Hometown Hero

Chapter Twenty: Love Me

Lexy stared at the water, pointing.

“Wah!” She reached, looking at Indie “Wah! Dada, wah!”

I gasped, “She...she just said...”

Indie smiled, “She talks, she's just shy.” He reached his hand back, tickling her foot “I see it, baby girl. Are you excited?” She made a noise between a giggle and a yell, waving her arms over her head.

My hand flew to my mouth; she was literally bouncing out of her car seat. Indie parked the car, and she looked at me, her eyes absorbing everything at once; I waved at her, smiling “You ready to go to the water, Lex? Are you ready?”

She reached for me, and I saw her hands try to grasp my fingers, which had never happened before. She usually was rigid when I held her, twisting as she looked for Indie. When I took her hand, Indie smiled while we pulled in to the parking lot. Opening the door, I watched him walk to her side, listening to her jabber on.

“Hey, Lexy,” Indie kissed her, rubbing her arm “Can you say 'hi Dawson'? Say 'hi Daws! Hi!'”

Lexy reached, “Aws! Aws!”

I jumped out of the car, “Ha!” I watched him pull her out as I closed my door, exclaiming “She said my name! She said it! Well, almost.”

Indie just laughed, rolling his eyes “I've been trying to get her to say it since I got home. Every time you walked out of the room, I tried to teach her, but I think it confuses her. Having two names with the same letter, even though mine's just 'Dada', it's...”

“Weird to her, I'm sure.” I nodded, thinking back “That's probably why my dads have different names. One is Dad, one is Papa, because they didn't want to throw me off by saying 'Dad' to get one's attention, and then be confused.”

“Well, we'll have to find a special name for you, then.” He insisted, reaching for my hand as we walked down to the water.

There is nothing cuter than a baby at the ocean for the first time. Lexy was completely taken aback by everything she saw; picking up rocks, she'd pile them up, pointing to them and showing me each time it grew. She dug her tiny fingers into the saturated sand, studied the way it felt on her palms, and clapped her hands together, curious of the strange texture.

I took pictures with my phone. So many pictures; Indie walking her into the foam, lifting her up, an adorable shot of their shadows walking across the water's edge. Of course, I sent them all to dads right away, getting the cutest replies in their text messages: Frame that one, send us copies to put in the restaurant!

Lexy loved every minute of it; so much so, after about an hour and a half of exploring, she was ready for a break. We sat in beach chairs, my hands covered in sunscreen as I smoothed it over her back carefully. Indie smiled, his eyes hiding behind a pair of Tom Ford's; I missed those blue eyes, but I understood why. After Lexy had fallen asleep under the shade of the umbrella, Indie took my hand, standing from his chair.

“Walk with me.” He said, and I stood up, checking on Lexy. Indie smiled, “She's fine. She sleeps like the dead, you know that.”

I shook my head, “I don't want her to wake up and realize we're not there.”

“We won't go far.” He promised, pointing to the pier, which was maybe forty-five yards away, if that “Come on.”

I followed him down, back to the wet sand and the broken seashells.

“This makes me think of that song.” I smiled, hearing the tide rush in, pulsing in the background “That Counting Crows song about the girl from Tennessee.”