Page 24 of Mister Daddy

“Seriously?” she squeaks. “Oh my God, I’d love to! Caitlyn and Jessica aren’t really into getting more than just their toes in the water. I couldn’t convince them to go with me, and I wasn’t about to go by myself.”

“Well, now you can go with me.”

Abby looks so excited that I can’t stop myself from planting a tender kiss on her parted lips.

“Let’s go exploring,” I suggest, holding out my hand. She takes it and follows me out the door, finally getting to see the beach she’s been staring at all afternoon.

If only I had a camera to capture the moment when she first laid her eyes on the clear blue water lapping the white sand. I would have the photo framed and hung on my wall.

Abby looks at the beach like it’s the one thing in the world she truly loves. I can’t help but hope that someday she will look at me the same way.

10

Abby

When I’m in the water, I’m free.

Surrounded by waves and wildlife is the only place that I truly feel at home. I don’t have to hide any part of myself when I’m bobbing in the ocean. The deep blue Caribbean Sea doesn’t care how much I weigh; it’ll let me stay on the surface or sink deep below if that’s what I want to do.

“You’re a natural,” Carter says, the words muffled by his face mask. “I can see why you’d want to make this your job.”

At least someone else sees it. Sometimes I worry that my connection with the water is all in my head.

“I’ve never been comfortable on land, but I’ve always been comfortable in the water.”

“That’s obvious just by the way you’re floating. You’re one with the waves.”

I smile at the thought. He might just be placating me or buttering me up so that I’ll give him something good later, but I don’t care. I’ll take any compliment he wants to give me, especially when it’s validating my dreams.

“Okay!” a professional diver calls to us. “We’re going to descend now. Are you prepared?”

Carter and I secure our masks and air tanks and give the diver a thumbs up. It’s always good to dive with someone familiar with the area when possible, so Carter hired us a personal tour guide for the afternoon.

We begin our slow descent into the depths of the sea. The small boat that brought us out to our secluded part of the ocean grows smaller and smaller above us, the light growing less and less bright the further down we travel.

A school of black and yellow angel fish swims by us casually. I wish I’d brought an underwater camera to capture their vivid color, but I didn’t think I’d be diving at all on this trip so I didn’t bother. My phone is up on the boat, safe from the increasing water pressure.

Our mouths are covered by our masks, but I can see Carter’s smile in his eyes as various fish investigate us. They must be used to people diving around here because none of them are afraid of the strange-looking newcomers in their territory.

We pause at a safe depth to get our bodies used to the pressure. Carter holds up the “ok” symbol and I nod, wishing he could see the happiness on my face. I’ve never been diving anywhere so beautiful. I love seeing what’s off the coast of Florida, but this is better. Partially because I’m with Carter.

As we wait, a turtle moseys by, and I imagine him talking to me like it’s some cartoon. His face is wrinkled and faintly green in the low lighting, with dark spots lining his chin and neck. He reminds me of a sea turtle living at the aquarium that my parents used to take me to as a kid. That turtle’s name was Hector, but my new friend looks more like a Fred.

Fred doesn’t even blink when he sees Carter, the diver, and me in his territory. He simply flaps his sea wings and continues his journey, wherever it may take him.

The diver signals that it’s time for our final descent. The sandy floor appears below us as we dive deeper into the sea. This is the deepest I’ve ever been, but it’s barely a blip on the radar compared to how deep some parts of the ocean are.

I swim flat against the ground, admiring the multicolored coral growing down here. Some small fish swim between the tubular structures, staring at me as I stare at them. The lack of light keeps most of the colors muted down here, but some bright pinks and oranges stand out against the pale greens and faded blues. Why didn’t I buy even one of those disposable underwater cameras before we came down here?

My attentions are on the coral and other sea life, so I don’t notice Carter and the diver communicating a few feet from me. When I look up, Carter is ushering me closer to him.

I swim his way, and he wraps his arm around my back as best as he can in our clunky scuba suits. Carter uses his free hand to make a gesture that looks like a camera click, then points to the diver. Sure enough, our tour guide has an underwater camera poised and ready to capture our photo against the coral backdrop.

I smile even though my mouth won’t be visible in the photo, and the diver snaps a few photos. Carter faces me, and I do my best to mime “thank you” without breaking into full sign language. I took a few classes in college, but Carter probably wouldn’t understand what I was saying.

We stay at the reef for as long as it’s safe, but too soon, the diver tells us we need to make our ascent. The trip up is the same as it was down, with us stopping to adjust to the change in pressure along the way. The closer we get to the boat, the less relaxed I feel. A lot of people are afraid of scuba diving because you never know what could be waiting for you when you get down into the depths of the ocean, but that’s not how I feel. The unknown is exhilarating.

I can’t wait until I get to dive again.