Sophie
Logan and I had lunch, saving some of the wine for later tonight. He surprised me by stopping to get a nice piece of chocolate cake on the way to pick up Nathan from school. We made our way to the elementary and waited for school to end. Soon as the bell rang, Logan wasted no time and got out of the car to walk with me.
A few minutes pass, and we finally see my baby's teacher walking with the kids in a single file. "Ok kids, if you see your mom or dad, you have to tell me so you can go." His teacher said as he came to the front. Roxanne was already out, letting her kids go home and talking to the parents of one of her students. Amber came up, looking at her daughter who had a sad look on her face. It looked like she had fallen and scraped her knee. Roxie handed her a note, and Amber grabbed it, opening the note notifying her that her daughter had had an accident. She kneeled on her knees and consoles her daughter, embracing her in a tight hug.
"I see my mom. Hi mom...Logan!" my son's voice brings me back, smiling from ear to ear as Logan comes up and kneels to hug him. "Mr. Spencer, good to see you again. May I say, you have a bright kid. Nathan was a joy to have in class. I look forward to working with him this year." he says, shaking Logan's hand and smiling. "Thanks, my kid is pretty damn smart. He'll definitely be up for the challenge. Right, sport?" Logan looks at Nathan as he holds him in his arms.
I couldn't help but smile at how amazing Logan is with our son. It's as if we have been doing this together for the longest time. But I felt bad seeing Amber's daughter. She looked so timid, shy, and if she's like me when I was small... I bet that knee scrape was no accident. Kids can be cruel, and I hope she is not being bothered by another kid.
Amber and I may not like each other because of our long history of bickering, but it doesn't mean I wish her bad. Her daughter is such a cute little girl, and I hope she isn't being bullied.
Logan and the teacher continue to talk and somehow ends them talking about football. Teacher Omar realized that Logan was one of the best college football players he had seen in the last few years, but decided to decline the offers of going pro, his heart was set on becoming a lawyer and returning home.
"Alright, buddy I'll see you tomorrow." Mr. Omar high-fives Nathan and shakes Logan's hand again, smiling at me. "I will see you guys later, enjoy the rest of your day," he says before turning on his heel and gets stopped by another teacher.
I turned to see Amber and her daughter again, but she had already picked her up in her arms and left to strap her in her car seat. I turned, looking at Logan. He smiles as Nathan begins to tell him how his day was. He was so happy that he had fit in right away, making lots of friends, and loved his new teacher.
We went home that day and enjoyed the rest of our evening. I was able to write for a little on my book, while Logan answered emails and helped Nathan with homework. He is so good with him. Things were finally looking up for us. The only thing now is getting Roxie to back off and maybe even help her hook up with someone else.
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Nathan
(three weeks later- Tuesday morning )
"Mom, can I take an extra sandwich today for a friend?" I know mom won't be mad if I tell her the truth, but I didn't want her to know who the sandwich was for. I want to make a sandwich for a girl who is inside Miss Roxanne's class. I don't want mom to think I like this girl, I am too small to like girls anyway, but I like her, she's my friend.
Besides, uncle Ethan said girls have cooties, and I don't want them to think I have cooties. If they find out I am friends with her, my friends are not going to want to play with me.
Mom smiles and ruffles my hair. Dad is also here. He lives with us now, because mom doesn't want to live in his house. He has a bigger house than us, but I think mom is afraid she will get lost in there, that's why she asked him to come to our house instead. I don't blame her, I get lost every time we go to his house too. But, I wish we could live in that house too.
Dad has a whole room to watch movies and play video games. It's super cool, it looks like a theater inside. I hope one day we can go live there, maybe when mom is not afraid to get lost.
"Ok, baby. I'll make an extra sandwich for your friend, do you want me to pack him a rice-Krispy treat too, and a juice?" she asks me. She always smiles when she talks to me unless she's mad. I don't like to see her mad. Dad doesn't like seeing her mad too. He always says, 'don't ever make a woman mad, they are scary.'
Why does he say that? Mom is not a woman... She's mom. I didn't correct mom, I'll let her think the sandwich is for a boy. "Yes please," I say and put my homework away in my backpack. Mom puts the two lunch bags in my backpack and then makes me eat breakfast.
She helped dad put his tie on, she always puts his tie on in the mornings. Because if she doesn't, he pouts and looks at her with puppy eyes. He's really funny. After mom made us eat breakfast, they took me to school.
I went to my class and waited for school to start. When lunch recess started, I went to look for my friend. Her class and mine always have lunch together, and she always sits alone by the bench next to a big tree. My friends always take a long time to eat inside, but it's too hot, so I went to sit next to her. "Hi," I said smiling.
"Hi," she said, smiling back. I took my bag and sat down, and then I got her bag and handed it to her. "Here, my mom made this for you." she turned and smiled at me. "Why did your mom make me lunch?" she asked. I smiled, grabbing my sandwich, and taking a bite. "Because I asked her to. Eat it, or you're going to go home hungry again." she never goes to the cafeteria to eat. "Why don't you like going to the cafeteria to get food? Or ask your mom to make you a sandwich? That way you don't have to be hungry all day." I say because I never see her eating.
She looks down and bites her sandwich. "She does make me lunch, but," she says looking at a girl in her class. "Someone always takes my lunch. It's ok though. I can wait to eat after school. I'm used to it." she says making me feel sad.
"What do you mean? We're here all day. Don't you get hungry? And why do you let someone else take your lunch?" she takes another big bite from her sandwich and sighs. "See that girl over there? With the pink bow in her hair, and the glittery shoes? She was my best friend last year. But, she stopped talking to me. She says she can't talk to me because I have no dad. I live in a broken home. I told her my home is not broken, and I want to keep being friends, but she... She doesn't want to talk to me anymore. She made all the girls in my class, not like me. And now she is taking away my lunch too. She doesn't eat it, she puts it in that trash." she says pointing to a trash can by the cafeteria. I feel so bad.
The kids in my old school used to tell me the same things. They said I couldn't play with them and would put gross stuff in my food. That's why I was happy mom put me in this school. I have more friends than over there, and I don't have to see my bully anymore. "That is really mean," I say.
"Well, then from now on tell her that you have a brother too," I say looking at her. Her eyes got big, making me giggle. "But, I don't have a brother," she says, and I giggle, taking out my juice. "Well, you do now," I say, putting the straw in my juice and sipping it. "You can call me brother from now on. And, we can be best friends, ok?" I say grabbing her bag and taking out her juice. I put the straw in it and gave it back to her.
She smiled and took a sip. "Ok. Deal,"
"Don't eat your rice-Krispy treat now, wait for after school. That way you won't be so hungry until your mom makes you dinner. Hey... Do you want to go to my house today? I forgot, my mom, is making chicken today, I love my mom's chicken." I ask her. I hope she says yes.
She smiles and nods. "Ok, good. Don't forget to tell your mom. We can take you home after we eat. Well, unless your mom lets you stay longer. My dad is really good at helping me with homework. Maybe he can help you too." I suggest.
"Ok, I'll talk to my mom. I know she will say yes." The bell rang, I helped her throw away the trash, put her treat in his pocket, and walked her back to class, then I ran to my class so I wasn't late. I can't wait for after school, McKenzie is going to love my mom's chicken.
"Yeah, but, she has a brother too. And she says if I make her mad she will tell her brother so he can hit me." That made me mad. I don't want anyone hitting her. I saw how they pushed her the other day and she scraped her knees and her hands.
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