I met Calliope’s eyes and could see her fear so easily. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to lie, but I could tell she wasn't sure the judge would believe her. I squeezed her hand, giving her a small smile and nodding my head for her to answer. Hopefully she'd understand that I want her to be honest.
"No, Sir. I follow the rules and do my work. I broke one rule, but it wasn't the school's rule, it was Daddy’s and Mommy's rule," Calliope answered, unable to look the judge in the eyes.
"Remember Calliope, you are sworn in, that means you have promised to tell the truth. Do you want to stick with what you've said already?" He asked, making my blood boil. I wanted to defend her so badly, but didn't need this judge to be upset with me. Calliope nodded her head. "Very well then, what rule of your parents did you break?"
"Rule number four. I am supposed to tell Mommy or Daddy, or both of them, if I am having any problems at all."
"I see, so we're having problems in school then." He thought he caught her in a lie, but I smirked, knowing my Calliope would prove him wrong.
"Yes, sir. Mrs. Vinx likes to pick on me and accuse me of cheating because she thinks I am not smart."
The judge questioned her further about the matter, obviously having a hard time believing that a principal would pick on a child. Eventually, he let Davis and I speak on the matter and the judge seemed to believe us all.
"It appears that you have established a great relationship with Calliope already. Her grades are good and I'll be sure to ignore Mrs. Vinx's remarks. I do suggest you switch her schools and lodge a complaint. Private schools have their own board members that take care of these sorts of problems. It pleases me to see a healthy family sit before me. You've been through a lot, Miss Calliope, and I am happy to say you are now officially adopted by Lisa Porter and Davis Havard. Congratulations!"
Oh, the tears that rained out of me when he said those words. I felt such immense happiness, one I never thought I would feel. She was mine and I was hers always and forever.
My sweet daughter.
Davis' P.O.V.
"I swear to God if she's got the teacher on her side too, I'm setting this school on fire," Lisa said with a rage in her eyes as we approached the school's front doors.
I loved seeing how protective she was of our daughter.Our daughter.I loved being able to say that. To know that Lisa and I now had a child together. Yes, it wasn’t the conventional way, but it was even better than that. If only this school could see our daughter for how amazing she is.
Her teacher had called us this morning, asking us to come in and speak to her about Calliope. She wasn't specific about the why, just that it was important. She has concerns apparently, although about what she wouldn't say over the phone.
"I'll bring the matches."
Lisa smirked that wicked little smirk of hers as we entered the building. She had grown so strong and wild now. Her warrior was always out on the surface unless she was caring for Calliope. Now she has a beast that she unleashes whenever it comes to defending our daughter. I quite like it.
"Thank you for meeting with me today on such short notice." Mrs. Lyle greeted us with a warm smile when we stepped into her room.
"What's this about?" Lisa got right to the point, skipping pleasantries, obviously annoyed.
"As you know, I teach the students that need a little extra help in instruction to get where they need to be. Mrs. Vinx placed Calliope in my class, obviously by mistake. I knew she was intelligent, but I suspected she may even be at a genius level. Throughout last week and this week, I gave her different assignments than the other students. I started with work from the second grade and moved up every day. Today she was in twelfth-grade work."
I was listening so intently, wondering how our Calliope did. It wouldn’t surprise me. I noticed how bright she was when she could fully read and understand the manual to Lisa’s BMW in her car.
“She needed very little guidance to understand the material. Here it is. As you can see, she got most everything correct.” She showed us the papers with very few pen marks on her part. Calliope had answered questions on a variety of topics, from Math to English, from Science to Reading. She even answered some Spanish questions.
“That’s our girl.” Lisa smiled proudly as she pored over the papers.
“What do we do?” I asked her, unsure of what exactly you do with a genius child. I mean, Izzy was smart, but not at this level of smart. Izzy got top grades and always thought outside of the box, but she never skipped a grade or anything.
“Honestly, this school can’t provide her with what she needs, even if Mrs. Vinx wasn’t such a bitch. Pardon my language.”
“Oh no, go right ahead.” Lisa nodded, obviously feeling the same way.
“You should switch her to a school for gifted children. They just opened up. Spots are hard to get, but I’ll write a great letter of recommendation. I would pull on any connections you may have to get her in. They would help her flourish and meet her needs academically. They would challenge her and work outside of the standard curriculum that public and private schools must enforce. She would also be offered fine arts and extracurriculars that would help her become well rounded. Who knows, maybe she’s a musical genius as well. At home, I would speak to her using a larger vocabulary, but honestly treat her like the beautiful little girl she is. Just bear in mind, she knows more than she lets on.” Mrs. Lyle laughed at that. “You guys have a beautiful daughter, and I will miss having her in my class, but she needs more than I can give her, sadly.”
“Thank you so much for letting us know, and for doing this for her. You are an amazing teacher and Calliope is very lucky to have had you,” I said, extending my hand for her to shake.
With a firm shake, we left, ready to enroll our little prodigy into this new school.
My little genius.
“Thank you for your help, Gerald.” I shook his hand, thankful I kept in touch with the old DA. He had great connections still and could help us get Calliope enrolled in the school for the gifted.
