Abby took the envelope from Luc and stuck it quickly into her bag. She wanted to hear about his day as the happy skipping child she had before her was a very different one than she had dropped off that very morning. Luc hugged her tightly and then skirted around the edge of the stroller and hugged his sleeping brother "Hey Sam you should come to school with me. You could meet Sean and Ms. Carmichael. Wouldn't that be great?" The baby just wriggled now awake but not upset. The infant in his short life had come to expect rough awakenings and as long as it was Luc's face he saw when that happened he stayed quiet watching his older brother.
"Sam wants to come to school with me mom" Lucas declared.
"Isn't that lovely" Abby agreed hoping to encourage the positive attitude to school "tell me all about your day."
Lucas started where stories start at the beginning and he got to the part where they entered the classroom and had assigned seating and then for the first time all day took a moment to reflect on what he'd done. He had lied to his teacher, it was for good reason and worked out but in that moment before confessing what he'd done he understood that not everyone was going to be happy about his deception and so he chose instead to skip the specifics about where he was sitting and the conversation about what grade he really was in. Instead he told his mother how he'd done on the quizzes and reading, but again left out the detail that it was for the second grade class. He quickly went on to explain about lunch, recess and how Sean was the only person he knew in his class let alone grade. Abby listened as they walked home and stopped at the park around the corner from their house to let Lucas play before going home. With only the baby at home she'd been able to get dinner ready and all it needed was heating up in the oven. Tim said he was going to take an hour or so to come home and have supper with the family as it was the first day of school but that he would have to go back to the office once they'd tucked the boys into bed for the night.
Watching Lucas swing, jump and play Abby was so relieved that all had gone well. Remembering the letter she took it out of her bag and read it. And then she read it again. And then a third time just to make sure she'd understood correctly. Having finished her final study of the handwritten document she took a few seconds to think. The letter had been written in a positive light. The teacher wanted to sit down with her and Tim to discuss the proper placement of Lucas in the classroom. Due to his competence with the second grade material she was willing to let him stay there if they could come to some agreement with the administration at the school. By the sounds of the letter the teacher was not at all upset at his deceitfulness yet that was what struck Abby. Her son had gotten what he wanted by lying and cheating. That was NOT acceptable. As she sat and reread the letter for a fourth time she texted her husband before calling Lucas over.
"What do you want mommy? Is it time to go home?" Lucas asked innocently as he still had no idea that anyone was aware of his scheme.
"Yes it is time to go home" Abby stated curtly. Wrinkling his brow in confusion he looked at his mother and then asked "What's wrong mommy?"
"We will discuss it at home" Abby snapped as she gathered up her son's bag and the stroller. Her own parents had always said 'praise in public, punish in private' and the park was definitely public she didn't even want to start discussing it as she hadn't worked out exactly how she felt about it.
The walk home was silent just as the walk to school that morning had been but the roles were reversed. Abby was seething and Luc was the worried one. At home Lucas stood beside his mother not understanding her unexplained change in demeanor and feeling very off balance. Abby parked the stroller in the garage and carried Sam to his bouncy chair. Lucas always no more than a step behind wondering what in the world had happened. Having buckled the baby into the chair Abby turned to her 6 year old and said "You need to go to your room until one of your father or me is ready to talk to you."
Luc did not like being in trouble and generally kept himself in line. Although he understood what he'd done that day was offside he didn't think anyone knew about it and therefore was very confused at his mother's behavior. "Mommy?" he asked with tears threatening to spill over onto his cheeks.
"Room! NOW!" was all Abby said while she pointed in the direction of the stairs.
He sat at the bottom of his closet. Something he had done whenever he was in trouble in the past. It felt safe and secure and because it was little bit bigger than a standard closet he had a little bit of room to play with his figurines he stored in a box on the bottom shelve of said closet. However today he didn't feel much like playing, he was too confused about why he was in trouble. He had come to the realization that his mom must have found out about his 'relocation' in the class but he didn't understand why she was SO angry. He had been polite, did all of his work, he hadn't talked back or gotten into any trouble. Daddy had even said in the past that a 'little white lie' was ok sometimes. He'd done it when Grandma McGee was over and had brought the ugliest fruit bowl in the history of fruit bowls and Daddy had said how lovely it was and thanked her but when she left he quickly hid it in the cupboard. So if Daddy can tell a lie why couldn't he. It didn't hurt anyone.
Abby paced the floor her arms flying up and down at her sides as she mumbled to herself. They had not taught their son to lie and cheat to get his way. They had taught him right from wrong. Why then did he feel he should do those things? And then in the next breath she flipped 180 degrees. If this works Lucas will be in second grade, doing work closer to his abilities and he might be happy about going to school every day. He shouldn't benefit from a lie. He needs to be in second grade. Conflicting thoughts and emotions ran through her head as she continued to pace the floor between the living room and the kitchen. Sam's eyes followed as best they could his wondering mother. The infant was confused and the tension in the room made him feel on edge. As his mother walked away from him for the 100th time he let out a wail like no other and sobbed as only a distraught baby can.
Focusing her attention on the screaming infant Abby quickly calmed this time gently bouncing and pacing at a rate more conducive settling her son. When Sam had let loose his first wail Luc's ears perked up and he peeked out his door. He saw his mom walking the floor with his brother and heard that the crying was getting softer and less panicked. He stood at the threshold of his room for some time before deciding that it was safe to venture downstairs. He descended as quietly as he could and stood at the bottom looking forlorn and guilt ridden.
As she passed by Abby asked tersely "What are YOU doing out of your room young man?"
