Chapter 34

Christopher wakes up with Hannah in his arms. Sarah is lying on the other side of her as they all easily fit in Christopher's king size bed.

Christopher lies there holding her, letting them sleep in so they will be charged for their first official practice. Christopher is still seething about last night. As soon as he gets back from practice he has plans to call his lawyer and get that pit bull involved.

As he is lying there with the universe's most special creation in his warm loving embrace, Sarah wakes up and looks over at them. She turns over onto her right side facing them. Her heart is so pure and pristine that she is only happy for her friend. There is not even the slightest thought of 'that is my Christopher'.

"Good morning, babygirl." he says quietly.

"Good morning, daddy." Christopher smiles with moist eyes and reaches over and caresses her face and hair for a few wonderful moments, then wraps over Hannah again. "Christopher, I really do not like Hannah's grandma."

Christopher's eyes go steely-eyed. "Neither do I, baby."

"Is there any way we can help her?"

Just then Hannah starts to wake up from the sound of their voices. She smiles at Sarah and stretches mightily. She looks behind her and sees Christopher smiling down at her, then he attacks her with a million little kisses on her ear and cheek. She giggles and squirms in his strong embrace.

As they are all lying there experiencing tranquility in their own way, Christopher asks them a question that he has been wondering about. "Sarah, Hannah, what made you girls so sure you would be safe around me? I mean, so much so that you have opened up with me and shared of yourselves so amazingly in ways you have never done with anybody else?"

Sarah thinks about it for a second. "I think it was your eyes. Even from upstairs when you were working on the ramp I could see hope and strength in them. And yet also I saw a sadness there that equaled my own and it drew me to you. After that it was your touch and smile.

"I can't remember if we were just shaking hands or even if you just brushed my hand when I was helping you with the ramp, but a warmth flowed from it and I began to adore you. Every time I thought and still think about you it puts a smile on my face and makes me feel loved and protected. I didn't understand it either. You just moved in, and even though we didn't know you I felt like ... like uh, um, like you were the only light in the black cave I had been living in, and you shined your love down upon me and took my hand and walked me into the light of day where happiness and joy were waiting for me. Plus, you give the world's best hugs."

Hannah nods her head emphatically about the hugs. Christopher is looking into Sarah's beautiful blue eyes and he is floored that those words just came out of a nine-year-old girl's mouth and from her precious heart.

As the silence lingers, Hannah starts playing with Christopher's fingers on the arm holding her tight. "At the pool party when Sarah introduced us and you gave me that great big hug I felt safe for the first time in a long time. When you smiled at me I felt like somebody was seeing me for the first time in a long time."

Christopher doesn't know if it is a girl thing or what, but he is sure he would have never been able to put his thoughts and feelings into such elegant words. Right then and there he decides both of these girls need to be writers, that the world needs them to be writers.

"Hannah?"

"Hmm."

"Did you know that I'm going to pay for Sarah to go to college?"

"I think so. Sarah talks about you a lot."

Christopher smiles and winks at Sarah. "When the time comes and you want to go to college I would also like you to go."

Hannah sits up and looks down at him. "Really?"

Christopher sits up too and says, "Most definitely."

Tears come to the precious little girl's eyes one more time and from their hug she declares, "I wish you were my daddy."

Sarah and Christopher lock eyes. Christopher wraps both of his arms around her and kisses her hair. "Me too. For both of you being your daddy would make me the happiest man in the world." This time even Sarah's eyes mist up. Christopher reaches over to Sarah with his left hand and caresses up and down her right arm while puckering up. Sarah comes over and kisses him.

"Alright ladies, we better get a move on because yesterday I read you should have a hair cap on." Hannah pulls back and he kisses her too. She heads towards the bathroom. As soon as Christopher hears the door shut he moves to the edge of the bed and puts Sarah in his lap. "Would you like to have Hannah as a sister?"

"Oh yes!"

"Okay, don't say anything to her yet. Later I will call my lawyer and see what can be done. No matter what, we have to get her away from her grandma." Sarah nods her head emphatically. Then Sarah remembers that she has to go to the bathroom also. She goes into the custom bathroom and leaves the door wide open. As Christopher is changing he says, "Oh yeah, guess what?"

"What."

"Cathy will be coming back out on July second and she'll stay the rest of the week. That means she will be here for the Fourth of July. I told her about Hannah and she is excited about meeting her too."

"I love Cathy."

"Who's Cathy?"

"Christopher's girlfriend. She is really nice and really pretty. You'll love her."

"Alright girls, get dressed and I will start breakfast."

"If we are going to Hartford anyway can we eat breakfast at Waffle World?"

"Hmm, I guess we can do that. How about you, my darling Hannah, do waffles sound good to you." She nods her head emphatically. Her hair flying around reminds him. "Don't forget to brush your hair."

"Today we will be working on physical fitness." Both Sarah and Hannah groan. "Also we will be doing some preliminary races in each age group and style."

Christopher kneels down in between them and the girls sidle up to him. "I know this is just a practice, but I want you girls to give it your all when it comes to the preliminary races. We have to see early who the competition is going to be and how we have to improve." The girls nod their heads and use Christopher to balance themselves as they take off their shoes and their pink and white identical shorts. Christopher puts their clothes off to the side and then he clinches and pumps his fists to get his girls motivated.

The trainers take all the girls that are doing freestyle over to the deep end of the pool and have them do stretches. "Okay, I want the four to six-year-olds into the pool. The rest of you can sit on the benches until we call your group." With the younger group, three of the four trainers or helpers or coaches, whatever you want to call them, jump into the pool.

Christopher sits down and the girls sit down on each side of him. Hannah looks up at him and says, "I'm excited." She has such a divine smile on her face that all his present and future efforts are worth it.

"I'm nervous."

"Use it, Sarah. The harder you push yourself the quicker those tingly feelings will go away." She nods her head, and since she is sitting on Christopher's left she puts her right arm on his thigh and leans on him.

As they watch the younger girls practice, Sarah and Hannah are amongst the first of all the other girls watching to start saying nice things about the ones practicing at the moment. Christopher smiles at their beautiful hearts. Christopher puts his arms around them, resting his hands on their outer hips, caressing them with his thumbs on top. Both the girls cuddle into him even more. Not two seconds after that Sarah and Hannah start yelling out cheers for the other girls and even applauding the little ones' efforts.

As they are watching the youngest age group get out of the pool Sarah and Hannah lean over Christopher as they talk. "They were really good!" says Sarah.

"I know. Did you see how fast she was?" Hannah says pointing at a little brunette cutie as she comes over to take her seat. She sits next to Hannah and Hannah says, "You were great." The little five-year-old is beaming at her.

"Thank you."

"Now we want the seven to ten year olds into the pool."

As Sarah and Hannah stand, Sarah turns to all the younger girls and says, "Wow, you were all really good. I'm proud of you girls." The rest of the four to six year olds light up with smiles.

Christopher stands up to walk over with them, but one of the trainers says, "That's okay, dad, we got it."

Both Sarah and Hannah stop and look at him a little shyly. Christopher claps his hands and says, "Come on, babygirls, show 'em what you got."

"We're not racing yet, Christopher. We are just looking at their form and fitness."

As the girls jump into the pool Christopher looks around and is amazed to see at least fifty girls in the combined two different style groups amongst all the ages. As small as the immediate community is, Christopher figures they bring in several outlining areas as well, either that or during the cold Connecticut winters they spend them making babies.

As Sarah and Hannah's age group finishes up the head guy walks over to Christopher and says, "I think they are going to be two of our strongest competitors."