“Ahem.” We were interrupted by someone clearing his throat. Marcus and I both turned our heads to see his brother standing at the edge of the pool. He was holding the hand of a little girl who was wearing a bright pink swimsuit. She was absolutely adorable with long brown hair, green eyes, and an olive complexion.
“Uncle Marc?” she asked while slapping her free hand on her hip. Her smile showed me she was teasing.
“Elle! You wanna join us in the pool?” Marcus asked, still holding me.
“Only if it’s PG-13.” Jimmie said, looking at the both of us with a slight grin. I pulled away from Marcus embarrassed.
“Hi, Mia,” he said.
“Uh hi, Jimmie.” Swimming over, I met them at the edge of the pool. I looked up at the little girl. She bent her knees and offered her hand to me. Surprised by her gesture, I grabbed her tiny hand, and she smiled.
“Hi, I’m Brielle Marie DeLuca. You can call me Elle.” Her cute girly voice made me giggle.
“Hi, I’m Mia Sullivan. You can call me Mia; it’s nice to meet you.” Elle stood back up, both hands on her hips. I could see why Marcus said she was eight going on twenty. She was a grown woman trapped in a child’s body. “Have you ever cannon balled?” I asked her.
“Psssh, cannon balls are for amateurs. I just learned how to do a backflip. Want to see?” She asked with her eyes widened.
“No, Elle, that’s dangerous…and, Marcus, you need to stop teaching my daughter all of those tricks. If she hurts herself, I’m going to hurt you!” Jimmie warned. Marcus’ laugh sounded from behind me.
“Yeah okay, I would love to see that, Jimmie. Elle, let’s leave the flips for when your dad’s not around.” Now beside me, he winked at her.
Pouting she crossed her arms. “Daddy! Come on! Please?”
“No and that’s final.” She sighed, throwing her arms to her side. Kicking her sandals off, she walked back a few steps, ran, and cannon balled into midair. Marcus swam over to her. Once her little body was back up from under the water, Marcus picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. Her giggles were contagious, and I joined in.
“Well, I’m going to go throw some burgers on the grill.” Jimmie walked away. I watched him head toward the grill by the patio farther away from the pool.
“Mia, do you think you can convince my Uncle Marc to take me to the carnival that’s coming up next month?” Marcus shook his head, so I would say no.
“I think I can do that for you, Elle.” I smiled at Marcus.
“Oh you think you could, huh?” He asked with a crooked smile, more gorgeous than ever.
“Mmmmhuh.” I mumbled. He smacked his hand against the water, splashing it in my direction. I yelled and splashed back, and thus began a splash war.
“Okay, okay! I’ll take you next month, but Mia has to come too.” He took Elle off his shoulders and placed her next to him. Her head bobbed in the water as she jumped up and down with delight. “Yes!” she squealed. Swimming in my direction, she threw her arms around me. I gently lifted her to my side. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “You’re my new best friend!” I laughed. I was starting to love this little girl, who wouldn’t?
“So, Mia you’re beginning your second year of law school?” Jimmie awkwardly began to make small talk. Elle and Marcus were still in the pool. After a half an hour of jumping in, I grew tired and hungry. I was sitting at the patio when Jimmie joined me, laying a plate full of well-cooked burgers before me. I grabbed one and took a bite.
“Yeah, I just finished my first year. You went to Harvard as well?” I asked with my mouth full.
“Yep. What inspired you to be an attorney?” He took a swig of his soda.
“Uh, I was always interested in the legal field. Both my brother and father were in law enforcement, so I guess I got it from them.”
He nodded. “I see.”
“What made you get out the field?” I was curious to find out what he truly does.
“Uh, just wasn’t into it anymore. Marcus is really good at it. I, on the other hand, sucked,” he said laughing. “I would never admit that to him though.” He raised his eyebrow warning me to keep quiet; I smiled.
“So what do you do now?”
“It’s complicated to explain. I’m a freelancer. I work from home for companies. When their systems are down, I can access any info via my network and assist any time of the day.”
“Oh, that’s interesting. And it must be nice to work from home.” Chewing the last bite of my burger, I took a sip of water.
“It’s okay I guess.” He said looking at Elle and Marcus who were now running in our direction. “Hey, I wanted to apologize about the first day we met. I’m not that type of person, just so you’ll know.”
Smiling at him, I felt a bit relieved. “Thank you.” He nodded. Elle ran into his arms, and he hugged her. They were too cute together. He seemed to be a really great dad. It made me think of what type of father Marcus would be. I wondered if Marcus wanted kids in the future. It was too soon to think like that, but it was good to know. Marcus struck me as a family man: the way he was with Elle and the way he talked about the family dinner all week. I knew he would make a wonderful father one day.
“You okay, babe?” Marcus swung his arm over my shoulder as he took a seat right next to me.
“Yeah, I’m great.” Reaching for a burger, he shoved it into his mouth. He must have been starving; the last thing he ate was the breakfast he made this morning.
“Excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom.” I stood up.
“You want me to go with you?” he asked. I looked at him with a strange look.
“I think I can handle going to the bathroom on my own.” I giggled at him, after he slumped back into his seat. Then I thought maybe he wanted to do something else. Leaning down, I whispered in his ear, “Unless, you had something in mind.”
Licking his lips, he flashed a wide smile and nodded. “I like your way of thinking.”
We both stood and headed toward the sliding door as Jimmie shook his head at Marcus’ boyish grin.
****
The rest of the day went by smoothly. We spent a lot of time with Jimmie and Elle. We had dinner and played some games: Scrabble and Monopoly. Then Elle forced me to play a dance game on one of her consoles. I couldn’t say no to her, so I proudly humiliated myself in front of both men. They just laughed and watched us play. Elle knew all the dance moves to each song, so she beat me. After we were finished for the night, Marcus’ phone rang. He stepped into his office to take it.