"I wanted to make sure Sam was ok… I never heard him cry like that b'fore" Luc explained looking at his dirty socks rather than his mother's face.
"He's fine. Now go back to your room I'm not ready to speak to you yet" she declared more harshly than she was feeling.
"Ok…. " he turned to comply but then stopped and turned only enough to get Abby to stop moving "mommy why are you mad at me?" he wanted to confirm what it was he should be coming up with an explanation for.
"I am not at all impressed with the gigantic lie you told at school today" she said looking at him pointedly.
"Oh…. That…" he whispered as he slowly marched back up to his room feeling doomed.
It was a long wait at the bottom of his closet before he heard the kitchen door open and close. Until that moment he'd convinced himself that he was justified in what he did and that his parents were wrong to be angry with him. He had accomplished what they had not been able to. He was in second grade, at least for a day, and he had proved that he could handle it. He heard hushed voices and the oven door slap shut before he heard footsteps on the stairs.
oXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo
Tim had entered through the kitchen door hoping to have a minute at home before the war began. He wanted a minute to pull himself out of 'special agent' mode and into daddy mode. Without it he found that in situations like this discussions quickly turned into interrogations and that was not the way to build a relationship with his children. Luck was on his side today and Abby flew at him wrapping her arms around him squishing Sam between them. "What are we going to do with him?" Abby half yelled half sobbed.
"Give me a minute" Tim explained kissing her gently on the lips before pulling away from her iron grip and sitting down at the table. He was bouncing back and forth just like Abby about being furious that his son would lie so blatantly and so easily and happy that he'd actually made progress where they couldn't.
The two talked over their feelings and thoughts. "There is part of me that wants to go up there and congratulate him on how well he did at school today and say how happy I am for him to have solved his school problem. The other part of me wants to go up there and blister his backside for being so deceitful." Tim explained through his hands scrubbing his face while his elbows rested on the table.
"I've been bouncing like a ping pong ball myself all afternoon" Abby said more loudly than she intended.
It took quite some time for the pair to come to a compromise they both thought was acceptable and could live with. They also discussed when Tim would be available for the meeting with the principal and teacher. "I think we need to meet sooner rather than later" Tim suggested "I can run over to the school at lunch time if you can arrange that" he finished.
Standing he walked over to his still pacing wife took her by the shoulders to still her and kissed her forehead. "This is definitely something that we can solve." With that he turned and headed to the stairs climbing them slowly mulling over the words he was going to use with his son. Opening the door he took a quick look around the room before he entered. He was used to finding it empty. On the few occasions that Abby had sent Luc to his room to wait for someone to come and deal with him later he had always been found sitting at the bottom of his closet.
"Com'on out of there bear" Tim said gently holding out his hand for Luc to take. Eyeing him wearily Lucas hesitated before reaching out. He was angry at being in trouble but he also so desperately wanted a hug and a kiss to make it all better. Tim gently tugged at the little boy's arm as he took the couple of steps to the bed and sat down. Holding both the kid's hands in his own Tim looked into his son's face. He had obviously been crying but seemed to have himself under control at the moment. "Lucas" he started but then everything he had rehearsed walking up the stairs was gone. "I love you very much… you know that right?" the boy nodded his eyes filling with tears again. "Do you want to tell me how things got out of hand today?" Tim's words were said with a gently but had an undertone of an order.
"I… I just didn't want to be in grade 1… I knew I could do it… I DID do it… I DID BETTER THAN ANYONE" each word getting louder and more forceful. Tim took his finger and placed it over his son's lips to get him to stop talking. Yelling wasn't going to get either of them through this discussion. "So you thought that because you could do it, lying was the right thing to do?" Tim's face in a grimace that showed his disapproval of the method his child chose to take. "Not exactly daddy. At first I didn't actually think about it. The idea just snuck up on me and I just did it. I didn't think about it being a lie exactly … not right away.. really I didn't mean to lie … but you said that sometimes white lies are ok" Lucas eyes shining with tears looked up into his father's face.
"Lucas! You know very well how that is different." Tim scolded. The tears spilled down the little boy's face as he buried his face in his daddy's chest and clutched his shirt. Carefully pulling the child away so that he could see his face again Tim explained in his best angry father voice "Lying is wrong and I don't want you doing it ever again. If you lie people aren't going to believe you when you tell the truth. If we have to have this discussion ever and I mean ever again you will be one sorry little boy. Is that understood?"
Luc nodded his head in the affirmative and tried to cuddle into this father once again. Before he drew his son in Tim landed a good swat on his son's behind to help reinforce his words. And then he sat with the child between his knees, his arms wrapped tightly around the little heaving shoulders as Lucas cried. Tim waited for what seemed like a long time but came to the conclusion that it had been a long day the tears were a release of pent of worry and other emotions that had been building over the last week. When Luc was finally quiet enough Tim pulled him up onto his lap and asked "So I hear you did really well with your school work today. Is that true?" giving a big smile to show he was no longer in angry parent mode.
"Ya I did GREAT! I did all the work and I got it finished before anyone else and I read really well and the book was easy!" Lucas' excitement about his day finally had a chance to show through.
"Well we'd better get down to the kitchen so you can tell your mom all about it and we can eat a bit of supper before I have to go back to work" Tim said as he stood the boy up and took his hand to head out of the door.
"Aw. Do ya really have to go back to work?" whined the boy.
"Yes" poking the child in the nose before he swung him over his shoulder and on to his back to give him a ride down the stairs.
Tucking Lucas into bed later that night Abby silently hoped that tomorrow's meeting with the teacher and principal would be positive and Lucas would be able to stay where he was.
