Turning off the ignition to her car after parking in the gym that Tit and Chayan frequented, Jee turned around to look at her son in his baby car seat and asked, “Ready to go swimming little man?”
“’Wimming!” TJ squealed and kicked arms and legs in excitement.
Jee had been meaning to learn to swim for over year now, but she simply did not have the time when TJ was so young and the children’s centre was so new. Now that she finally had running of the children’s centre streamlined, she was able arrange for some time to take swimming lessons. She had plans to meet with a private swimming instructor every Tuesday and Thursday evenings, at the gym Tit went to. The gym contained a swimming pool that members had access to, but people rarely used it as most gym members came for the various exercise classes and weight equipment that the gym offered.
Tit had suggested that Jee should bring TJ along so he could meet them at the gym after work and play with TJ, as Jee had her lesson. Jee had thought it was a marvelous idea as TJ loved playing and rough housing with his father, which was something Jee was now beginning to struggle with as TJ was getting taller and heavier. The 24-month old’s favorite thing to do was to have his father dangle him upside down by the ankles with one hand, while using the other hand to tickle him until he cackled with laughter. Jee’s heart used stop when she watched Tit throw their little son up into the air, far higher than she ever could, and then catch the giggling bundle who would incessantly beg for his father to do it again. However, by now she was used to the rough and tumble of her two favorite men and didn’t stress over it anymore.
A knock on the driver side window made Jee jump and she turned around to find her husband peering at her through the window with a large smile on his face. Jee unlocked the car door and Tit quickly opened it to lean down and give his wife brief kiss.
“Missed you, teerak.” Tit said as he smiled at her.
“Missed you too, teerak.” Jee reciprocated.
“Daddy! Miss me?!” TJ yelped from the rear passenger seat.
Tit craned his head around Jee to look at their son and say, “Of course I missed you too, little champ.”
TJ then began kicking his legs really quickly to signal that he wanted to be released from the confines of his baby chair, “Out daddy! Get me out!”
“Okay, little man. Hold your horses.” Tit smiled and then walked over to the rear passenger door to opened it and say to his son. “What do you say, champ?” Tit raised his eyebrows and peered down at his son expectantly.
“Puh-weeeze, daddy.” TJ lifted his arms to Tit wanting to be picked up.
“Please what, TJ?” Tit replied.
“Puh-weeeze get me out, Daddy.” TJ said.
“Good boy.” Tit praised their little boy and proceed to unbuckled him from his chair and lifted TJ into his arms.
Once Tit was holding him, TJ reached up and tapped his father on the top of this head and said, “Up up, Puh-weeeze.” It was TJ’s code for wanting to sit on his father’s shoulders. Tit conceded as his son had asked properly, by the standard of a two-year old’s language anyways.
Both Tit and Jee equally shared the role as disciplinarian to their son. They strongly believed that TJ should expect the same level of strictness from both of them. That way, TJ wouldn’t turn to one particular parent, who was more lenient, when he was being fussy and trying to get his way.
After Tit hoisted his son up onto his shoulders, he grabbed his son by the ankles and joined his wife who was getting their bags out of the trunk. Tit used one hand to help Jee with the bags, while keeping the other firmly around TJ’s ankles. The picturesque family then walked towards the entrance of the gym.
After two and a half years out of the entertainment industry, Jee was finally beginning to be recognized less, which she was very grateful for. She didn’t mind fans coming up to her back when she was single, but now that she had a TJ, she began growing a little weary of the dangers that strangers could represent to her child. The good thing was that the gym that Tit and Chayan went to was a rather elitist establishment anyways, so people tended not to approach Jee even if they knew who she was.
Heading to the change rooms by the pool, Jee and Tit split up go into the female and male change rooms respectively, with Tit bringing TJ with him.
Five minutes later, Jee walked out of the female change rooms into the pool area, wearing a simple, fitted navy one-piece swim suit and clutching a pair of goggles in her hand. The pool was split up into multiple lanes, some were reserved for swimming laps and some could be reserved for private lessons. The largest lane on the very edge of the pool was simply allocated as a public play area for those who simply wanted to relax and play in the water, which was where Tit and TJ would spent their time while Jee had her lesson.
At the moment, there were only a few people in the large 50 metre pool area. There was a middle aged man and woman slowly swimming laps and a young female life guard walking around the perimeter of the pool. In the lane Jee had reserved, her instructor, Jackie, was already waiting for her.
Jackie was only a few years senior to Jee’s 26 years of age and she also had a young child which made the two mothers hit it off straight away, as they loved swapping humorous parenting stories. Walking over to the edge of pool, where Jackie was waiting, Jee slid into the shallow end of the swimming lane and was greeted by Jackie.
“Ready miss superstar?” Jackie joked which made Jee smile. While Jackie knew who Jee was, she didn’t make a huge deal out of it like most people do and maintained professionalism, which Jee really respected her for.
