Alik glanced to the back of the plane and caught Creed’s worried eyes. With a simple nod, they had silently agreed to take care of those they were with. Alik had no doubt Creed would take care of his family while he stopped to help the littlest member feel safe.
Alik offered a soft smile just before another round of turbulence hit the plane. “This is a great idea, big man. Mind if I join you down here? It’s probably safer here than strapped into one of those chairs,” Alik nodded encouragingly. Without waiting for an answer, he squeezed himself onto the floor in the aisle just far enough away from the child so as not to make him feel trapped, but close enough for him to see Alik wasn’t going to leave him alone during the scary moments.
Evan came running past Alik. “I’m going to see if I can help the pilots,” he called over his shoulder.
Alik nodded at his little brother then looked back at Danny. “Don’t worry, kid. Evan is the problem solver in the family. He’ll get this plane to behave.” The little boy watched Alik carefully, but didn’t respond at all. It occurred to Alik that maybe he didn’t speak English. Glad he’d taken the time to learn German, he switched languages.
“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” Alik asked if he spoke German.
The little boy frowned slightly, but said nothing.
Alik shrugged, showing it was fine if the little guy didn’t want to talk. He tried to think of something he could do to bring the little guy out of shell, when he noticed a penny lodged between the metal strip running the length of the aisle and the tacky paisley runner it held in place.
With every ounce of showmanship he could muster, he made a big deal about looking surprised at the found coin and pulling it free. Without saying a word, he used his facial expressions to show off the coin to the little boy who watched him intently. He pretended to polish the coin and kept losing it in his hand only to find it in some unbelievable places like his pocket or under the seat and even behind the little boy’s ear.
He continued to play games with the little fellow for the next ten minutes, long after the plane had stopped its scary pitching and jarring vibrations. With each trick, the little boy’s eyes widened in surprise. Alik was even graced with a few unguarded moments when Danny’s face lit up in a full-blown smile.
Evan got to see this for himself as he moved to pass by with the injured flight attendant in tow. He shook his head, completely impressed with how naturally his brother took to children. “We should have smooth skies from here on out,” Evan said, watching his brother make the penny disappear. Reaching into his pocket, he snuck another penny out and pressed it into Alik’s hand in a practiced, lightning-fast exchange.
“Great, Evan. Thanks for helping there,” Alik said winking up at his little brother’s offering of more entertainment ammunition.
“No problem,” Evan nodded back. “I need to help the flight attendant with her injury and check on mom. You guys keep having fun,” he said even as he pushed the woman past Alik and back to the galley-way where Margo lay peacefully.
Farrow had made her way over to watch from a distance. Her heart swelled in her chest watching Alik with the traumatized little boy. After a while, the toddler crawled closer, so he could search for the missing penny in Alik’s hands, his small, sticky fingers pulling Alik’s huge, thick ones open one at a time, concentration deep in his face as he really was trying to figure out where the missing penny went. Then Alik would reach around the little boy’s head and produce the coin from his neck or behind his knee or even from inside the Sleeper Sleeve.
After one especially clever trick where Alik magically turned one penny into two, the little boy burst into the most beautifully contagious laughter. Farrow and Alik couldn’t help but laugh, too.
The two boys sitting on the floor of the airplane, and bonding over magic tricks, had drawn an audience and before the last trick was performed, Meg, Sloan, Farrow and Creed were watching in awe as the little guy had gone from terrified on the floor between the seats to curled up in Alik’s lap, relaxed and playing with a simple coin.
“Alik, you’re really amazing with him,” Meg cooed softly at her brother, handing him the bottle of sports drink with a straw in place.
“Nah,” Alik said smiling down at the small body squirming in his lap. “He’s the amazing one.”
Without a word, Alik held the bottle up to the little boy. Danny cocked his head to the side before reaching out to take the straw between his lips and sipping once. He seemed to like the taste well enough, or recognized it to be what Meg had given him before, because after he swallowed the liquid, he ducked back down to take a few more deep draws on the straw.
“That’s the way, big man. That will help you get your strength back.” Creed smiled over at the little boy who’d obviously won everyone’s heart.
“Maybe you have an appetite now?” Meg asked, not expecting an answer.