Entry #5

Childish Things
by BernardL


“C’mon, Aaron, slow down!!”

“Look, Rena, no hands!” Aaron shouted, taking his hands off the handlebar grips.

Rena nearly crushed Aaron’s ribcage, shrieking so loudly, Aaron hurriedly grabbed the grips, allowing his cycle to coast. Wind noise and RPM decreased to the point Aaron could hear Rena’s labored breathing. He felt her warmth, where Rena pressed against his back so tightly, she seemed a part of him. Aaron eased to the empty roadside, with only blackness all around them. Flipping on the hazard lights, Aaron turned the engine off, and rocked the cycle powerfully up on its rear stand. He covered Rena’s hands with his own.

“I’m sorry, that was stupid,” Aaron took off his helmet, hanging it over the left gauge, and looking up at the night sky. He inwardly cursed his unthinking act. Sounds in the black stillness washed over him: sounds of life.

“I…I’m pregnant,” Rena whispered, still clutching Aaron.

Aaron broke free, lurching off the seat. He grabbed his wife up into the air, whirling her away from the seat. They had given up all hope of being parents.

“Things will have to change,” Rena giggled happily in Aaron’s arms.

“I’ll put the cycle up for sale tomorrow.”

“You will?!”

“When a child, I played with childish things. When I became a man, I put childish things behind me,” Aaron paraphrased the old line, undoing Rena’s helmet and tossing it aside. Aaron’s lips covered Rena’s gently, at first, and then with a growing need and urgency.