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Armin could smell summer - the ocean and lingering sunscreen on his skin. Sat on a bench by the aquarium where he used to work, he looked out at the families and couples walking past to go inside in small groups, excited and smiling, children running ahead and pointing. To his right, there was a steep path that led down to the beach, and to his left, the aquarium’s entrance. The building was right on the ocean, with huge glass windows facing out towards the water. The view from inside, Armin remembered, was magical. Since Armin last worked there, a large ocean mural had been painted on the side of the building, bold colours depicting whales breaching the ocean surface while fish swam underneath. There was a queue of people waiting patiently to have their photo taken in front of it, posing with big smiles. Saturdays were always busy days for the aquarium, but being a teacher now, Armin couldn’t arrange the trip to be mid-week when it was quieter. Especially as that would be inconvenient for his date, too.
Armin had been seeing Jean for a few months. Having a partner wasn’t something he’d planned for or sought out, but when he met Jean in spring it turned his whole life upside-down, and Armin, always one to be swept away by adventure, embraced the sudden change. They clicked from the start, despite their differences, and hit it off.
Caught up in his thoughts, Armin fiddled nervously with the buckle on his satchel. Jean was late, but that didn’t come as much of a surprise - Armin always accounted for an extra fifteen minutes before he started wondering where he was. He knew he had fallen hard for Jean because he found his lateness endearing rather than annoying. Jean was busy enough as it was but always made time for him, and it made Armin feel special.
When it came to Jean, there was just one thing that made Armin cautious, that kept his guard up - not anything bad, or anything his fault. It was just something he was worried about.
His five-year-old daughter.
When Jean arrived with her today, it would be their first meeting. Rather than coming over to their house or joining them for dinner, Jean had thought it best to introduce Armin and Marie by visiting her favourite place. She loved the aquarium - Armin knew from the day he and Jean met, when Jean proudly showed Armin his phone background, a photo of her stood pointing excitedly to a huge shark in the tank above her. Being a teacher, Armin was good with kids, but never had he felt quite so pressured to make a good first impression. What if she didn’t like him? Armin had no doubt that Jean couldn’t be with someone that his daughter didn’t get along with. Marie was Jean’s pride and joy, the most precious person in his world. If she hated him… then that would probably end things between them. Maybe not right away, but certainly sometime in the near future.
Taking a deep breath, Armin squeezed his hands into tight fists and encouraged himself. If he was awkward and tense, she would pick up on that. He couldn’t act too much like a teacher, or it would be strange. He had to be confident, kind, gentle. There was no way he’d let himself fail… Armin liked Jean far too much to mess it all up now.
Armin felt his phone buzz in his pocket. We’ll be there in five, Jean’s text read. See you at the front entrance. Armin smiled fondly. He was only a little bit late.
Armin waited at the door after paying for their tickets in advance so Jean couldn’t argue about accepting his money. Seeing the families pass him by only made Armin’s stomach tighten up more. It was scary, but that little part of himself that loved to dream couldn’t help but wonder if that would be he and Jean someday. Six minutes ticked by before Armin finally saw Jean approaching in the distance. He felt like he might throw up, but swallowed his fear and smiled as he went to greet them. Jean waved, that same smile on his face that he always wore when he spotted Armin. He looked so much more like a dad than he normally did, carrying her pink backpack, wearing cargo shorts and sunglasses. And beside him, clinging tightly to his hand, was Marie. She was small even for her young age, half-hiding behind her dad and the large stuffed animal she carried with her. Armin couldn’t see her face well, but he recognised her curly blonde hair from all the photos Jean had shown him. When they got close, Jean picked her up and sat her on his hip - she hid her face in his chest.
“Hey,” Jean said, pushing his sunglasses on top of his head. “Marie, we’re here.”
“Mm,” Marie said, hiding even more.
“Are you going to say hello?”
She just shook her head, and Armin didn’t quite know what to say, feeling awkward and unsure if he should intervene at all.
“Sorry,” Jean mouthed at him, then turned back to his daughter. Seeing the way Jean looked at her made Armin fall for him even more - his gentleness and patience was so endearing. “I’m going to put you down, limpet, okay?”
“Mm,” she said again, then, when her dad set her down, she hid behind his leg, peeking at Armin only once before clinging to her stuffed animal again. Jean looked at him as if to say go ahead, so Armin bent down so they were at eye level.
“Hi, Marie,” he greeted softly. “It’s nice to meet you. Your dad has told me a lot about you.”
She mumbled something, muffled by her stuffed animal. Armin looked up at Jean, who gave him an encouraging nod.
“I like your whale shark.”
Peeking out quickly, Marie looked at him. Her big, hazel eyes focused on him, then on her toy.
