Page 32 of The Archer and his Rosebud

“Have you been having a good birthday weekend?”

“Yeah!” He bounces, shifting up on his knees for a better view of Clem.

“What have you guys been doing?”

“We went on a hike and went fishing!” He fist pumps the air.

“Fishing. No way.” I smile, his enthusiasm contagious. “Did you catch anything?”

“I caught a large-mouth bass.” Nolan pipes up, a hint of pride in his shy voice.

“Nolan, that’s amazing. I’ve never caught a fish before. Probably because I’ve never been fishing.”

“Seriously?” Archer lifts his attention over the fire.

“I’m more of an indoor girl. Dancer, remember? And I didn’t have anyone to take me.” I don’t want to get into the topic of my dad and dampen the mood, so I turn back to Eli. Even though I know, I ask. “How old are you turning?”

He holds up six fingers.

“Six! You’re practically a teenager.”

“Don’t you dare say that.” Archer’s face twists in an amusing scowl. “He’s my baby boy, and he’ll always be my baby boy.”

“Daaa-aaad.” The soon-to-be six year old rolls his eyes with an adoring smile.

“Not much you can do about it, bud. What I say goes. You’re staying little forever.”

Eli giggles, tugging on Clem’s toes. “She’s still so tiny.”

“That’s because she’s only two months old. Actually, she’s two months old today. She can’t really even hold up her head yet, but she’s learning.”

“I can’t wait till she’s old enough to play with me.”

I smile and lean into him. “We’ll have to give her a few months. Maybe you’ll be the one to get her first laugh out of her.”

“Oh, I can do that. I’m good at making people laugh.”

“I know you can, bud.”

“All right.” Archer uses tongs to pull off the charred weenies. “Hot dogs are ready. Let’s eat while they’re warm.”

After cakeand opening a couple presents, Archer says, “I have one more.” Disappearing around his Expedition, he wheels a bike out from the back.

Eli squeals and jumps up. “No way! A bike!”

“I wanted you to have something to ride at my house since Nolan already has one, and I think you’re about old enough to learn without training wheels.”

“Yes! Yes, I can!” He runs over and Archer helps him hop on.

“Let’s go to the dirt road where you’ll have more space.” Flipping his baseball cap backward, Archer latches onto the handlebar and guides him over. “Remember what we talked about before? You get speed and pedal. That’s all there is to it.”

“And don’t tip over.” Eli’s tongue peeks out of the corner of his mouth as he fastens his blue bike helmet. After checking the chinstrap, Archer moves to stand behind Eli’s seat and the lessons begin.

“There’s a lot of falling down in learning to ride a bike, huh?” I glance over at Nolan when he settles on the edge of the seat Eli vacated. Archer and Eli have worked their way down the road, nearly out of sight.

“Yeah.”

“I never learned.”

---