spending time with his niece (Haylen)

"You being a girl now?" Thomas asked

"Always am and will always be." she said seriously.

Thomas nodded, "Okay then" he replied

She giggled a little.
"Don't wanna be a boy, you know. Just... a tomboy." she said.

Thomas nodded, "I see Lily" he replied

"Aye." she said and then dived a bit down, swiming past Thomas as she did.

Thomas waited, then did the same

A feet away she got up again, her head back, to push her blonde hair out of her face and then looked around.

Thomas, using his SAS training, swam up behind Lily, then slowly rose out of the water behind her

Lily didn't hear him, but felt the movement of the water and still she was surprised.

Thomas grabbed Lily at the same time, but not in a rough way

Lily squealed a bit when he did and then giggled.

Thomas smiled, then let go of her, "Learned that in SAS" he told Lily

"What's that?" she asked curiously, not knowing what it was.

"The Special Air Service" Thomas replied

"And they learn swim?" Lily asked, raising a brow.

Thomas nodded, "Yes we did" he replied, "The SAS is a special operations force in the British Army, its divided into four troops: Air, Boat, Mountain and Mobility." he explained

"Okay..." Lily said slowly. "But I knew you were close." she said proudly.

"Oh really?" Thomas asked

"Well, your body presses the water away while diving and swiming, easy physics. That's what I felt." she replied, as if it was the most normal thing for a girl to reply.

Thomas nodded, "I see" he replied, "Well, I am not clearly on a combat mission, if I was, you never would have felt me."

She smiled a little challenging. "Maybe, maybe not." she said, splashing some water at him.

Thomas splashed her back, then dove under water again

Lily watched him and did the same, swimming a few feet.

Thomas soon came back up to the surface and looked around