“On you get.”
“Maybe I need training wheels…”
“I’m holding it steady, on you get.”
With a comical grimace she took hold of the handlebars and stood astride the bike.
“I’m holding it, now up you…”
Before I’d finished, she plonked herself onto the saddle – well, more accurately, onto my hand holding the saddle…. Her bum was warm and soft on my hand, and I felt her cheeks press down on me alternately as she began, slowly at first, to pedal. If she felt my hand there, she didn’t mention it.
“Woohoo..!”
She pedalled faster and my hand was left behind in empty space. For some reason I just stared at the hand.
And then suddenly she was turning back towards me, not quite in a straight line, as she used one hand to hold down her skirt to protect her modesty. She headed directly for me and…
“Whoa..!” I laughed as I grabbed the handlebars with both hands and ran backwards. “This thing’s got brakes you know..”
She was laughing so much as she came to a halt, and brushed her auburn hair back out of her eyes, lifting her face to the sunlight – wow, deja vu, she looked so lovely, the years slipped away from her.
“Ummm, well?”
“Yes. You know what? Yes! I need a change, I need a….yes, let’s do it…”
So it was decided. That evening we pored over maps together and looked at the train schedules, we packed sandwiches, we lay together shoulder to shoulder on the carpet, each with a glass of wine, making the final preparations. And then we were ready. We got up. Nothing to do but… I hugged her tightly and kissed her on the cheek.
“Mum, we’re going to have a great old time tomorrow. It’s going to be fun.”
“Ooh,” she smiling, “I’ve not been hugged like that for ages…”
Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it wasn’t.
“Goodnight mum. Should I put the alarm?”
“No I don’t think so. I’m really looking forward to this now, I’ll be wide awake with the birds.”
She kissed me on the cheek. “Goodnight Eddie.”
I lay awake in my bed that night going back over what had happened, enjoying again the feel of her bum on my hand, her rejuvenated face in the sunlight, the hug, her….
“Wake up sleepyhead, the sun’s up and you’re not.”
One train and a local bus later, we were out into the winding lanes of the Peak District, the sun shining, the birds doing what birds do and, well, suddenly all seemed right with the world. We cycled easily, side-by-side most of the time because there was very little traffic except for the local stuff, and we both smiled idiotically at one another when we caught each other’s glances. Occasionally I’d drop behind her in order to shield her from any car approaching from the rear, and then I’d look her over, my mum, just enjoying life, finally.
Her shoulder-length hair was held back with a band, her shoulders almost bare with only the thin spaghetti straps of her flowery dress stretching over them. Underneath her dress she wore a strapless white bra. Just like last time, she’d chosen her dress ‘so I don’t sweat like a pig’. She’d said it would be a good opportunity to get a tan, since she wasn’t one to just lie out in the back garden in a bikini. That was why she also rode bare-legged. Of course I noticed. And, it seemed, so did a group of other cyclists passing in the opposite direction, almost resulting in a couple of collisions. Apparently they also thought she looked hot.