"Mikey, look at me!" Katie giggled as she swam from one end of the pool to the other. "I can swim!"

"I see you, Katie." Michael nodded to her. He readjusted his sunglasses. "You're doing a very good job."

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and everyone (including Luke, who pretty much invited himself) decided that they didn't need to do anything but sit around and be lazy all day. It only early spring but it was surprisingly too hot to go out somewhere and Katie's house had a pool, so it all worked out perfectly.

Michael was actually prepared to go swimming this time, he didn't have to go in the water in just his jeans anymore, and he was pretty proud of himself for that.

He was standing in the pool at one end with Luke while they watched Katie swim back and forth. Melissa was at the other end, making sure that nothing happened to Katie. Parker was sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water, because he was still too scared to jump in.

"Do you want to get in now, Pac-Man?" Michael asked, turning and poking Parker in the stomach.

"I don't want to jump." Parker shook his head quickly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You don't need to jump, bud." Michael said, holding his arms out for Parker. "I can just hold you."

"But what if you drop me?" Parker questioned, still not seeming very sure of this. He brushed some of his long hair out of his eyes. He needed a haircut again, but Michael didn't want to take him. They all loved Parker's long hair. "Don't drop me, Daddy."

"I won't, Park, I promise." Michael assured him, turning towards Luke for a second. "I won't drop him, right Luke?"

"No you won't." Luke nodded. "You'll be okay, Parker, and even if you do fall in the water it won't be that deep. You might be able to touch the bottom here."

"Really?" Parker asked skeptically and looked down at the bottom of the pool.

"Yeah." Michael promised, holding his arms out for Parker once again. Parker stood up slowly, for a moment looking like he was going to get in the water, and then sat down again. Michael sighed loudly.

"I'm scared." Parker pouted.

"I know, bud, but there's really nothing to be scared about." Michael said. He pushed himself up out of the pool so he was sitting on the edge next to Parker.

"I could drown." Parker looked up at Michael and squinted, the sun being too bright for him.

"I would never let that happen." Michael assured him. He sighed again, wishing that Parker would just get in the water. Michael wanted Parker to enjoy himself, and it seemed like he wasn't when he was just sitting off to the side.

"I'll be right here too, Park." Luke spoke up.

"Yeah Park, Luke's gonna be right here too." Michael said softly, rubbing Parker's back. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you, alright? I promise."

"Okay." Parker finally nodded, standing up again. "Should I put more sunscreen on?"

Michael let out a loud laugh at this and so did Luke, because most four year olds didn't bring up the fact that they need to reapply their sunscreen, they left that job to their parents.

"Uh, sure." Michael chuckled, standing up. "We can put some more sunscreen on."

They walked over to where Melissa had left all of the pool stuff, like sunscreen and toys and things like that. Parker ran over and grabbed the sunscreen himself, holding it out for Michael.

"Thanks." Michael said, still finding this whole thing kind of funny. He sprayed the sunscreen all over Parker's back and then turned him around, spraying the front of him.

Once Parker decided that he was protected enough from getting any kind of sunburn, they walked back over to the pool edge. Michael and Parker both sat down again, letting their feet touch the water.

"Did you put on more sunscreen, Michael?" Luke questioned teasingly, still leaning up against the pool wall.

He had told Michael earlier that he felt a little awkward, because Luke and Melissa didn't always get along and he felt bad about inviting himself over. Michael assured him that it was all fine, though, and Luke had nothing to worry about.

"I'll be fine." Michael scoffed, waving away Luke's comment with his hand. He turned and focused on Parker again. "Do you want to jump in?"

"No, I didn't like that." Parker whined, shaking his head.

"Okay, okay." Michael nodded. "Here, I'll get in the water and then you can slowly get in and I'll hold you the whole entire time. Alright?"

"But-But-" Parker shook his head, not liking that idea.

Michael got back in the pool again and then turned around so he was facing Parker, holding his arms out. Parker took small steps closer until he was as close to Michael as he could get.

Finally Michael went ahead and grabbed Parker, taking him away from his little spot on the edge of the pool and into the water. Parker lasted about 2 seconds before he started screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I'm scared!" Parker screamed and clung to Michael as tightly as he possibly could, definitely getting the attention of Melissa and Katie.

"Park!" Katie squealed happily, swimming away from Melissa and over to where Parker and Michael were. "Park, you're in the water!"

"I don't like this!" Parker yelled.

"Park, come swim with me!" Katie said excitedly, bouncing up and down. The water was so shallow in the part of the pool that they were at, Katie was able to stand up all on her own.

"No, I hate the water!" Parker shook his head, burying his face into the crook of Michael's neck. He was going to cry soon if he didn't get out of the pool, Michael knew it.

"Parker it's really not that bad!" Melissa spoke up, trying to comfort him. "What's so scary about the water?"

"I hate it!" Parker squealed, continuing to kick and squirm around in Michael's arms.

