Chapter 31

"I am going to miss you." Cathy nods her head with tears in her eyes, but can't say anything. She buries her head into his chest. "It's okay, babygirl. This is all a beginning, not an ending."

"Promise."

"If it is within my power to keep that promise, then absolutely, I promise."

"I'm finding it very hard to leave."

"Good."

She cuddles into his arms as they stand near the bed. "I'll come back at the beginning of July."

"Promise."

She looks up at him and a tear slowly makes its way down her cheek. Christopher wipes it away with his thumb. "I promise."

"If we think about this too much it is only going to make it harder. Come on, let's get ready to go."

As they are walking out of the house, Cathy stops and turns around and takes it all in again. She smiles and walks outside. Sarah is already waiting for them. "Come on, you."

Both Sarah and Christopher have heavy hearts as they watch Cathy disappear up the escalator. Once she gets to the top she turns around and sadly, but with promise, waves goodbye to them.

As they are walking back out to the truck Christopher says, "I take it you like Cathy?"

"Very much." Silence fills the truck as they are going home. Sarah is leaning on Christopher with her little arms wrapped around his strong right arm. "Hannah wanted me to tell you thank you again for paying for her to be in the swim league. Her grandma is finally letting her do it. Remember, Monday is orientation, and then our first practice is the very next Wednesday."

"I remember. Orientation is on the eleventh and then the first practice is on the thirteenth, with the first meet being on the sixteenth. From there it is practice every Wednesday and competition on every Saturday."

Sarah is amazed he remembers all of that off the top of his head. "Do you think Hannah can come over and practice with me on our days?"

"Hannah seems like an absolute sweetheart and she is way adorable looking. She respected my home during the play celebration barbecue, so she is welcome in my home, but it will be up to her mom."

"Actually, she is just like me, remember. Her grandma is raising her, too."

'"Did I know that? Of course I knew that! You just said her grandma is letting her do it."

"I thought I told you, but I'm not sure. Do you want to hear something sad?"

"Not really."

"Hannah is living with her grandma because her mom was murdered and her dad is in prison for life for murdering her." Hannah has opened up more with Sarah than she has anybody.

"Damn! I tell you, all you have to do to realize your life isn't so bad is just turn the corner."

"I'm lucky I have Nana and you."

"I'm lucky I have you and Cathy."

"I guess we are just lucky then."

Christopher smiles at Sarah's beautiful heart. Sarah had already helped Hannah out by giving her one of her dresses so she could be pretty at Easter. Hannah is a little shorter and thicker than Sarah but they are both very fit young ladies. And both of them are blonde-haired blue-eyed goddesses.

"I think the best day for Hannah to come over would be Friday so you two can be at top shape for the meet. Later today I'm going to build the platform that you will be starting your practice races from atop of."

"Do you still think it will be best to use a one-piece swimsuit?"

"I think so, because it will be more water dynamic and you won't worry about it coming off when you dive in."

"Oh yeah. I gave one of my bikinis to Hannah, but I guess she can wear my other one-piece."

"I want to tell you that I'm really proud of how you've been helping her and giving so freely from your heart."

"She's my only friend, and seeing her dressed poorly reminds me of me before you came along and spoiled me."

Christopher laughs. "I think we spoil each other."

"I think you are right."

Luckily for Christopher, Cathy went home on a Thursday so that means that Sarah will be spending the night as Nan goes to bible study in the evening. When they get home they go and check to make sure Nan is okay, and then they go over to Christopher's house and go up to his bedroom to change. Sarah puts on her pink bikini and Christopher puts on his army green shorts. Once again no shyness is shown.

"The first thing we want to do is stretch so we don't hurt ourselves. You want to stretch every muscle you will be using." They stand there for several minutes making sure they are good and prepared. Then they dive in together.

"Alright, we are going to push ourselves today. We want to see how fast you can go. We will warm up at an easy pace, and then I will get out the stopwatch and start timing you so we can tell when you are improving.

"Now there are four aspects to racing. The first one is starting off the block. The second one is coming out of the dive and getting into form. The third is the open water swimming and the fourth is the turn. We will break them apart and do them one by one. Then and only then, we will do complete runs. Today we are just going to work on the open water swimming and building your strength and breathing."

"Okay." Sarah is resting on his every word. She loves that he has so much confidence in her and she wants to always make him proud of her.

They do several laps to warm up and then Christopher floats out in the middle and tells her, "Okay, go, I want to watch your form." He watches from above as she goes by the first time. On her next pass by he watches from underwater.

"Sarah, come here baby." Christopher is now where he can put his feet down and has his head above the water.

"What?"

"To get optimum speed you must use your arms and feet at their fullest potential. I'm going to put my hands under you so you can swim in place. Is that comfortable?" She nods her head. "Okay, now start swimming. See how your arms and legs are moving at the same speed? They are in good rhythm, but your legs can move faster than your arms can. Paddle your feet real hard. See how fast they can go? Now swim with your arms.

"Now I want you to swim with your arms as fast as you can, plus paddle with your feet as hard as you can." Sarah doesn't mess around, she gets right to it. "Perfect! Your feet were moving faster and yet you were in rhythm keeping your body streamlined. Okay, I want you to do it again, and this time I'm going to let go of you. Ready!"

She nods her head. She gets her little legs and arms pumping and Christopher lets go of her and she takes off. When she gets to the end of the pool she is all excited. "I really went fast."

With a smile of divine pride Christopher says, "Yes you did."

Later that night as they are relaxing before the television, Sarah is wearing her green pajamas with the tank top and Christopher is wearing his brown and cream pajamas with his own black tank top on, they continue to figure out their workout plan. "For the rest of this week you will just work on getting fit and fast. After I build the platform we can start working on that, but we won't get into anything technical until we go to orientation, and especially after the first practice. I don't want to teach you any techniques that are illegal or hurtful."

"I think we started off good today. I definitely got faster."

They relax for the rest of the night.

When Sarah comes back over to practice she comes over with Hannah.

"Hi, Hannah," says Christopher, hugging her.

Again she melts into Christopher's embrace. Once again Hannah is wearing an old pair of jeans and the same black sweatshirt she wore at the swim party before she put on Sarah's yellow bikini that Sarah ended up giving her, however, now it is June and much warmer.

She smiles shyly. "Thank you so much for paying so I can swim with Sarah, and letting me practice with you guys."

"Are you kidding, a smart pretty girl like you, it will be an honor to have you around us. Sarah says you are her best friend and that makes you family. I want to thank you for being you."

As Hannah's eyes are going big Sarah says, "Hannah is spending the night tonight at my house so she can practice with us today."