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He hugged her. “I know, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you and Caleb.” He picked up another box. “Go get the last chair while I load these boxes. We’ll need to bring the table on the next trip. When we finish this load, it should be about time to pick up Caleb.”

Milo scanned the playground, counting heads as he went. The first graders shared the afternoon recess. He knew all the first graders. They were in his class last year. But he was keeping track of his current class. It seemed half his day was spent counting heads to make sure no one was missing. He stopped scanning when he saw two of the older kids standing in front of Caleb and Emma.

Emma got to her feet, hands on her hips, and wagged a finger at them. They laughed, and Milo headed for them.

“What’s going on here?”

Emma turned to him. “They are mean boys.”

“Boys, are you bothering Emma and Caleb?”

Curtis shook his head. “No, Mr. Milo. We’re just asking why baby Caleb doesn’t talk?”

“Whoa, none of that.” Milo motioned for Evelyn, and she walked over to them. “Miss Evelyn, will you take Curtis and Will to the bench?”

Will scowled. “The bench? We didn’t do anything.”

“Go with Miss Evelyn. You’ll get your turn to talk.”

They left with her, and Milo knelt beside Caleb, who sat in the grass. “Are you okay?” Caleb nodded, and Milo looked at Emma. “What exactly did they say?”

“They said…” She took a moment to remember. “They said in the old days, people who didn’t talk were called dummies. Then they called him a baby.”

“Caleb. You’re neither one of those things. You know that, right? Some people are just ignorant, and in this case, that would be their parents for putting those ideas in their kid’s head.”

Caleb nodded again, and Emma sat back down and took his hand. “They’re just stupid mean ig…ignor…stupid boys.”

“Let’s not use the word stupid.” Milo stood. “I’ll go talk to them.”

Miss April, the first grade teacher, was with the boys when Milo approached the bench. “What’s going on with these two?”

Milo looked at Curtis. “Did you call Caleb a dummy and a baby?”

“He’s a deaf-mute. My dad says—”

“Your dad is wrong. Also, Caleb isn't deaf or mute. Caleb will speak when he’s ready to speak.”

Will looked up at him. “He can hear?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings.”

April nodded. “How about we go apologize to him, then?”

Caleb was more reserved than usual for the rest of the day. When the day was over, Wilda was waiting on the grass as they came through the gate. Caleb held Milo’s hand, then let go and ran to Wilda when he saw her. He hugged her and buried his face in her hip.

She ran her hands through Caleb’s hair. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

Milo sighed. “I’ll talk to you in a minute.”

“I’ll be by the car.”

When Milo approached her a few minutes later, Caleb was in the backseat.

Wilda looked at Milo. “What happened?”

“A couple of the boys had some negative and misinformed things to say about him not talking. April will talk to their parents.”