A strange sound jolted Connor McKinley awake from his deep slumber one night. He rolled over in the bed to look at his bedside clock. "3:30 AM," it read. He turned over on his other side to find the bedspread ruffled, where his husband, Kevin Price, was usually fast asleep beside him.
Connor sat up in bed and looked around the room, perplexed as to where Kevin had disappeared to so late at night. Suddenly, he heard the strange sound again, coming from downstairs. It sounded like a man sobbing, though stifled by something. Connor slowly got out of the bed and tiptoed toward the stairs, trying not to wake their daughter, Mangeni.
Connor climbed down the stairs and walked into the living room, finding a distraught Kevin sitting in the dark, lit only by the glow of the TV screen. Tears were streaming down his face as he sobbed into one of the designer pillows they kept on the couch.
"Kevin?" Connor hissed. "It's 3:30 in the morning. Why are you awake and… why are you crying?"
Kevin looked up at Connor with tear-filled eyes. He patted the spot next to him on the couch, motioning for Connor to sit next to him. Connor rolled his eyes and reluctantly plopped down next to Connor, who looked at the TV screen. The ending credits of The Little Mermaid were playing.
"Did you have to watch this NOW?" Connor asked, turning back to Kevin.
"I couldn't sleep," Kevin whimpered.
"Why not?"
"I… I just… it's Mangeni."
"What about her?"
"She's going to pre-school tomorrow."
Connor sighed. "I thought we were over this."
Kevin turned to Connor. "Our daughter is all grown up, Connor."
Connor chuckled. "She's 3, Kevin. I'd hardly call that grown up."
Kevin gestured to the TV. "The ending of this movie always makes me cry. When Ariel gets married, and King Triton talks about how much he'll miss her, and it just reminded me so much of Mangeni. Pretty soon she'll be starting kindergarten, and then middle school, and then she'll be getting her period…"
"EW. Kevin, can we PLEASE not talk about our daughter's PERIOD?"
Kevin chuckled. "You know what I mean."
Connor slid closer to Kevin, tucking himself under Kevin's arm. "But the important thing is we'll be there with her every step of the way. She'll always be our little angel, even when she lives to be 100." He looked up at Kevin. "Just like how I'LL always have my prince charming."
Kevin looked confused. "Oh… they didn't send you the divorce papers?"
Connor smirked. "You know exactly how to kill the mood, don't you?"
Kevin smiled. "I can't even joke about that. I'd be lost without you."
"Don't you forget it," Connor responded with another smirk, this time leaning in to softly kiss Kevin on the lips. "Speaking of Mangeni, we never discussed who was gonna take her to school tomorrow. Clearly you're in no state to deal with it, so I guess I'll have to do it."
"No no… it's on my way to work. I'll do it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I got this." He took a deep breath and then stood up. "I guess we should get some sleep," he said, extending a hand to Connor.
A few hours later, after the sun had finally risen, Connor slowly creaked the door open of Mangeni's room. Mangeni was adopted from Uganda and was the pride and joy of both Connor and Kevin. Connor gently shook the sleeping Mangeni by the shoulder. The little girl turned over, slowly opening her eyes and looking up at Connor.
"Hi, Papa," she said, cracking a smile.
"Good morning, angel. You know what today is?"
"The first day of school!" Mangeni said, suddenly shooting up from her bed.
"That's right!" Connor said, laughed. "Someone's really excited!"
"I'm gonna make new friends, right Papa?"
"That's right, Mangeni. You're gonna meet a lot of little boys and girls your age."
"I can't wait!"
"So," Connor said, walking towards Mangeni's closet. "Should we pick out what you're gonna wear?"
"I wanna do it!" Mangeni said, budging in front of Connor. "I'm a big girl now!"
Connor was slightly taken aback, but smiled anyway. "You're right, honey. You're big enough to pick out your own clothes now I think."
Connor walked back towards the bed and took a seat, looking on as Mangeni perused the selection of clothes hanging in the closet. She would pull several shirts off the hangars, holding them in front of her and modeling them in the mirror in front of her. Suddenly, Connor felt his eyes well up with tears.
"Papa, why are you crying?" Mangeni asked.
"I'm sorry. I'm just so proud of you. That's all."
"Oh. Ok. I don't want you to be sad, Papa." Connor smiled as Mangeni made her final outfit choice.
After Mangeni was dressed, Connor led her by the hand to the kitchen where Kevin was waiting, dressed in a suit, ready for work.
"There's my big girl!" Kevin said, scooping Mangeni up in his arms. "Are you ready for your first day of school?"
"Yes, daddy! I dressed myself!"
"She did?" Kevin asked, looking at Connor.
