Chapter Text
Signing Theo up for swim class is the best suggestion Buck has heard in weeks.
"When Denny was in his run-shriek phase," Karen told him over ice cream and waffles while Mara and Denny did their best to wear an energetic three-year-old boy out, "we had twice-weekly swim sessions. Home, shower, dinner, and fast asleep by eight until the next morning. Give it a try if you need something to wear down those batteries."
So here they are at the indoor pool. Theo is in his swimsuit with the cute purple dolphins, yellow goggles and the bright blue arm floaties that the swim course brief on the website suggested for new students, and they are looking for where they are supposed to gather for class.
Except when they get to the smaller children's pool, it isn't the sunny redheaded Aussie shown on the course sign-up site who is waiting to tick off attendance.
It's a shirtless Tommy Kinard in dark blue swim shorts and a red whistle round his neck, armed with a clipboard.
"You're not Coach Jessica," Buck blurts out, instead of doing the sensible thing of sweeping Theo up in his arms and running right back to the car.
Tommy blinks at him owlishly. His curls are already damp, dripping onto his bare shoulders and the hair on his chest is dark against his skin. "Evan. Hey. I mean, hi. I wasn't... She broke her femur three days ago. Jess is a friend of a friend and... I mean, I am certified, and I have some free time, so." He clears his throat. "And I am just an assistant – Keira's the lead – so. It's not just me."
They stare at each other in growing awkwardness until Theo pipes up, "When can I go into the water, Buck?"
"Oh, right." Buck plasters a smile on his face. "Theo Riley. Is him. This is, uh, this is Theo."
"Hi, Theo," Tommy says with a warm smile. "I'm Coach Tommy. That's Coach Keira."
"Hi Coach Tommy," Theo replies. He looks at the group of young kids gathered a few paces away with a blonde young woman and back up at Buck. They look to be around Theo's age, though there are a couple who look a little older. "Can I go there now?"
Buck glances at Tommy, who nods, and leads Theo over to the group. The kids say hi with varying degrees of friendliness, and their adults wave to Buck from the sheltered benches on the side of the pool.
Before relinquishing his charge, Buck squats down to look Theo in the eye, waiting until Theo stops fidgeting. "You're gonna learn something fun today, so I expect you to follow everything Coach Tommy and Coach Keira say, okay? They'll take care of you."
"Okay." Theo's feet shuffle and he glances at Keira and then up at Tommy, who gives a dorky little wave.
"If you want anything, I'm gonna be right over there," Buck adds, pointing to the adults at the benches.
"Okay."
Buck knows better now than to take the kid's okays at face value. "What are you supposed to do?"
"Follow e'rything Coach Tommy and coach Keira say."
"And?"
"They'll take care of me."
"Where will I be?"
"Over there," Theo replies, jabbing a finger at the adults.
"Alright." Buck squeezes his shoulders and stands. "Go learn. Have fun."
He feels Tommy's curiosity but doesn't look at him, making himself walk over to the parents and guardians and nodding politely. "Hi."
"Hey, welcome to the weekly chill," says a regal woman with thick dreads piled on top of her head. Her smile is broad and her eyes bright. "I'm Ngozi."
"Call me Buck," he offers, and is introduced to the others. Bronwen, George, and Sally have been bringing their four kids for three months, while Uju and Ngozi are cousins and they signed their two kids up together so they can have some adult time.
Buck counts the size of the class. "There are ten kids."
"Tommy brought them," Uju tells him. "Triplets. Chatty, but nice."
George sips from his massive Hydroflask. "They call him Uncle T."
Uncle T. That makes something twinge hard right behind Buck's heart, so he settles onto the bench with his own bottle of iced water and observes how Tommy and Keira organise the kids. They have led their troop through the shower, rinsing everyone down, and now Keira is leading warmups. Arm swings, waggling hands overhead that makes the kids laugh, ankle rotations, squats and reaches. Tommy does the same exercises, and Buck can't help the warmth spreading through his ribs into his limbs seeing how easy and relaxed Tommy is around the kids.
Then Bronwen leans over and nudges him. "Your son looks so much like you. His mother must be annoyed about it."
Two, maybe three months earlier, Buck might have shared the truth, but now he just smiles tightly and says, "She's no longer in the picture." His expression must show enough that Bronwen flushes and apologizes. The group falls into an awkward silence.
It isn't Buck's story to share, not really. It is Theo's, and the boy still wakes up too early some days to burrow into Buck's bed and cry in his arms. The memories of Kameron and Connor he has will fade someday, but Buck and Willa have been putting together what they can from Instagram and Facebook, and Willa has extensive journals and photo albums. Buck hopes that Theo will treasure those records when he grows up.
Right now the boy is standing on the edge of the pool. One by one, the children are led gently into the pool by Tommy using the steps.
A girl screams like she's been thrown off a building when the water comes up to her waist and Uju sucks an amused breath in through her teeth. "Zuri is such a little drama queen," she comments.
"Like her mama," Ngozi cackles.
"Which one's yours?" Buck asks.
Ngozi points out her son, a skinny lad with bright orange swim shorts and a shock of curls. "Naka. He's just turned four, and thinks he will be a World Cup winner. I tell him, you must have good stamina to be footballer, and that is the only reason he agreed to swim class."
George's Xavier, Sally's Felix, and Bronwen's Holmes and Watson ("we were in a Sherlock phase, but they do have more conventional middle names if they want to use those in the future") are already in the water with kickboards. Coach Keira is having them kick across half the breadth to her one by one. Buck watches them, marveling at how confident they seem in the water.
Turning back to check on Theo, he sees that Theo is already in the water. Tommy looks like a giant among them. Buck can't help laughing when Tommy blows out his cheeks and points to his nose, right before he puts his face under water. Theo laughs and slaps the water's surface, so Buck assumes Tommy is showing them how to blow bubbles. The triplets — Buck wonders how their parents manage all three at once — squabble to be the first to try, but Tommy picks Naka first.
"I know I should hope Coach Jessica will come back soon," says Ngozi, "but that Coach Tommy is a real treat for the eyes."
"I'll say," George agrees. "I am not telling Henry about this switch. Otherwise he's going to fight me to come here."
Buck can't help the odd feeling of possessiveness flare deep in his gut, but he clamps his mouth shut. It's Theo's turn to bubble.
However, George notices and raises an eyebrow. "What, fag dads bother you?"
"No, not… I, uh, was just thinking about the time I injured a friend trying to impress a guy," Buck says. He resolutely doesn't look at Tommy. "Sprained his ankle in a basketball game."
"Yeow."
"More like mee-yow, amirite?" George teases, his face more relaxed and open with Buck's confession. "So, did you impress the guy in the end?"
Buck snorts. "Nah, not even. I mean, I did get a date at the end, after all that, but it, uh, it didn't end well."
I wish it didn't end at all, he thinks, his gaze flitting to Tommy who now has his whistle in his mouth. When Tommy blows his whistle sharply, the kids all stand up, sputtering and laughing, even little drama queen Zuri, and they shake their heads vigorously like puppies after a bath. The spray of water droplets catch the light and seem to sparkle all around Tommy, like he is a magical prince.
That is probably just Buck's fancy.
He sighs and pulls out his phone to read up on the latest substack he was caught in. Best to keep himself occupied.