A/N: Another one of my random chapters. Enjoy!

Oh, and Gracie, don't worry, this is not the beginnings of "my" Danny turning into a pig lol. I'm simply writing how I think a typical six-year-old boy would probably act towards a girl. ;)

Oh, and for those of you (or all of you I suppose) that are anxious for Gabe to be born (yeah, seriously, ME TOO!) well it takes place not in this chapter and not in the next chapter but the chapter after that :)

happy reading...until 35!

Chapter 34

Rafe looked out the kitchen window and laughed. "Alison."

"Yeah?"

"Come here and look at Katrina. She's riding her bike with that cat in the basket."

Alison looked outside and laughed. "She loves that cat. I caught her yesterday trying to put a diaper and bonnet from one of her dolls on him."

"Now don't be scared, Tiger," Katrina said softly. "This will just be a fun little ride for you."

Most cats would probably attempt to jump out, but Tiger was curious about the whole experience, popping his head out every now and then to see where they were going.

Just then, Danny came riding down the street on his bike. Spotting Katrina with her bike, he stopped in front of her.

"Hey, you wanna ride bikes?" he asked.

Katrina's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

"Come on!" Danny started pedaling, and Katrina followed.

"Hey, wait!"

Danny stopped his bike. "Well are you comin' or not?"

"Mommy and Daddy said I have to stay in front of the house."

"No, that's no fun," Danny said. "We have to ride around the whole neighborhood."

"But I'll get in trouble."

"Well I'm going. You probably can't go very fast on your bike anyway."

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't. Not with those baby wheels. How come you still got those baby wheels on your bike anyway?"

"They're not baby wheels! I just have them so I won't fall off."

"I never had them on my bike. I never needed them!"

"Well Daddy said I need them."

"Only babies need baby wheels. I'm going home." With that, Danny turned his bike around and pedaled back towards his house.

"I'm not a baby!" Katrina called out.

Danny hadn't heard her. He was already halfway home.

Katrina seethed, marching into the house and straight into the kitchen where her father sat at the table.

"Daddy?"

Rafe turned to Katrina and smiled. "Yes, Princess?"

"Will you take the baby wheels off my bike?"

"Baby wheels?"

"Yeah! Cause I'm not a baby!"

"Princess, those are training wheels. They keep you from falling off your bike until you're ready to ride without them."

"But Danny doesn't have them on his bike!"

"Danny doesn't need training wheels. He knows how to ride a bike without them."

"But he said he never had them. He said only babies need baby wheels!"

Rafe reached over and touched his daughter's chin, lifting up her face up to his. "Princess, now would be a good time to learn a very important lesson. You don't always have to listen to everything Daniel Thornhart says."

"Can you take them off, Daddy?" Katrina begged again.

"Oh, Rafe, take them off," Alison said, who had been listening to their conversation as she prepared dinner. "She's never going to learn how to ride unless you do."

"What if she falls?"

"Jamal gave her a helmet last Christmas. Let her wear that."

Rafe considered this. That was a very good idea. And he supposed Alison was right. She had to learn eventually.

"Please, Daddy!"

"Alright. I'll take them off."

"YAY!"

"Now you understand that once I take those training wheels off, you won't be able to ride by yourself anymore. At least not until you learn how."

"Okay! Can you take them off now?"

Rafe laughed. "Alright. I suppose we have just enough time before dinner to do just that."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

After dinner, Katrina practically insisted on riding her bike. It was still light out, so Rafe figured why not? He reached up on the shelf in the garage to retrieve Katrina's helmet as she hopped on the bike.

"Hold on, Princess. Let's put this on first." Rafe helped her put the helmet on.

"Where's Tiger? We got to put him in the basket."

"No, not this time. It's not a good idea to have an animal in the basket when you're learning how to ride your bike. Beside, he's too busy sleeping."

Katrina looked around. "Where?"

Rafe pointed to the top shelf of the garage, where Tiger was napping.

Katrina laughed out loud. "Hey! How'd he get up there?"

"He's a good climber. Okay, you ready to ride, Princess?"

"Uh huh!"

"Now hold on and pedal, okay? Don't worry about falling because I'm not going to let go."

"Let's go! Let's go!"

Rafe steered the bike out of the garage and down the driveway, turning where it met the road.

"Let's go faster, Daddy!"

Rafe moved the bike a little faster down the street as Katrina pedaled harder.

"Keep pedaling, Katrina!"

Katrina laughed. "I'm doing it!"

"Let's practice turning around." Rafe then slowed the bike down, turning it around the cul-de-sac and back towards the house.

Katrina laughed the whole time. She hoped she would learn how to ride by herself soon. Then she couldn't wait to show Danny that she didn't need baby wheels anymore!

The next day, Alison spent a few hours at the bakery, while Rafe spent the afternoon at home with Katrina.

