Passion's Instinct

Twenty One

Hayden

A few weeks after the premiere was Natalie's birthday, and I had something planned.

Every year for mine, my brother's or one of my friends birthdays, whoever had the birthday would be kidnapped earlier in the morning from their house and taken to a place deep in the woods where their dirt bike would be sitting. We would go dirt biking all day that day, just for fun. Of course, Natalie didn't like the idea of me going out early in the morning and dirt biking all day, but she knew it was the tradition and what we loved.

So instead of kissing her good morning and wishing her a happy birthday, I would take her away to the woods so she could try it with us.

As soon as I woke up that morning, I smiled, remembering my plan. I looked over at Natalie, who was sleeping peacefully beside me. I sat up on the edge of the bed, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. When I was fully awake, I stood up, walked to her side of the bed, and carefully scooped her up in my arms. Amazingly, she was still asleep.

I carried her down the stairs, out the door and into the car. Every once in a while I would check to make sure she was still asleep by glancing at her. She was still sleeping (crazy, right?), and so I laid her in the back of the Audi and drove off in the direction of the woods.

My plan equals success.

Oh, and don't worry about Sawyer. We've got the situation under control. My dad agreed to stay over at the house and sit.

I angled my rear view mirror so I could see in the back seat, and Natalie's brown eyes stared back at me thoughtfully. "Hayden? Hayden, What's going on?"

"Happy birthday, babe."

"Thanks, Ha-" Her eyes turned wide and she threw her head back, groaning. I laughed, looking back at her. "That's right," I said, "we're going dirt biking."

"In pajamas?"

"Don't worry, I brought a change of clothes."

Natalie narrowed her eyes at me. "And where exactly would we change?"

"In the car," I said simply as I turned the steering wheel to the left.

She looked around and scanned the interior of the car. "Isn't it a little small to do that?"

"We'll manage," I said with a smile as my wife shook her head.

"You're devious. You are devious. Do you know that?"

I didn't give an answer, but just laughed. I pulled into a small clearing on the side of the road where trees surrounded the area. I stepped out of the car and took out dirt bike gear out of the trunk, giving one outfit to Natalie and keeping one for myself.

"Since when have I had dirt biking gear?" Natalie asked me. "Since a few days ago, when I got it," I replied, changing my shirt where I sat in the driver's seat.

Natalie shrugged and changed into the pants, shirt and boots. She pulled the gloves over her hands, and we both stepped out of the car to help each other get everything else on.

I put my helmet and goggles on, and then started to help Natalie with hers. once everything was on and ready to go, we drove down a long path until we reached another clearing, where one lone bike sat. "Here we are," I said from underneath my helmet. We got out of the car, and three bike motors sounded from behind us as they approached.

They all stopped, and my brother and two of my friends took off their helmets.

"You brought her!" Tove said, smiling. "Happy birthday, Natalie. You're in for a treat today."

"Thank you," she said, nodding her helmet. I put my arm around her and pulled her towards me, hugging her to my side. "This is her first time, guys. So just remember to take it slow."

"Yeah, she'll do fine," my one friend Mark said, nodding. I noticed Anthony was on my black bike, and he stepped off of it, giving it to me.

"What?" I said. "You're not coming with us?"

"Nah, I'll meet you guys later. I have something to do before I have fun. See you." He started to walk away, but he waved at Natalie and wished her good luck on the dirt.

"So, ready to get started?" Tove asked, and I nodded and said, "Let's go."

Tove and Mark went ahead as I taught Natalie the basics of riding. Once I figured she knew what she was doing, I let her try it out. She was pretty good, but the only problem was she was nervous to try everything.

"Okay, how about I go ahead of you. and you follow me. So watch what I do. And I'll go slow for you. Sound good?"

She nodded from underneath her helmet, and I could tell she was nervous.

"Hey," I said softly, "it'll be okay. I just wanted this to be a fun thing for your birthday."

She nodded once more, still not speaking any words.

I turned the handle of my bike to start moving, and rode down the dirt track as slowly as possible, which, of course, wasn't very slow considering dirt bikes can't travel at a slow speed. "You good?" I called.

"Yeah!" Natalie called back. "I think I've got the hang of it!"

"Good!" I decided we could move a little faster, and we jumped some small dirt hills for starters.

As we raced through the trees, Tove and Mark came into view.

Natalie squealed, and at first it startled me. Then she laughed, which lifted a heavy weight off of my chest. For a minute I thought she was hurt. "This is fun!" she said.

"See? I told you!" I said. I smiled widely under my helmet. I was so glad she was having fun. I really wanted to make her birthday special this year, considering she was turning 25.

We raced and raced until we were all working up a sweat and our stomachs were growling with hunger. We all took off our helmets and stopped at the nearest Chipotle.

As we were waiting in line, Natalie's eyes were bright, and she kept looking back at me, smiling with excitement. I stepped forward to stand beside her, resting my arm around her shoulders.

Everyone was staring and snapping pictures, but I was used to it. They would all be on the Internet in a matter of seconds anyway.

A/N: Pic in media: Hayden's and Natalie's biking gear.