“Her name’s Maddie,” she said shyly.
“That’s pretty,” Armin said. “Short for Madeline?”
“No.” Marie shook her head.
“Tell Armin what it’s short for, Marie,” Jean chuckled. He looked proud.
“Madagascar.”
“Madagascar?” Armin asked incredulously, looking up at Jean, amazed. “Why’s that, Marie?”
“It’s where she’s from…”
“That’s right,” Armin said, impressed that a child of her age knew that whale sharks could be found off the coast of Madagascar. “Do you like sharks?”
Marie hummed, shyly hiding behind her dad again. “They’re my favourite…”
“Me too.”
“See?” Jean said, taking his daughter’s hand. Armin stood up again, smiling at Jean. “I told you that Armin likes sharks too. He knows lots about fish.”
“Mm.”
“We can go in whenever,” Armin encouraged softly.
“Don’t tell me you already bought the tickets,” Jean frowned. “I said I’d pay.”
“You were late,” Armin teased. “I got to it first.”
“Next time, I swear.”
“You always say that…”
They showed their tickets and made their way inside. Armin kept peeking at Jean as he walked patiently with his daughter, still clinging tightly to Maddie the whale shark. Based on the toy’s condition, Armin figured Marie didn’t go anywhere without her. He thought of the little seal plushie he had loved so much when he was younger and smiled.
The small hallway soon opened up into a large room. Tanks were embedded into the walls and held all sorts of different little fish, from small crabs to neon tetra to sea slugs. In the centre of the room was a huge rockpool containing starfish, seaweed, limpets, even rays… Armin remembered working there fondly, recalling all the time he spent in his early twenties looking after the fish. It made him nostalgic to look over all the things he recognised, but a little sad, too, as he knew many of his favourite fish were most likely gone now.
Excited, Marie ran over to the first tank, looking curiously inside, and Jean and Armin had a moment to talk.
“You’re nervous,” Jean said, giving him a little look. “I can tell.”
“Of course I am,” Armin blushed.
“You’re scared of a five-year-old?”
“I’m scared she won’t like me, that’s what.”
“She’s shy,” Jean said. “It took me ten minutes to get her out of the car. Guess why.”
“Why?”
“Because she was scared you wouldn’t like her. So stop being a wimp.”
“I’m not being a wimp!” Armin protested, but he was smiling, and Jean just nudged him in the side in return. “I just… know how important she is to you. And I don’t want to mess up.”
“I wouldn’t have suggested this at all if I thought you wouldn’t get along,” Jean said. He took Armin’s hand in his and squeezed it gently. “You got this. I promise.”
Armin bolstered his confidence with those words as the three of them made their way around the aquarium. He was lucky he was just as passionate as Marie when it came to marine life, because when Jean was attending to his daughter, Armin could absorb himself in the scenery and admire all the fish. This aquarium held nostalgic feelings for him, memories he had since he was Marie’s age, and he hoped for her sake that she’d be able to remember all the fish and wonderful sights just as vividly as he could.
When they got closer to the last and largest tank, the one that held the sharks, Marie seemed to lose a little of her shyness as she pulled her dad by the hand, urging him to hurry up. Now she wasn’t hiding away, Armin could finally see her face, and melted a little when he saw the exact same expression Jean always wore when he was excited about something.
“Were you this cute when you were younger?” Armin asked with a little smile as Marie led them towards the shark tank.
“Shut up,” Jean grumbled in return. Armin took that as a yes.
The last exhibit was the most impressive. The room itself was huge, with rows of seats taking up most of the space, and stairs leading up and around to view the tank from the other side. The exit that led to the gift shop was tucked away in the corner. Armin couldn’t help but smile when he walked in and saw it all - he hadn’t expected to miss his old job so much now he was back. The shark tank was huge - the largest in the country. It stretched from floor to ceiling, spanning across several floors and impressively curving outwards. Armin knew it held two and a half million litres of water and a thousand different fish, including five species of shark. But he was sure Marie already knew all of that as she was rattling facts off to her dad, so excited that she forgot her own shyness. Jean let her go after a moment and she ran over to the tank, placing both her little hands on the thick glass.
“Armin knows a lot about sharks, Marie,” Jean said. Armin shot him a look, but Jean nodded, encouraging him.
“You do?” Marie asked, peeking up at him.
“I’m sure I don’t know as much as you do,” Armin said, kneeling down again so they were at the same level, staring up at the tank that curved out above their heads. Marie held tightly onto her fluffy shark.
“Will there ever be a whale shark here?” she asked hopefully.
“Even this big tank isn’t big enough,” Armin said. “It’s not safe to keep sharks like Maddie in captivity.”
