The Saga of Steve and Joey-Part 33

Hello everyone and Happy Monday! I have a brand-new part in The Saga of Steve and Joey for everyone to help kick off the week. Aiden is 16 and learning how to drive in this one. But before I begin, I have an announcement to make. As some of you may have guessed this story is starting to wind down. I have decided that there will be two more parts to make it a 35-part series. I expect the last post to be on September 1st. But just because this saga is ending doesn't mean it is the end of Steve, Joey and Aiden. There will still be special snippets of their lives that I post every once in a while. And I will start posting a new free serial sometime in the fall so we have that to look forward to. Until then, enjoy Part 33 of The Saga of Steve and Joey!

Part 33

Steve

“No, brake. Brake!”

I take a deep breath as Aiden slams on the brakes, lunging me forward in my seat. Letting out a long breath, I turn to stare at Aiden who is still clutching the wheel in a white-knuckled grip.

“I know there are a lot of jokes about running yellow lights,” I say as gently as possible. “But we stop when the light is yellow.”

Aiden swallows and looks back out at the road. I turn back too. The SUV is a little bit out into the intersection, but it isn’t too bad. Cars will be able to pass us easily. Actually, I will admit that for his first time Aiden is actually doing quite well.

Finally the light turns green and Aiden teases the gas to inch forward into the intersection. I expected him to go a little slow after I almost yelled at him, but when he doesn’t pick up the speed I have to smile.

“Aiden, you can go above ten miles an hour.”

“I know,” Aiden says tersely.

My smile starts to fade when I realize not only is Aiden not going faster, there is a line of cars forming behind us.

“It’s okay. Just press a little harder on the gas.”

Aiden does but not hard enough to go above twenty. I sigh.

“Son, I’m sorry if I freaked you out back there. But you really are doing quite well for your first time. I mean, you haven’t had any real close calls and everything is going fine. Just go a little faster because these cars behind us are getting impatient.”

Aiden swallows and nods before finally picking up the speed to thirty-five. I purposely chose a residential area to drive in so that Aiden wouldn’t have to worry about highways or other intense driving areas, but there were impatient drivers everywhere in America.

I can’t help but be proud as Aiden doesn’t let those drivers get to him as he just focuses on the road ahead. I always knew Aiden would be good at this. He is just such a driven and focused child. I wish Joey could have been here for this, but we both agreed that Joey would freak out which would cause Aiden to panic. Better for him to stay home until Aiden is a little more comfortable.

After about an hour of driving around, I tell Aiden to head home. I smile as Aiden doesn’t say anything just nods, too busy focusing on the road to say anything else. Thanks to living here his whole life, I don’t have to give Aiden directions and, after only a few minutes, he pulls into the driveway with no mishaps.

Aiden cuts the engine and lets go of the death grip he has on the wheel before turning to face me.

“You did good, Aiden. Really good.”

The smile on Aiden’s face tells me everything I need to know. Before I can say anything else, I see Joey open the front door, looking over at the car as if expecting to see a huge dent in it or something.

“Go on and tell your dad how it was,” I say, nodding to Joey.

Aiden turns and sees his other Dad before thanking me and jumping out of the car. I take the keys before sliding out of the seat and waking to the door to share in Aiden’s excitement. After all, there is a lot to be excited about.

And that’s Part 33! Only two more parts left so be sure to come back next week for Part 34!