‘Great.’ Nick smiled, relief making him upbeat. ‘You’d be in Kitty’s class, but you’d have to call her Miss Brown.’
Emily’s mouth spread into a broad smile. ‘I can do that.’ She scrunched her eyes. ‘Will I be in trouble if I forget and call her Kitty?’
Nick smiled. ‘No, you won’t. And it can’t be as bad as when I called my teacher Mum once. I never lived that one down.’
Emily giggled and pulled her bear closer. ‘See, Edward, Nick is very silly.’
Out of the mouths of babes, thought Nick. ‘Kitty says we can look around the school this morning if you’d like to.’
Emily nodded. ‘Can Edward come too?’
‘I’m sure he can, as long as he behaves himself and doesn’t do anything naughty.’
Emily sighed and fixed Nick with a look he decided she must have learnt from Carla. ‘Edward isn’t real, Nick. Of course he won’t do anything naughty.’
‘Right. My mistake.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Listen, why don’t I clear up our breakfast things while you get dressed? Then we’ll walk down to the school.’
‘OK.’ Emily climbed down off her stool and ran towards her bedroom.
As Nick washed their breakfast dishes, despite the happiness at Emily’s reaction, dread was building inside him. A meeting at the school meant form-filling, something he avoided at all costs. He’d gathered all the paperwork and had checked it several times. He let out a breath. Even if he had everything he needed, it didn’t solve the problem of the writing he’d need to do.
‘Ready,’ said Emily, running into the kitchen.
‘Wow.’ Nick took in her princess dress and tiara. ‘Are you sure that’s what you’d like to wear to go to school?’
‘What’s wrong with it?’ asked Emily, pouting.
‘Nothing, nothing at all.’ Nick prayed the staff at the school would find her outfit sweet and not a sign of his poor parenting. ‘Right, let’s go.’
With each step closer to the school, Nick’s nerves grew. Emily, who had been full of questions when they first set off, became quieter as the school came into view. Nick looked down at her and took her hand, relieved when she didn’t pull away.
‘I went to this school when I was a boy,’ he said conversationally.
‘You did?’ asked Emily, her eyes wide as though she couldn’t imagine Nick ever being young enough to attend school.
‘I did, and I loved it. You’re going to love it too.’
Emily chewed on her bottom lip and tightened her grip on Nick’s hand.
The first thing to strike Nick when they reached the school gates was the silence. Where were all the children? The playground was empty, and as they drew closer and peered through the windows, he saw the classrooms were empty, too. Nick rang the bell and shifted from foot to foot as he waited for someone to come. Had he got the wrong day? The wrong time? Heck, he wouldn’t put it past himself to have turned up at the wrong school.
After five minutes, Nick was ready to give up and go home when Kitty’s smiling face appeared on the other side of the door. ‘I’m sorry. Have you been waiting long? Hi, Emily.’
‘Hello, Kit… Miss Brown.’
Kitty laughed. ‘Well done for remembering, but you can still call me Kitty today if you want to.’
Emily screwed up her face. ‘I’ll call you Miss Brown, so I don’t get confused. Although Nick called his teacher Mum, and that’s way worse than me calling you Kitty.’
‘It certainly is,’ said Kitty, laughter filling her voice.
‘Have I got the right day and time?’ asked Nick. ‘It seems too quiet around here.’
‘Sorry,’ said Kitty, ‘I should have said we have a staff training day today and the children won’t be in until tomorrow.’
‘Oh, right. That makes sense.’
‘We were in a staff meeting, which is why it took a while to answer the door.’
