SPARKS 20

The label rented a huge villa in the middle of a park by the seaside. I take the kids to their room and unpack.
They’re both frantic “let’s go swimming”
“Please”
“Yes, please, please, please”
“I want to be a mermaid”
“I want to be a jaw”
“I want to be alone”
They look at me “I’m kidding. Let’s see, if we hurry up we could be able to swim before dinner time. Would you please grant me 3 minutes to wear a swimsuit?”
Daniel looks at his Swatch “go!”
“I said 3 minutes just to give you …”
“2 minutes and 30 seconds”
“The level of sense of humor in this room is way below standard”
“2 minutes”
“I’ll go! What’s your middle name, Adolf?”
“Who’s Adolf?”
“Be right back”

We walk to the beach; it’s just the three of us at the moment. The sand is almost white, the water is crystal clear and we can see little fishes swimming by the shore.
“First things first, sunscreen lotion”
“I hate that sticky stuff”
“Well no sticky stuff no swimming. What do you say?”
And are both standing right in front of me, keeping their eyes and mouth shut like I am about to spray them with napalm.
“Enough lotion Bea! Let’s go” begs Daniel
“You said you would teach me how to swim”
“I know, but I have a better idea” and I take both my hands and I walk until the water is hips deep, before swimming we need to be able to dance in the water and I start singing
“Look at this stuffIsn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything?”
The both start circling around me, Daniel is laughing so hard I fear he might drink the entire Mediterranean sea while Emily is holding on to my neck.“Come on kids, let’s sing together!
Look at this trove
Treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you think
Sure, she's got everything
I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I've got whozits and whatzits galore
You want thingamabobs?
I've got twenty!But who cares?
No big deal…”And I hear Gaz unmistakable voice adding at the top of his lungs “I want more…….”
And jumps into the water reaching us“I wanna be where the people are
I wanna see, wanna see them dancin'
Walking around on those - what do you call 'em?”
Daniel and Emily go “Oh - feet!”
And we all start laughing so hard my stomach aches. I see Dawn recording with her video camera so we wave at her from the water. My eyes move from her to the person standing on her right. There I see him: The updated and improved version of a Greek good. And he is looking at me. *A retarded version of me by the way. Why am I singing the bloody mermaid song? She needs feet me need a bloody brain*. He waves at me and gives me a smirk. Tells Dawn something I cannot hear and start clapping his hands. “Bravo! Encore! For the record, do you perform at weddings too? You could make a fortune”
*drown, now. It’s an order. Can you see someone blushing from such a distance? Of course you can. Darn. Let’s just get out of here and get over with it* Daniel and Emily keep singing and swimming with their father. I walk by him. He stops me gently placing a hand on my belly. His touch sends a shiver coursing through me that only intensified at the feel of his lips brushing against my ear “you look good in red” he whispers.
I blush even more “liar, nobody does, I was supposed to be mysterious. Fuck”
“And you have a filthy mouth too, I’ll have to do something about it”, he looks around him, too many people and nowhere to go. His hand is on my waist now, his thumb rubbing gently around my bikini.
“Howard…”
“I guess you’re detention will have to be postponed. I need to get into the water now. Is it cold?”
“Yes”
“Good”
Dawn sees us and yells “Bea we need to take the children back to the house, they need to be showered and ready for dinner. We’ll eat all together tonight.”
“She is starting to piss me off, I don’t like the way she talks to you, I’ll have a word with her”
“Please don’t, I’m fine, really, don’t worry about me”
“Too late honey”
“Just promise me you’ll wait”
“Can't promise”
"Please ... I'll see you at dinner"
He squeezes my hip and lets me go with a smile.