As Jee was doing warm ups, Tit and TJ walked out of the males change rooms hand in hand wearing matching navy swimming trunks. Had Jee been standing next to them, it would have been obvious that all three swimming outfits were coordinated and they would have looked like the perfect little family inside a swimwear catalogue.
“God your family is perfect.” Jackie said, “You are literally a goddess, your kid is the cutest thing ever and your husband is fine as hell, if you don’t mind me saying. My husband lost his six-pack right after college but yours has clearly maintained his very well.”
“No I don’t mind you saying.” Jee chuckled at Jackie, before looking over to admire her husband’s toned physique.
Tit slipped some floaties onto TJ’s arms before jumping into the play area of the pool and stretching his arms out, inviting TJ jump into them. TJ needed no extra encouragement and leapt into his father’s arms squealing in delight, making Jee smile at the sight of them.
“Ok stop checking your husband out, girl. There’s swimming to be learnt.” Jackie mocked before handing Jee a kick board and going over floating and breathing exercises with her.
Throughout the lesson, Jee could often hear the laughter of her husband and son resonate from the play area. It took all her concentration not to be distracted by them and continue with the exercises that Jackie was patiently teaching her.
Forty-five minutes into the lesson, Jee had progressed from just floating with the kick board to swimming half the length of the pool with it using strokes and keeping her head submerged in the water while coming up for air on every third stroke. When she swam back to the shallow end of the pool to where Jackie was, she lifted her head out of the water to find Jackie with a grim expression on her face.
“What’s wrong? Was I doing the strokes wrong?” Jee asked.
“No, you’re doing great, girl.” Jackie replied, “But I think someone is encroaching on your territory. Your husband carrying an adorable child is certified chick magnet.” Jackie nodded her head in the direction of the pool’s play area.
Jee followed Jackie’s eye line and came to an image that made her expression darken. Tit was standing in the water with TJ in his arms and right next to them was the young female life guard Jee saw earlier, smiling up at Tit. The lifeguard was now standing in the pool after having discarded her uniform of a green polo and black board shorts. She was now only clad in a black two-piece swimsuit that displayed her enormous lower-back tattoo of a lotus flower, which Jee could clearly see because the lifeguard had her back turned in Jee’s direction.
Jee could feel the rage begin to simmer inside her which incinerated all the politeness that she usually always had. “Bloody hell! Could that tramp stamp get any bigger? That spells trash with a capital T.” Jee snapped.
Jackie understood Jee’s sudden change in temperament, but was still surprised by Jee’s comment. She hadn’t realized that Jee could be so quick with snarky comments.
Jee stood there glaring at the small group in the play area with an enormous scowl on her face. She was shooting daggers at both the lifeguard and her treacherous husband.
Why aren’t you brushing her off? Jee thought as she stared past the lifeguard’s shoulder at her husband, who had yet to look into the distance to spot his wife glaring at him.
She watched as Miss Tramp Stamp reached over and placed her hand on Tit’s shoulder, laughing very loudly at something funny that Tit had apparently said.
“Oh no she didn’t.” Jackie commented with extra sass. Her eyes constantly looked between the play area and Jee’s facial expression, which was growing more murderous by the second.
My husband is not that funny. Jee thought. He’s jokes are getting super lame and embarrassing now that he’s a dad.
Suddenly Miss Tramp Stamp trailed her hand from Tit’s shoulder to his pectoral muscles and Tit’s eyes widened as the lifeguard’s intention finally hit home. He tried to take a step back from the young woman, but she simply advanced towards him when he did. He looked past the lifeguard’s shoulder to find his wife looking at him in a way he’d never seen before, and instantly knew that he was in big trouble.
“WTF?!” Jee threw the kick board down, and turn towards Jackie to exclaim, “Why is Miss Tramp Stamp even in the water? Clearly neither TJ or my husband are drowning! They’re standing in 3 feet of water for crying out loud.” Jee smacked her hands on the surface of the water which made her husband finch as he was watching her.
Not wanting to cut across all the lanes where people were swimming laps, Jee hoisted herself up and out of the pool to stomp over to the edge of the play area. She could hear Jackie yell at her from behind. “That’s right girl, go get your man!”
Meanwhile, TJ sat oblivious in his father’s arms as he was running his little toy plane along his father’s chest as if it were an airport tarmac, completely unaware that his parents were about to have an emotional showdown. Tit stood frozen in dread as he watched his wife turn into a woman possessed and march closer towards him.
Just as she was about to reach the play area, Jee was intercepted by a man who she hadn’t noticed entering the pool area in her fit of jealousy. Jee also hadn’t noticed that man, who looked to be approaching his thirties, admiring her slim, shapely figure as she had exited the pool.
