Jane is curled up with his wife, both deeply asleep. The house is quiet and birdsong wafts through the open windows. Suddenly the alarm by the bed makes an irritating racket. Lisbon rolls away from Jane and silences the alarm. Jane groans and pulls her back to him.
"We have to get up, Jane. I need to go to work and-"
"-And Casey starts second grade today." He kisses his wife and sits up on the side of the bed. She notices Jane is uncharacteristically quiet. She moves over on the bed, puts her hands around Jane's back and kisses his shoulder.
"Do you think we're making the right decision letting her go to Whitter again this year?"
"I want her to have a normal life, and have fun with the friends she made last year."
Lisbon sits beside him. "When we talked to Mr. Waver he said Miss Tracy taught in a school for gifted children in the past. Casey will have special math books to use while the other children are busy doing basic math. Miss Tracy said it will help her with problem solving, creative thinking - keep her from being bored with regular second grade math. They're committed to keeping her interested and challenged."
"Hmm," he says, not completely convinced. "How did we end up with a gifted child? Must be from her really smart mom," He says, punctuating his conclusion with a kiss.
"Or from the smartest man I know," she says kissing him back.
"Anyone I know?" Jane smiles and dodges her attempt to whap him. "Works for me."
They rise. Lisbon heads to the bathroom. Jane leaves the bedroom wearing his pale blue pj's. He knocks on a door down the hall and opens it. A small lump on the bed is nearly lost among a crowd of dolls and stuffed animals sitting on the pillow and blankets - those that haven't fallen off the bed. Jane turns off the night light and stands by the side of the bed.
"Good morning, Casey," he singsongs. "Time to get up. School starts today and you can see your friends from last year." The lump doesn't move. "I know you're awake. You get to wear one of your new dresses."
His daughter is saying something but the blankets muffle the words. He teasingly pulls the blanket down. His daughter looks up at him, clearly upset.
"Do I have to wear a dress, Daddy? I like jeans and my Mickey Mouse sweater."
She looks at him with green eyes and a pout clearly donated by the Lisbon side of her family.
"Do it for your old man, Casey. Today they will be taking school pictures and I would like to see you wearing a dress. I'll make pancakes for breakfast so get a move on, my sweet girl." He leaves, wisely cutting short any complaints or - more effective - creative bargaining.
Casey gets out of bed with an exaggerated sigh. She opens her closet and takes out the blue dress her father bought her. The face she makes probably isn't one her daddy wants in her school photo.
A short time later Jane has changed into jeans and a shirt and is pouring juice in the kitchen. Lisbon comes in and grabs a glass of juice. They stop and look when they hear a loud noise down the hallway. Casey comes in. She smiles and runs over to receive a kiss from Lisbon.
"Good morning, Mommy," she says brightly, then she turns to her father. "Good morning, Daddy." She takes a chair at the table and pours syrup over the pancakes in front of her.
Lisbon looks at Jane and smiles. He just shakes his head at the boots.
"Casey, when you finish your breakfast I need your backpack so I can put your lunch in it. The bus will be here in a half hour."
"The bus?" She slides off the chair and hugs Jane's waist." The bus? You're letting me take the bus this year!" she squeals. "All my friends will be on it. Thank you, Daddy." She rushes out, half-eaten pancakes forgotten. "I'll get my backpack right away," her voice floats down the hall behind her.
"I was never that happy riding the bus to school." Lisbon says with a smile. "Of course I was the only one whose mother or father drove one. Why did you change your mind?"
"Wiley checked out the driver for me. No tickets, won the best school bus driver for three years running. Her background was perfect." Jane says as he sits down to drink his tea.
"I should have known you would do that. -Over-protective, a little?" She suggests with a smile. He shrugs, acknowledging her point without being willing to do any less to protect his ... second daughter.
A few minutes later Casey comes running back to the kitchen. She changed her shoes to black Mary Jane's with white socks. Jane smiles at Lisbon but doesn't comment.
