Chapter 18: Big Boobs

We all stripped off our clothes and jumped into the pool. Even Jenny joined us this time, since she was feeling better. We threw the ball around, and played pool-tag, and climbed on and off the inflated rings.

At one point, we were doing simultaneous jumps, where all four of us would stand on the edge and hold hands in a row. Then we would count down and jump in together.

We were all lined up and holding hands ready to jump, when suddenly a deep male voice behind us said, “Hello.”

Frodo jumped to his feet and went on alert. He’d been lying on the tiles and ignoring everything.

We all turned to look. A man stood there holding two full bags of groceries. He was tall with fair hair and quite good looking. He wasn’t ripped like an athlete but he was trim. I recognised him from the photos as being the dad.

Tabby squeaked and jumped into the pool, attempting to cover herself as she jumped.

“Dad,” yelled Freddy and ran forward to hug him.

“Hi Dad,” said Jenny. She blushed and quickly walked over to pick up a towel and wrap it around herself.

I’d turned around and simply stood where I was, deciding to brazen it out.

“Hi Mister,” I said cheerfully. Frodo sidled over to me and stood at my side. He was now less on guard, but still alert and watching carefully.

Jenny stepped forward with another towel. She pulled Freddy off their dad and wrapped a towel around him. The dad looked down at his clothes which now had noticeable damp patches.

“Fred, you made me wet,” he said, more amused than anything else. He did look uncomfortable about the situation, but was managing to stay calm.

“Come into the pool, Dad,” said Freddy. He enthusiastically tried to grab his dad’s hand and drag him to the pool.

“Take your clothes off and join us,” pleaded Freddy.

The dad shook his head. “I think I might pass on that.”

I had to give him credit. He’d glanced at me when I first turned around but after that he’d ignored me and focused entirely on what his own kids were doing, particularly once they were wrapped up in towels.

“I bet I could change your mind,” I said, dipping my head and looking at him from under my lashes.

I waggled my eyebrows at him, “If you take your clothes off, I could...”

“No, no, no,” said Freddy. He ran and jumped up onto me, wrapping his legs around my waist and putting his hand over my mouth so that I had to stop talking.

“Fred?” said the dad, looking surprised at his behaviour.

Freddy turned his head to speak to his dad without letting go of me.

“Jacinta likes to shock people by saying really disgusting things,” Freddy explained. “She thinks it’s funny.”

Freddy was still clinging to me and holding his hand over my mouth. I could have gotten him off of me fairly easily, but I thought what he was doing was funny so I let it happen.

“I don’t want her to say anything like that to you,” continued Freddy.

Jenny rescued the shopping bags from her father.

I got Freddy to slide down off me and gave him a mock glare. “Are you going to ruin all my fun?”

I made a big show of pouting as I walked over and picked up a towel. Again, credit to the dad because he looked at my face when I was talking and nowhere else. I wrapped the towel around me and knotted it.

I turned my head and winked at Freddy, before turning back to the dad and saying, “Hi, I’m Jacinta.”

Frodo grunted and went over into the shade where he lay down with a thump.

Jenny pointed at Freddy and then at the picnic table. “Freddy, I need you to sit down and tell Dad what you told me about those two boys last night. Maybe Jacinta could help you since she was the one who looked after you.”

Jenny indicated the shopping bags she’d taken from her dad. “Some of this stuff needs to go in the fridge. I’ll put all this away and join you when I’m done. And maybe Tabby will stop hiding if someone gives her a towel?”

I glanced over to the pool and saw the top of Tabby’s head and her eyes peeking over the edge of the pool. I grabbed a towel and went over to her while Freddy and the dad walked over to the picnic table and sat down. I opened up the towel and held it like a screen so that Tabby could climb out of the pool and wrap herself up without feeling like her dad could see her. She was blushing furiously. I’ve seen fire engines that were less red. Tabby tied the towel into place and the two of us went over and sat at the picnic table. I found myself trapped between Freddy and Tabby, with the dad facing us from the other side of the table. Tabby slid herself right up against me, as if seeking comfort from the contact.

Frodo lifted his head up and watched with his ears pricked.

“Hi, Daddy,” said Tabby, looking shy and still obviously hugely embarrassed.

“Hi, sweetie,” said the dad.

We all turned our attention to Freddy. He started telling his dad the story of his encounter with Brad and Hudson.

The dad was frowning. “Fred, is this the same Brad Semeth and Hudson Korkmaz that hassled you after basketball a few weeks ago?”

“Yes,” said Freddy. “But that time all they did was call me names.”

Freddy continued the story. When he got to the part where I arrived to help him, Freddy shuffled sideways and pressed against me. Now I had both of them pressing into me, and I was completely trapped between them and by the table and the bench. I wanted to stand up and move away but both of the two kids were clinging to me so I forced my uneasy feelings down.

Frodo moved around to get near me. He was watching me carefully, but he didn’t interfere.

I got Freddy to show his dad the bruise on his face and the bruise on his arm, both of which now had developed some dramatic colour. His dad pursed his lips and looked upset.

Freddy said, “But then Jacinta made Brad give me the money back, and she made them promise to leave me alone, so it turned out okay in the end.”

Jenny had rejoined us by then, sitting beside her father.

She said, “Jacinta brought him back here and cleaned him up and washed his clothes. She was a huge help. I’d had too much to drink last night so I couldn’t have done it.”

The dad glanced at me and nodded in appreciation before focusing his attention back on Freddy. He pulled out his phone. “I’m going to get a couple of photos of those bruises. I might need to have a word with a few people.”

“It wasn’t Mike’s parents’ fault,” said Freddy. “Mike was really hurt. The ambulance came and everything.”

“I understand that, tiger,” said the dad. “I wasn’t thinking of them.”

We put Freddy against a wall with the towel wrapped around him and the dad took photos of his face and his arm. That involved standing up from the table and I had to stop myself from giving a sigh of relief.

I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I’d been playing with these kids and hanging around with them all day and it hadn’t bothered me so much when they were climbing over me in the pool. But now I was getting twitchy.

I knew the solution.

“You should go for a walk,” said Frodo. “You need to get away from them.”

I couldn’t leave right now. I felt obligated to stay and make sure the kids were okay.

“You’re terrible with kids,” said Frodo. “You’ve been around these ones for too long.”

I turned my back on Frodo and tried to focus on what was happening around me.

The dad seemed relieved that Freddy was now feeling okay about what had happened. He said that he would have a chat with his lawyer friends about whether he should contact the police or not, though he suspected that since the money was returned the police wouldn’t do much. He gave Freddy a warm hug and said that he was proud of the way Freddy was managing.

He thanked me for looking after Freddy and getting his money back and so on and he held out his hand and gave me a firm handshake.

Then he gave Jenny a kiss and a hug and said that he should head off. He and the mum were apparently looking forward to a quiet evening with just the two of them.

Tabby was silent for the entire time that Freddy had been telling his story. When we’d stood up, she’d grabbed my hand and held it tightly while she stood next to me. That didn’t worry me so much. I was standing up and moving around and all she was doing was standing next to me and holding my hand. I don’t know why she was holding my hand. She was no longer blushing so much and was simply watching and listening to what was going on around her. She didn’t say a word during that entire time, which I guess was unusual.