"Yep," Connor said, with a few tears still left in his eyes. "All by herself. Like a big girl."
"I thought we were gonna keep our cool," Kevin said with a smirk. Connor rolled his eyes, wiping the last few tears away.
"I got something for you," Kevin said, walking to the kitchen counter. He picked up a pale blue lunch box and held it up for Mangeni to see.
"A lunch box!" Mangeni exclaimed. "With princesses on it! Thanks, daddy!"
"You're very welcome," Kevin said, smiling. "Shall we get going?"
Connor walked over and kissed Mangeni on the cheek. "Have fun today, sweetheart. And remember to be nice to the teacher and to everyone else. Will you do that?"
"Yes, Papa."
Connor kissed Kevin on the lips and watched as the two headed towards the door.
Kevin helped Mangeni out of the car and walked her inside of the school building. He looked around, not exactly sure where he was supposed to be going. He spotted another woman holding her daughter by the hand, also visibly unsure of where to go.
"Excuse me," Kevin said, walking over to the woman. "Would you happen to know where Miss Miller's preschool class is?"
"Oh, actually, I'm looking for that too," the woman said warmly. "It's little Morgan's first day." She looked down at the little girl beside her
"It's my Mangeni's first day too," Kevin responded, looking down at Mangeni.
"Well, shall we find it together?"
The two walked through the hallways until they found a sign that read "Miss Miller – AM Preschool – FIRST DAY!" They walked into the room to see a dozen or so children running around. A young blonde woman walked hurriedly towards the door.
"Hi there! I'm Miss Miller!" She bent down to Morgan and Mangeni's level. "And who might you be?"
"I'm Morgan."
"I'm Mangeni."
"Well, it's VERY nice to meet both of you. Why don't you go meet the rest of the class?"
The two girls looked up at their parents and then began walking away.
"I like your lunchbox," Morgan commented to Mangeni.
"Thanks! My daddy bought it for me."
"That man's your daddy? He looks like prince charming!"
"Well," Miss Miller said to the adults. "I think I'll take it from here. We'll see you back here later today!"
"Thanks," Kevin said, shaking Miss Miller's hand. He left the room, Morgan's mom close behind. After he left the room, Kevin sighed heavily.
"First time?" Morgan's mom asked.
"Yeah. She's our only daughter… for now, at least."
"Morgan's our third. We've been through this before," she said with a chuckle. "Mangeni seems like an angel. You and your wife must be so proud."
Kevin laughed nervously. "Umm… HUSBAND, actually."
Morgan's mom turned red. "Oh my God, I'm sorry! I just assumed… oh, I'm so embarrassed."
Kevin laughed, more genuine. "Everyone does. It's ok."
Morgan's mom smiled. "Well then, I'm sure you and your HUSBAND are very proud."
"We are. She's the best thing to ever happen to us."
"My name's Beth, by the way. Beth Anderson." She extended her hand.
"Kevin. Kevin Price." He shook Beth's hand.
"Well, Kevin, I guess I'll be seeing you around." She smiled and walked away, leaving Kevin alone in the hallway. He looked back at the room and peered into the window. He saw Mangeni and Morgan sitting in the corner with several other little girls, playing with some dolls. He smiled and finally left the school.
Hours later, Kevin arrived to the school to pick Mangeni up, he rounded the corner and saw something horrifying. His little girl was sitting in a chair outside the room, bawling her eyes out as Miss Murphy stroked her hair.
"I WANT MY DAAADY!" Mangeni wailed. At this Kevin rushed to Mangeni's side.
"I'm right here, sweetheart." He looked at Miss Murphy. "What happened?"
"Oh, she and some of the other children were building a block tower and it collapsed on top of her. She's fine, just a little spooked I think."
"Aww, come here, angel." Kevin scooped the sobbing Mangeni up in his arms. "Thanks for everything, Miss Murphy. I'll take it from here."
"Absolutely, Mr. Price." She pat Mangeni on the back. "Bye, Mangeni. Feel better!"
Kevin took Mangeni and began walking out of the school.
"Maybe this was a bad idea," Kevin said, half to himself and half to Mangeni. "Maybe we should have waited until you were a little older to put you in school."
"But… but I like school, daddy."
Kevin stopped short. "You do?"
"Yes, daddy. I made a new best friend. Her name is Morgan. And tomorrow is my turn to feed the fishies. I love school."
Kevin sighed happily. "I guess you are ready."
"Don't forget, daddy. I'm a big girl now."
"That's right. But you'll ALWAYS be my little angel." Kevin kissed Mangeni on the cheek.
"And you'll always be my prince charming," Mangeni responded, kissing Kevin back on the cheek. Kevin beamed as the two walked out of the school.