Chapter Text
Floating was peaceful. He could pretend he was in the ocean alone at sea, not a care in the world. After 2 hours of (albeit adorable) toddlers, the silence was nice. Glancing over at the clock he saw that he only had to wait two more minutes before he could call it quits, the kids for his last class not showing up. Putting his head back down he closed his eyes, mentally thinking about all the stuff he had left to do today. Groceries, laundry and a that last assignment due at the end of the week.
He was startled out of it by someone clearing his throat, and his eyes burst open to see a man standing above him, sharp hazel eyes and blonde hair falling over his forehead. Startled he awkwardly pushes himself up, small pool making his crouching a bit awkward.
“Sorry, is my daughter in this class? Ella Hakkinen?” The man asks. He’s slightly out of breath, clearly having been in a rush to get there, shirt wrinkled and hair mused. David blinks taking him all in and then considers what he just said – his daughter. The man in front of him looked his age, mid-twenties and no wrinkles of age, just youth.
“Um, let me check,” David says a beat too late, grabbing his roll from where he had put it on the side. “Ella, yes she’s with me.”
“Great. Ella, sweetie, you’ll be with....” He trails off.
“David.” He nods at the dad before making eye contact with the girl. She was small (the roll listing her age as 4) with hair as blonde as her fathers, in a slightly messy ponytail and the same bright eyes. She was standing slightly behind him, peeking out and David decided she might be the cutest child he’d ever seen. To match the – no he wasn’t going there. He was a professional. Shaking his head slightly he smiles widely.
“Hello Ella, it’s lovely to meet you. Want to hop in the pool? We’re going to have lots of fun, I promise.”
With some encouragement from her dad, she hops in the pool, dad immediately making an adorable, confused face as he then considers what to do next. He points at the bench,
“Minä katson sieltä, kulta.” (I'll be watching from over there, sweetie) He softly says. Internally David swoons slightly at hearing him speak, he was guessing Finnish, also clearing up the question of the accent.
Turning to Ella he asks, “Is this your first time doing swimming lessons?”
“Yes. But Isä and I go to the pool all the time.”
“That is good! We’re going to start by putting our face in the water. Let’s put our chins in first.”
The lesson goes well, she’s a little shy but happy to give everything a try, which is a lot more than he can say about some of his kids. He glances over to her dad several times. He’s intently watching her, giving her wide smiles every time she looks over at him.
When the time is up the dad comes up to the edge of the pool to pick Ella out of the water.
“Pidä hauskaa?” (Have a good time?) He asks to which Ella enthusiastically nods. David smiles, he loves his job at times like this.
“Thank you,” He says to David.
“Of course.” He responds. He starts to usher Ella towards the changing rooms but stops and turns around.
“I’m Mika.” He says simply.
“Nice to meet you, Mika. Enjoy the rest of your day!” Mika nods at that and then they turn and leave.
David gives a long sigh watching them go then lets himself melt into the water. Because it’s now 11:30am on a Tuesday it’s blessedly silent from the usual screaming kids that they hear in the afternoon classes. He doesn’t have a chance to enjoy the silence before his coworker comes over from where she was teaching the infants.
“Hot Uncle,” Maya comes up to him waggling her eyebrows.
“Dad, actually.” David corrects.
“Oooo, even better.” She exaggerates a wink and David splashes water at her. “He’s young though?”
“Not sure,” David says, hopping the lane rope to come float next to her. “First lesson. Kids adorable though.”
Maya gives him a dry look. David dunks her in response, and as she comes up spluttering and pushes him back and they fall into the usual routine of discussing their problem kids from the classes as they back the equipment away.
He forgets (ok almost forgets) about Mika and Ella over the course of the next week, between studying and work and meeting with friends. He’s excited to be getting his master’s in education, truly, but it means the coursework has gotten more intense and a lot of time is consumed in thinking about future projects he will implement when he has a classroom of his own. For now he sticks to the swimming lanes for teaching, which is where he finds himself back at 11am on a Tuesday.
The sun is shining through the large windows, and he can hear Maya greeting the parents and babies in the lane next to him. While he’d argue that he grabbed the roll as he usually did Maya was quick to tell him he seemed eager today. He wasn’t. He felt the same as he always did.
He was a little eager to see Mika again. He needs to get a grip on himself. He’s met the man once for goodness gracious. And was most likely married. Although, his treacherous mind supplied, he was young so it most likely wasn’t planned. He always made fun of his coworkers for pointing out the hot parents, and here he was, the hypocrite.
He was broken out of his thoughts by the arrival of said man in front of him, only a minute late this time. Mika looked just as rushed but gave him a small smile when his gaze meets David’s.
Ella’s happy to hop in the water immediately and the two of them start the lesson with no problems. Afterwards, David watches as Ella plays with some of the sinky toys when Mika comes over to the pool edge.
“She’s doing ok in the class?” He asks, concern coloring his tone.
“I mean, it’s only been two classes, but she’s confident putting her face in and everything so I’d say she’s going great.”
“I’m glad.”
