Even though they had been on the lake for an hour, they hadn't started fishing yet because they were still enjoying the picnic. Malphus was dressed casually and not proper or seductive like he was usually dressed, which made it easier to talk to him.
"I'm stuffed" Malphus patted his stomach "how about we go swimming now?" Malphus hummed and Alan clapped while Valerie shook her head.
"Now Malphus, you should know not to swim right after eating," Valerie said to him as if she was talking to Alan- a child.
"Ah right! Fishing I meant." a sad expression crossed Alan's face before he looked excited once again.
"Don't worry Alan, we'll be in the water in no time." Valerie smiled sweetly at the boy.
"I know, I'm going to catch the biggest fish like you did last time!" Alan said giddily.
"We'll see about that." Valerie had a smudge smile when she handed Alan the fishing rod. Malphus had never seen that side of Valerie and he got excited with just the look.
"Woah, Valerie, what was that look." Valerie batted her eyes and tilted her head a bit.
"What do you mean?" Valerie asked innocently while knowing exactly what Malphus meant.
"Nothing." Malphus smiled, thinking to himself 'back to that innocent adorable little girl she once was' little did he know Valerie knew exactly what she was doing, she picked up a few tricks from her friend.
"Right, I'm seeing things, let's get to fishing shall we?" Malphus grabbed a fishing rod, though he grabbed the wrong end.
"Oh my. You've never been fishing have you?" Valerie blew, slapped her forehead, and shook her head while Alan laughed.
"Nope." Malphus nervously rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled.
"This'll be interesting." Valerie took the rod out of Malphus' hands and turned it the right way before giving it back to him.
"Thanks." Malphus laughed and so did Alan, after a while, Valerie joined them.
They had a great time fishing but, to Alan's dismay, he didn't catch a fish the size of the fish Valerie caught last time. Valerie, instead, caught a fish twice the size of that one and the second biggest fish was Alan's, he caught one 7 inches smaller than Valerie's last time. Of course, the smallest fish award goes to Malphus, he caught a surgeonfish, which was easily recognizable because it was small enough to be at carnivals and fairs.
After the boys stop trying to top Valerie's fish, they enjoyed swimming in the lake. They did cannonballs to see who could make the biggest splash, Alan went first, then Valerie, then Malphus. Malphus had the most body weight, so he won that contest.
Then they wanted to see who could swim the fastest and though Malphus' body weight was great for cannonballs, it wasn't too good for anything else involving water. Alan was the smallest, so he won the race with Valerie following him and Malphus not too far behind.
They spent the rest of the time slashing water and chasing each other around and having a good time. At the end of the day, when the sun was setting and the crickets began chirping, they were getting ready to go home. Unlike the last time, Valerie brought clothes with her to change into after they got out of the lake.
She was the last to get anywhere near the woods to dry off and change because she was scared something was going to attack her- something being a wolf or bear or coyote or any other wild animal. After she convinced herself she'd be fine, she went and changed into something casual, it was usually a crime to see a female in pants or shorts, but Valerie wore a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt with puffs at the end of her sleeve.
"Fencing practice to get to?" Malphus asked her looking her up and down.
"No! It shouldn't be a crime for women to wear pants!" Valerie declared and Malphus just laughed.
"Of course it shouldn't Valerie, just like it should be legal for parents to sell their children to a slave establishment, but society doesn't care, at least they don't right now." Malphus bent over and patted Alan on his head.
"Mommy didn't sell me anywhere! I'm still here aren't I? Am I dead? Mommy, can you and papa see ghosts?" Alan yelled, then tugged Valerie's sleeve trying to get answers.
"Your not dead, and we can't see ghosts Hunny." Valerie shot a glare to Malphus before she turned her attention back to Alan.
"Sorry buddy, I was just proving a point to mommy." He said and Alan nodded his head.
"Oh, Malphus! Don't encourage that, if you call me mommy it'll be set in stone with him." Valerie punched Malphus in the arm and he laughed, and then Alan laughed, but Valerie just sighed with a small chuckled following it.
"One more thing for tonight Valerie, but for that Alan must go home." Valerie hoped he wasn't, but the only way to find out is to follow him...