After a short while, Aurelia burst into giggles when she came to her senses, "This is so much fun! Daddy do it again! Do it again!"
Hendrix's hair was wet and stuck to his forehead. Droplets of water dripped down from his strands of hair. Yet he still tried his best to maintain his blank face. "Do you now know who you should learn swimming from?" he asked.
"Yes, I do! I want to learn from you daddy! I also want you to do what you did earlier! I flew up in a whoosh!" Aaron's eyes turned red. Two days ago, she'd held onto Aaron saying that he was the best uncle, and now all her attention was her on daddy. "Little traitor" Aurelia switched sides so easily!
Both of the men exchanged glances as one showed off his victory while the other was helpless with his loss.
"Hendrix, you're breaking the rules. Aurelia is so small, who wouldn't be able to carry her? This doesn't count. Let's go again. Whoever finishes a lap around the pool first, wins!" Aaron cursed as he swam at them.
Hendrix ignored him and carefully put Aurelia down from his shoulder. He asked Wynn and Anne to stand in a row. He was standing with pride, fully expressing the grandeur of a leader.
"Today, I'm going to personally teach you all what to do when someone is drowning..."
"What?" Aurelia's face fell as she asked, "Daddy, can't we play a game instead?"
Her voice grew softer and softer. Aurelia didn't dare to look at Hendrix's cold face to boldly tell him, "I really want to play instead".
Hendrix didn't respond, but the answer couldn't have been any more obvious... no room for negotiations. Things turned dull. Aaron gloated as he watched them while he leaned on the side of the pool. It didn't seem like he wanted to help in any way.
'Do the right thing at the right time' was Hendrix's guiding principle. The combination of work and rest wasn't in his original idea of learning new skills. I agreed with him on this however. Children got carried away very easily. Since this involved being careful in the water, paying extra attention to this was worthwhile.
Luckily Anne was familiar with Hendrix's temper. Afraid that Aurelia would upset him, she went ahead and comforted her. "Aurelia, be good. After we're done practicing, maybe daddy will give you a reward!"
As she said this, both of the sisters looked at their emotionless father at the same time.
Hendrix was never the type to be affected by such "threats". As opposed to his usual personality, he didn't get angry, instead, he unexpectedly obliged. "Sure."
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