“She’s a great kid. And she hasn’t cried once with me so that’s a win in my book.” David jokes and to his delight Mika lets out a small soft laugh. David watches him run his hands through his hair. There’s a pause between them as they watch Ella play, and David smiles at Mika’s smile.
“You don’t want to get in the water? I promise it’s nice and warm. And not just cause kids are peeing in it.” David asks. Mika gives him a slightly wide-eyed look of concern before schooling his features back into that signature blank stare.
“Maybe next time.” He blinks and then adds, “If you can promise about the lack of pee.” David laughs loudly, which makes Ella look back at them, to which David gives her a big thumbs up and she goes back to splashing about.
“Unfortunately, I can’t promise that mate.”
It doesn’t turn out to be next time though, because when Mika ushers Ella in (three minutes late), he’s on the phone. He turns to David, eyes full of apologies but David just waves him off.
“Is it ok if I leave her here and take this outside? I’m so sorry, it’s my boss.” He questions uncertainly. David knows they’re supposed to say no but Ella’s his only kid in the class and Mika looks so frantic that David doesn’t even second guess his reply.
“Of course, she’ll be fine.” Mika dips his head appreciatively. Turning back to Ella he says,
“Should we start with a small game?” and she cheers. Ella’s making good progress on her Torpedo, kicking getting stronger every lesson and David’s full of pride for her. She’s small for four, but a force in the water already. He looks up to tell Mika at the end of class, but Mika isn’t there.
He’s concerned, but more for Mika than Ella. Mika had look particularly frazzled, and while he didn’t really know the man, it seemed more than just trying to get a four-year-old out the door. Again, the small, selfish part of him says that if the mom couldn’t take Ella while Mika had this call then there isn’t one in the picture, but he’s quick to push that down.
Ella looks a little sad that Mika isn’t there at the end, but he immediately brings out some toys, and they start to play a new game. It’s 10 minutes past when class ended, and David’s getting anxious. He knows Mika would never just leave Ella, he seems like to good a dad to do that, but there’s no sign of him. Ella doesn’t seem to notice too much by now, happily playing mermaids and requesting piggybacks from him, which he is more than happy to oblige. She’s very talkative, ordering him about in a mixture of English and Finnish. She’s currently talking about her old house in Finland and how there was a lake nearby with mermaids in it.
“Ella? Did you just move to England?” He asks her while he’s carting her up and down the small pool on his back.
“Yeah. We had to move for Isä’s work. Do you think the mermaids from the lake can come visit me here?” She asks with all the seriousness a four-year-old can muster.
“I’m sure they’ll visit soon.” He responds. Finland to England. For a four-year-old that’s a massive change, although she probably didn’t realize it fully.
“And what does Isä do for work?”
She shrugs. “Cars.”
David laughs, he should have known better. Most children don’t really pay attention to what their parents do, but he’s also had some kids tell him some crazy stuff. He’s about to question more when he sees Mika burst through the door.
“Ella!” He calls out, and she pops her head out over David’s. He can see all the panic leave Mika’s body and then his face gets apologetic, mouth pushing down.
“I’m so so sorry, they changed things last minute on the design without telling us and then my boss called to try and find a solution and,” he breaks off his rambling as he gets to the pool’s edge taking a deep breath. “You didn’t have to stay with her, I appreciate it so much. I’m really sorry.” His accent, although already strong, seems to come through even thicker when he’s stressed and it’s really all David can concentrate on.
Mika coughs and David realizes he’s waiting on a reply.
“As if I would ever leave her unattended. It was no bother, really. Things happen; I get it.” He consoles. They stare at each other,
“We were playing mermaids! I was the Queen and David was giving me a ride around the kingdom.” Ella exclaims, choosing that moment to break the connection between them as they both whip around to look at her.
“Queen Mermaid? My Daughter?” Mika inquires, going straight into dad mode, crouching on the poolside.
“Queen! I’m the best mermaid in all the land.” She states and then jumps off David’s back to, presumably, go rule over her mermaid subjects. Mika looks at David, apologetic look gone and replaced by one of mirth. David had seen that look in many parents when their children say something funny but have to respond seriously, and quickly schools his face to be one of full sincerity.
“She’s the best Queen we could have asked for.” He nods with his statement before meeting Mika’s eyes and bursting out laughing. Mika chuckles along with him.
“She’s going through a mermaid phase, if you couldn’t tell. I’ve seen ‘The Little Mermaid’ four times this month already and it’s only the second week.”
David goes to pat him consolingly but then thinks better of it, seeing how wet he was.
“I’m sure it’s gonna be just as amazing the fifth time.” He jokes. Mika’s answering look of dry despair made him laugh more.
“I suppose we should get going, lunch awaits. Thank you again.” He says.
“I told you, it’s no problem, mate. Anytime.” David waves him off.
“Ella, aika mennä!” (Time to go) Mika calls and David watches them go a little sad for some reason. And then sadder when he remembers the research essay he had left to do, and he hauls himself out of the pool (it’s like a tiny step for someone of his height) with a sigh.
