Hello all, I have missed you. I have been working really hard on this, and it's near completed, so hopefully updates will be pretty consistent. This is a follow up to my story, Dawn, and it won't make sense if you haven't read that, so, yeah.
A most special thank you to Mecha—you push me to write better, and I'm grateful for that.
I can't wait to see what you guys think. Review?
Happy New Year to all. Xoxo.
Chapter 1: When I Grow Up
"When I grow up, I want to be a forester.
Run through the moss on high heels.
That's what I'll do, throwing out a boomerang,
Waiting for it to come back to me."
First Aid Kit, When I Grow Up.
Tony and Ziva wandered into what would be Sophie's new kindergarten classroom come Monday. Welcome! Shalom! Bonjour! Bienvenidos! , a small, colorful sign on the door read. There was a picture of a globe surrounded by children of all different shapes, sizes and nationalities holding hands. Their cartoon faces smiled widely. Tony saw one that had Sophie's long brown curls and swore it winked up at him.
Cubbies. A colorful rug. Stacks upon stacks of picture books. Blocks, and low tables with tiny chairs for his tiny daughter and her tiny classmates.
"Think I could fit in one of those?" He joked, and Ziva smirked at him.
"I doubt it—not after all those years of pizza and beer. Come, there are Tony sized seats over here," and with that she led him to a cluster of folding chairs. A petite young woman with short blonde hair and big green eyes clapped her hands together. 1,2,3, eyes on me.
"Good evening everyone!" Was she the perkiest person he'd ever seen? "I'm Jennifer Wheeler, and I'll be your kids' kindergarten teacher this year. The school puts this night together so that parents feel ready to send your kids off to school on Monday. Kindergarten is a big transition, and not just for the students. This is your chance to ask me questions about what this year is going to look like for your child." She paused and gave the crowd a big smile.
"So," Jennifer continued. "A little bit about me. This is my fifth year as a head kindergarten teacher. I am so excited for this new school year and excited to spend it with your dear children—we have a lot of good stuff planned. I want to get down to business right away, because I'm sure you're all anxious to get home back to your kids. Please say your name and your child's name before speaking so I can start putting faces to names."
A mother in the front row raised her hand and was called on. "Shana Lowell, Josh's mom. Are our kids going to be forced to take the Common Core standardized tests?" Her voice was deep and accusatory.
Jennifer kept her smile plastered on. "Unfortunately, yes. The state now requires us to adhere to the Common Core Standards Program, and that does mean implementing a system of standardized testing. We are working to integrate these benchmarks into our traditional Montessori curriculum, however it is a divergence from what we would normally do."
Tony looked at Ziva with wide eyes. She nodded back at him with a narrow, angry gaze. He looked around the small audience and could feel a mutiny forming.
"I understand that this is not ideal, however we are doing our best to ensure that your children receive the most creative and enriching Montessori education, while still preparing them for the tests. I can assure you that I strive to keep this environment one of safety and learning."
"Is it just one test?" Another parent called out.
"No. Within the first month of school, we are required to administer six standardized tests—"
Chatter exploded, all decorum forgotten. Tony wanted to rear up like a mountain lion. Or hop in the car and go home, where Sophie would be asleep in her bed in her little girl pajamas. Was she really old enough for all of this? He struggled to maintain his focus for the rest of the meeting.
They were home earlier than expected—it was only 7:48 when they walked through the door. Tony expected Sophie to leap off the sofa and into his arms, but what he got instead was a mournful little Daddy from where she lay on the couch with a cool compress over her eyes. Her purple glasses rested on the end table. The lights had been dimmed.
"What's wrong, munchkin?" He cooed, worried. She didn't say anything, but reached towards the sound of his voice without taking the compress off. He scooped her up and she burrowed her face in his neck.
"Headache," Gibbs supplied from where he sat at the other end of the couch, coffee and paper in hand.
"Shaifeleh, does your head hurt?" Ziva whispered, and smoothed Sophie's hair back. They got sniffles as their tearful reply.
"She doesn't have a fever," Gibbs reported, but Ziva ignored him.
"Let me feel your kepi, baby", she cooed, and pressed the back of her hand to Sophie's forehead. It was cool and dry.
