She took it, and walked next to me as she, Kelly, and I slowly moved to where the water was a little deeper. She started getting nervous when it was hip-deep on her, and all but petrified when it was past her waist. I stopped us there, and told her 'The first thing I want to show you is that you aren't in any danger, okay?'
She looked at me as though she knew I was lying through my teeth, but gamely agreed. I said 'If you don't mind, I want to hold you in my arms to do it. Is that okay?'
She looked to Marlyn who was a few feet closer to shore, but could still hear us – Marlyn indicated that it was okay, and Marilyn told me that I could.
I carefully squatted down to take her into my arms, one behind her knees, the other across her back. Nervously, she put her arms around my neck, holding tight. I could still breathe after a fashion, so I didn't say anything to her about it. What I did tell her was 'That's fine. Do you feel how the water is kind of holding you up?'
She said she could, and I went on 'What I want to show you is that the water will hold all of you up, so that you can breathe, even if you aren't actually doing anything. I'm going to squat down a little bit, and you'll feel the water holding you up when I do. I am not going to let go of you – you will still be able to feel me touching you. Okay?'
She wasn't entirely sure about what I was suggesting, but willing to give it a try. I slowly lowered myself in the water, making sure that she could feel my touch on her as she got lighter and lighter in my arms. Finally, she was floating, my arms barely making contact with her.
She still had her arms wrapped around my neck, but she'd finally relaxed enough that I was able to breathe normally. We stayed like that for a minute or so before I began to stand up, taking her weight in my arms again.
Reasonably sure that she wasn't going to instantly sink to the bottom like a brick, Marilyn was considerably calmer by the time I was standing upright again.
We repeated the lesson a couple more times; with each iteration, Marilyn seemed that much more comfortable in the water – even letting go of my neck for the last pass.
Sneaky devil that I was, each time I took her weight in my arms again, I was taking another step into deeper water. When she let go of me for the last floating lesson, I figured she was ready for the final exam. I told her 'I'm going to let go of you now, but I'm going to do it very slowly, okay? I'm going to stay right here, and so is Kelly, so there's nothing for you to be afraid of. I just want you to try it once on your own, okay?
She nodded her agreement, and I gradually lowered her into the water, careful to keep my arms under her so she'd know I was there. When I wasn't supporting any of her weight, I pulled my arms away so that she was floating on her own. She looked a bit apprehensive, but when nothing happened, she quickly got her confidence back. Kelly was watching all of this closely, so when she saw that Marilyn was reasonably comfortable, told her 'See? Nothing to be afraid of, is there? I know it's a little scary, but that's only because it's something new.'
Marilyn smiled her understanding, and moved to stand up – only to find that she was now chest-deep in the water – nearly all of her weight was being supported by the water. She started to panic for a moment, but quickly realized that she wasn't sinking. I got a mildly reproachful look, but nothing more.
She turned to where Marlyn was with a look of proud accomplishment.
Marlyn had followed us into slightly deeper water, and applauded her niece's progress.
Kelly moved over next to her to ask 'Would you like to learn how to swim now?' – getting Marilyn's happy 'Yes!' in return.
Kelly and I teamed up to teach her how to swim, starting with the dog-paddle. Kelly put her hands under Marilyn's body to hold her in place while I paddled around to demonstrate what to do. I added a few barking noises and panted like a dog, making Marilyn giggle. I also paused a few times to give Kelly a pat on the butt as I went by; she pretended nothing was happening, even when I stopped long enough to give one ass cheek a squeeze. All she did in response was to clench it in my hand before giving me a dirty look that Marlyn and Marilyn couldn't see. I just grinned at her, and paddled around some more.
In short order, Marilyn was paddling around with me, delighted to be able to move around and play in this wonderful new environment.
The last thing to do was teach her swimming – specifically, how to breath while doing it. For that, I was again the coach while Kelly did the live-action demonstrations.
Marilyn quickly got the idea, and was soon emulating Kelly's actions as I kept one hand on her belly and an arm under her legs to keep her from wandering off. There was a little initial sputtering before she got the timing right, but it didn't take much longer before she had a solid grasp on the basics. All that was left was practice, so I slowly turned loose of her – watching as she swam away from us toward the shore, without even realizing what she was doing. She didn't stop until she felt herself touching the bottom; when that happened, she quickly stopped swimming to discover herself almost on the beach. She turned around to sit down, and saw the rest of us out in the water. She sat there in stunned silence while the rest of us just laughed at the dumbstruck look on her face. It finally sank in for her that she had just been swimming, and she didn't hesitate to dive back into the water and swim back out to us, stopping when she got to Marlyn. After a brief conversation in Tagalog, they hugged before moving into the deeper water where Kelly and I were.
When they were close enough, Marilyn paddled over in front of us, and said 'Thank you, Kelly – and you too, Dan!' before lifting herself out of the water far enough to give me a quick peck on the cheek.
I told her 'I was happy to help, Marilyn. But thank you for the kiss', making her blush slightly. Kelly and Marlyn just grinned.
I went on to tell her 'There's only one part left, and that is easy.'
Marilyn looked at me curiously, and asked 'What is it?'
'Underwater' I told her.
She looked a bit hesitant, but I went on to tell her 'Really, it is easy. If you don't know what else to do, just STOP. Your body will try to float to the surface if you aren't actually trying to stay under water. The second thing is: bubbles go to the surface, where the air is.
Follow them, if you need to.'
Marilyn thought that over for a bit, then smiled and nodded her understanding.
The lessons over, the four of us headed toward the beach so we could dry off and get something to drink. A while later, Marilyn decided that she wanted to go into the water again; I went along to keep her company (and safe). Kelly and Marlyn decided that they'd prefer to rest a bit more, and enjoy the cool breeze.
After a bit, Marilyn decided that she wanted to play, too; before long, we were engaged in a game of 'tag' that ranged quite a distance out into the ocean. I chanced a look at the beach, and saw that Marlyn seemed a bit concerned about how far Marilyn was going, so I decided to change the game over to something that would keep Marilyn closer to shore. When she got close enough, I grabbed her by the waist and tossed her as high and far as I could as she shrieked her excitement before hitting the water. It wasn't many more of those before I started to get tired of doing it on my own, and explained to her how she could make it even more fun by helping me. She happily agreed, and I think we set new records for height and distance for the Twelve-year-old Ocean Toss. I could see that Marlyn was relieved that the new game kept us close to shore; she and Kelly were both laughing along with Marilyn's delighted cries. After a while, I pleaded exhaustion, and Marilyn didn't hesitate to take me by the hand and lead me back to where Kelly and Marlyn were sitting. When I'd dried off, Kelly moved to apply some sunscreen to me – and with only a moment's hesitation, Marilyn started helping. Once protected from UV-A, UV-B, XY-Z, and any other rays that dared show themselves, I moved to lay down – only to have Kelly guide me over to rest my head on her lap.
As we rested, Marlyn rummaged around in the small basket she'd brought along before pulling out some assorted fruit. I happily nibbled my way through a fresh ripe mango while Marlyn introduced Kelly to the joys of green mango and salt.
The rest of the day went pretty much the same, with only minor variations. All of us had fun swimming and playing around at different times, and in different combinations. In between, we'd rest on the beach while downing cold drinks and fresh fruit. Even Bhoy got wet a few times.
As it got toward late afternoon, all of us realized that we were actually getting hungry – despite all the snacks and drinks we'd consumed during the day. It didn't take long after that to call an end to the beach excursion. Bhoy saw us start to pack things up, and didn't hesitate to collect his own things and get the van ready for us.
Once back at the hotel, we settled on a time for supper – about an hour delay – and separated to get ourselves
