“Me too,” Dominic replies.
“You take after me.” I smile proudly. “I’m left-handed.”
Their eyes both widen. “You are?”
“Whoa…” Lucia whispers in astonishment. “We’re left-handed like our dad.”
And just like that, my day is better.
We arrive at the school and I park the car.
“What are you doing?” Dominic asks.
“Well…” I pause, unsure what he’s asking.
“Mom just drops us and drives away.”
“Can I come in and see your classroom?” I ask. “I’d like to see it.”
“Oh yes,” Lucia gasps. “I’ll show you all around the school. The library is the best part.”
“Okay, great.” I smile. I glance at my watch—I have a Zoom meeting at nine fifteen but they’ll have to wait.
We get out of the car, Lucia takes my hand and we walk down toward the school. The moms who are all standing around the front gate all turn to watch us as we approach, they are in gym clothes and have strollers with younger children.
It’s a ponytail brigade, not one woman is made up or has makeup on.
Weird.
We walk past them and I give an awkward smile and nod. “Morning.”
“Morning,” a few reply.
“Who is that?” I hear them whisper.
Lucia turns back to them. “This is our dad,” she calls, totally unfazed.
Their eyes widen, and I bite my lip to hide my smile.
“Did you see his shoes?” someone whispers.
We keep walking. “What’s wrong with my shoes?” I whisper to Dom.
He looks down at them. “Nobody wears shoes like that.”
“Then they should,” I reply.
“Our classroom is just up here,” Dominic tells me. We make our way up the stairs, and Lucia leads me inside by the hand. It’s like I’ve stepped into an artwork wonderland. There are things hanging from hoops suspended from the ceiling, the walls are covered in art and drawings, and I look around in awe. “This is…spectacular.” I smile.
“We put our bags in here,” Lucia tells me, she shows me the bag stand with little shelves. “I’m the apple and Dominic is the giraffe.” She points to the little tiles on top of each bag spot.
“I see.” I watch on as they put their bags into their spot. “And where do you sit?”
“I sit over here.” Lucia runs to her seat.
“And this is my seat.” Dominic shows me his seat. “I have to sit next to Maryanne.”
“Is she nice?” I ask.