Page 74 of Vespertine
“Thank you all for coming,” he calmly said. “I appreciateyour participation. Take a deep breath, lean into your sit-bones and straightenyour back. Fold your hands in front of your chest. Now remember, this is aboutyou.About whatever higher power you believe in and want tobe thankful for. You don’t have to pray if you don’t want to; you can be in themoment and breathe. Close your eyes if you haven’t already. Breathe in throughyour nose. Hold. And out through your nose. Keep going.”
Jasper closed his eyes too and found his center of peace. Itbrimmed with warmth today and he imagined a bright yellow light behind hisheart muscle. Slowly he made it expand until the bubble of golden light reachedhis skin, then broke through to envelop everyone in the room.
I’m grateful, O Lord, for this life and these kids. I’mgrateful You’re helping Nicky find the strength to fight his demons, to believehe’s worthy of being happy. I’m grateful You’ve reunited us. Maybe I have beenadrift too.
Goosebumps rose over Jasper’s arms. He hadn’t felt thisalive in a long time. A sweet ache heated his blood and a warm flush burst overhis cheeks. God owned his soul, but Nicky would always have his heart. Even ifthey could be no more than friends, God had reunited them for a reason.
“One final deep breath in,” he said roughly. He could hardlycontain the overwhelming sense of rightness, and he squeezed his eyelids shuttight before the feeling came spilling out. He tried to steady his voice. “Holdout through your nose. And open your eyes. Come up on all fours. We’re going tostart with cat-cow to loosen up a bit.” Jasper rose to his feet. The kids allknew how to do this one so he took the opportunity to walk up to Nicky. “Get onall fours. Keep your shoulders over your wrists, knees at a ninety degreeangle. That’s right.” He put his hand on Nicky’s back. “Now push your spineagainst my hand.” Nicky did as he was told. “Relax your neck. That’s it. Nowlet your spine hollow out and bring your head up. There you go. If you’refeeling tension in your shoulders, this is a great way to let go of it.” Jasperlet his hand trail down to Nicky’s tailbone. “Keep going, and try to keepbreathing.”
“Easier said than done,” Nicky whispered.
“Child’s pose,” Jasper said and everyone sank down. Hetugged at Nicky’s hip and led him back until his sit-bones rested on his heels.His Henley caught under his left wrist and exposed part of the blue fox on hisshoulder. Jasper watched it ripple, a joyful tension shimmering in his belly atthe sight. “Relax your arms and let your forehead rest on the mat. There yougo.Beautiful.”
He made his way to his own mat and lay down in child’s posefor a minute, a warm tingle starting in his solar plexus and driving down intohis gut.Happiness. “Push up into downward-facing dog.”Jasper stayed in this position for a while, patiently breathing until hismuscles relaxed enough for his heels to touch the ground. He glanced at Nicky,who looked impressively uncomfortable. He stifled a small laugh.
“Like this,” Jasper said, coming up beside him. “Bend yourknees a little. You don’t have to be able to do it with straight legs.” Jasperwent to stand behind Nicky and tugged gently on his hips. “What you want morethan anything, is to lengthen your spine.” He ran his hand along Nicky’s vertebrae.His fingertips brushed over the peacefully sleeping fox and badger on Nicky’sback. He wished they were alone so he could tug the shirt up and take anotherlook. “Push into your hands, press your fingers into the mat, relax your neck,and breathe.” Jasper kept one hand on Nicky’s right hip and put the other onthe small of his back. “Pull in your navel and tilt your sit-bones to theceiling.”
“You mean my ass? Oh crap, I can’t hold this for very long,”Nicky said, sounding strangled.
“Come back down into child’s pose whenever you need to.”Jasper kept his hands on Nicky as Nicky sank down in relief, the bones in hisback moving under the shirt. He was so skinny now.
“It’s harder than it looks.”
Somewhere behind them one of the kids snickered.
“It takes time and practice. When you feel ready, try again,because this is an excellent pose to gently build strength again. If it’s toomuch, go back to child’s pose. You can take it easy. Don’t go quite so hard.”
Another snicker.
Jasper rolled his eyes, let go of Nicky, and walked them allthrough a few sun salutes and warrior poses. Nicky couldn’t hold any positionfor very long, and by the time they ended with a five-minute savasana, he wascovered in a faint sheen of sweat.
When Jasper dismissed the kids—most of them filing out toget their breakfasts—Nicky helped him roll up the mats.
“Can we get breakfast too? I heard you hoard pastries inthis building.”
“Of course. But I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. It’s eggsand bacon this morning. Not a pastry to be found.”
Nicky shrugged. “I’ll stop by Irena’s on the way home, then.”
“Text me if she has fresh bearclaws. I’ve been craving one.”
Nicky smirked and rolled a mat. “Will do.”
“So, what did you think of yoga?”
Nicky flushed. “It was, um, interesting.”
“You’re welcome to join whenever you want.”
Nicky stepped close enough that Jasper could smell his sweat.He darted a look toward the door to the gym, but they were alone. “I enjoyedit, but I think I’d enjoy private lessons more. I need a lot of help.” Nickygrinned when Jasper dropped the last mat. “Especially with my ‘sit-bones.’ They’reso damned tight.”
And then he sauntered off, leaving Jasper to reroll the lastmat and calm his thumping heart.
Chapter Fourteen
THEFOLLOWING FRIDAY, NICKY DIDN’Tarrive at Blue Oasis until after yoga. Nomatter how tight his sit-bones were and how much he’d benefit from doinganother hour of yoga with Jasper and the kids, he hadn’t been able to rousehimself from the peacefulness of his bed that morning. The whole week had beenconsumed by summer-gold bubbles of pleasant things: mornings spent in warmsunshine messing with the stairs down to the dock, afternoons spent playingmusic with the kids at BO, and evenings talking with his parents, Ramona, orJasper.
He’d volunteered to work with any of the kids atBOwho wanted to learn to play an instrument. So far,only two had taken him up on it. Lizzie was picking up keyboard quickly andJason was learning guitar. They were both good students and dedicated toimproving. They made the work easy. Not to mention, it’d given him plenty ofopportunities to see Jazz, but more than that, he liked helping the kids a lot.His heart warmed whenever either of his students showed pleasure in the music.
