"Daddy, come on!" Darcy called from the ice, skating in wobbly, enthusiastic circles. "Papa's taking forever!"
"Papa is being careful," I called back.
"Papa is stalling," Renard said under his breath, and helped me to my feet.
The first steps onto the ice were as bad as I'd expected. My ankles immediately had opinions and none of them were good.
"Bend your knees," Renard told me as he put an arm around my waist. "Don't lock them."
I did and things improved marginally.
"How is she doing that?" I watched Darcy glide forward with her arms out, completely unbothered by the fact that she was moving fast on thin blades.
"Natural talent." His voice was full of quiet pride. "She's been practicing between lessons. Slides around the kitchen in her socks pretending the tiles are ice."
"She definitely has your skating genes."
"But she gets her stubbornness from you."
Darcy appeared at my other side and grabbed my free hand. "I'll help you, Papa. You just have to feel the glide."
She'd clearly been listening to her father.
Together they walked me across the ice. With Renard's arm around my waist and Darcy’s small hand in mine, the two of them were so patient with me. They loved me and wanted me to succeed. I shuffled. Then I pushed a little. The blades caught and moved and for one moment I understood what my daughtermeant. There was the glide, the small effortless carry between each stroke.
"There," Renard said. "Feel that?"
"Yes."
"Told you."
We made it halfway across the rink before my feet disagreed about the direction and I wobbled. My mate’s arm tightened and held me.
"I've got you."
He'd been catching me since that first day in the park. I'd come to rely on it and sometimes forgot it hadn't always been there.
Darcy attempted a spin ahead of us. She turned a full circle and sat down hard on the ice. But she was back up and grinning before I'd had time to worry. "I'm okay! The ice is slippery!"
"It is," I agreed. "And you’re so brave, sweetheart."
We went around again and this time I pushed with more intention, actually skating rather than just surviving. Darcy took my other hand when we passed her and the three of us moved across the ice together. Renard set the pace I could manage while Darcy chattered about what she'd learned and what she was going to learn next.
"This is actually fun," And meant it. I’d been missing out all these years.
Renard’s proud expression had me tearing up but I blinked the tears away, not wanting to explain to Darcy why I was crying.
After twenty minutes we took a break. I needed it but our daughter had boundless energy. She skated circles while Renard and I sat on the bench. Our thighs were pressed together and my legs were burning from muscles I'd been unaware of until today.
Renard laced his fingers through mine. "You did really well out there."
"I didn't fall so that’s a huge plus.”
We watched Darcy work on her backwards skating. She was completely absorbed in what she was doing and not paying us any attention.
I rested my head on his shoulder. "I’m so lucky to have someone who looks at me like you do."
He kissed my temple. "You and Darcy are my everything."