"I think these shoes look better with my new dress," she says as she puts her pack on the kitchen counter. Jane puts her lunch box in the bag and shows her a bag of quarters before he puts that in, too. "In case they have cookies you want with lunch."
"Will you be at the bus stop when I come back?"
"I will as of now, but if they need me at the office Dottie will pick you up." Jane says returning to the table to finish his tea. "The driver will wait until Dottie is there or me. The drivers never leave until every kid has someone to walk them home. "
Lisbon kisses Casey on the top of her head, wondering how many more years she'll be able to do that before Casey is too tall. "Have a nice day at school. I've got to go."
She kisses Jane and whispers, "Told you she would want to wear boots. Got your way by not pushing her."
Once Lisbon leaves, Casey takes her plate and glass to the sink. "I'll go brush my teeth. Daddy, can you braid my hair?"
Jane clears the plates, rinses them and puts them in the dishwasher. "Yes, but we need to hurry."
A short time later Jane and Casey arrive at the bus stop. He stands with the other parents as she rushes off to see her friends. A woman standing nearby looks at him speculatively.
"Nervous father today?"
"Yep. First time for the bus."
The woman smiles. "My son is in third grade. Last year was his first time riding the bus. Miss Perkins is a wonderful driver. By the end of the day she'll know everyone's name and stop. She's never lost a child."
When the bus stops the door opens and the driver gets out and greets the kids. "Remember where you sit today. That will be your seat for the rest of the year. Everyone on board." The children line up and board. Casey waves to her father. She sits at a window seat and waves to him again. Jane waves back, expression carefully pleasant and reassuring. Regardless of the logical arguments he tells himself, this is not easy for him. He's been used to never letting her out of their sight. Though Casey begged to ride with her friends, it was only after he and Lisbon talked that he began to come around. Only after he learned of the driver's glowing resume did he relent to letting their daughter ride. He waves one more time as the bus drives off and watches till it's out of sight. He takes a deep breath and walks home.
Casey is busy talking to two girls her age in the seat in front of her. All three are excited to see each other and are talking about their summer vacation. A voice from the front speaks out, "Girls face front, Casey sit back in your seat."
A boy in the seat behind Casey is a little older than her. He warns, "Better watch out. If you get three demerits you can't ride the bus for a month. I know, and my Mom was really mad because she had to drive me to school and home."
Casey faces forward, her face revealing her concern. Her Daddy was letting her ride the bus and she didn't want to ruin it. She looks at the girl sharing her seat. The girl is very thin, and is wearing an old, worn jacket.
"Hi, I'm Casey. I'm in second grade." The girl looks at her in surprise. "What's your name?"
"I'm in second grade too. My real name is Susan, but my mom always calls me Scout. Nobody calls me that anymore."
"I'll call you Scout, it's a nice name. Was your mother at the bus stop?"
"Oh no, my father takes me there and sometimes I walk to the bus. It's real close to our house. He's never there when I get home." Scout says.
"Who walks you home?" Casey asks settling in to learn all about this possible new friend.
"The bus stops almost at the front of our house. Miss Perkins waits until I go inside. That way my Dad doesn't have to be home."
"Oh.… My daddy would never let me stay home alone. My mom calls him a 'a nervous father,'" she parrots back Lisbon's phrase. Both the girls laugh at that and talk the rest of the way to school.
Jane busies himself at the house, knowing he's being ridiculous worrying about something literally millions of kids safely do daily. He picks up toys and books that didn't quite make it into the toy box last night and also Lisbon's book that fell off her lap when she fell asleep trying to finish it. The phone rings and he dumps the stuff on the couch so he can answer.
"Hey, Lisbon … The park a few miles from here? ... If you think I can help, I'll call Dottie to come over so she can get Casey from the bus. See you there…. Love you too." He disconnects and looks at the stuff. Then he shrugs, happy to have a more challenging distraction from his unreasonable but very real, anxiety.