NINA
The Kids’ Club had taken over the rock-climbing wall. We’d been gifted with a perfect day of sunshine and a cool, salty breeze to keep us from overheating, and we were making the most of it with this onboard adventure.
The forty-foot-high exterior wall on the top deck was another showstopper on the vessel because climbers who reached the top were treated to a view of endless blue, with the occasional dolphin cameo.
I doubted any of the kids in my group would make it that high, particularly the nervous little climber standing in front of me and eyeballing the wall suspiciously.
“What do you think, bud?” Logan asked Noah. “Want to give it a try, or just watch?”
At my suggestion, he’d stepped away from work to be with us for this, since we both had a feeling Noah would be slow to warm to the slightly scary activity. I’d given Logan a crash course in providing the right kind of support to a child in turmoil, and one of the tips was offering choices instead of directives. It didn’tquite come naturally to Logan yet—no shocker there, for a man who was used to making decisions and getting everyone else to fall in line—but he was doing his best.
“I don’t know,” Noah answered.
He seemed very focused on how tall the thing was, staring at the tippy top with fear in his eyes.
I squatted down beside him. “There’s no rule that climbers have to go all the way up. In fact, it’s probably best for you to stay close to the ground this first time, so you can work on your grip and your reach. It’s the smart first step for beginners.”
He nodded uncertainly, still staring at the wall.
Logan kneeled on the other side of Noah. “Look, the instructor is getting ready to give his presentation. Should we get closer to hear what he has to say?”
I applauded him mentally, because all he was pitching to Noah was listening in. Easy!
“Okay,” he nodded.
Jared the instructor did a great job aging down his instructions and reassuring the nervous potential climbers about the safety of the rigging. He even scrambled halfway up the wall and did a falling demo, which got screams of shock from the kids, then laughter as he twisted in the air unharmed. When he asked for volunteers, I knew exactly which hands would shoot up first and which would remain anchored. But then…
“There you go, bud!” Logan cheered as Noah inched his hand up toward his ear. “You got this!”
No surprise, Jared picked the bossman’s son as one of the first climbers. Logan and I stood shoulder to shoulder as we watched him get suited up.
“Damn,” Logan said under his breath. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“Same, but that’s the beauty of behavioral elasticity in kids. You never know what’s going to make a child stretch and grow. In this case, I think it was Jared’s falling demo. Irrefutable evidence that Noah will be safe no matter what.”
“I wish I could guarantee that for the rest of his life,” Logan muttered.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. How could I forget that Noah wasn’t the only one struggling with the many life changes? Even if he and Noah’s mom hadn’t been together anymore when she’d died, they’d still had a relationship as coparents, and he was still working through the loss as well as adjusting to having a full-time son in turmoil. It had to be heartbreaking trying to help Noah adapt to a very different new life as he mourned the loss of his mother.
“Look at him go,” I cheered as Noah started spider-crawling his way up the low section of the wall.
“No surprise, really; we’re a family of athletes,” Logan answered.
I stifled a chuckle at the humble-brag.
My colleague Ashley had taken over most of the kid herding for the group since my duties had shifted to focus more on Noah, but with him occupied, she didn’t hesitate to call me to help deal with a chalk emergency—more of it was ending up on clothing than hands. We were focused on cleanup when we heard a piercing scream.
Noah. My heart stopped as I scanned the crowd, expecting to see that he’d fallen.
It took me a minute to spot him since he was still on the wall, frozen about three feet off the ground, staring up at Madison, who was spinning in midair about fifteen feet up.
“She’s fine, she’s okay,” Jared said with authority over the buzz of the rest of the kids. “No worries, guys! Let’s bring her down.”
I kept my eye on Noah as he scrambled off the wall and started clawing at the harness.
Logan reached him before I could.
“She’s safe, see?” Logan was saying as Madison touched down on the floor with Jared beside her. “She’s not scared; she was just caught off guard.”