"I think you can touch the bottom here, Pac-Man, I can put you down if you - " Michael rubbed Parker's back, trying to comfort him. He didn't know why Parker was so scared of the water, he hadn't even been swimming enough times to be traumatized by it.

"No! Daddy, get me out!" Parker snapped, cutting Michael off, and that's when he began to cry. It started off quiet at first, Parker just sniffled a bit and rubbed his eyes with the hand that wasn't clinging around Michael's neck, but soon he was full on sobbing.

"Aw, buddy, I'm sorry." Michael sighed, walking over to the edge of the pool again and finally setting Parker down. He got up right away and ran over to where they kept the towels. Parker picked up a towel and wrapped it around himself, still crying.

"Why is he so freaked out?" Luke asked, setting his sunglasses on top of his head. Everyone was now watching Parker as he sat down on the pool deck with his knees pulled up to his chest, hiding his face as he cried, even Katie.

"I have no idea, honestly." Michael shrugged. "He's been swimming about two times in his entire life and nothing bad has ever happened."

"Just give him a few minutes, maybe he'll calm down." Melissa said quietly. Katie started swimming around in circles again, trying to get the attention of everyone else. They were all still concerned about what was going on with Parker, and no matter how hard Katie tried to get one of the adults to look at her, they wouldn't.

Without saying anything else, Michael climbed out of the pool and walked over to where Parker was sitting, taking a seat next to him on the pool deck.

"Park, can we talk for a second?" Michael asked softly, wrapping his arm around Parker's shoulders.

"I don't want to." Parker cried, refusing to look up at Michael.

"Just for a second, Park, please?" Michael questioned. He grabbed Parker and pulled him onto his lap. "I'll just talk to you for a minute and then you can go back to doing whatever you want, okay?"

"Okay." Parker sniffed, wiping under his nose with his hand.

"Can you tell me why you're so scared of the water?" Michael asked. He didn't really expect Parker to give him a very straightforward answer since he was only four, after all, but sometimes his son surprised him and said what Michael wanted him to.

"I just don't like it." Parker mumbled.

"Do you have any reasons why? Michael asked, pushing some hair off of Parker's forehead. "I just don't know why you're so scared, bud, the water's not going to hurt you."

"I can't swim." Parker said shyly, shaking his head.

"I'm not that great of a swimmer either, but I can try and teach you. That's what I was trying to do before you got upset." Michael explained. He looked past Parker for a second to see Melissa and Luke making some conversation with each other, watching Katie show off her swimming skills.

"I just don't like it." Parker said quietly. Michael could tell now that Parker wasn't going to give him an answer other than that he didn't like swimming, and he should just drop it.

"Okay, Park, that's okay." Michael nodded and quickly kissed Parker on the forehead. If Parker didn't want to swim then he didn't have to swim, Michael wasn't going to force him to do anything that he didn't want to do.

"I'm sorry." Parker mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his hands.

"You don't need to say sorry, dude, you didn't do anything." Michael said, letting out a small chuckle. "I should he apologizing, I made you get in the pool."

"Oh." Parker nodded slowly, looking down at his lap.

"Do you want to go over and sit by Uncle Luke again?" Michael asked, letting Parker crawl off of his lap and sit next to him again.

"No." Parker shook his head, speaking softly. He had been so quiet lately, Michael hoped that nothing was wrong.

"Do you want to stay here?" Michael asked. Parker looked up and him and nodded. He opened his mouth to say something but started coughing instead, covering his mouth with his hands.

"You okay, bud?" Michael was suddenly concerned, patting Parker on the back.

"Uh huh." Parker said after another minute of him coughing. He rubbed his eyes again, which were now watering.

"I'm gonna go talk to Melly and Luke for a few minutes." Michael trailed off, standing up again. "You can stay here, just call me over if you need anything. Okay?"

"Uh huh." Parker nodded, pulling his knees up to his chest again.

Michael walked back over to where Melissa and Luke were and sat down in between them, letting his feet touch the water. He wrapped an arm around Melissa's waist and pulled her closer, kissing the side of her head.

"Is he alright?" Melissa asked, glancing over at Parker.

"Yeah, he's fine." Michael responded slowly. "He just got kind of freaked out, that's all."

"Did he say why?" Melissa questioned. She grabbed Michael's hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Not really. I'm sure that if I bothered him enough I would be able to get it out of him, but I didn't want to push." Michael shrugged. He was pretty confident that everything would be fine, Parker would be acting like his normal self again later that night. "He's fine."

"Something's up with him." Luke said, shaking his head. "I'm worried."

"Why do you say that?" Michael asked, not understanding what Luke meant. Sure, he'd realized that Parker was acting a little strange today, but Michael thought that it was just one of his moods, he didn't think that he had to worry about Parker.

"He's been acting weird lately, haven't you noticed? He's quieter than usual and, I don't know, he's just not the same." Luke tried to explain, shaking his head.

