Page 38 of Vince
She positions her pedal, and then she pushes off with one foot as she expertly settles onto the seat. It doesn’t take long before she’s pedaling her little heart out, and I’m jogging beside her, keeping her steady.
She wobbles a little but steadies it before I have to use all my force to keep her in place. “Remember where your chin goes, Jules.” And she juts her chin over the handlebar. Instantly, she steadies and is ready to take off on her own. Not wanting to let her fall, I pick up my pace of jogging beside her and let go.
Holy shit—she’s doing it.
When both Vanessa and Sydney holler in encouragement, Julia’s attention falters, and she wobbles a bit. Shit. She’s about to crash. Reaching out my hand to steady her, I’m surprised when she manages to correct herself before I can give her any assistance. We go a few more feet before she makes a sharp turn at the corner and tumbles away from me into the grass.
Of course, I’ve trained myself not to panic when she falls over the years, but my heart plummets as I await her response.
Please don’t let her be hurt.
Thank God, she jumps up with a smile on her face. “I did it! I did it, Unks.” Then she turns to where her mom is filming her. “Did you see, Momma? I rode all by myself.”
“You sure did, honey,” Vanessa beams as she and Sydney close the distance between us. Sure, she’d only gone about thirty yards, but it was impressive for her first try.
“Let’s do it again, Unks. It’s fun riding so fast.”
I give Vanessa an ‘oh, shit, here we go’ look, and she rolls her eyes. She and I both know she’s just like her mom when it comes to determination. Julia’s gonna keep us on our toes, that’s for sure. Please let her make good choices in life, because there will be no changing her mind once it’s made up.
I mouth so Julia won’t hear as I point to Vanessa. “That’s all you.”
Van just rolls her eyes and sighs. She can’t argue, so there’s no use in trying.
With a determined look on her face, Julia gets her pedal where she needs it. She glances at me as if to ask,Are you ready?Nodding my head, I grip the seat to steady it, and we start this adventure over again.
The first few pumps look like she’s a weeble-wobble, but as soon as I remind her to put her chin over the handlebar and pump harder, she’s off like a rocket. I’m able to let go much faster than before, and we make it almost the length of the soccer field the bike path circles. She hasn’t quite figured out how to turn, but since she catches herself by standing up before the bike falls, we’re off and riding again before Vanessa even has a chance to catch up.
I guide her verbally through the next turn and have to run a little harder to keep up with her. The next thing I know, she’s made it around the third corner, and we’re almost back to Vanessa and Sydney, who cheer her on from a distance.
By the time we round the corner to the home stretch to return to Vanessa, Julia’s giggling so hard with excitement. Her riding becomes less steady, and she wobbles a bit. Thankfully, she’s more confident now. She easily corrects herself and makes her way back to Vanessa with ease. When she wants to stop, she even applies the brake. She slows down enough to bail off the bike into her mom’s waiting arms.
“I’m so proud of you, Jules,” Vanessa gushes. “You’re a rock star on that bike. I can’t believe you just bailed off it like that. Are you sure you and Unks haven’t been practicing without me?”
“No, Momma,” Julia says in a firm tone. “He just took my trainers off today. This was my first time, really.”
Vanessa looks from Julia to me, to see if we’ve been conspiring against her, but I hold my hands up in defense.
“Seriously, Van, she’s not trying to fool you. This was her first time!”
“I’m impressed,” Sydney pitches in, earning a grin from Julia. “I still have scars from when I learned how to ride my bike. I didn’t have anyone like your uncle Vince to run beside me, and I was so determined to do it on my own. Are you sure you’re only three? I didn’t learn until I was almost six.”
Julia rolls her eyes and giggles. “My birfday is April twenty-fird. Right, Momma?”
“That’s true,” Vanessa admits. “She’s growin’ up faster than she should. I can’t believe you’re riding your bike all by yourself.”
“I’m pretty sure that balance bike we got her for Christmas helped a lot,” I offer the crowd. “She seemed to master that in days. Remember?”
“How could I forget. She could barely stand next to the thing. It was so tall, but she was determined like today to ride it on her own.”
Sydney holds out her hand for a high-five. “I’m still impressed, Jules. You’re my hero.”
Julia’s smile beams with pride as she shouts, “Again, Unks! Again.” And off we ride around the loop nearly the entire way before she bails off again when we get close to her mom.
By the time Vanessa suggests going home for dinner, I’m exhausted. I’ve jogged around this loop more times than I can count, not wanting to let her ride solo quite yet. When Julia begs, “One more time, this time on my own,” I know she’s more than ready. We watch her on bated breath as she starts entirely on her own and maneuvers her way around each and every turn in the path. There are a few close encounters with other people walking along the path, but they give her a wide berth, and Julia just keeps pedaling.
When she makes it back to us without a scratch, I can hear Vanessa’s sigh of relief. “Way to go, Jules. Let’s ride to Unks’ Jeep, so we can get some dinner.”
“I’ll race ya,” Julia beams, and we all chase after her with grins plastered across our faces.
