Young Love

71 ⇾ epilogue pt.3 (jade & damien)

"Come on buddy, you're gonna have to jump in at some point."

Jade and I are currently trying...and struggling to get our son Gage to jump into the pool but he won't budge!

"No daddy!" He mutters.

"I promise nothing will happen to you baby, we will catch you," Jade says.

"NO!" He whines.

"Oh for the love of god," Jade mutters under her breath.

"Gage, your cousins are gonna be here any minute...don't you want to show them that you know how to swim?" I ask.

"No."

Ugh!

"If you get in the pool I'll buy you a McFlurry from McDonald's," Jade says.

"Jade!" I groan.

We've been trying to get Gage to do stuff without having to bribe him but as you can see, that clearly isn't working.

Gage's eyes light up and he walks up to the edge of the pool.

"Ready buddy?" I ask.

He hesitantly shakes his head and fixes the floaties on his arm.

"3...2...1!" Jade counts down.

Gage takes a deep breath before jumping into my arms.

Jade and I cheer as Gage's frown turns into a huge smile.

"Good job baby!" Jade chuckles.

Gage splashes the water around while desperately kicking his tiny feet.

"I'm swimming!" Gage squeals.

Suddenly I hear the back gate open and my mom walks over to the pool.

"Look Gagey!" Jade says.

Gage happily screams when he sees his grandma.

"Look Grammy! Mommy and daddy are teaching me how to swim!" He says.

"I can see that baby! Good job!" My mom laughs.

My mom and Gage have the cutest relationship, any time Jade and I go out he always wants to stay with his grandma or with his cousins.

"Alright buddy, give me your hands and I'll teach you how to kick," Jade says.

I watch as my wife and our son go around the pool.

They laugh and splash each other and my heart warms at the sight.

"She's a great mom." My mom says.

"She really is."

After college, I was recruited by the US swim team.

It was hard on Jade and I's relationship and there was a time when we doubted things would work out between us.