“You think this is funny?” Daisy said, staring daggers at me.
“I mean, yeah, a bit,” I said.
Suddenly, the entire crew was laughing behind her.
“You guys,” she said. “Stop laughing. I can’t even control her.”
“We aren’t laughing at you, Daisy. We are laughing with you,” Quinn said. “No one here is expecting you to control her. She is uncontrollable, and unfortunately for you, it’s adorable.”
Bailey spun again, smiling up at me.
“Are you going to get out like she told you?” I asked.
She shook her head no, her smile bigger than ever.
I kicked off my shoes, and pulled off my shirt. Luckily, I was still in my shorts from the plane and, unlike everyone else, had a change of clothes in the car.
“What are you doing?” Daisy asked, and I didn’t miss the panic in her voice. I looked up, and her mouth dropped open, staring at me.
“Getting your daughter.”
I sat on the edge and slid in. The water was a perfect temperature that I could hardly blame Bailey for not getting out.
As soon as she saw me in the pool with her, she screamed in joy, paddling the opposite way.
“Oh, man. This is the exact type of shit we would have done. I can catch you, Bailey. You better swim faster.”
“Kye, language.”
“Oh, shit.” I shook my head. “Sorry!”
“Ohhh, shit,” Bailey repeated, her lips sounding out the O, and I knew I was in trouble.
“Kye!” Daisy yelled.
“I’m sorry! I forgot,” I said, grabbing for Bailey, who thought she was faster. “You don’t stand a chance outrunning me.”
I picked her up, pulling her back to the shallow end.
“Oh, shit,” she said again.
“Listen, if we don’t stop saying that, we are both going to be in trouble,” I whispered to her.
“I’m in trouble for going into the pool,” she whispered, sucking in a breath between each word like that was going to keep the words quieter. “So more trouble is fine.”
I lifted her onto the edge, sitting her down so her feet were still in the water. My body shook with quiet laughter before I doubled over. My forehead rested on the cold concrete next to her as I tried to hide it, not able to stop as Bailey patted the back of my head as she laughed.
“Kye, what’s wrong?” Daisy said. My back was to her, so she couldn’t see the tears forming from laughing so hard.
I finally turned, calming myself. “I hate to tell you this, but at four years old, your child has the same plan for getting out of trouble that I did when I was a teenager.”
“Which is?” she asked, arms crossed and clear worry across her face.
“If you’re already in trouble, just do all the fun things at once, so you’re only in trouble once. She said you’re already mad at her for getting in the pool, why not cuss, too? Ahh, damn, Daze, good luck raising her because you’re going to need it.”
At my words, Daisy’s mouth dropped open, and Bailey jumped over my head and back into the pool. I grabbed for her, but I was surprised when she resurfaced, her nose plugged as she blinked water from her eyes.
“Do all four-year-olds swim like this or is she just a daredevil?”
“No, not at all. She just thinks she’s invincible.”
“Me too, Bailey. Me, too.”
I grabbed her, playing in the water for another few minutes before we really had to get out and change.
By the time I dried off, changed, and headed back inside, everyone was waiting for me, including Daisy and Bailey.
“How did you beat me getting ready when you have this unruly child?” I asked.
“Because she takes punishment well enough when she knows what she did and she hustled getting cleaned up. At least I have something under control.”
“I think you are doing just fine. She’s clean, healthy, obviously happy. Not much else you have to worry about.”
“There’s a thousand things to worry about.”
I shrugged, knocking against Bailey, who was trying to get Liam’s attention.
“Want to go eat?” I asked them.