"Gave her some Tylenol a half hour ago, but it hasn't done much. Those glasses might not be working."
No shit, Tony thought. Sophie had been squinting and having more trouble reading her books within the past month- the eye doctor had prescribed new lenses, but they had to be special ordered, and were still waiting for them to come in. "Thanks, Boss."
Gibbs smirked and opened the front door. "Anytime. Feel better, kiddo."
The door closed behind him and Ziva plucked Sophie from his arms. "It is bed time, Shaifeleh. We will wash up and go straight to bed."
"With you," Sophie maintained, rubbing her left eye furiously.
"With me," Ziva promised, and headed up the stairs.
…..
Sophie's new glasses came in the mail just in time for her first day of kindergarten. They were purple, which was good, but it was still hard to see. It hurt to look sometimes because she saw two where she knew there was one.
She picked out her outfit for the first day all by herself, which was what big girls did. Sophie was going to wear her denim overalls that were really a dress with little flowers on it, and her shiny new shoes and brand new socks that were bright bright white. Ema did her hair special in two pigtail braids and sprayed it with sweet smelling spray so that her beautiful braids would stay nice and shiny. She had a brand new pink backpack with owls on it. Inside there were pencils and markers and a change of clothes and her very favorite storybook, Chrysanthemum.
Ema and Daddy took lots and lots of pictures before all three of them got in the car and drove down their leafy green street all the way to her new school. There were lots of kids walking inside with their parents, and some grown up kids running up and down the steps without their moms or dads. The school looked bigger than the first time she saw it—could buildings grow? Sophie wanted to go home then, but Ema opened the car door and said, "Are you ready, motek?" and Sophie nodded. She held both their hands instead of getting picked up because she was in kindergarten now. They walked all the way inside and to a classroom with lots of kids. She remembered it from when she and Ema had come to visit, but it was real now with kids and parents and teachers. The lights were very bright and the colors all shouted at her.
"Can you find your name, shaifeleh?" Ema asked, pointing to all the cubbies. Sophie squinted, but the letters went all whoosh and she couldn't find it, even though she knew how to spell her name—S-O-P-H-I-E. She guessed and was lucky she got it right.
"Hi, Sophie! How you doing? Excited for the first day?" Her teacher asked. She had a big smile and a bigger voice. Sophie tried to say I want to go home, but instead she hid behind Daddy's legs. His work pants smelled good and crisp, like the dry cleaners. Both Daddy and Ema and Jennifer the teacher bent down.
"I think Sophie is feeling a little overwhelmed," Ema said, and rubbed her back.
"That is normal. Most of the other kids are nervous, too. We can go do coloring table or pretend—what sounds good to you?"
Nothing. "Coloring," she whispered, and they all went over to a table where lots of kids were drawing and playing Play-Doh.
"Look at all this, Sophie! You love Play-Doh!" Daddy said, and pulled out a chair for her. She sat down and started to roll a worm, but then another little girl was crying Mommy! and Sophie looked and looked. The hot-and-cold-all-over feeling washed over her and Ema gave her a big hug. It was warm and soft. Ema was warm and soft.
"You are going to have such a good time, my sweet girl. There are so many fun things to do and lots of nice children to play with. You will hardly even notice we are gone, and Daddy and I will be here to pick you up at 3 o' clock just like we talked about."
She hugged Ema tighter and tighter and then Ema pulled back and gave her a kiss. Daddy gave her one too and said "I am so proud of you, pumpkin," and then they did one last hug before it was time for them to go.
Sophie started to cry but then a little girl tapped her on the shoulder and held out a Play-Doh butterfly. She had bangs and a pink barrette in her red hair. She had glasses, too. Sophie didn't know any other kids with glasses.
"Don't cry. My name is April and we can play so you're not sad anymore. What's your name?"
"Sophie," she sniffled, and took the butterfly. April had blue nail polish on her fingers—Sophie liked that.
"Want to cook dinner?" April asked, holding up a cut out shaped like a pancake.
"Yeah," Sophie said, but then Jennifer the teacher clapped her hands and said, "It's clean up time!" so they had to put everything away.
April took Sophie's hand. "Sit with me at circle time?" She asked.
