Chapter 66: Back to School Night

August 23

Since moving to Seattle, the boys had attended St. Francis Preparatory School. The private prep school ran a tight ship and limited class sizes to 15. St. Francis was known for its rigorous academics, well-rounded curriculum, and strong focus on manners. Being a native of Seattle, Owen had known of the school for years and he chose it based on its reputation and on a site visit. Amelia liked to joke that, because of their strict behavioral expectations, she would have never survived at St. Francis. Her guess was that she would likely still be serving detentions racked up during her school years.

As Bronwyn prepared to begin Kindergarten (she's starting a year earlier because she is advanced), Amelia wondered if St. Francis was the right fit. Bronwyn's free spirit, creativity, and imagination didn't seem to synchronize with St. Francis' more dignified and firm style. Owen minimized Amelia's concerns and insisted that Bronwyn probably needed clearer and higher expectations. The boys seemed to thrive at the school and enjoyed it there. Even Oliver, who could be a handful, could successfully be corralled in class at St. Francis. Owen appreciated how St. Francis had helped Oliver discern when it was and was not appropriate to be silly, goofy, or wild.

A couple weeks before school began, the family left the twins in Lynne's care so that they could attend Back to School night. Finley, about to begin 7th grade, looked forward to receiving his schedule and comparing it with his friends to see if they would share any classes. Oliver was about to begin 3rd grade and was deeply hoping his teacher would be Miss Merriweather. Miss Merriweather was not only young and known for being nice, she was also beautiful. Kindergarteners were assigned to one of three teachers: Mrs. Donaldson, Miss Yates, or Ms. Dressler. On their sister's behalf, the boys were hoping Bronwyn was assigned to Mrs. Donaldson's room. As far as they were concerned, she was the kindest teacher at the school.

As they arrived and greeted friends, the Shepherd-Hunts checked in and received a packet that included information about Finley's schedule and Oliver and Bronwyn's classroom assignments. Oliver and Finley were especially eager to see the information contained in the envelope Owen held in his hand. As the family walked toward the auditorium for the Principal's welcome, Owen and Amelia were chatting and trying to remember someone's name. The woman was a doctor from Seattle Pres and they wanted to say hello. Oliver pulled on Owen's suitcoat to get his attention and asked, "Dad, can you open the envelope so we can know which teachers we have?"

Owen looked down at Oliver and reminded him gently, "Hey, Ollie, your mom and I are talking right now. You need to wait, buddy."

Before Owen turned his head back toward his wife, Oliver pleaded, "Please, Dad, please let me know which teacher I got."

Owen, ignoring Oliver intentionally, turned back to Amelia and offered quietly, "Isn't her last name Gertz? Is that right? Dr. Gertz?"

As Amelia responded, "That sounds right but I'm not positive." Amelia, holding Bronwyn's hand, prompted, "Bronwyn, let's keep up." Bronwyn was amazed by the huge building and moved her head all around to take in the space. She was stunned by what seemed to her to be a gigantic hallway.

Oliver pulled on Owen's blazer again and repeated, "Daddddddd, pleassssseee."

Taking in a slow, deep breath, Owen moved his chin toward his chest, raised his eyebrows, and gave Oliver a look filled with warning. The family walked into the auditorium and found five seats next to each other.

Once they sat down, Finley leaned over his little brother and whispered to Owen, "Dad, can I see my schedule please?"

"What's with you two?" Owen whispered and laughed softly. "Neither of you can wait just five minutes?"

"Please, Daddy, please," Oliver begged.

"Yeah, c'mon Dad, other kids are looking at their schedules," Finley reasoned.

Owen shrugged, simply not appreciating the angst of the moment that his sons were experiencing, "I guess, let me dig in here and see what we've got." Slowly opening the flap of the envelope, Owen widened the opening to see what was inside. Just as he did so, the lights dimmed, and the Principal came on stage. Owen whispered to the boys, "I'll do it as soon as the lights are back on."

Finley reached for the envelope and mentioned in a whisper, "I can probably see the papers in the dark. Can I have the envelope?"

Just then, Amelia placed a hand on Finley's outstretched hand and whispered, "Guys, time to be quiet." Finley sank into his chair in disappointment. Oliver's shoulders fell and his gaze became fixed on the dark ceiling.

The principal welcomed everyone and shared a two minute video about the school. Then she shared news about some of the facility improvements made over the summer and introduced two new teachers. After about 10 minutes, the principal thanked everyone for attending and pointed out that each family had a specific schedule in their envelope.

Always in ER mode, Owen stood up the second the lights went on. He motioned for everyone to join him as he entered the aisle and began walking to the hallway hoping to avoid the glut of people crowding the aisles and hallway. Finley sighed audibly and shared, "Mom, he said he was going to give us our schedules the second the lights turned on. Now he's all the way over there."

"I know, Finley, I'm sorry," Amelia acknowledged. "Let's go catch up with him. Keep track of Oliver."

"I can keep track of Oliver," Oliver plainly declared. Amelia smiled as she looked back to catch a glance at her little boy's face. Bronwyn pulled on Amelia's arm, wanting to be carried. Amelia shook her head as she walked through the sea of people attempting to find Owen. Being short in a crowd was one of Amelia's least favorite realities because she could seldom see more than a few feet in front of her.

Owen was leaning against a wall and chatting with a buddy in the hallway. The two men were laughing as they swapped kid stories and summer memories.

"I think I hear him," Finley offered.

"Me too," Amelia smiled as she led the kids through the unchartered pathway toward the laugh. "Hey," Amelia smirked and grumbled as she reached Owen, "I think you forgot how short we all are – we couldn't see where you'd gone." Then she reached out her hand toward the other man and greeted him, "Hi, Jim, how's your summer been?"

