𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗼𝘄 ━━━━ roman kemp

━━━━ twenty two

"You know, I'm qualified enough to go into a pool with a toddler without her drowning."

Mathilda raises an eyebrow at Roman who stares back defiantly, arms crossed over his chest. He looks remarkably stubborn; so much so that Mathilda briefly wonders whether Darcy got her own stubborn streak just from her maternal family.

"Oh yeah?" she asks, amused. "Where's our daughter right now, then?"

With a startled yelp, Roman pivots to find that Darcy has wandered from her previous position by the sun lounger to the shallow end of the swimming pool. Mathilda conveniently forgets to mention that the girl takes swimming lessons and is perfectly adept at staying afloat in shallow water.

Roman sprints over, ignoring the signs that clearly forbid running by the pool. He scoops Darcy into his arms and throws her into the air, safely depositing her onto the ground beside Mathilda afterward. "You gave me a heart attack, kiddo," he says, trying to be stern but he cannot help but smile at her sweet expression.

"'m sorry, Daddy," Darcy murmurs with the innocent expression she has certainly not inherited from either of her parents. "I just wanted to swim. I wanna be a ducky when I grow up!"

"Is that so?"

Darcy nods emphatically.

"I thought you wanted to be a ballerina?" Mathilda asks. She distinctly remembers listening to a long, rambling monologue before entering the jungle in which Darcy listed all of the reasons why ballerinas were superior to everybody else in the world.

"Uncle Tom was a ballerina," Darcy replies, which is true to an extent. "Uncle Harry says that Uncle Tom sucks and I shouldn't do anything he does."

That makes Roman snicker and Mathilda roll her eyes in exasperation. "Don't listen to Uncle Harry," she warns, "he likes to play jokes sometimes."

"Uncle Haz says Uncle Harry is one big joke," Darcy tacks on, mostly oblivious but giggling ever so slightly like she knows more than she lets on.

Mathilda simply groans. "You really need to stop spending so much time with your uncles," she decides but knows that she wouldn't have it any other way. She claps her hands together. "So. Swimming?"

"Yes!" cheers the little girl, grasping Roman's hand with no shame. Apparently acquiring a father a mere few days ago is something she has taken in stride as she resolutely ignores Roman's awkward, reluctant movements. It's a lot to take in for him, Mathilda knows.

"You're not coming in?" Roman asks.

"No, you go ahead," she says and waves the father and daughter duo away. "I'm feeling a little under the weather."

"Are you okay, mama?" Darcy asks.

"Perfectly fine, Princess. Go and show your daddy how you can swim, yeah?"

Needing no further prompting, Darcy drags Roman away with a gleeful expression as Roman shouts back an affronted, "So she can swim?" which makes Mathilda grin back at him.

They have been out of the jungle for a few days and have finally managed to secure a morning of time just the three of them. The rest of the Holland-Kemp clan have decided to check out the local shops (something they have undoubtedly done a thousand times before and are simply doing for the benefit of the small family who are in desperate need of some bonding time).

They truly have the greatest family one could wish for.

At some point Mathilda drifts off to sleep, dreaming of childish giggles and identical sets of ocean blue eyes that remind her entirely of home.