We stopped at a door not too far away, the bright colors and number and letter signs a dead giveaway as to what was inside. The door was open, as kids were filing in as their buses arrived. Tristan didn’t hesitate to walk straight in.
“Bye, Dad!”
Ms. Donoghue, who’d been supervising from the front of the class, immediately walked over to Tristan and bent over. “Hi, friend. You must be Tristan. I’m so glad to meet you.”
I watched for a moment as she directed Tristan to the wall where a cubby and hook had been assigned, so that he could hang up his coat and bag. Marlie slipped her hand into mine and I squeezed her fingers. She was nervous, I knew that, and it was all I could do to reassure her.
After a moment, Mrs. Altmann spoke. “Marlie, your classroom is just three doors down.” She gestured toward the room. “There’s only ten children in third grade this year, and Mr. Huntley can’t wait for you to join his class.”
Marlie was dragging her feet as we walked the fifteen feet down the hall. This door was open too, but she stopped just shy of seeing it. I got down to her level and gave her a big hug. She clung for a moment, and then took a deep breath before pulling back.
“It’s gonna be fine, baby girl.” I kept my voice low. She nodded, but her eyes were wide. This whole thing was scary, but she was brave. “It’s just like every year when you start a new grade. Except this year, you get to do it twice!”
Marlie rolled her eyes, because it clearly wasn’t the positive I was trying to make it sound like, but she stepped back and let Mrs. Altmann lead us to the door. Mr. Huntley was a giant of a man, tall and broad shouldered, but had a pink streak in his blond hair and a tattoo peeking out from the edge of his short-sleeved shirt. He noticed us immediately and crouched down, holding out a hand.
“Marlie? It’s so nice to meet you. Come on in!”
It took Marlie about five seconds to move, but then she shook his hand. Mr. Huntley stayed in the crouch as he pointed things out, like her desk and where she could hang her coat. He winked when he saw me staring, and I was relieved she had someone who seemed to understand her.
Knowing it would make things worse if I stood around, I turned my attention back to Mrs. Altmann. “Paperwork?”
“Right this way.” She led the way back to the office. “K through eight are in this building, and the high school classes are in the annex. There’s roughly three hundred children total who attend the school, but there’s not a lot of intermixing between elementary, middle, and high school kids.”
I listened as she prattled on about a few of the accolades the school had amassed over the last handful of years, but really, that wasn’t important. Teague assured me it was a good school,and that was all I cared about. My kids would get the education and support they needed.
When we got back to the office, Mrs. Altmann left me with one of the secretaries. Janelle pulled me into a small conference room to go over the paperwork. She confirmed that they had received the records, went over all the health forms I’d already filled out, and then slid another form across the table.
“This is for you to approve trusted adults to pick up the children. If you want anyone other than you or the children’s mother to be able to do so, just put down their information. Every adult who signs out children needs to come to the office and present ID.” Her eyes sparkled as she added, “Don’t be surprised if you get asked the first few times. We learn parents pretty quickly, so after that, Rose or myself might not ask. But if there’s anyone filling in, you might be here for years and they’ll still ask. Please don’t cause a ruckus. Oh, you need a pen.”
I took the ballpoint she offered. “I’d rather be asked every time and know my children are safe,” I assured her.
The form was already pre-filled out with both mine and Catilyn’s names, which I appreciated. We’d made the school aware of our situation, knowing it wasn’t exactly usual, and they’d been understanding. Beneath that were a few more slots. Charlie was a no brainer, and I immediately wrote in his name. After a second, I added Teague’s too. Between the three of us, someone would always be available to get the kids if there was an emergency right? But even though I was confident in that, I fiddled with the pen for a moment. At the last moment I added another name.
Oak Mulligan.
I stared at it for a few seconds before nodding and passing the form back. Janelle looked it over, and her eyes lit up. “Oh! You’re attached to the Mulligans. I’d wondered why you decided to move to our tiny, albeit charming town.”
Her tone invited conversation, an explanation, but I wasn’t about to give her one. I didn’t know her. I just smiled and nodded. “Yep.”
Janelle blinked. “I don’t recognize this last person though. Oak?”
I wanted to bite out that it wasn’t any of her business, but I also knew small towns were known for nosiness for a reason. Besides, if on the rare chance Oak was the one to pick up one or all of the kids, the office needed to know he was legit. Technically, me putting his name down should have been enough. But I offered a tidbit of information, since she clearly knew who the Mulligans were, so that there wasn’t any confusion.
“He’s Mary and Sean’s grandson.”
Janelle nodded, but from the way her brows beetled together, she was still confused. To her credit, the only thing she asked was, “Is he over eighteen? Unless it’s an older sibling and the parents have given express permission, we don’t allow anyone under the age of eighteen to sign the children out.”
That was fair enough, though it was irksome to be reminded of just how young Oak was for some reason. I did my best to keep that out of my tone. “Yes, he is.”
“Okay then.” Janelle drew out the words, still, I was sure, wanting information. I wasn’t going to give it. After a few seconds, she turned her attention to the other forms. “If you could just look this over to make sure the address and everything is correct?”
And so it went, checking through the forms I’d filled out, making sure address and phone numbers, as well as other tidbits of information were correct. Though it felt like it dragged, it really only took about thirty minutes. Once Janelle assured me everything was correct, I was ready to leave.
“One last thing. Here’s the instructions for drop off and pick up lines. I know it’s kind of a pain,” she pulled a face, trying to be funny, but I didn’t react so she continued, “but it’s important that the rules are followed so that everything goes smoothly. Can you look it over and make sure you don’t have any questions?”
I did, skimming the document quickly, but it wasn’t too different from the procedure at the previous school. The children attended after school care before, but they wouldn’t be this time. I would be able to pick them up and settle them in the office with Charlie if I had work to still complete. I’d considered signing them up for the bus route, but when I saw the times they’d have to get on and be dropped off, and realizing because of the distances between kids how much time mine would have to sit on the bus, I decided this was a better option. And if I were honest, I was glad to be able to do it. It would be easier on my munchkins.
Finally, all paperwork done, with the kids officially enrolled at Fairville Academy—which made it sound far more pretentious than it actually was—I left and headed back to Black Dog.