“Oh,” Marie said. “I want to see one…”
“Well, if you grow up to be a marine biologist, you could see one in the ocean,” Armin encouraged. “You could go to Madagascar.”
“Really?”
“Of course you could!” Armin said.
“I want to do that… Dad, can I?”
“Of course you can, limpet,” Jean chuckled, ruffling her hair.
“Marie, is it okay if I take a look at Maddie?” Armin asked. “I want to show you something.”
Marie looked reluctant, but she eventually held out the little shark. Armin shared a hopeful look with Jean before he turned his attention back to his daughter, and pointed to the white spots on Maddie’s back that stood out against the navy blue.
“In Madagascar, whale sharks are called marokintana.”
“Maro…”
“Kintana,” Armin finished. “It means ‘many stars’. That’s because the markings on the whale shark look like the night sky.”
“Whoa…” Marie breathed. “She does look like that!”
“Right?”
“That’s like the lemon shark! Because she’s yellow!”
“Exactly. Her colour helps her to hide in the sand.”
“What about the nurse shark?” Marie asked, pointing in front of her, where the long, calm shark lay on the sand. Armin was so impressed that she could tell them apart that he found himself wishing that she was one of his students.
“Well…” Armin said. “Um… actually, nobody knows why the nurse shark is called the nurse shark. It’s a mystery.”
“Really?”
“Maybe when you grow up, you can find out why and solve the mystery,” Armin said, and when Marie beamed at him in response, he smiled right back, beyond relieved that this was going well.
They spent almost an hour by the shark tank until Marie started getting tired and retreated to her father’s arms as they made their way out to the gift shop.
“Can I get her something?” Armin mouthed to Jean, pointing discreetly to the wall of plushies while Marie was distracted by a row of fish-themed pencils.
Jean looked reluctant at first, but he gave in when Armin gave him his best pleading look.
“Fine,” he murmured. “But you’re letting me take you out to dinner next week.”
“Deal.”
There was such a large selection of soft toys that Armin didn’t know where to start. He browsed quickly, focusing his attention on the sharks, when he saw a tiny nurse shark plush attached to a keyring that would fit perfectly on her bag. Hoping it would motivate the new dream, he went to pay for it, then met back up with Jean and Marie at the door. Marie looked sleepy, but she perked up when she saw what Armin was holding.
“Here, Marie,” Armin said as they walked through the automatic doors. Outside, the sun was a little blinding, and it took a moment for their eyes to readjust to the light. He held out the toy, hoping she’d like it. “Here.”
“It’s for me?” Marie asked. She looked at Jean, checking it was okay to take the gift. When Jean nodded, she took it, excitement shining in her eyes. God, Armin thought, she really did look like her father.
“What do you say, Marie?” Jean asked.
“Thank you. A nurse shark…”
“Now you can ask why she’s got that name,” Armin smiled. “Make sure to let me know when you find out, okay?”
“Yeah!” Marie grinned, looking back at Armin with no fear or nervousness, but rather pure excitement. “I promise!”
They walked around the beach for a little while after, but it wasn’t long before Marie fell asleep in her father’s arms and they needed to go home. With Maddie and the new nurse shark tucked in her pink backpack, Jean carried Marie back to the car, and Armin walked beside them.
“You’re a sweet dad, you know,” Armin said. “It’s really cute.”
“Shut up,” Jean grumbled. “She’s the cute one. It’s got nothing to do with me.”
“I don’t know about that…”
“If you don’t close your mouth-”
“What are you going to do, kiss me?”
“Maybe,” Jean chuckled, and Armin gently bumped into him as they walked. They were quiet for a moment, but then Jean spoke again. “Hey, Ar’.”
“Mm?”
“You did great today.”
Armin breathed a sigh of relief. “Do you really think so?”
“Of course. I’ve never seen her take a shine to anyone that fast before.”
“Are you sure you’re not just saying that?”
“Armin. I’m pretty sure she thinks you’re a shark expert.”
“Well, I almost was.”
“I know. And I love that about you,” Jean grinned. “Thanks for agreeing to this. It’s honestly a huge relief that my two favourite people have finally met.”
“She’s amazing.”
“I know. Makes me wonder how I did it.”
“By being a good dad,” Armin smiled.
Jean smiled softly back. When they got to the car, Jean strapped the still-sleeping Marie into her booster seat, then closed the door quietly so she didn’t wake up. With his hands now free, he placed them both on Armin’s face and leaned in for a soft kiss, smiling as he pulled back.
“Thank you, again,” he said softly.
“It’s my pleasure,” Armin replied, looking back with eyes full of love. “Let’s do it again sometime.”
“Sure,” Jean chuckled. “But first, I’m taking you to dinner.”