The parking lot was filled with cars, with parents coming out of their cars and getting into the school. Tyler got out of the car and quickly rushed to open her door. She thanked him as she got out. He took hold of her hand, leading her into the school. They followed the throng of bodies in the hallway and then into a space that was not as big as an auditorium but larger than a classroom.
They found seats somewhere in the middle of the room and sat. As soon as they sat, Tyler took her hand again and distracted her throughout the conference with his finger running circles in her palm. She barely heard a word the headteacher was saying as every nerve in her body was tingling from his touch.
All too soon it was over and they stood, leaving for individual meetings with their children’s class teachers. Kaiya fought to control her excitement. She was a parent now and privy to parent teacher meetings. She looked up at Tyler’s smiling face and was thankful to him for including her in their daughter’s educational journey.
Lili’s teacher was a petite Asian woman who was all smiles as she told them of Lili’s extraordinary school performance.
“She’s very smart and very perceptive,” the woman who had introduced herself as Mrs. Harris. Mr’s Harris looked outside through the classroom window and looked lovingly at Lili who played with the other kids on the playground. Kaiya’s heart swelled with pride when she heard that. She continued to listen to the woman who had a sweet tone in her voice when talking about their daughter.
“And she’s just so kind to her peers, however she allows no one to push her around. When she grasps something new that I teach and her classmates don’t understand, she tries very hard to explain the concept to them to them.” Mrs. Harris had nothing but praises for Lili, and Kaiya felt like a proud mom even though she had nothing to do with Lili’s upbringing.
Before they left, Tyler turned to Mrs. Harris, “I’d like you to put Lili’s mother down as an emergency contact.” Kaiya’s heart expanded but he wasn’t done, “And on occasion, she might pick Lili up from school.”
Mrs. Harris looked like she wanted to say something, but she smiled and wrote down Kaiya’s information in a medium sized book on the side of her desk. They went to the room that overlooked the playground and watched Lili with the other kids.
They discussed mundane things while they waited for Lili to be done with her lessons. “You know,” Kaiya began, “She got her smarts from you. I still remember the boy who hid in a toilet at a party to study.” She nudged him and they laughed.
“Well she got her beauty and her spunk from you. That stubbornness couldn’t have come from anywhere else.” Tyler smiled, a fond expression taking over his face. She smiled, her eyes catching his as he leaned in. She leaned in too, almost unconsciously, their lips met.
The kiss was soft, an expression of all the things they felt but were afraid to say.
“Daddy!”
The shout made them jump apart then laugh like teenagers as Lili barreled towards them. She jumped into her father’s outstretched arms first, then into her mother’s.
“Well sweetie, how was school?”
“Good. I thought Grandma was going to pick me up.” Her brows furrowed in confusion and Tyler laughed. “We thought it’d be a great idea to stay behind after your parent teacher conference.”
Lili grinned, her entire row of teeth showing, “Let’s go home!”
“Speaking of home,” Tyler gave Kaiya a sly look, “how do you feel about spending the weekend at your mom’s?”
Kaiya gasped, amazed for the second time that day of his willingness to include her in all things Lili. Lili squealed in delight.
Kaiya was already making a mental list of things she would need to get for that spare bedroom in her condo. She wished she had known Tyler’s plans in advance, nonetheless she was happy.
Lili was chattering happily to both her parents as they entered the car and began the drive home, “I need my pajamas, my toothbrush because Mrs. Harris said we should brush twice a day,” she said to her parents like she was passing sagely advice. They chuckled.
“You need to floss once a day,” Kaiya added.
“I hate flossing,” Lili said and continued to list the things she needed until they got to Tyler’s house. Lili zipped out of the car and run towards the house. Tyler’s mother let Lili in after she rang the doorbell.
Kaiya faced Tyler as soon as her little girl was inside of the house. “Tyler, I can’t believe you’d do this so soon.”
He turned towards her with a confused expression on his face, “I thought you’d be happy to spend more one on one time with her.”
“I am. I’m just surprised you’d suggest it so soon.”
He smiled softly and brought his body as close to hers as he could in the car and took her hands in his.
“Lili is your daughter and she loves you. You two will be fine.”
Kaiya groaned, “You always could see right through me. I just feel like something’s going to go horribly wrong and she’d hate me forever.”
“Did I ever tell you about that time that I fed our three-week-old daughter regular milk instead of formula or that she thought peeing standing up was the normal thing to do for almost a month before my mom broke the habit and taught her that girls peed sitting down?”
“You fed our three-week-old regular milk?” She was surprised by that admission. Even her sixteen-year-old self knew babies didn’t drink regular milk.
