Downward

(Start at the beginning)

Noel’s Christmas – Friday, December 17th

“Downward”

“Now are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” Nick asked, making Noel face him.

“Yes,” she answered, right away.

“And you do realize the dangers involved?” he asked, Noel rolling her eyes at him.

“Yes, Daddy,” she answered with sass, having been down this road with him before.

“And you’re willing to accept what may happen?” he asked, his face holding a serious look of concern.

“Daddy, haven’t we done this once already?” she asked, trying not to laugh.  “Now can we please do this?”

Nick nodded, confident she understood the risks as he turned off the car and they got out.  He went straight back to the trunk and got out the two sleds they just bought that morning.  They were called: Slippery Racer Downhill Sprinters.  And they looked menacing. 

Noel was dressed in that baby pink one-piece snowsuit, a knit cap, mitts, a scarf and her pink snow boots.  She was ready for a blizzard and looked like a little pink marshmallow.  Plunking her pink pacifier in her mouth, she wrapped the scarf around her head, covering the lower half of her face so she could keep nursing on it.

Waddling over to the edge of the hill, she took in the sight of how far down the sledding trail went.  It had been packed down because of heavy use already.  With the new dusting from last night – the hillside was primed once again.  And with the sleds they just bought, this was going to be a lot of fun.

Nick walked up and set the sleds down in the snow, keeping them stacked on top of each other.  Taking a seat, he urged Noel to sit on his lap.  She very happily obliged and if her face hadn’t been covered by her scarf, he would have seen how brightly she was smiling behind her pacifier.

Now the moment of truth had arrived.  Her heart began to beat with the pace of a galloping horse as Nick slid them back and forth on the snow, preparing to push them forward and down the hill.  But right before they began, she tilted her head to the side – wondering how they were going to stop at the bottom.  However, she had no time left to give it another half thought as away they went with a flash of speed.

Downward they traveled, Noel’s eyes great big-n-wide as she squealed behind her pacifier.  Thankfully, he had his left arm wrapped around the front of her body tightly, his right hand holding onto the side of the sled so as to prevent them from flying off it.

The rush of wind was crazy cold and she was very gratefully for having been dressed like an Eskimo.  Also, she was very gratefully that she was in a diaper as it came in handy, just then.

When they got to the bottom of the hill, their speed kept them going for a bit – a flat stretched of snow-covered grass making this possible and also safe.

Then the only unfortunate part about sledding had arrived … that long trek back up the hill.  But Nick, being the ever-thinking-ahead Daddy that he was, turned the trek into a bit of fun – carrying her up the hill by piggy-back.

The second time they went downward, Noel got a bit bolder – challenging her Daddy to a race.  Setting the sleds side by side, they got down on their bellies and started down the hill.  At the beginning, they remained right next to each other as they picked up more and more speed.  Then they swerved apart, coming right back in and crashing into each other.  Getting further down the hill, Nick began to take the lead.  Little by little, he inched further and further ahead.  As they neared the bottom of the hill, Noel laid as flat to her sled as possible, aiming to have greater aerodynamics.

Nick reached the bottom of the hill first, but the race wasn’t over … not until the sleds came to a halt.  Keeping his feet up as to not cheat, Nick coasted forward.  And a split second before his sled finally stopped moving, Noel came flying by him … winning in the end.

She boasted and bragged about how she won the race, even though she was weighted down by the wetness in her diaper.

Well, just one race wasn’t going to do.  They had to race again.

So, the third time downward, they raced with a greater sense of winning – right from the get-go.  They both kept their bodies flat to their sled, aiming to catch that lucky aerodynamic boost that enabled her to win.  And they picked up a considerable amount of speed this time, both swerving all over the place and then winding up right next to each other again.  But halfway down, Noel hit a small bump on the trail and went airborne off her sled, falling back down and landing on top of Nick.

The race came to an end before they reached the bottom – both laughing their heads off.

They would race a few more times before they left, but right then and there – while laying on top of him and laughing hysterically, Noel thought to herself how she had never had so much fun in her life.

When else would she be able to lay on top of him, wetting herself from laughter and feeling more comfortable with her situation?  He wasn’t just a keeper.  He was an absolute necessity now.

And the only direction was up from here.

This was what she learned while traveling downward.

Continue on to Saturday, December 18th