Katrina wandered into the garage where she found her father working on the lawn mower.

"You gonna cut the grass, Daddy?"

"If I can get this tire fixed, yeah."

"You going to put a new one on it?"

"I think it just needs air."

Katrina walked over to her bike, inspecting the tires on it. "Do my bike tires need air, Daddy?"

Rafe gave her a smile. "No, Princess, your tires are just fine."

"Daddy, I want to ride my bike. Will you help me?"

"Not now, Princess. I've got some things I have to do first. But we'll ride later."

Suddenly, the phone was ringing. "That's probably your mother. I'll be right back."

Katrina watched as he raced back into the house to answer it.

Looking outside, Katrina watched some of the older neighborhood kids. They whizzed by on their bikes, making it look so easy.

Katrina placed her hands on her bike handles. Oh how she wished she could ride her bike too! But it looked like Daddy was going to take a while, and she didn't want to wait that long.

Maybe, she figured, she could do it. Maybe riding wasn't so hard. She almost had the hang of it yesterday. Maybe today, she could ride by herself!

Katrina pushed the kickstand up and walked her bike to the end of the driveway where the sidewalk began.

How hard could it be?

She hopped on her bike, making sure her feet were on the ground to hold herself up. She slowly put one foot on a pedal and pedaled forward. And when she finally felt confident enough, she put her other foot on the pedal.

The bike leaned to the right, and Katrina was quick to place her foot down to hold herself up. Then she tried again.

Slowly, she pedaled forward, then moved faster. And for one brief moment, she was doing it! She was riding on her bike all by herself!

It was at that very moment when she lost her balance and crashed to the ground.

Rafe had just walked back into the garage when he heard Katrina crying. He panicked as any concerned father would as he raced over to where she was, laying on the sidewalk with the bike on top of her.

"Daddy!" she cried when she saw her father.

"It's okay, Princess," he soothed, moving the bike aside and holding her in his arms. "Where does it hurt?"

Katrina sobbed louder as she held up her bloody elbow. Rafe noticed her knee was bleeding too.

"You'll be okay," he said, scooping her up into his arms.

"I'm…I'm…I'm…bleeding!" she cried.

Rafe carried her into the house and straight into the bathroom. Once he sat her down and gave her some tissue to stop the bleeding, she had calmed down considerably. Rafe was relieved, for he had been afraid that her injuries were much worse. But it looked like just a few scrapes and minor cuts, no more than that.

"Oh, you'll be just fine, Princess. Just a little scrape. Nothing we can't fix."

Katrina sniffled as she moved the tissue to see the cut on her elbow. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but the tissue was bright red with blood.

"We need some Band-Aids," Rafe said, looking into the bathroom cabinet and getting out the cartoon bandages which Katrina loved.

He was about to grab the alcohol when instead, he noticed an antiseptic spray for kids. He grabbed that instead and read the label. Alison must have bought it. She sure thought of everything.

"Okay, let's get you all cleaned up. Is it still bleeding?"

Katrina removed the tissue she had been holding over her cuts. "No."

"Good. Let's put some of this on it."

Katrina eyed the little spray bottle and panicked, moving her arm away from him. "No! It'll sting!"

"This isn't alcohol, Princess. It won't sting."

"Yes it will!"

"It says right here on the label, no sting. So it won't sting."

"You promise?"

Rafe knelt down beside his daughter, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I tell you what. If it does sting, I'll take you out for ice cream. But you have to let me put this on. Deal?"

"Okay," Katrina said reluctantly. She closed her eyes tightly and held her elbow out, not wanting to see it happen.

Rafe sprayed her elbow, and Katrina opened her eyes. She could hardly believe that was it! "Hey! It didn't sting!"

Rafe laughed. "I told you it wouldn't. Now, let's get these cuts bandaged up." Rafe sprayed the cut on Katrina's knee as well, then got out the band-aids and patched her up. "There, good as new."

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Can we still go out for ice cream?"

Rafe laughed. He should have known mentioning ice cream would make Katrina get a bad craving for it. "Sure, we can go right now."

"Yay!"

xxxxxxxxxx

After she fell off her bike, Katrina refused to ride again.

It broke Rafe's heart, because honestly, she almost had the hang of it! And yet, the bike remained in the corner of the garage, untouched.

Everyday, Rafe would ask, "Princess? You want to try riding your bike?"

And every time, she would reply, "No, I don't want to. Riding a bike is too hard." Then she would go off and play somewhere else.

Then one day about a week later, Katrina said something different. She decided she did want to ride it! At first, Rafe was elated, until he heard his daughter say, "Daddy, put the training wheels back on it first!"

Rafe looked down at his daughter, and he couldn't believe it. "Katrina, I'm not going to put the training wheels back on your bike."

