Glide

Chapter seventeen

The holidays are finally here. Exciting the pool after our last practice of this year, I happily joke around with my teammates in the locker room.

I have successfully avoided acknowledging what happened during our relay final at Sectionals. We won, but no thanks to me. Something was off, and I couldn't find my strive. I almost lost us the whole thing.

It's only one meet of course, but I have been struggling ever since, and if it keeps up, Jayden won't be the loose cannon at Nationals next year.

I'm looking forward to a week and a half at home with my moms and sisters, getting a bit of distance from the pool and the team - hopefully, it'll be enough for me to get into the zone again.

Everybody else also has holiday plans.

Jayden is bringing Sophie along to spend it with his younger brother, Ollie, and his foster mom. Jayden plans to get custody of Ollie as soon as he goes pro and makes enough money to support him. How Sophie factors into that is still unclear.

I drive Saltz to the airport after practice, and he boards a plane, looking eerily glum. He'd grown more and more quiet as the break approached. I don't know much about his family besides the fact that he has an older sister he adores. I get the feeling that his relationship with his parents is complicated.

Mitch is an only child, though he did grow up down the street from his best friend, Maya. They were thick as thieves, from what he's said. Even went to the same college. But then she left for a year abroad and never returned. He hasn't been too excited about Christmas either, and I think he misses having someone in his corner when he goes home.

Jen is celebrating Christmas in Oklahoma, and she left two days ago. Things have been different since Cleveland, but we haven't had a chance to talk about it.

I breathe a sigh of relief when my plane touches down in Nashville. It's rare that we can gather the whole family for Thanksgiving or birthdays, but Christmas is sacred in the Davis household. Diana landed yesterday - she has to return to Chicago after the 26th, so she came here as soon as possible - and Delilah is flying out from Seattle later today.

My moms and younger sisters are waiting in the terminal, waving tiny flags. That has been the ritual for welcoming us home ever since the three of us went off to college within a year of each other. The first thing Mum has always done when we moved to a new state was buy small state flags to decorate the house. Growing up, home was never a place; it was my moms, sisters, and silly flags.

I have a home now in Michigan, and I can't imagine leaving it.

"Dae," Dakota shouts, jumping up and down as I tow my luggage over to where they stand.

I pick her up, twirling her around. "Cody - you've grown!"

She giggles, hugging me tightly. Every time I see her, it's like she's aged several years, even though it's often only months. It's just a reminder of everything I'm missing. I've watched her grow up on Facetime more than I have seen it in real life.