AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did you have fun?” Koda asks Luna while I lean against the boards. My eyes roam the ice to catch Rain, who is letting go of the metal contraption to try it on her own.
“Yeah,” she huffs as she takes off her helmet and puts it beside her on the bench. Koda hands her a water bottle.
“I’m going to go with Rain,” I tell Koda, who smiles and nods before I take off and meet up with Rain.
“You ready to go without the help?” I ask, and she smiles at me.
“What if I fall?” she asks softly.
“Then you get up,” I encourage her, “and if you fall again, you get back up.”
“But—” she says.
“Nothing wrong with falling down, Rain,” I tell her, skating backward. “It’s about trying not to fall the next time, and if you fall, then you try again. Eventually, you won’t fall. Or if you do?” I smirk at her. “It’ll still be okay.”
“Okay,” she says, moving aside and keeping her hand on the helper for a second before she lets it go, “I’m going to go.”
“You can do it,” I assure her, skating in front of her, giving her enough space but not wanting to be too far away. In case she falls forward, I’ll be there to catch her. The wobbling takes a couple of seconds to stop, but then she takes off.
I see her arms going round and round at her sides like a helicopter as she tries to steady her balance. I skate closer to her so I can catch her if she falls, but she shouts, “No, let me do it!” So I stand as close to her as I can, letting her do her thing. It takes a couple of more strides and then she falls and laughs. “I did good for a bit.” Her smile fills her whole face as I hold out my hand to help her up. She takes my hand and slowly gets up, trying not to fall but doing it like a fucking champ.
“You did amazing.” I smile at her, my chest tightening for a second. “You going to go again?” She nods. By the time the hour is over, she’s skating faster than some of the kids who play hockey, and I feel so proud.
The bell rings, telling us the Zamboni is coming out to clean the ice, so we skate off toward the bench. I look around, searching everyone to see if I see them, but I don’t see Koda or Luna. I follow Rain to the locker room, where everyone on the ice sits, taking off their skates while a couple of the kids run around. Rain sits next to me and I hand her a water bottle that was sitting on the bench. She unsnaps the bottom of her helmet on one side and then the other side before taking it off. She grabs the bottle of water and drinks three gulps before turning to me. “Can we do that again?” Her eyes light up when she asks that question, and I vow to make sure I make her eyes light up like that again.
“You bet,” I tell her, bending to untie my skates. “I’ll talk to your mom and see if we can get you on the ice next week.”
“Okay,” she says, then leans forward and mimics my movements.
“Hey.” I look up and see Koda walking back into the room. “Sorry, I was…” She points over her shoulder. “Luna wanted to eat, then she wanted to go and play.” She looks all flustered, and before I tell her that it’s all good, Rain is calling her.
“Mommy, I skated all by myself,” Rain declares, her voice full of excitement, her face full of joy. “All by myself and Uncle Christopher said we can do it again.”
“Oh, wow,” Koda says, bending to help Rain untie the skates, “that’s amazing.” Then she helps put on her sneakers.
“Can I go play?” she asks her mom, who nods at her, so she jumps up and runs out of the room with a couple of the other kids.
“Thank you,” Koda murmurs softly, avoiding looking at me as she packs up the girls’ stuff. “You didn’t have to do it.”
“Yeah,” I reply, giving a couple of the guys the chin up when they turn to walk out of the room, “I know I didn’t, but I wanted to.” She looks up at me, and I look around to see if many people are around to take in this conversation. I see there are maybe five people left, but no one is paying attention to what is happening between us. “I’ve been calling you.”
She’s about to say something when both Luna and Rain come barreling back into the room, singing her name, “Mommy.”
She looks over at them. “Can we go sleep at Noel’s house?” Rain asks her.
“Please-please-please.” She folds her hands together and bounces on her tippy-toes up and down.
“Yeah, please-please-please,” Luna joins her.
“I don’t know.” Koda hesitates when Cole and Brittany come back into the room with their two girls running in front of them.
“Sorry, they ambushed us,” Cole says to Koda, “I couldn’t really say no. Plus, they said they will make me watch The Little Mermaid again.” The way his lips get tight, I have to look down for him not to see me chuckle. “I have been waiting all week for this.”
“I don’t know,” Koda starts, “I don’t want to burden?—”
“Burden us,” Brittany pleads, “it’s better when they are there because it’s like they babysit themselves.”
“Well,” Koda replies, “I guess if it’s okay.” I can see the turmoil all over her face. “I guess it’s okay with me.”
