Page 89 of Johnathan

“Oh, for the winter carnival?”

“Yes!”

“My mommy wants to come too!” Honey bounced up and down at her desk.

“That’s great you guys. Be sure to have her sign that slip, okay? That’s how I’m keeping track of all the parents coming.”

“I will, Ms. Abby.”

“Good. It looks like Katy is waiting to hold your hand for partners, Honey. Best be going.”

Katy smiled as the little girl ran and took her hand, pulling her out into the hallway.

Finally having a minute before Mary Beth would be back, Abby picked up her phone. She smiled as she saw the message notification.

Deputy Handsome: How’s your day been, beautiful?

Abby: I want to cry.

Deputy Handsome: …

Deputy Handsome: …

Deputy Handsome: Why? What happened? Are you okay?

Abby: I’m fine. Don’t worry. Just…I guess a parent complained about me to my principal. She’s going to be doing abunch of observations on my class now because apparently I’ve been favoring certain kids in my class over others.

Deputy Handsome: I’m sorry, baby. I know you are an amazing teacher. Katy loves going to school now, and last year all she did was cry and beg me not to make her go.

Abby: That’s sweet. I love having her in my class this year. I’m just worried about my placement. She couldn’t even tell me what parent had complained because they wanted to remain anonymous. I don’t know, it just feels yucky.

Deputy Handsome: Do you think this is about us? About Katy being in your class?

Abby: No. I’m sure it’s something else. I’ll figure it out. How did your meeting with Hank go?

Deputy Handsome: It was fine. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. We’re still on for taking Katy to that new park in Lark Lake, right? And going to family dinner after?

Abby: Yes. I can’t wait. Shoot. Mary Beth just walked back in. I need to let her know what’s going on.

Deputy Handsome: Hope the rest of your day goes better.

Abby: Stay safe, Deputy…

Deputy Handsome: Jesus, woman. You know what it does to me when you say that. I wish I was picking Katy up from school this afternoon. I’ve never been so jealous of Jackson before in my life…

Abby laughed as she set her phone on her desk. She just needed to get through the rest of the day, and then she’d be able to spend the weekend with her two favorite people.

Twenty-Seven

“Hey, I was just about to send you a message to see if you guys were on your way to pick me up.”

Oh shit. He was such a dick. Not that he meant to be, but still. Why hadn’t he thought to send her a message right away? Maybe because he was up half the night with Katy while she cried, and then he was running around making sure she was okay after she started throwing up all over him. When Katy had woken up sick, he’d gone immediately into his nurse-dad role.

“Baby, I’m so sorry.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I should have messaged you earlier. Katy’s running a fever. I was up half the night with her because she wasn’t feeling good, and she just threw up. We aren’t going to be going to family dinner tonight.”

---