The Best First Day of SchoolA Story by Missy JaneFree short story set in my world of Shifters: http://www.msmissyjane/shape_shiftersThe
Best First Day of School Fleur
watched the children streaming through the door into her classroom and couldn’t
keep the smile from her face. She loved the first day of school and the
excitement the young ones brought in with them as they prepared for a new year
of learning. First graders were the easiest in her opinion. They were asserting
their independence and no longer afraid of being away from home all day, but
still eager for new experiences. This was her fifth year and she no longer felt
the fear of ruining their small fragile minds. After
a deep calming breath, she waded through the small group and began steering her
new charges towards their assigned tables. It was such a different experience
from seven years ago, back when she’d taught human children, before the species
war and the building of the wall that kept the humans in the south and the
shape shifters in the north. Back then her biggest concern was keeping the
larger boys separated and ensuring they didn’t bully everyone else. Now, she
had to be wary of which species sat at each table, ensuring their natural
instincts wouldn’t be teased. Only
four boys and two girls had arrived and she quickly seated them according to
their animal halves. Three birds and three canines, not too bad. There would be
one feline in the class, but being a girl would hopefully keep her from acting
overly aggressive at this age. She was assigned as far away from the birds as
possible. More kids streamed in and Fleur sat them quickly, preparing to start
the day. Soon, only the little feline’s seat was empty. Her name was Kit. Fleur
smiled at that and walked to her desk as the bell finally rang. “Good
morning class, my name is Ms. Moreau. Can everyone say Good morning, Ms.
Moreau?” She
smiled encouragingly at the shining faces and clapped her hands together when
they repeated her greeting. Her day was off to a good start and the children
appeared to be a well behaved group. An hour later, Fleur was passing out the
electronic tablets common in every classroom when she spied movement at the
door. She turned and froze, unable to hide her shock as Philip Warner strode
in, a weeping little girl on his shoulder. His gaze roamed the room for a
moment before settling on Fleur and he stopped walking to simply stare. They
stayed that way, staring at each other in surprise and wonder until a hiccup
and sniffling voice broke the trance. “I-I
don’t wanna, d-daddy. I-I don’t wanna go to school.” Philip
placed a large hand on his daughter’s back and rubbed a soothing circle as he
turned to whisper into her ear. As soon as their eye contact was broken, Fleur
felt able to move again and finished passing out the tablets. She knew this was
her last student, the little feline child named Kit. Never in a million years
would she have guessed Kit’s father would be her long lost friend, Philip.
Fleur swallowed down the lump in her throat and walked slowly toward where
Philip was trying to pry Kit from his shoulder. The girl had her little legs
and arms wrapped tightly around her daddy and didn’t seem inclined to let go
anytime soon. “Good
morning. My name is Ms. Moreau. You must be Kit. We’ve all been looking forward
to meeting you.” The
little girl stopped whimpering and raised her head to peek at Fleur. Brilliant
emerald green eyes, just like her father’s, flashed from beneath her dark blond
bangs for a moment before she once again buried her face in Philip’s neck. He
smiled warmly and gave Fleur a shrug. “She
was so excited about the first day of school yesterday. Her resistance this
morning kind of came as a surprise and it took a while to get out of the house.
Sorry we’re late.” Fleur
steeled herself before turning her full attention to the man who’d been in too
many of her dreams to count. Philip had been one of her best friends before the
war. After all hell broke loose, he’d gone south to help his parents get to
safety and Fleur hadn’t heard from him since. Relief nearly overwhelmed her at
the evidence that he was alive and well. His dark brown hair was shorter than
she remembered, but his tall muscular build was the same. They’d both been into
sports in high school and college, one of the many things they’d had in common. “No
problem, I understand. The first day of school can be kind of scary.” Philip
grinned and took a step closer, leaning down a bit as he lowered his voice. “Goddess,
Fleur, I can’t believe it’s really you. If we didn’t have an audience I’d have
you in my arms right now. I’ve missed you so much.” His
whispered entreaty was said with so much emotion, Fleur felt tears burn the
back of her throat. Philip had always been like that, never afraid to say
exactly how he felt. He wasn’t a coward, hiding feelings out of fear they
wouldn’t be returned. Not telling Philip how much she’d loved him was the
biggest mistake of Fleur’s life, and now that they’d found each other again she
wished she could correct it. Unfortunately, he appeared to have a family now
and Fleur would be his daughter’s teacher. She had to remain as professional as
possible. “I’m
so happy to see you too, Philip. It does my heart good to know you’re all
right. What about your parents? You got to them safely?” He
nodded as Kit once again raised her head. This time she loosened her grip
enough to turn and face Fleur, her curiosity apparently winning out. “You
know mawmaw and pawpaw?” Fleur
smiled at the little angelic face and nodded, reaching over to wipe a single tear
from her cheek. “Yes,
I do, Kit. Your daddy and I were friends when we were in school.” Those
magic words were all it took to loosen the death grip Kit had on Philip. As
soon as he felt her let go he gently placed her on her feet and straightened
her dress. Fleur wasted no time showing them to Kit’s place at her table and
the little girl took her seat without further fuss. Philip smiled proudly and
stepped back toward the door. Fleur longed to keep him there by whatever means
necessary but knew that wasn’t possible. He waved her over before leaving. “Do
you get to leave when school lets out?” Fleur
bit her lip and thought it over while glancing down at his left hand. No
wedding band didn’t really mean anything, but it still gave her hope. “I’ll
have to finish up a few things but it shouldn’t take more than half an hour.” He
grinned and it made her heart speed up. She’d missed his dimpled face so much,
she felt like crying again. “Great.
