My arms and core muscles are already angry with me from the plank we were doing before, but the break into cobra pose helped so they at least aren’t trembling like they were before. I turn my head to check my posture in the mirror, and I’m actually shocked to see that my feet are flat on the ground and my body is much more A-shaped than it’s ever been.

“See? I told you. You’re gonna put me out of a job at this rate,” Hannah says, watching me in the mirror as she gets into the pose herself.

“I wouldn’t hold my breath for that if I were you. And I don’t think your students would approve.”

“Probably not. But all kidding aside, this is a night and day difference from the first day.”

“It’s all thanks to you,” I tell her and wink.

Her cheeks are flushed, but I can’t tell if that’s from my compliment or all the blood rushing to her head—or both. Either way, she doesn’t address the comment. The two of us just hold the pose until I literally feel like I’m about to pass out, but she must notice because she starts to lower herself back to her knees just in time.

She lowers her forehead down to rest it against the mat with her arms stretched above her, and I follow suit, grateful for the break.

We stay that way for about ten minutes, neither of us saying anything as we catch our breath and give our muscles time to relax. But I don’t mind. As long as I get to spend more time with her, that’s all that matters to me. I’m starting to drift off a little when Hannah gently tells me it’s time to wrap up, so I sit up and stretch a bit before I get up and grab a spray bottle and towel to wipe down my mat. Once it’s clean, I roll it up and carry it over to the shelf.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I have something for you,” I tell her after she wipes down her own mat, rolls it tightly, and joins me at the shelf.

She shoots me a quizzical look but follows me over to where I left my bag on the floor. I reach into the bag and carefully dig around for the items I brought. My hand finds the smaller one first, so I pull it out and Hannah’s face lights up.

“Oh my god, you made Ralph another hat?” she asks as she reaches for it.

It’s pretty similar to the one I already made for the little kitty, but I thought she might like to have some different colors. But this one’s even better anyway because it has the iconic Canadian maple leaf stitched into it in bright red on white.