How did she know what was coming next? "Ok," Sophie said, and some of lonely went away.
They sang songs and did counting and the alphabet. The letters that Jennifer held up kept moving. That made it hard to know which letter was which, even though she was good at her ABCs. April knew, though. Sophie was glad April was her friend because she knew everything. She had three older brothers and a baby sister called Jamie and something called die-a-bee-tees, which meant she always had to wear a special silver bracelet with red on it. It was also why she had to leave class sometimes to go to Nurse Lois to get her sugar checked with a needle. April liked to show off her Band-Aids and the box on her tummy.
Kindergarten was longer than Pre-K. Sophie had to eat her lunch at the blue table instead of at home with Ema. Lunch at home with Ema was better, but lunch at kindergarten with April was ok, too. They both had hummus, but April ate hers with carrots and not pita like Sophie. After lunch they had recess, which meant they got to play outside on the playground. Sophie fell down and scraped her knee because it was hard to see where the stairs met the ground. April volunteered to take her to the nurse because she knew the way, but then Sophie bumped into the Nurses desk when they were inside. Nurse Lois wanted to test her eyes, but that was silly because Sophie already knew her eyes were bad. She made a fuss so she could go back to the classroom.
Before pick up time they got to do quiet reading. Sophie picked out Brave Irene but had to stop looking because all the whooshing was giving her another headache. She got those a lot now because of her bad eyes. She was happy when Ema and Daddy came to pick her up so she could go home. Ema would make the hurt stop.
…
Sophie ran to them on clumsy, tripping feet when they came to the door. Ziva opened her arms into a hug and her heart rate slowed a little. There was her baby, whole and ok after her first big day of school. For whom had this been more traumatic?
"How was it, Soph?" Tony begged, and she shrugged.
"Did you make any new friends?" Ziva asked, looking around at all the other children.
"April," Sophie reported seriously.
"Where is she?" Tony asked, craning his neck. Ziva frowned at the new bruise on Sophie's forehead.
"Did you bump?" Ziva wondered, and Sophie answered absently without looking at her.
"Yeah, an my knee. There's April!" She pointed across the room to a small redhead with freckles and big brown eyes. She was showing off a watercolor painting to her own mother, who looked altogether suburban and homey. She carried a baby on her chest, wrapped in meters upon meters of soft fabric. Ziva felt a pang of jealously low in her belly.
"Let's go say hi," Tony proposed, but Sophie hung back. "I want to go home," she whined, and stomped her little foot.
Ziva took her small hands in hers. "It is polite to say goodbye to your friends and thank them for playing before you leave."
April was seated in a little chair. She sucked on a juice box while her mom gathered up her things. "Bye, April" Sophie mumbled, and she waved back.
"I'll see you tomorrow and we can do art!" April said enthusiastically.
Her mother turned around with a hand on her baby's head. "You must be Sophie—April has been talking about how you played together today since I got here."
Sophie nodded shyly, and hid a little. Ziva stuck out her hand, feigning confidence. "I am Ziva, Sophie's mother, and this is Tony, her father." She got a warm, firm handshake in return.
"Laura, April's mom."
There was a noise from inside the bundle, and Ziva peered down into the baby's sweet face. She wanted to reach out and touch her baby soft cheek. "And who is this?"
"That's my sister, Jamie. She's a baby." April supplied.
"She is very beautiful. I am sure you are an excellent big sister."
"I am."
Laura smiled, but looked a little harried. "We should get the girls together for a play date sometime. Here is my number- send me a text anytime. I'm sorry to rush, but I have to catch their teacher and remind her to stick to the schedule I gave her this morning—April's blood sugar was too low when I got here."
Ziva pocketed the business card and noticed the glucose blood test monitor on the table for the first time.
"Good juice, kiddo?" Tony asked, and flashed his winning smile. April nodded enthusiastically. The straw gurgled when she came up for air.
"I understand. Perhaps I will see you at drop-off tomorrow?" Ziva asked.
"You sure will. Bye Sophie—thanks for playing with April."
Sophie nodded and tugged on Ziva's hand, disinterested.
"Let's head out, sweet pea," Tony announced, and Sophie took his hand.
"Home."
"Yeah, baby," he sighed, content. "We're going home".