Ol' Watery Blues [Ilmo Koskela & Jaakko Koskela]
It’s high afternoon as they finish painting the walls and building the baby cribs. Jaakko was attentive to details as any father could be, but so quiet it began to concern Ilmo, who had been trying to lighten the mood ever since the day began. They’ve got light blue paint under their nails, instruction papers left aside (because a good Koskela knows how to trust their instincts), two hammers, bolts, and beer bottles nearby. And nothing cracked the surface of Jaakko’s thoughts.
Eventually, they stand side by side at the half-finished bedroom, and that’s the perfect opportunity for Ilmo to ask: “How does it feel?”
“Frightening,” Jaakko says, simple as that.
Ilmo taps his back, rubbing thumb over the knot at the beginning of his neck. His twin’s shoulders loosen at each soothing and understanding circle.
“You’ll do a great job; you have always done that, remember?”
Not as perfectionist as Ilmo, but precise and straightforward, never missing a hit. It is not the same, however, when it comes to children. And it’s a little hard to say this out loud with all the words, compelling him into becoming quick and unfiltered: “Do you seriously believe in what you say?”
“Yes!” Ilmo answers immediately and with a small laugh. “Without any doubt.”
Jaakko’s lips are pressed thin. He fiddles with the folded sleeves of his shirt, running fingers around the ghost of a button sewn there; Ilmo can guess it’s that feeling inside Jaakko’s throat, a continuous ache he can hardly do anything about.
“Even with these monsters running around at night?”
Ilmo’s mouth dries, remembering the people at Watery and how the campaign to keep them safe has been on course for a good amount of years now. This fear has not ceased amongst worried parents, even with all their efforts after joining the Cult. Ilmo only wished this hadn’t extended to his brother—and himself, now soon to be an uncle.
More taps are given at Jaakko’s back.
“Even with them,” Ilmo says in a theatrical, though sincere, lightheartedness. “Jaakko, you’re not only going to be a good father, but a great protector to them. I know you will. I always knew that.”
Jaakko seems more hopeful with the promise wrapped in Ilmo’s words, less hunched and with shine in his eyes. Good thing. Ilmo likes what he sees. And likes what awaits them in the future, suddenly very promising for the Koskela family.