The Ereri Project!

Bicycle

"Daddy can you take the training wheels off my bike?"

Levi looks over the book he'd been reading at Petra. "You don't know how to ride a bike with two wheels yet," he says, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I want you and Papa to teach me," she says. "My friends are starting to ride two wheel bikes and I don't wanna be the baby anymore."

Levi inhales wrong at that and hot coffee comes out of his nose prompting Eren to start laughing at him from the kitchen. Petra peers over at Eren with confusion.

"Daddy's fine sweetheart," he tells her through remaining giggles. "He's just not used to his baby not really being a baby anymore."

"Does that mean I have to keep the training wheels?" she asks.

Levi clears his throat, blowing his nose with nearby tissues. "We can take them off after breakfast," he replies.

Her eyes light up and she looks at Eren. "Are you gonna come too Papa?"

"Someone's gotta film this," Eren says, flipping the last pancake onto a plate. "Who's ready for breakfast?"

.......

"Are you sure you won't let go?" Petra asks for about the third time since they got outside.

Eren is strapping on her helmet while Levi is unscrewing the training wheels from her bike. "I'm sure, Hazelnut," Levi replies for about the third time.

She levels him with a look that strikingly reminds him of his sister and his chest aches. For a moment he has a flashback of helping his parents teach her when they were little before he remembers what he's doing.

He puts her bike back right-side up and holds it standing. Petra looks at Eren when he's done. "Kiss for good luck?" she asks.

Eren smiles and kisses her forehead before picking up the camera. "Break a leg,"
he replies.

She goes over to Levi and straddles her bike. "It's pretty much the same as riding with training wheels," he says. "The only difference is you'll have to balance yourself which is much easier than it sounds."

Petra looks out at the seemingly endless sidewalk in front of her before looking back up at Levi nervously. "Don't let go."

"Not until you need me to."

She puts on a determined face Levi knows for a fact she picked up from spending so much time around Eren. "I'm ready," she says.

Eren grins when she starts pedaling, walking a little closer with the camera. She stops a few times, Eren suspects just to check Levi is still right behind her, before she really starts going at it.

Eren watches Levi let go a couple times before taking his hands off for good, watching her pedal away all by herself.

She looks back and her expression is afraid for a moment before she realizes she's actually doing it on her own. She laughs and pulls off into the street to come back. "Papa! Look! I'm doing it!" she shouts.

When Eren looks over at Levi the first thing he notices is how nervous he looks. "Petra, slow down a little, you're gonna-"

They both cringe when they hear a crash.

She ran full speed into a bush.

They both almost run after her but suddenly she pops back out, grinning and running toward them. She jumps into Eren's arms. "Didja see, Daddy? I did it all by myself!"

Levi smiles despite the fact that he'll have to break out the first-aid kit for the scrapes she got from the bush. "You did great," he says.

Eren puts her down. "I'll go get your bike, why don't you go inside with Daddy to clean up?"

Petra nods and grabs Levi's hand on her way into the house.

Levi thinks again that she really, really reminds him of her mom.