The lecture hall was filled with chatter, as students strolled in before the ten-fifteen start time; the chatter of winter vacations upstate and study abroad programs to Italy or Tanzania for six to eight weeks, studying art or anthropological research, to partying in on the beaches of Rio or Laguna.

"Yooo where is this professor man!" one kid whined, twisting around in his seat. "Bro, I don't even need this class! Financial aid was up my ass all winter long about being fulltime this semester!"

His companion snickered, "Yo, no one gives a fuck about shipwrecks!" he laughed, as a blonde stepped forward.

"So if you don't "give a fuck" about shipwrecks, then why did you sign up?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "Surely you'll benefit spending more time outside, smoking and littering our sidewalks."

Before either boy could respond, the woman stepped back and clapped her hands twice. "Everyone settle down!" she yelled over the mass volume of chatter. "Class is starting now, especially if you want to get out early!"

The students quickly settled down and she smiled, "Good Morning! I'm Professor Melanie Pike and this is History 379 Observation of Shipwrecks: From Titanic to Andrea Doria. This class also coincides with Marine Biology 379 and Sociology 345, so please double check your schedules to make sure you're in the right place!"

Nodding to the TA near the podium, Melanie turned to look back at the students. "The course is very easy and I only expect a few things," she shrugged. "I expect you to show up on time, or at least try to, considering rush hour in the morning is horrendous," she earned a few giggles. "I do allow the use of computers, but please refrain from Facebooking, Twittering and Tumbling!"

Lucy, the TA, began handing out course outlines, moving up the middle aisle as quickly as possible. "There are NO exams," Melanie continued, smiling at the collective sigh of relief. "There are readings from the books and a few PDF's that I will post online, so please read them! We will watch a select amount of films and documentaries throughout the semester and yes, we will watch James Cameron's Titanic."

A few girls giggled around the room, "Yes!" one yelled in triumph.

"There will be one paper, five to seven pages, which I haven't decided yet what the topic will actually be," she continued. "If you need your department requirement for writing, then you can write the full ten to twelve pages. Those I will read personally, and Lucy and I will divide the rest between us."

The students flipped through the course outline silently, as Melanie gave them a few minutes to go through it. It took nearly all winter long to write out a full semesters worth of work, driving both her husband and family crazy, as she stayed up all hours of the night writing.

"Umm, it says here you only have office hours one day a week," a boy in the middle of the lecture hall said. "How can you only have one day a week, when the TA has two?"

Melanie fought to keep the eye roll to herself, "You're name?" she asked. "I'd like to see your lovely face as I answer your question."

The boy raised his hand, "Shouldn't professors be more available during the semester?" he asked.

"Ahh, I'm sure many have open schedules to address every need you have," Melanie started, before the kid interrupted again.

"And a five to seven page paper?" he snorted. "This class was only opened to seniors and transfers. The course description said the paper would be seven to twelve pages long."

Around him, a few students glared and hissed at him, as the boy ignored them. Melanie started up the aisle and stood to look at the boy.

"How many of you have fulltime jobs?" she suddenly asked, looking around as a few students raised their hands. "How about families? Kids? Spouses that work as well?"

Several more hands went up, "I only have one day's worth of office hours, because I have a small child at home and a husband that works over night," Melanie said, turning to look back at the kid. "While I'd love to spend every waking hour, teaching all you lovely people about the Titanic and how marine ecosystems are destroying the remains, I also have a life outside of here."

A few boys whistled and snickered, "But if you really want a longer paper to write, I have no problem reassigning it," she grinned, earning a few groans and "No! Please don't!" from the students.

The boy rolled his eyes and Melanie knew that she won, "What's your name?" she asked.

"George McKnightly," the kid scowled.

"Well, George McKnightly," she started back down to the front of the room. "If you don't like this very easy schedule and light course load, then I suggest you drop the class or sit back and keep your mouth shut."

A few students laughed out loud, quickly smothering their laughter with coughs, while others looked at each other in shock. "To complain about a very easy class, which I expect a boatload of A's to give out, is very silly," she said, picking up the remainder of the course outlines. "If you have any questions, you are more than welcomed to email me and I will kindly set something up so that you feel like you're getting your money's worth."

She then gave them all once last look, before smiling brightly at them. "I will see you all on Thursday! Please get your books and start on your reading!"

….

The front door slammed shut behind her, as Melanie dropped everything to the floor. A squeal from the back of the apartment, followed by laughter, filled her ears.

"Mommy's home!"

Kicking off her shoes, Melanie made her way down the hall to the master bedroom, smiling as she found Chris and Charlotte on the bed. The toddler looked at her and shrieked, holding her hands out.

"Baby girl!" she exclaimed, making her way over to the bed. "Oh I missed you so much today!"

Chris snorted as she fell onto the bed, bringing Charlotte down with her for a hug and kiss. "What about me?" he asked, pouting. "Didn't you miss me?"

Melanie smiled, "Of course I missed you," she smiled, accepting the quick kiss from him. "I missed you both."

Charlotte patted her cheek, sucking furiously on her pacifier, as Melanie smoothed her hair back.

"How was your day, Professor?" Chris snickered. "Did you dazzle your students with your smarts?"

She groaned, "I had one smartass question the light course load," she huffed, as Charlotte crawled around between them. "Gave him a tame verbal lashing and then went to my office and ate four doughnuts."

"My poor baby," Chris whined, leaning down to smother her with kisses. "I hope you fail the kid."