Can Kit and I wait for you, and then maybe go somewhere to catch up?” “Sure.
That would be wonderful.” He
opened his mouth again, but then closed it and took a step back. Fleur knew his
reluctance to leave was because of Kit, but it made her breathless anyway. She
could hardly wait for this day that she’d looked forward to all summer to come
to an end. *** Philip
parked his car and took a calming breath to keep from jumping out and running
into the school. Fleur was in there. Beautiful, amazing Fleur, with her light
brown eyes and curly black hair. He’d been dreaming of her heart-shaped face
for years, praying she’d survived the war and found safety. Leaving her behind
to go to his parent had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but
she’d had her own family to attend to when the battle lines were drawn. His
only consolation was that she was far enough north from where the worst battles
were taking place not to be involved in the fighting. He’d had to get through
that chaos, smuggling his parents and a few others past the human military to
safety. That’s
when he’d met Kit’s mother, Kristy. She’d been all alone and he’d kept her
safe, the situation creating an instant bond between strangers. He’d never
truly loved her and she probably hadn’t loved him, but when she’d become
pregnant he’d done his duty and married her quickly. It was a bad time for both
humans and shifters. The war destroyed civilization in most places and all the
amenities they’d taken for granted. Childbirth was no longer an easy process
and Kristy simply wasn’t strong enough to endure in their roughened conditions.
She’d slipped away moments after meeting her daughter for the first and last
time. A
lone tear escaped as Philip fought the guilt that always came with Kristy’s
memory. He knew in his mind he’d done all he could for her, but his heart bled
for the mother his daughter would never know. Luckily, his parents had survived
and helped him raise his precious child. Without their support he would’ve been
completely lost. Swallowing down the last of those thoughts he stepped from the
car and headed into the school, ready to find the two most important females in
his life. A
bell rang as Philip waited by the front office with a few other anxious
parents. The animal inside him bristled at being so close to those he’d
consider prey when in his other form. However he’d long ago learned to control
his baser instincts and simply smiled kindly at the gazelle shifter standing
beside him. Children of all shapes, sizes and species streamed out of
classrooms and down the hall toward them. He stood back and relaxed against a
wall until the stream turned into a trickle. Passing a few stragglers, he
walked through the empty hallways to Fleur’s classroom and stepped inside. She
was at her desk stacking the electronic notebooks while Kit straightened the
chairs. “Well,
how was the first day of school?” “Daddy!” Kit
ran to him and jumped into his arms and he hugged her tightly. Few things
brought joy to his life anymore, but Kit was definitely the most important. He
looked up at Fleur, who stood from her desk and picked up her purse before
walking toward them. “Hello,
Philip. Kit is a wonderful helper. We got everything done quickly so you don’t
have to wait on me.” “Perfect.”
He flashed her a grin before walking out of the class with Kit in his arms. They
decided to have an early supper and Philip followed Fleur to a nearby diner.
