"Mommy!" Cordelia smiled as she heard the front door open and the sounds of small feet pelting towards her office. Jade was always a tornado of energy just waiting to tear through whatever got in her way.

"Jade-a-roo!" A tiny Cordelia bounded through the door and into her arms where she was quickly swung up into the air and hugged tightly, "How was the first day?"

"It was so great, mommy! My teacher is the best!" Little brown eyes had widened to emphasize her point and there was no arguing with her about it once they were the size that they were at that moment.

"Is that right?" Was asked seriously as Cordelia sat the girl on top of her desk and moved to reply to an e-mail that had just caught her attention, "And what is this fabulous teacher's name?"

"Miss Day! She's really cool, mommy," Cordelia grinned at her daughter and Jade beamed up at her in return, "What did you do today?"

"I helped put a bad guy in prison," Was said playfully as she swung her daughter back into her arms and walked through the house towards the kitchen, "So, I'm pretty sure there's something we do on first days.. I don't remember what it is though," Cordelia tapped her chin like she was thinking hard about it and Jade practically bounced out of her arms.

"Ice cream!" Cordelia laughed.

"Oh yeah. That's it," She sat the girl to her feet as she grabbed her keys, "Did your bring all of your first day paper work home?" The girl nodded and grabbed her Star Wars backpack on the way out.

oooOOooOOooo

Cordelia picked Jade up from Zoe's a few days later. Her best friend always picked both Jade and her own daughter, Leah, up when Cordelia had to work later. She thanked her like always when the door opened, and was then hit by the force that was her daughter running into her legs.

"Ready to go?" The girl nodded up to her and Cordelia picked her bag up.

"Bye, Aunt Zoe!" The other blonde laughed softly.

"Bye, J!" They made their way to the car and Cordelia buckled her daughter into her car seat that was settled in the back seat.

"How was your day, Jade-a-roo?" Was asked as Cordelia pulled out of the driveway and started home.

"It was great, mommy! Miss Day taught us about the environment!" Cordelia smiled at her daughter in the rear view mirror and nodded along as the little blonde continued to tell her about her day.

It was when she was tucking the girl in that night that she brought up her teacher again. "You should meet Miss Day, mommy. I think you'd like her," Her statement was punctuated by a long yawn and a set of droopy brown eyes.

"I'm sure she's lovely, darling. Sweet dreams."

oooOOooOOooo

When Cordelia picked her daughter up a week later, she was met with the sight of a tiger painted onto the girl's face, "Who did that?" Was asked as she picked her up, thanked her best friend, and left with Jade.

"Miss Day did it. We're learning about predators and prey. She painted all of our faces and let us choose our own animals. Isn't that cool?" Cordelia nodded dumbfounded. How had the woman found the time to paint at least twenty little squirming faces?

"And did you catch some prey?"

"Yeah! I caught squirrels and bunnies and mice!" Cordelia snorted softly and nodded to her daughter from the front seat.

"That sounds like fun."

"It was so much fun! Miss Day is so awesome!" Cordelia was starting to think that maybe the woman was pretty spectacular. If she could make learning fun enough to entertain, she must have been something pretty great.

oooOOooOOooo

Cordelia opened Jade's book bag that Sunday and pulled out her binder. She flipped through her agenda and looked through her graded assignments before finding a flyer that she hadn't been given.

"Jade?" Was called through the house and a moment later, a little girl was flying into her office. Cordelia held the paper up, "When did you get this?"

"Dunno," Was said distractedly. She had a friend over at the moment and Cordelia had a feeling if she didn't get her answers quickly, she wasn't going to get them.

"It says parent/teacher conferences are tomorrow, Roo," The girl smiled apologetically and Cordelia shook her head good-naturedly, "Go play," The girl was gone before the words were even fully out of her mouth properly.

oooOOooOOooo

Cordelia met Zoe at the school. She thanked her as she grabbed Jade's hand and they went their separate ways to find their respective teachers. Jade talked a mile a minute as she led Cordelia through the hallways and towards the second grade area. The woman just nodded and listened to the story her daughter was weaving about her adventures on the playground earlier that day.

She was pulled into a brightly decorated classroom and saw a pair of parents already sat in front of the teacher's desk. Jade pulled her around the room to show her the art work they had done while they waited. Cordelia was being told the story behind a particular painting when someone stepped up to her side.

The woman turned and was faced with a woman who looked about her own age. She had wild curly hair which she had pulled up into a pony tail. Her dark wash jeans were paired with a pale yellow blouse and Cordelia's mind came up with one word to describe her: striking.

"Hi, you must be Mrs. Goode. Jade talks about you a lot," Cordelia nodded and turned to face the woman now. She realized a little late that the other couple had left and hadn't noticed from being focused on her daughter.

"Nice to meet you. And it's Miss," The woman nodded, "But please, Cordelia is fine," She was met with another nod and felt herself wanting to smile for no reason at all.

"She's doing great. Probably the brightest in the class," Cordelia grinned and thanked her softly, "She's willing to try anything and she's very spirited. Overall, she's just a joy to have," Cordelia glanced towards her daughter who was now entranced by the class pet.

"That thing can't.. Bite her or something, right?" The woman shook her head as she glanced towards the lizard cage as well.

"Frankie's five years old. He can't do much of anything," Was laughed out softly. Cordelia nodded in acceptance and smiled softly, "And we got word today that she was chosen to read her poem next week at the regional level," The teacher said excitedly.

"What?" Cordelia said less than eloquent and immediately felt embarrassed at the way she'd phrased her question. The blonde just smiled however and moved towards her desk and located a folder. She held it towards Cordelia. She read over a poem in her daughter's still slightly messy handwriting and smiled softly when she got to the end of it.

"I entered it in the poetry contest on a whim. It's usually for fourth and fifth graders but I figured if it did make it, it would boost her, and if it didn't, I wouldn't tell her," Cordelia nodded once again speechless.

"And she'll be reading it next week?" Was asked softly.

"Yes, she and three fifth graders from the area. You're invited of course. I'm sure the school will be sending home a letter soon."

"Thank you," Was said meaningfully and the woman nodded. Cordelia glanced towards the clock on the wall and looked back towards the woman, "It seems that parent/teacher conferences are over. I guess I'll see you next week?"

She was thrown a small nod and turned to call her daughter's name and get her attention before the woman spoke again, "This is completely out of character for me," Cordelia felt her heart hammer and hoped beyond hope that this striking woman felt what she was feeling as well, "Would it be weird if I asked you out?"

Cordelia bit her bottom lip softly as she met blue eyes and shook her head, "Not at all, Miss Day," Was said playfully and the woman laughed.

"Misty."

"Misty it is. See you soon."