Chapter 3
Roman took longer than Namor expected to learn to walk, although Nae insist he was right on schedule. (Apparently babies took longer to walk on the surface, where they had to push themselves upright against gravity.)
And then, in a flash, Roman went from a few tottering steps to running everyone's legs off.
"Easy there," said Namor, catching Roman before he managed to smear any more food on the walls. "I think you've made enough of a mess today."
Roman turned to Namor, smiled, and held up his sticky hands. "Namor, sea!"
Namor picked him up, then looked at Nae. "What do you think?"
Nae nodded. "I think one of us needs a nap, and unfortunately, it's not Roman." She yawned. "Bring him back by three for his snack."
Namor nodded. One of the few luxury gifts he'd accepted was a waterproof diving watch, which let him go out to sea and come back on a human schedule. "I'll bring him back, and get him cleaned up, too."
"You're an angel," said Nae. "I don't know how people who don't have a Namor deal with toddlers."
Namor took the happy, sticky toddler, and carried him out to sea.
-
"I got you a present," said Namor.
Roman looked up. "Present?"
Namor pulled out a pair of swim goggles, just Roman's size. "These let you swim with your eyes open. You can see the sea."
"See sea?" Roman reached out for the goggles.
"Let me put them on." Namor put the goggles on Roman's head, pulling his hair out of the way. "There, now you're ready."
Roman beamed.
-
Namor swam slowly, careful not to jostle Roman off his back.
Roman's tiny sticky fists clung to Namor's hair. "Down!" he said.
"Not yet." Namor was going to find the best spot. They were too far from any corals, but there was a nice kelp forest.
"Here we are," he said at last. "Hold your breath."
Roman closed his mouth and filled his cheeks with air. It was some affectation of surface-world children, and Namor didn't understand it. He thought it made them look like pufferfish.
Gently holding onto Roman, Namor went down.
They were only down briefly, a matter of seconds, but enough time for Roman to get a glimpse of the waving kelp.
"Trees!" he said, as they breached the surface.
"Kelp," Namor gently corrected. "It's a plant, but a different kind of plant."
Roman shook his head. "Trees!"
"Kelp," said Namor. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Roman nodded.
Namor smiled. "Want to see something really special?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Say please, the way I taught you."
Roman paused a moment, then let out a long whistle. It wasn't quite perfect Atlantean, but it was the best Namor had heard from a surface-dweller.
"Very good," said Namor. "Let's go see a shark."
-
The shark was a beautiful shortfin mako, migrating seasonally as the waters warmed. Namor could have watched it all day.
Roman's eyes widened beneath the goggles, and his mouth opened.
Namor took him up immediately. They were barely below the surface, so they were in the air in an instant.
Roman coughed, then looked at Namor and began to cry.
Namor held him and patted him on the back. "It's okay," he said. "Just breathe."
Roman let out a few more coughs, then cried briefly, and settled into Namor's arms. "Big fish."
Namor nodded. "Shark. That was a shark."
Roman lifted his head and looked at Namor. "Shark eat me?"
Namor shook his head. "I wouldn't let it."
"Shark eat you?"
Namor laughed. "It could try. No, I'm stronger than a shark. I'm stronger than anything in the sea, and I wouldn't let anything hurt you."
That seemed to work. Roman smiled. "Namor strong!"
Namor hugged him. "And I will always protect you."
-
Not long after that, Roman started learning to play catch. First rolling little balls, then throwing them and yelling "Catch!" in an enthusastic voice.
"Good arm on that kid," said Randall. "I could see him playing football in high school. Maybe we've got a little QB!"
"My bet's on the swim team," said Nae. "With Namor's influence, how could he not be?"
Randall laughed.
Namor didn't laugh. He watched Roman throw the ball.
-
Later, when Roman was down for a nap, Namor took on of the little plastic balls outside and began throwing it.
He'd always found throwing things on the surface world easy. Compared to launching an object through the water, it was barely any effort at all.
But then, he'd gone for force and distance.
Now he was trying to throw the ball as gently as he could.
It was difficult, at first. On his first attempt, he split the ball and put a dent in a backyard tree.
Resolving to get Roman a new ball, Namor picked up a rock and threw it as gently as he could.
After a while, he saw Nae watching him through the screen door.
She said nothing.
Namor continued.
It took the better part of an hour, but by the end he had it. He could throw a pebble into one of the tulips in Nae's garden without denting the flower petals.
If he could throw that softly, he couldn't possibly damage Roman's soft toddler skin.
He went back inside, holding the broken ball. "I damaged this," he said. "I will get him a replacement."
Nae nodded. She still said nothing, but as she took the ball, she smiled.
-
Randall had just turned on the television when Namor sat down.
"You want something?" Randall asked.
"I want to watch football," said Namor.
"You like football now?"
"I want to understand the game."
Randall nodded. He scooted over on the couch.
Namor sat down and watched the television intently. This game was very confusing. The objective was to get the strangely-shaped ball from one end of the field to the other, and options included running while carrying the ball, or throwing it to another teammate that was further down the field. Kicking happened intermittently, but only at defined times. There was a time clock, which stopped frequently, so the game took far longer than Namor first assumed.
After a while, Randall began explaining details of the game, what position each player held, and the meaning of each "play".
The QB was apparently the quarterback, a player with a leadership role when it came to scoring points.
Two days later, Randall went into town, and later that evening, a library book on football appeared on Namor's bed.
Namor read it cover to cover.
It would, Namor understood, be years before Roman developed any real interest in football, or other surface-dweller sports. And years more before he had to worry about matters like making the high school team.
But Namor wanted to be ready.
He was planning to be here for a long time.