Kit behaved amazingly well as they caught up on the years since the war and
learned all about their new lives. Philip was an engineer employed by the Alpha
of their country, The Federal Nation of Therianthropes. He was one of many
trying to reconstruct the roads and highways destroyed during the war. Fleur
seemed fascinated by his job and he proudly told her all about it before
steering the conversation back to her. Philip was thrilled to learn she’d never
married and currently lived alone. The lion inside of him wanted to roar in
triumph at the knowledge that she could soon be his. “Daddy,
I want ice cream.” Philip
smiled down at his daughter and signaled to the waitress. “Vanilla
with chocolate syrup?” he asked. “Oh
yes, please.” Fleur
chuckled and Philip grinned at her. She would soon learn he loved to spoil his
women. The waitress arrived and he ordered ice cream for all of them, waving
away Fleur’s half hearted protests. “Do
you need to head home right away?” Fleur
looked up from her dessert with a questioning gaze. She seemed to think it over
for a moment before shaking her head. “No,
why?” “I’m
dropping Kit off at my parents for the evening. Would you like to ride with us?
We can finish catching up and come back for your car later.” “Um,
sure. That’s fine.” Kit
giggled, but kept eating her ice cream. Philip winked at her, hoping she liked
Fleur as much as it appeared after only one day. They left the diner and
dropped Kit off with her grandparents. They’d been overjoyed to see Fleur,
remembering her fondly and grateful she was well. Philip had to pry her away
from his mother with promises of dinner together the next night. “I
hope you don’t mind having dinner with my parents tomorrow.” Fleur
flashed him a smile before looking out the window as he drove toward his house
a few streets away. He hadn’t told her where they were going, but she went
along without question. Her obvious trust warmed him to his soul and he knew
he’d found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. “Not
at all. I’ve missed them too. I’m just so glad all of you survived…everything.” “I’m
happier than you can imagine knowing you’re safe and well, Fleur. I’ve missed
you so damn much. It’s been like a piece of me has been missing.” He
kept his eyes on the road through his confession, but from the corner of his
vision saw her turn toward him. He glanced over and saw tears streaming down
her face, immediately alarming his animal. He pulled into his driveway and
yanked off his seatbelt, turning toward her in concern. “What’s
wrong, sweetheart? What is it?” She
smiled through her tears and took off her seatbelt, crawling over the console
and into his lap. “I’ve
missed you so much, Philip. As soon as things settled down I started looking
for you, but never had any luck. I feared the worst.” He
held her tightly against his chest and kissed her temple, reveling in the feel
of her in his arms. His lion purred in satisfaction and he felt her answering
call in his mind. I’m
so sorry, baby. I’ve been looking for you too. I had no idea you were so close. Fleur
sniffled and rubbed her face against his chest, a soft purr escaping her
throat. “Kit
told me about her mom. I’m so sorry, Philip.” He
sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “We
were friends but not much more. It wouldn’t have lasted. I’m sorry she’s gone
because Kit will never know her. But my parents have helped me a lot, so she’s
never wanted for anything.” “I’m
glad. She’s an amazing little girl.” “Thank
you. She has a big heart and can read people very well. I can tell she already
likes you a lot.” Fleur
looked up at him with hope in her eyes. “Really?” “Yes,
sweetheart. And thank the goddess for that. It’ll make it easier when I tell
her you’re moving in.” Her
jaw dropped and she sat up straighter. “Philip!
I haven’t agreed to that.” He
pulled her tightly against his chest again and kissed her hard on the lips. She
melted against him without hesitation, calming his lion with her surrender. “I
need you back in my life. Forever this time. Please don’t make me live without
you again.” More
tears filled Fleur’s eyes as she nodded and placed soft kisses all over his
face and neck. He hugged her tightly and breathed out a sigh of relief. “I
love you so much, Philip. I don’t think I could live without you again either.” “I
love you too, sweetheart. We’ll work everything out, you’ll see. Kit is a
wonderful little girl with a great capacity to love. She’ll welcome you in with
open arms.” Fleur
sniffled a bit as her gaze sobered. “I
hope so. I’ve always wanted a little girl.” “Now
you’ll have one, and soon we’ll get started on trying for a son.” Her
eyes glazed and her breath hitched. “How
soon, Philip?” He
chuckled and opened his door. “As
soon as I can get us out of this car and into the house.” “Oh
good, I don’t want to wait.” “Me
either, sweetheart. Me either.” “This
has been the best first day of school ever.” Philip
roared out a laugh as he carried her to his front door. He couldn’t help but
agree, and just prayed Kit would feel the same way when she learned her new
teacher would soon be her new mommy. © 2010 Missy Jane |
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Added on February 24, 2010 Last Updated on February 24, 2010 AuthorMissy JaneTXAboutMs. Missy Jane is the alter ego of a Texas mother of four who has been married to the same wonderful man for thirteen years. About five years ago Missy finished reading a book by Mercedes Lackey and t.. more..Writing
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