Katrina looked at her father in surprise. "Why not?"

"Because number one, I had a heck of a time taking them off, so there's no way I'm going to attempt to put them back on. And number two, you're a Kovich, alright? And a Kovich never gives up."

"But I'll fall if I don't have them!" she whined.

"Well I don't want you to fall either, Princess. But sometimes it takes us a while to learn things, and the only way for us to learn is to keep trying." Rafe smiled, suddenly having an idea. "Come here. I want to show you something."

Katrina followed her father over to a trunk where Alison had started to keep mementos, cards, and other things worth saving. Rafe searched through it, finding what he was looking for.

"You see this?" Rafe held up a piece of paper with scribbles all over it.

"Who did that?"

Rafe smiled. "You did! You were just learning how to write your name."

Katrina took the paper, confused at what she saw. "I didn't do this, Daddy."

Rafe laughed. "You don't remember, but you did. But that was a long time ago, just when you first stated writing letters."

"I didn't do a good job!"

"You use to have the hardest time writing a "K". Sometimes you'd get so mad that you couldn't make it perfect that you'd crumple up the paper in a ball and throw it across the room."

Katrina laughed. "Ks are easy!"

"Well they're easy now! Writing your name isn't hard for you anymore because you've had a lot of time to practice. And you see, that's just how it is for bike riding. You're never going to get good at it if you don't practice again."

Katrina smiled. "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"I think I want to go try to ride my bike again!"

"That's my girl," Rafe said, giving her chin a tickle. "Go get your helmet."

Katrina smiled, then ran out of the room.

Rafe picked up the paper, looking again at all of the scribbles and first attempts at writing. Alison had warned him about this. She warned him that one day, he would realize that his little girl was growing up before his very eyes. And now, he knew. "You've come a long way, Princess," he said, then putting the paper back into the trunk.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alison stepped outside with a pint of rocky road ice cream and took a seat on the porch swing. Apparently, she was just in time.

"Mommy! Look at me! Daddy's going to teach me how to ride my bike!"

Alison waved at Katrina. "Alright, sweetie!"

"Okay, helmet on?" Rafe asked.

"Check!"

"Knee guards?"

"Check!"

"Elbow guards?"

"Check!"

"Shoes tied?"

Katrina looked down at her feet. "Check! Check!"

"Alright! I think we're ready!"

Katrina hopped on, holding on tight to the handles. She looked up at her father. "Don't let go, Daddy!"

"I won't."

"Promise you won't, Daddy!"

"I promise. Now let's go."

Rafe started walking the bike, letting Katrina do all the pedaling as she got used to what it felt like to be on a bike.

Alison smiled as she watched them together, putting away the rest of the ice cream.

After a while, Rafe was getting tired. This running up and down the street holding a bike up got to be tiring after a while. But he didn't let on and continued to push Katrina forward. As long as she was having fun, it was all that mattered.

Then finally, the moment came.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Let go."

"You made me promise not to."

"I changed my mind!"

"Are you sure?"

"Let go, Daddy!" she begged.

"Only if you're really sure you want me to."

"Let go, Daddy! I want to ride by myself!"

"How about I let go on the count of three? You ready?"

"Yeah."

"One…two…three!"

On three, Rafe let go. He clenched his teeth together, hoping she wouldn't fall.

Katrina started to ride all by herself, down the street, pedaling fast, around the cul-de-sac, and back again.

Katrina slowed down, bringing the bike back to a stop in front of the driveway. "I did it, Daddy! I did it! I did it all by myself!"

"You sure did!" Rafe scooped Katrina up in his arms, giving her cheek a kiss. "I'm so proud of you, Princess!"

"Mommy! Did you see me?"

Alison walked over to where they were. "Sweetie, you did such a good job! I'm so proud of you!"

"Well I think this calls for a celebration," Rafe announced. "How about ice cream?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright. I think we have some in the kitchen."

"Um, I just ate the last of it," Alison admitted guiltily.

Rafe laughed. He should have known it was impossible to keep the house stocked with ice cream with Alison around. "Well I guess we'll just have go out then."

"I'm going to ride my bike back to the garage!" Katrina said, picking the bike up off the ground and hopping on.

Rafe and Alison watched as she rode it all by herself up the driveway. Rafe put his arm around Alison, shaking his head. "She's growing up, Alison."

Alison laughed. "Rafe, she's only five."

"Yeah, but today, she learns how to ride a bike. Tomorrow, it's going to be a car."

Alison laughed again. "Oh, Rafe. I love you."

"I love you too." Rafe brought her close and gave her lips a kiss.

"Come on, you guys! I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" Katrina called out from the car.

"Let's go get some ice cream," Alison said.

"You really want more? After you just ate all of it?"

"I'm pregnant. I can never eat enough ice cream," she said with a laugh.