"He has been kind of quiet." Melissa agreed, nodding at what Luke had said.

"I guess I didn't notice." Michael muttered to himself. At home Parker was fine, he didn't act any differently than he had before, but now that Michael thought about it he realized that Parker had definitely quieted down a bit when they were with other people.

"I'm sure he's okay, I shouldn't be worrying about it, it's just something I've noticed." Luke shrugged. "I really care about the kid."

"You should try to talk to him again later tonight." Melissa suggested, giving Michael's hand a squeeze. "When it's just you and him."

Michael opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to find Parker, still wrapped up tightly in his towel, dried tears on his cheeks.

"Hey Pac-Man, what's up?" Michael asked, trying to get Parker in a good mood again.

Parker didn't say anything, he just squeezed in between Michael and Melissa and sat down, resting his head on Michael's lap.

"Are you feeling alright, sweetie?" Melissa asked, reaching over and gently rubbing Parker's back. Luke didn't say anything at all, in fact he moved a few more inches away from Michael and focused on Katie.

"Yeah." Parker mumbled, nodding his head slowly. Melissa looked up at Michael, furrowing his eyebrows. Neither of them were fully convinced that Parker was really feeling okay.

"Maybe we should just go home." Michael sighed. He didn't want to leave but he didn't want to keep Parker there when he obviously had something going on, either. "Do you want to go home, Parker?"

"Yes." Parker sniffed and sat up again, wiping his eyes. He slowly stood up, waiting for Michael to get up as well so they could gather their things.

"I'm sorry." Michael apologized to Melissa as he stood up, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you later tonight."

"Yeah, it's no problem." Melissa said, clearly more concerned about what was going on with Parker than the fact that Michael was leaving early. "Just make sure that he's okay."

"I'll try my best." Michael nodded. Parker was already off putting his stuff in the little backpack that he carried about all the time, eager to get out of there.

"Luke, we're leaving." Michael called over to Luke, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Katie for a solid two minutes. Michael had given Luke a ride over to Melissa's house, so he assumed that he would be giving him a ride back home.

"What?" Luke looked up, startled. He had this lazy smile on his face, like he was genuinely enjoying watching the 5 year old swim. "Oh, can I come back later?"

"Later? How?" Michael questioned.

"Well... Melissa can drive me, right?" Luke asked, glancing at Melissa. She gave him a quick nod and then looked up at Michael and nodded again, confirming that it was okay. "Yeah, Melissa can give me a ride home."

"Okay." Michael nodded slowly. He didn't feel weird about Luke getting a ride home from his girlfriend. They were friends, nothing was going to happen.

"Yeah, so I'll see you later." Luke said, giving Michael a small wave before turning his attention back to Katie. He gently kicked at the water with his foot, splashing Katie and making her giggle.

"We should get going." Michael said, grabbing their things as well as Parker's hand, piling him away. "Bye, I love you."

"I love you, call me later." Melissa said, watching Michael leave.

"Love you too." Luke mumbled absentmindedly, staring straight ahead of him.

Michael and Parker left the backyard and got into their car parked on the driveway. It didn't take long for Michael to buckle Parker into his carseat and then he sat down in the drivers seat, thinking that the sooner they got home the sooner Parker would open up to him.

"Daddy?" Parker said quietly from the backseat before Michael even turned the car on.

"Yeah, Park?" Michael asked, looking back at Parker through the rearview mirror. He had a small smile on his face as he looked up at Michael, playing with his fingers.

"Can I call Mommy?" Parker questioned, cocking his head to the side. He hadn't asked to call Beth in a while, but it honestly didn't surprise Michael that Parker wanted to speak to his mom today.

"Sure, bud." Michael nodded, not wanting to argue about Parker calling Beth this time. It just wasn't worth it to fight about it today.

He handed his phone back to Parker, knowing that he could turn it on and dial Beth's number all by himself. Parker called Beth and thankfully she picked up, Michael was afraid that if she didn't Parker would throw a fit, because that had happened before. After Parker fell into a conversation with Beth, Michael started driving as fast as he legally could just so he could get Parker home quickly.

He didn't pay much attention to what Parker was saying into the phone. He was just babbling on about his day and how he missed Beth and what he ate for breakfast that morning. Nothing was unusual, it sounded like any other phone conversation that Parker and Beth ever had. Michael didn't think anything of it.

"Daddy?" Parker said when Michael pulled up to a red light, pulling the phone away from his ear for moment.

"Yeah?" Michael asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror again. Parker had a sad look on his face this time, rather than the smile that he wore on his lips just a few minutes earlier.

"Mommy wants to talk to you." Parker informed him, holding the phone out to Michael. "She wants me to come live with her now."

-

WOW first of all I'm sorry that I haven't updated in forever and second of all I'm sorry that this is so short

I got stuck with a bit of writers block/lack of motivation for this book but I think I know what I'm doing now and hopefully updates will come a little more quickly from now on

thanks for being patient!