Alex frowned noticeably.Kyle ignored the frown.
He stood there nonchalantly, facing his son, who was staring at him in great displeasure.
With a slight smirk and a raise of an eyebrow, Kyle shrugged and pointed at the beam that was beside him on the gra.s.sy field. The beam was only two inches above the ground, and just wide enough for one to walk on in a single file.
"Nevermind," Kyle said, "I guess it is too hard for you to do."
"Daddy! Daddy! I wanna try!! Can I?" came the sweetest voice ever beside the frowning boy.
"Of course, my darling princess," Kyle gushed, picking her up immediately and swinging her around.
Rory giggled, putting her fair, plump little hands over her precious pink lips. Rory wasn"t fat, but she had the normal baby "fat" around her cheeks that Kyle loved to smoosh.
He stood with the beam inbetween his legs, facing the front and placed Rory on it while still holding her hands.
"Okay, for the first time, I"ll guide you, okay? Light hold on the hands so if you feel like falling, just grip my had," Kyle said gently.
Rory nodded, looking down with a fierce concentration on her face. Her lips pouted a bit as she slowly balanced herself and walked on the beam. Kyle moved backwards, his gaze on his daughter, not looking back at all.
Alex kept chanting in his mind, "trip and fall, trip and fall".
He wasn"t worried about his sister getting hurt, for he knew that his father would use his own body to s.h.i.+eld her from any pain. He would give his father that much credit - but he was still unimpressed.
His father was merely making up to their mother anyway, so it"s the least he could do, right?
Unfortunately, despite the mad, fierce chanting in his mind, his father didn"t stumble at all and was smoothly walking backwards as if he had eyes at the back of his head.
The beam wasn"t in a straight line, and it zig zagged at some points, yet Kyle still managed to turn at the right moment.
Alex gnashed his teeth.
When Rory reached the end, Kyle cheered for her, lifted her up, and gave her many pecks on the cheek. Rory giggled again, and placed her hands on his face, "Papa, I did good?"
"Yes, you did very well," Kyle said, "When you can do this without help, we will slowly raise it higher."
Just as Kyle was about to bring her back, he noticed Alex was on the beam, his face resolute. Kyle kept quiet, watching his stubborn son slowly taking the steps on the beam.
He didn"t offer to help, for he knew that his son would refuse him. Earlier, Alex had already scoffed at him and said that what Kyle wanted them to do was stupid and he had better things to do.
Thus, Kyle had purposely said those words to goad him.
Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn"t.
It depended on his son"s mood, really. If he felt like it was beneath him, no amount of goading would work. If he felt that it truly was a hit to his ego, he would be the first to refute it.
However, Rory"s actions completely took that choice away from him.
If his sister would do it, wouldn"t that make him look bad? Petty?
So there he was, on the beam, taking one firm step at a time.
Kyle was teaching his kids the basic ninjutsu, while making it fun as well. It was a basic blend of how he had guided Kay before, and what Master s.h.i.+fu taught him. When he had been reborn, his knowledge had been spa.r.s.e on the martial arts, so he couldn"t really learn properly.
It was different now.
However, it was far easier to guide Kay than his own kids.
Namely because Kay was eager to help him and would throw herself whole-heartedly into whatever routine he had set up.
His kids?
Not so much.
In fact, Alex made it a point to go against him every which turn he could, and he was only two! True, people said it was the worst stage of a toddler"s life, but Alex"s "Terrible Two" was more like "Tantrum Two��.
His tantrums were not the type that had him throwing a fit, but actually giving him the silent treatment while going against him whenever he could.
Kyle wondered what he had ever done to his son to have to face such displeasure. Still, if that"s how it is, it wasn"t like Kyle was going to back down. Like he told his son when he was still a baby, he, Kyle, is still the father.
Alex thinks he knows better?
Kyle shook his head in exasperation. Wasn"t this something he would expect when his son became a teen? The rebellious stage?
Why is he doing so now?
Still, the important thing was to get Alex to actually learn all of this. One can"t be forced, and Kyle wasn"t the type to give threats. He may be Ice and unfeeling, but that was not the way with his kids.
So, Kyle would utilise whatever he could to get his son to learn and practise. If goading him would get him to gain the skills needed, then goad him Kyle will. At the end of the day, what he needed was to have these skills.
Kyle found that being a father was so much more difficult than being a mother, really.
As a mother, his children naturally clung to him and bonded with him easily and quickly. As a father, he found that it wasn"t necessarily so. Aurora did, but not Alexander.
Kyle sighed as he observed his son resolutely going on the beam.
He may be stubborn, but he did have that innate skill. He could balance well.
Alex fell.
"Posture, Alex," Kyle told him.
"The most important thing is to lower your centre of gravity to the beam," Kyle continued advising his son, "but not by leaning forward as you tend to do. You can bend your knees a bit."
"I know what I am doing," hissed Alex as he got back on the beam and started again.
"Balance your body by positioning your centre of ma.s.s directly over your base of support. In this case, your legs," Kyle continued to patiently explain, "In this case, you s.h.i.+ft most of your weight over your legs and not focus on your waist. Straight back."
Again, Alex fell.
"Stop distracting me!" Alex said as he got back on.
This time, he managed to get to the end and he turned to face Kyle, looking smug.
"That may work for now," Kyle said, "But not when you need to go faster, or are higher. Or on a tightrope."
Alex gave a soft snort.
"Daddy, can you really run across that?" Aurora asked, pointing at a rope that was tied between two trees.
"Of course, sweetheart," Kyle said, "So can your Mum. Do you want to see me show you?"
"Yes! Yes!" Aurora answered, clapping her hands excitedly.
The rope that Aurora pointed to was two feet off the ground. Alex scoffed and said under his breath, just loud enough for his sister to hear, "That"s hardly a challenge."
Kyle walked over to the tree, then, to their amazement, he scaled up the guava tree that was about 20 feet high. Only after looking up did they realise there was another tightrope there.
Kyle stood on it, then walked across. When he turned back, he ran. Then, he did some somersaults before falling down.
Rory screamed until she saw how her father was using the various branches to break his fall until he landed on the ground, crouching a bit.
He stood up, wiped his hands, and smiled at his princess.
"I"m sorry, did I scare you when I came down?" Kyle said as he reached close to Aurora.
She nodded, her eyes wide. Kyle picked her up and rubbed his nose to hers, making her giggle.
Alex stared at his father"s back, then back up at the tightrope above.
Okay, fine.
That was impressive.
Not that he was going to admit it, however.
He thought back on what his father had said about balancing. Posture. Lower center of gravity.
He pursed his lips. He"ll practice in the room.
"Can I do that one day, Daddy?" Aurora asked, her eyes fixed on the rope above.
"You can do anything you set your heart and mind to, sweetheart," Kyle said, "But if you find later on, that you don"t like it, it"s fine as well."
Aurora nodded.
"Are you done?"
Everyone turned towards the voice.
"Mummy!" the twins shouted excitedly.
Kyle put down Aurora and she ran towards her mother. Alex, trying to be cool, just walked a bit faster. They hugged her legs and looked up at her, smiling.
Kyle came over and kissed Sayuri deeply.
Alex glared in displeasure.
Kyle smirked.