“Hi there. My name is Jacob,” the man extended his hand out for Jee to shake. Jee briefly cast her gaze away from where her husband and child were, to size up the man in front of her. He was a little shorter than Tit, but was quite handsome in a rock-star-ish kind of way.
“Hi,” Jee replied dismissively before honing her gaze back on her family. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m a little busy at the moment.”
Jee tried to walk past Jacob to get to the play area but he blocked her path and lifted his shoulders in a joking manner to say, “Aww. Surely, you can’t be too busy to stop and chat with me for a little moment right?”
Jacob was beginning to really irritate Jee, and she looked at him with a deadpan expression and said. "Look, I –“
Her sentence was cut off by Tit growling, “She’s busy trying to get to her husband and child, you imbecile. But you seem unable to take the hint.” Tit had his jaw clenched tight as he came up behind Jee to wrap his left arm around her waist while holding TJ with his right arm.
He was still dripping wet from hastily getting out of the pool to deal with the weasel that was trying to hit on his wife. Tit hadn’t even bothered to excuse himself from Miss Tramp Stamp, who had been yapping away about something Tit could not care less about. The moment he saw lecherous weasel eyeing up his wife, Tit jumped straight into action.
Jee could feel how tense Tit was, he was wound up like a spring. Suddenly, her feelings of rage and jealousy were quickly dissipating and she focused on figuring out how to prevent her husband from pummeling Jacob.
In the background Jackie was chuckling at the priceless scenario unfolding before her eyes. Gosh, she thought, beautiful people problems.
Knowing that he was outsized, Jacob nervously began retreating, “Oh. Sorry man, I had no idea she was married.”
Tit glared the man down and lifted Jee’s left hand to show Jacob the wedding band and engagement ring that sat on her third finger. “What the hell did you think this meant, you halfwit? That she just really likes jewelry?!”
“Ok. I’m really sorry, man.” Jacob apologized before quickly shrinking away from the small family.
TJ, who had now noticed the tension in the air, looked between his parents extremely confused before smiling and spitting out his favorite new word.
“You halfwit!” He repeated after his father.
Tit and Jee both looked at each other, mortified about the word TJ had just learnt from the whole ordeal. From experience, they knew he’d be reciting that word several more times until he picked up a new favorite word to repeat. Jealously quickly slipped out of both their minds and they nervously began saying other words, hoping TJ would repeat it instead of the previous one.
“Rainbows!” Jee exclaimed with a smile.
“Dinosaur!” Tit said.
“Lemonade!” Jee said.
“Watermelon!” Tit said.
They continued to round off many words until Jee finally said a word that TJ repeated.
“Helicopter!” She exclaimed with a smile, that masked the anxiety within.
“’Copter!” TJ yelled while throwing his arms in the air, causing his parents to breathe sighs of relief.
“That was close.” Jee let out a sigh, while resting her head down onto Tit’s shoulder.
Tit then rested his chin on top of Jee’s head and replied, “Yup.”
“Teerak?” Jee murmured sweetly.
“Uh huh?” Tit replied.
“Can you please start wearing a shirt and board shorts during my swimming lessons?” Jee asked.
“Only if you do too.” He smirked down at her.
“Deal!” She chirped up at her husband, before tiptoeing up to give her husband a big fat kiss.
TJ watched his mother kiss his father and leaned over to try and receive one too. His parents chuckled at him and both planted a big kiss on the top of this head, to which he squealed from all the love and attention.
After wrapping up her lesson with Jackie, who kept teasing her about problems of being beautiful, Jee went to shower and change into her normal clothes while her husband and son did the same.
Tit held his wife’s hand as he walked TJ and her to the car and began teasing her, “What on earth was that back there anyways? You literally turned into Godzilla for a moment, throwing the kick board and smacking your hands on the water. You can never tease me about being possessive and jealous ever again, you are just as bad.”
Jee peered up at her husband with her eyebrows furrowed which he found adorable. She said, “Well at least the person hitting on me didn’t have a lower back tattoo, that spells ho-“ Jee stopped herself as she remembered she was still in the presence of her impressionable son, “I mean, adulterer from a mile away.”
“I wasn’t even looking at her, teerak. Didn’t notice the tattoo.” Tit looked at his wife amused. As they reached Jee’s car, he turned to stare straight into her eyes and told her. “I love you, teerak. You know that.”
“I know. I love you too, P’Tit.” Jee said as she squeezed her husband’s hand reassuringly.
“What a pair we make, huh?” Tit laughed as he began strapping TJ into his baby seat.
“Oh yeah.” She laughed back as she was loading the bags into the trunk. She then came around to give her husband a kiss before he went back to his own car, “Okay, teerak. See you at home.”
“See you at home, teerak” Tit said before he kissed her back.
Just as Tit was about to close the door of the rear passenger seat, TJ laughed and said, “You halfwit!”
Tit and Jee looked at each other and groaned, knowing that today was not a day they were proud of as parents.