"I hope he drops the class," she snorted. "Little shit, busting my chops for only having one day of office hours."

Charlotte sat up and pulled at her toes, looking up at her parents with wide eyes. "How was your day?" Melanie asked, rolling onto her side.

The toddler picked up her teething ring, looking down at it in awe, as Chris fixed her shirt. "We had an eventful morning," he sighed. "Charlie here ate most of her breakfast, making such a mess. And then we watched the news and a little bit of Disney, before taking a bath."

Charlotte pointed at him, grunting and spiting out her pacifier. "Then we read a picture book about puppies and ate some strawberry puffs," he chuckled.

"Sounds like you two had fun," she smiled. "Are you going to be alright going to work later?"

He nodded "I'll just drink a lot of coffee before hand," he shrugged, pulling Charlotte close to him. "Right Charlie? You're going to be good for Mommy tonight?"

The girl squealed as Chris held her up, kicking her feet out at him. Melanie laughed and pulled herself up, pulling the hair tie out.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll start figuring out what to make for dinner," she yawned, getting up to move towards the dresser.

"I'll make you something to eat now," Chris offered, setting Charlotte down on the bed. "Wanna help me make Mommy some food?"

Charlotte babbled as he talked to her, "Oh! Oh!" she chanted, pointing at him.

Grabbing a pair of shorts and tank top out of the drawer, Melanie snickered as they interacted. "I'll be out in five minutes," she promised, making her way towards the bathroom.

…..

"I heard your first day was pretty shitty," Leonard smirked, as Melanie fed Charlotte her dinner. "Chris was texting Jim, which he really sucks at by the way, and said you wolfed down four doughnuts."

Melanie scowled at the computer, "Shut up, Len," she rolled her eyes, cutting a small piece of chicken for Charlotte. "First day always sucks."

"Ah, it'll get better," he nodded. "Once those kids realize how easy they have it, they'll be singing your praises on that website which gives them a chance to rate how good you are."

She snorted, "Rate my professor?" she asked. "God, I hate that site."

Charlotte smacked the tray of her highchair, rubbing her hands across her face. "Charlie, no!" Melanie sighed, picking up a napkin. "You have spaghetti sauce all over your face now!"

"What the hell are you feedin' her?" Leonard frowned, trying to get a good view of his goddaughter. "Ain't she a little young for spaghetti?"

"She's eating Chicken parmesan without the noodles," she huffed. "We've been feeding her those meals from Gerber, but they are disgusting."

"Uh! Uh!" Charlotte grunted, wiggling in her high chair, pointing at the plastic fork in Melanie's hand. "Muhh!"

Melanie sighed, "She's always fussy when I feed her," she shook her head. "But if Chris does it, she's the perfect angel. Smiling and laughing and being a sweet little baby."

Leonard chuckled, "That's because you force it at her," he shook his head. "You gotta be patient, Mel. If she doesn't want to eat it, don't' make her."

"Ugh, did you request a video chat just to tell me how to parent my kid?" she asked, scowling at him. "Where's Jim? He's nicer to me when he calls."

"Jim took Jo to the bookstore," he sighed. "Why she needs more books, I have no clue. We just bought her a few books two weeks ago and she's already done with them."

Melanie snickered, "You shouldn't complain, Len," she took the tiny dish away from Charlotte before she could cause more damage. "When she gets into Yale or Oxford, you'll look back and thank your lucky stars that she took her education seriously."

He sighed, "I know," he nodded. "I think tomorrow we're going to go through all the books she has now and box the old ones up. That way when Charlie gets older, she can have them."

"She liked Percy Jackson," Melanie smiled. "And Chris downloaded Harry Potter on the IPad and started reading the first book to her the other night."

"Isn't she a little young for Harry Potter?" Leonard frowned.

Melanie giggled, "She's too young for Jane Austen, but Potter is perfectly fine," she nodded. "Plus he does all the voices and it makes her happy."

Leonard chuckled, "Please videotape this!" he begged. "We need some blackmail on the old man!"

"Are you guys coming out during Jo's winter break?" she asked, wiping the highchair tray down. "I know you said something about wanting to celebrate Jim's birthday out here, since he's' turning the big three-oh!"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I booked our flight tickets last night and called up his boss at the bar and told him the days. Joanna's been looking at things for me to buy him as birthday gifts."

Melanie smiled, "How about… an engagement ring?" she asked innocently. "Chris and I have a bet on when you're going to pop the question! If Chris loses, then he has to clean the bathroom for three months!"

"Dammit Mel!" he scolded. "You two act like children!"

"But Lenny!" she whined, as Charlotte screeched. "It's either that or I have to do whatever Chris wants in bed, and I'm actually scared about that idea."

Leonard rolled his eyes, "I'm ending this call now," he shook his head. "I'll have Jo call back after dinner or tomorrow after school."

Melanie sighed, "Fine!" she looked at Charlotte. "Say bye bye to Uncle Len!"

"Bye my little sweetpea," Leonard waved at the screen. "Be bad for Mommy!"

Charlotte pointed at the screen, " 'Ones!" she grunted. " "Ones!"

"Bones!" Melanie smiled, as Charlotte laughed, while her brother grumbled. "I'll talk to you later, Len."

Disconnecting from Facetime, Melanie quickly closed the laptop and stood up from her chair. "Let's go clean that pretty face and Mommy will read you a story," she said, unbuckling the toddler from her high chair. "Hopefully you'll be asleep before Daddy comes home, that way he can get a full nights rest."