Something changes after that. After the lesson (of which Ella blessedly remains the only kid in the class) Mika hops in the pool and they play with Ella and talk in the moments in between. It’s never longer than twenty minutes, but it’s enough time for David to start to develop a small crush on Mika. He’s funny, with dry Finnish humor and whip smart and while they aren’t life changing conversations, they also are starting to be the highlight of David’s week.
Eddie, a fellow swim teacher and classmate, just laughs at David when he tells him this.
“We’ve all been there mate. The hot parent crush. It’ll go away.”
The problem is, after a month and a half, it hasn’t. He supposes most people don’t actually interact with their person of interest, which would make it pretty easy to go away. But David sees him every week, and yeah ok it’s still no more than an hour of his life but it’s enough for him to learn all about Mika, his dedication to his daughter, his love of his job and his bafflement over British culture.
The one downside is that he hasn’t figured out the, well, main thing stopping him from allowing his fantasies to run wild. Well two, because having a wife and being open to dating a man were two different things. He was trying not to dwell over it.
The problem was thinking about Mika was much more interesting than finishing this folio of activities on writing for year twos. Sighing, David closes his laptop and looks out the window. The sun was starting to set, casting its last light across his floor. Stretching, he gets up to look at the contents of his fridge and then shuts it sadly when he remembers that he didn’t do the grocery shopping he was meant to, about three days ago. There is only so long he can eat pasta for and today seems to be the limit.
He throws on an old jumper, soft and worn, hoping he doesn’t see anyone he knows because he can’t be bothered to put effort into how he looks. Thankfully, his nearest store is only an eight-minute drive, just enough to listen to his favorite song - bad idea, right? (yes, he sees the irony) and he’s already planning on beelining straight to the crisp’s aisle. He’s happily listening to the album, debating whether he should get salt and vinegar or barbeque. He’s lost in thought debating the pros and cons (and what he needs to sacrifice if he wants to get both) when he hears his name getting called.
He looks up and doesn’t see anyone at the end of the aisle, so he goes to put the crisps in his basket when he hears his name again from behind him. Turning he does a double take and then he doesn’t have time to react before he’s being hugged by a small blonde child, which he recognizes instantly as Ella.
He hugs her back awkwardly with one hand before she’s smiling up at him. In a bright pink tutu and a little mermaid shirt (nine times Mika had to watch the movie in September), she looks adorable. Glancing up he sees Mika at the end of the aisle and David does a small double take. He’s dressed sharply; suit pants and a white shirt with combed hair and David’s heart makes a small traitorous double thump at the sight. He and Mika make eye contact and it’s held for a moment before Mika looks away and David would almost swear he’s blushing.
“What are you doing here?” Ella interrupts, tugging his sweatshirt to get his attention.
“Deciding what crisps to get? What do you think?” He points out the two options to her and she quickly grabs the barbeque packet.
“Ella, et voi noin vain juosta ihmisten luo.” (You can’t just run up to people like that.) Mika scolds as he walks over. Ella looks back at him but doesn’t leave David’s side.
“Mutta se on David.” (But it's David ) She responds indignantly. David can guess the matter of the conversation and interupts in before Mika gets any more embarrassed if the look on his face is any indication.
“It’s ok, really. She saved me from having to make a difficult choice, so I owe her.” He says. He holds Mika’s gaze to say it’s ok and Mika nods.
“Still, you probably have your own shopping to do. Ella come on, we need to finish getting the ingredients.”
“We’re going to have homemade pizza!” She exclaims.
“That sounds delicious. I bet your dad’s a great cook.” Mika shakes his head.
“I try.” He says bashfully.
“You should have pizza with us! You can put on pepperoni or mushrooms but no onion, it’s yucky.” Ella says completely unaware of what she’s just done.
“Oh no-” “I can’t interrupt” “I’m sure he has plan’s” “It’s your night..”
They speak over each other and then both shut up at the same time. Ella looks between the two of them confused. She tugs David’s jumper again and David flushes, thinking about how he must look in shorts and this jumper. He’s brought out of it by Mika,
“I mean, if you want…” he mumbles. David perks up immediately.
“I’d love to.” He says loudly, enthusiastically then embarrassed, “I mean, if you really don’t mind me intruding.”
“It’s no bother. Plus, Ella would love it.” He smiles at David and David can’t help but smile widely back. Ella lets out a loud shout and then she’s talking a million miles a minute about pizza toppings and the correct way to decorate a pizza. David and Mika get into a small debate over the choice of toppings – “Smoked salmon, really?” “It’s a Finnish delicacy” “No.”
They were loud enough that an older couple looked over at them, but saw Ella, now sitting in the trolley, and smiled knowingly. Mika had been looking at the pizza sauces, but David saw it and was currently pretending it meant nothing and he was fine and normal, but the warmth that had covered his body was telling him otherwise.
It had gotten darker by the time they had got out of the store, a colder breeze cutting through the night. David helped Mika load the bags into his car and then promised to follow.
Getting in the car he quickly texted Maya.
David
so…… I’m going to mika’s house for dinner…..
Maya
You finally asked him????
David
no I ran into him and ella at the tesco and she invited me :/
Maya
the 4 year old is a better matchmaker than I am :’(
you better tell me everything!!!!
David
wish me luckkkk