It was in the rush hour, and Anna was stuck in traffic. She clicked on the text message and read it. After that, she frowned and dialed him directly.
âMr. Brown, why do I have to stay at the hotel too?â
Mr. Brown replied, âI donât know, this is the notice from the headquarters. They probably think that if guests have an emergency, you can handle it for them. Do you find it inconvenient?â
âMy daughter is on summer vacation and stays home every day. Can I take her with me?â âAre you serious?â Mr. Brown asked unhappily. Anna replied awkwardly, âI just asked off the top of my head. Fine. Iâll figure it out.â After hanging up the phone, Anna stared at the screen indignantly. It was so unfair.
I didnât even complain about this temporary arrangement, so how come I couldnât take my daughter to checkâin? Anna thought.
She decided to send her daughter to Peaceâs place. Luckily, Peace was on vacation recently and was home every day and night.
âI didnât want to bother you, but it came all of a sudden.â
Peace readily agreed, saying, âIâm Tammyâs godmother, so of course Iâll take care of her. Donât worry. By the way, tomorrow is Saturday, are you off work? Shall we go out shopping?â
Anna explained, âI have to take Tammy to swimming lessons tomorrow first. Every weekend, the swimming pool holds a parent-
child class, and parents have to go to the class together. If I can get out of there early, Iâll call you.â
âWhat is it about? Itâs not like sheâs going to kindergarten,â Peace asked, feeling puzzled.
When Anna went to the bathroom, she sat on the couch, poked Tammyâs shoulder, and asked, âTammy, why do you suddenly want to go to swimming lessons?â
Tammy was sitting on the carpet watching cartoons. She blinked and asked, âWhat are you talking about? I donât understand.â
Peace pinched her face and said, âYour mom canât swim at all, and neither can you. Why did you take the initiative to learn how to swim? When you were little, you cried every time you took a bath *
Realizing that she couldnât lie to Peace abymore, Tammy pouted and said, âIâm doing this for my mommyâs lifelong happiness anyway Youâre my momâs best friend. You must get her to go to the swimming class with me tomorrowâ
Peaceâs eyes lit up She asked, âHer lifelong happiness? You set up a blind date for her at the swimming pool?â
âNo, but itâs close.â âI want to go there!â
Tammy immediately refused, saying, âNo, if there are too many people there, they wonât be able to be alone.â
âYouâre a smart kid, Tammy. Who on earth did you learn that from?â
Anna was humming and brushing her teeth in the bathroom and had no idea what they were saying in the living room.
On the following day, Anna started packing her things and took Tammy to the swimming pool after having breakfast at home.
âLetâs go.â Before leaving, Anna glanced at the couch and shook her head.
Peace was lying on the couch, eating a snack and watching a movie with a mask on her face.
Peace never went out to travel like others whenever she was on vacation but stayed at home.
âCall me.â Anna heard Peace say before closing the door. Anna frowned, thinking she was talking about shopping.
By the time they arrived at the swimming pool, the morning session had already started. There were quite a few parents, all of whom were young moms. They laughed as they changed into their swimsuits in the locker room.
Anna was changing her clothes when she realized that the women who came to the parenting class all seemed to know each other, which made her have a headache when hearing them talking âSally, why didnât Lisa come today?â âShe just found that she was pregnant out last week. She has âWhat kind of milk powder does your child drink?â âHe only have milk imported from Australia.â
Anna had just taken off a thin jacket. The dressing room was expansive, but the two women talked about their daily life as if no one were around, which made Anna feel out of breath.
She realized that the people who came here with their children seemed like housewives who didnât work. They cared about their husbands and children and their families every day. This gave her a strange foreboding, She then found out that her hunch was correct.
After the coach taught the group a few simple moves, the women piled into the pool in their various colored swimsuits. They kept talking about school, grades, and extracurricular classes were the only topics.
After being asked several times how many children she had and where they went to school, Anna used the excuse to go to the bathroom and left the pool.
Sheâd rather work overtime for a month than listen to people urging her to have more children, She found the class and the group of women too scary.
After changing from the locker room, she called Peace directly to ask her out for shopping.
âThe class is over already?â
âItâs too weird there, Iâd better go shopping. Tammy will eat here at noon. Iâll just pick her up before class ends this afternoon.â
âOkay, Iâll be there soon.â
Hanging up the phone, Anna sat down on the couch in the lobby of the swimming pool to relax. Feeling comfortable having escaped there, she squinted her eyes. Then, she saw an adult and a child walking from a distance.
She thought she was dreaming. âWhat are you doing here?â Wayneâs low voice echoed down the hall. Anna winced and opened her eyes.
It isnât a dream! Wayne, wearing a white T-shirt and beige slacks, looked at her suspiciously.
Matthew had wrapped his arms around her legs before she had a chance to react. He looked pleased and kept smiling.
âWhy are you guys here too?â Anna had a surprised look on her face, her eyes drowsy. âMatthew came here for swimming lessons.â Anna said in surprise, âTammyâs taking lessons here, too. What a coincidence!â
Wayne stared thoughtfully at Matthew, crawling up Annaâs body, and sensed that this should not be a coincidence Matthew had taken home a flyer earlier and told Wayne that he wanted to come to this swimming pool for lessons. He also begged Wayne for a long time to go to the class.
Wayne realized that Matthew was doing it on purpose.
However, he knew that he shouldnât ask so many questions since he was here. He asked, âSo what are you doing here alone, and whereâs Tammy?â
Hearing this, Annaâs eyes lit up, and she smiled a little slyly