the front of the line, animatedly talking to the girl next to him as he waves his arms to help make his point. Carlos smiles, instantly reminded of TK’s very visual communication habits.
One-by-one, the kids climb down the ladder to sit on the underwater concrete bench along the wall that he remembers from teaching his own lessons so many years ago. For the next 20 minutes, they watch as the lifeguards work one-on-one with the class, and Carlos can see that they’re practicing their freestyle stroke this week. When it’s Luca’s turn, they watch as he focuses intently on mastering the move, his conviction clear in his performance.
“He’s pretty good,” TK says, reading Carlos’s mind.
“I mean, he actually might be part-fish,” Carlos says, a smile rising on his lips. “I know we’re waiting to get the test results back, but I feel like we can go ahead and call it at this point.”
TK lets out a huff at his joke, shaking his head as he holds onto Carlos’s arms around his stomach. “I remember when I thought someone else might be part-fish, too,” he remarks, turning to glance at him. Carlos can’t help but to press a soft kiss to the corner of his husband’s mouth, his heart swelling fondly at the memory.
They don’t move from their spots until they see the class begin to rise out of the pool, a sign that their hour is over. Carlos grabs Luca’s towel from the bag before linking his hand with TK’s, and they move towards the clubhouse. When they get close, they see the moment Luca spots them, his smile blinding as he quickly walks over to them, his mouth already opening to launch into a very detailed description of his entire swim lesson.
While he talks, Carlos bends down to wrap the towel around him, using it to dry his curls. Luca doesn’t even pause to thank him as he continues, nearly whacking Carlos in the face as he gestures to demonstrate the freestyle stroke. He feels TK shift next to him, coming around to stand on Luca’s other side. His husband lifts the boy up, bringing Luca to rest on his hip, and when he finally pauses for a breath, TK quickly interjects.
“How about we use the potty, bud, and then we can come back out to swim a little more?” he asks, and their son barely spares him a nod before he begins talking about his friend Gabriela, who, according Luca, has green eyes that match her swimming suit. TK turns to Carlos with a grin, shaking his head at their son’s one-track mind, before moving past him to walk into the clubhouse, squeezing his bicep as he goes.
Carlos uses the time to unwrap and inflate Luca’s new ring, watching as the lifeguards move into position to officially open the pool, and by the time his boys are back, there are already a few people milling about, some diving immediately into the cool blue water to beat the rising Texas heat. They all quickly reapply their sunscreen before moving to the edge of the 5-ft section.
Carlos dives in first, resurfacing to find Luca standing ready, his new ring around his waist, floaties on his arms, and green goggles pressed to his face. With a big whoop, he jumps down into Carlos’s waiting arms, quickly followed by TK diving into the water.
For the next hour, they wade through the pool together, Luca showing them all of the things that he’s learning in his lessons — and making sure to correct his and TK’s technique when they swim along, his “That’s not how you do it, Dada” and “Here, Papa, let me show you” causing the two of them to crack up behind his back.
As they spend a perfect Saturday morning under the sun, their laughs and happiness filling his entire heart, Carlos thinks about how much he adores his two boys, and how grateful he is that this magical place gave him everything he ever wanted in life.
There’s truly no other place that he would rather be.