Unsure Steps
by Linda Schwartz

Hearing the knock on the door; Laura decided to put Peter down in his playpen while she went to answer it.

"Nancy, what a pleasant surprise. Come in, come in." Laura stepped aside to let her into the cottage. Nancy was her next door neighbor and they had become best friends.

Nancy smiled as she walked over to the playpen, admiring the baby with the smiling eyes and brown curly hair. "Peter has gotten so big. He's such a beautiful baby. I can't believe it's been ten months since he was born."

Peter was trying to pull himself up, he didn't quite succeed, and he ended up falling on his bottom. He started laughing.

Laura and Nancy couldn't help laughing too. Peter was such a sweet baby; his personality was already showing.

"He looks so much like you, Laura, " she commented. The two women had settled on the couch and were watching Peter's antics in the playpen. He did not like to be confined, and was searching for the best way to escape.

"I think he has Kwai's eyes. At least the way he looks at the world. He is so curious, just like his father. He's also stubborn like his father too," she sighed," they are the loves of my life."

"Your so lucky, Laura." Nancy looked at Peter with longing, arms aching for a child of her own. She turned back towards her friend. "I wanted to know if you would like to go shopping with me. I think you could use a break, get away from the house for a while."

"Well, I haven't really been away from Peter. Kwai has been telling me that I should go out. I know I don't need to beg him to watch Peter. Those two are practically inseparable."

"So, is that a yes?" Nancy asked grinning.

'Yes, I'll just let Kwai know I'm going."

Laura walked out into the garden, finding her husband meditating under the willow tree.

"Kwai?" she whispered as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

He blinked and focused on her face.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, dear. Nancy has asked me to go shopping with her. Could you watch the baby?"

"Of course, my love, Go be with your friend, I will look after Peter."

Laura kissed him on the cheek and went back into the house.

By the time Caine came into the house, Laura and Nancy had just walked out the door. Noticing that Peter was confined in his playpen he took his son out of it and put him on the living room floor. Caine did not like to keep his son confined to the playpen, but Laura insisted on it's occasional use. She said she could not get housework done if she had to keep an eye on Peter.

He sat down on the floor, watching as Peter crawled over to him. He pulled himself into his father's lap, sitting between his father's crossed legs. Caine began to tickle Peter's stomach, which immediately made him laugh and squirm in his father's grasp. Peter grabbed his father's hair and pulled the long strands. Caine gently pulled his son's fingers off his hair and kissed his forehead. Attention span depleted, Peter crawled over to his toy blocks and began to play with them, stacking them up and then knocking them down. He laughed as he did this.

Caine went over to a workbench in the corner of the livingroom. He was in the middle of making a flute and he needed to sand the down the rough edges. He had spent a long time turning a piece of wood into this flute. He had taken a hot poker and heated it till he could push it through the wood to make the holes. He had done this outside by a hot cauldron in the backyard.

A squeal drew his attention and he could see Peter by the coffee table, trying to pull himself into a standing position. Caine watched his son struggle to carry his weight on his little legs. He and Laura had been helping their son to walk; he would take their hands and take small steps.

Now he was trying to walk, unaided. He wanted to come to his father, see what he was doing. Caine came closer to his son and knelt on the floor.

"Yes Peter, come to me my son. You can do it, just trust yourself." He held out his hands and encouraged him. Peter managed to stand, and then slowly he took his first unsure steps towards his father. One foot, then the other. His steps were shaky, but little by little he made his way into his father's waiting arms. He wrapped his little arms around his father's neck and Caine pulled him into a gentle embrace.

"Oh, Peter, You did it! My son I am so proud of you!" He kissed his cheek and held him up above his head, then cradled him in his arms once again. Peter reached his hand out to touch his father's cheek. His eyes gazed deeply into Caine's.

"You have begun the journey of a thousand miles, my son."