In their neighbourhood, there weren't actually any kids Lewis's age. So when they all went back to school, with their parents at work during the day as well, the streets were quiet. Perfect environment for Lewis to learn to ride his bike in; no one would be watching, no one was going to stand on the street and observe. Except maybe Gillian in the window with a camera. They tried to spend at least a few hours on the weekends at home and not up at the hospital visiting Owen; phone calls first thing in the morning didn't count. During the week, like today, they both tried to be there for Lewis. It didn't matter that Cal was missing a day of work, or that Lewis was missing a day of pre-kindergarten. Family time seemed more important at the moment. Especially when Cal and Gillian bordered on the distracted most of the time. Or they used to. It was time to turn over a new leaf.
"All right," Cal gripped the black handle bar of the child's bike and the back edge of the black seat. He had taken the training wheels off, both of them, despite Gillian protesting a little that maybe he should ease Lewis in to learning to ride his bike and just take one away, but Cal told her off for coddling and as soon as he uttered those words, with a mix of embarrassment and anger flashing in her eyes, she had backed off and he had regretted it. He didn't mean to snap but some things just had to be done, like ripping off band aides or jumping into a pool.
The bike was mostly black with flashes of red fire licking along the middle bar and up the handles. Lewis loved it. Cal was glad he had picked well. And not only that, it was generic enough for Lewis to not hate it in a few years because his current fad of Ninja's had worn off by then. It was medium sized too, which meant Lewis would get plenty of use out of it as he grew. It also meant Lewis wobbled with insecurity of being on a bike that seemed slightly too big for him right now.
"Don't let go," Lewis begged.
"I promise," Cal told him easily.
"I'll fall."
"You won't fall," Cal assured. "Because I'll be holdin' on all right? The whole time."
Lewis nodded but he still looked a little pitiful. His weight shifted and he leaned in to his father's shoulder. Cal steadied him again so he was balanced on the two wheels of the bike; he had to get a feel for it himself.
"Both feet on the peddles," Cal told him, raising his voice slightly over the rising wind; too hard to sign when he needed both hands to hold on. Lewis obliged and Cal indicated that they would begin. To start, they were just going to slowly walk along the block and Cal was going to hold on while Lewis peddled his feet and got a 'sense' of how the bike felt.
They headed down the block to the road and stopped. Cal turned them both around in a wide arch, his hand on the handle bar, pulling to the left. Lewis's helmet was a deep red, which he had picked out himself, as the rest of his Christmas present, and he was very proud that it matched the bike. They were both in winter jackets and Cal had a scarf. He had felt a scratch in his throat that he was determined not to let run wild into a cold, so being out in the cool air like that was probably not an entirely good idea...
Cal straightened the bike back on to the path and told Lewis that this time, when they headed down at a speed that was only as fast as Cal could walk, Lewis was going to steer by himself. Lewis looked up at his father again. "But you're gonna hold on?" He gripped the handle bars tightly.
"Yes," Cal nodded. "I'm gonna hold on the back. Don't worry," he gave a slight teasing smile and nudged Lewis with his now free hand. Lewis fell into Cal's shoulder and once again he righted him, realising the boy was leaning to rest on the training wheel that was no longer there. At some point Lewis was going to fall. He would fall off his bike and graze his knee and possibly an elbow and Gillian could kiss it better all she liked and gripe at Cal that he shouldn't have taken the training wheels away, but today was not that day. Cal wasn't going to let him go to learn a lesson the hard way. They were going to take this nice and easy. Cal remembered his mother teaching him to ride his bike and it was scary as shit.
Cal pushed Lewis forward and the front wheel headed straight to the left and over the grass of whoever lived there's front lawn. Cal steadied them back on the path again as he pushed Lewis slowly along and the four-and-a-half year old turned his legs. They headed past their home and down further to the other end of the block. Lewis made a wobbly turn this time with a big of guidance and they headed back in an almost smooth motion. Once they reached the driveway Cal stopped for a rest. He straightened his back and leaned Lewis, who was still holding on to the bike for dear life, against his thigh.
"What do you think?" Cal asked him, turning his hands up in front of him and shifting them back and forth, curling his fingers. Lewis nodded, the helmet strapped to his head slipping forward. Cal smiled to himself, noting Lewis had not let go of the handle bars to respond. "Shall we go again?" He took the fingers of his right hand and stiffly jammed the tips against the palm of his left hand. Lewis nodded again. Cal pushed him upright and balanced the bike with a hand on the back of the seat. Lewis was more confident this time as they went. He tended to list to the left but Cal figured once he realised those training wheels were gone, he would quit it.
They did another two loops, while Cal stood back further, manipulating less, trying to get Lewis to feel the balance of the bike himself. A few times he had to step up quickly to stop Lewis from falling over completely but he felt confident for the kid. In fact, he was feeling confident enough to cockily think he might get Lewis to ride the bike himself by the end of the day. It had taken Cal weeks, he remembered, because his mother tended to just push him off and watch him fall. Oh yeah, there was nothing like learning something the hard way. It was worse that Thomas rode circles around Cal while he was trying to learn and laughed when his little brother had to sit and pick the gravel out of his palm and knees. He would look up to find his mother staring off absently at the skyline and wonder why she did not pay more attention.
"How's it going?" Gillian asked, practically leaping on them as they came in to the garage. Cal figured she had been watching them and waiting. She had made soup and had soldiers buttered and piled up on a large plate and ready for lunch. She pushed the clip on Lewis's helmet to remove it for him and then fussed over taking his jacket off while Lewis chattered about how super fast his flame bike was and how he'd done good riding; talkative now the immediate danger was over.
"You rode well," Gillian corrected. Lewis signed 'eat' and Gillian indicated he could sit up and help himself to toast. She ladled chicken and sweet corn into a bowl for him and set it down, warning him it was 'hot', which was like a reverse 'eat' sign, but done quickly and dramatically. Lewis nodded and picked up his spoon with his left hand, waving it over the surface of his meal, like that would help.
Cal caught Gillian around the waist as she came back to the kitchen to get herself a bowl. "How badly do you want to bolt?"
"Bolt?" She leaned back a little in his arms to see his face.
"To the hospital."
She almost sighed. "I'm trying."
Cal planted a quick kiss on her lips, pressing hard but briefly. "You're doin' all right." He went to let her go but she held on, gripping the back of his shirt.
"I was watching you with Lewis." Cal didn't say anything, and waited for her to go on. She took a moment and Cal suspected she was fighting back all those gushy comments she wanted to make and often did, but suspected would drive him crazy if she went on too much. She settled for something new: "He's doing pretty well huh?"
"Yeah," Cal agreed. "Maybe head back out when you go up to see Owen."
Gillian nodded and forced a smile and Cal felt saddened that she was torn between watching her boy learn to ride his bike and going up to see her new baby in a hospital. Someone had to stay with Lewis if they had kept him home and they were trying so hard to create a new routine when it came to dealing with his situation. It meant taking Lewis out of day care an extra, or an extra afternoon, a week, but that meant someone had to actually stay with him if he was home. If Gillian went up to see Owen after lunch then Cal would go later in the evening. Otherwise he hardly ever got to see the baby either. On the weekend, they would do it all over again.