- Living with Gigi and Granddaddy Opal is kind of like living in the middle of World War III, and when they're not fighting about Dane, they're fighting about Granddaddy's ugly orange recliner or who gets to use the bathroom first. Good times.
- Still, Granddaddy Opal and Miracle have developed a neat relationship in the midst of all this. Granddaddy doesn't have a car and only gets around using his bicycle—he even has a paper route—and he tells Miracle he's going to get her a bicycle of her own so she can join him.
- Sure enough, he makes good on this promise and gets Miracle a bike to fix up and paint and make like new. It's hard to find the time to work on it between dance class, school, and helping Gigi in the shop, but she finds the time. One day, Granddaddy even gets her up at three in the morning to work on it.
- When her twelfth birthday comes along, Granddaddy gets Miracle a helmet for her present and declares her "ready to roll." She names her bicycle Etain, after a woman in an Irish fairytale who gets turned into a butterfly by a jealous witch.
- Granddaddy Opal and Susan have both encouraged her to take off her bathrobe so she can ride and dance better, but Miracle has trouble doing this. She compromises by wearing just the robe's sash when doing things where she needs to move freely.
- While watching Miracle ride her bike down the driveway, Granddaddy notices bruises all over her legs. She tells him she got them in her improvisational dance class.
- It's not a lie, either—Miracle likes to express herself in class by hurling herself all over the room and against walls. Susan's even reprimanded her for it and asked her to please express herself without causing injury.
- There's no hiding the fact that Granddaddy is really upset over the bruises. He starts to cry and tells Miracle to please do what she has to do in order to not get hurt anymore.