"Great. We spent too much time on the boat and went to Seafair. We need to take you guys out on the water sometime," Jim suggested. "How are your babies?"

"They're great," Amelia responded. "Ella's been crawling for a few weeks now, so she keeps us all pretty busy. Gwendolyn is coming along well, too." True updates on Gwendolyn consistently involved a chunk of time and various details. Amelia had learned to offer a vague but hopeful sentence to most people and save the particulars for a chosen few.

As Amelia and Jim exchanged pleasantries, Oliver and Finley resumed haranguing their father for their class information. Owen responded, "Look, guys, now I'm frustrated with the non-stop begging. We're supposed to go to Bronwyn's room first – she has Mrs. Donaldson. I'll give you your information when we get in the kindergarten room."

Finley pulled Oliver over a couple feet, leaned over to him, and mumbled sarcastically, "Now he's just on a power trip."

"Yeah," Oliver immediately responded before adding, "What's a power trip?"

Rolling his eyes, Finley explained quietly, "He wants to be the one in control, so he's deciding everything, and we don't get a say." With that phrase, Finley found his mother's hand gently placing itself on his shoulder. Crap, Finley thought to himself, she heard me. Now I'm busted.

Owen and Amelia said goodbye to Jim and headed toward the Kindergarten room. Nudging Oliver toward Owen, Amelia said, "Finley and I will catch up. We'll see you in a few." Unsure why she was stopping but not really concerned about it, Owen shrugged as he held Bronwyn's hand and as Oliver walked alongside his sister.

Amelia motioned her head toward a nearby corner and Finley followed. He had grown so much over the summer that he was nearly as tall as his Mom. The two stood in the corner and Finley looked at Amelia as if he had no idea why they were standing there.

"Finley, I heard what you said about Dad," Amelia admitted with disappointment. "Was that really a necessary commentary?"

"I guess not, but, Mom, he's being all high and mighty about giving us our schedules," Finley responded as his voice quickened with each word.

"Pal, he is the Dad. Like it or not, he can make those choices. You don't have to like them, but I'd strongly prefer you not groan about them in public," Amelia reasoned.

"Like you never did the same, right?" Finley snapped back quietly yet sharply.

Amelia lowered her chin and looked at Finley, "Fin…take a breath. Do you really want to have a fight right now, right here, with me?"

Finley rolled his eyes and looked away, moving his tongue around in his closed mouth. Amelia fixed her gaze on him and waited about 20 seconds before stating, "Let's get to Bronwyn's class. When we get home, you, Dad, and I are going to talk about this." Finley walked off toward the kindergarten area without looking back.

When the two walked into the room, Finley headed toward a friend who was also entering 7th grade. The two boys leaned against a low counter and talked about their summers. Oliver was standing alongside Bronwyn and Owen, but not interested in the wonder of Bronwyn's desk and cubby. When he saw Amelia walk in, Oliver walked over to her looking slightly sullen.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Amelia asked, unconsciously stroking the top of his head with care.

"Mommmmmm…" Oliver responded quietly trying not to lose his patience, "Don't do that here, ok? Just at home, please."

"I'm sorry, Ollie. I know better than to be embarrassing. Now why are you moping?" she asked as she concluded with a mock frown.

Frowning with deep disappointment, Oliver shared, "I didn't get Miss Merriweather. I got that new guy, Mr. Samuels."

"You know what? I think he looks like a lot of fun. He's a new teacher, so he probably has all sort of cool ideas. And you've never had a guy teacher before – the guy teachers were my favorite ones when I was in school," Amelia shared in an attempt to comfort Oliver.

Oliver looked at Amelia skeptically and responded, "Yeah, but, Mom, you're a girl. You probably had a crush on them."

Amelia leaned very close to Oliver and whispered very quietly, "Like you have on Miss Merriweather?" She concluded with a nudge of Oliver's shoulder. Oliver widened his eyes and looked at her as if she had just announced his secret to the world.

Owen approached them and softly pointed out, "Mia, Bronwyn is noticing your absence. You might want to focus on her and on the classroom, you know?"

Frustrated because she felt as if Owen had just treated her like a kid, she smirked and headed toward Bronwyn without a word. There was no need to counter his insight then and there. Owen and Oliver were left standing together. Owen motioned to two tiny chairs and the two sat down.

"Are you said you didn't get the teacher you wanted?" Owen asked.

"Yeah, kind of. But Mom just said she liked her boy teachers better than her girl teachers and that he will probably be cool and fun," Oliver offered, attempting to convince himself of his words.

Finley approached and informed Owen, "Hey, Dad, the middle schoolers don't need their parents to be with them, so John and I are going down the hall to check things out."

Owen, stunned but quickly acknowledging internally that Finley was fully capable of finding his classrooms, responded, "Sure. Keep your phone on in case we need to find you." Finley nodded as he and John hightailed out of the elementary wing of the school.

Looking down at Oliver, Owen offered, "Shall we go meet your teacher? It's almost time to change rooms." Oliver smiled and nodded as the two headed to the door. Owen pointed at his watch when he caught Amelia's eye and she nodded in response.

Oliver and Owen walked into Oliver's classroom. Immediately, Oliver was captivated. The room was decorated cooler than any classroom he'd ever seen. Planets hung from the ceiling, glow in the dark stars filled the bulletin board, and just about every color under the sun was represented on the white board. The teacher immediately came over and introduced himself, "Hey, Oliver, I'm Ted Samuels." Ted knelt down to Oliver before greeting Owen, and Oliver thought was the most amazing action ever.

"How'd you know my name?" Oliver asked.

"Look over there – the school picture from last year for every person in our class…" Ted explained. "I memorized everyone before I met you guys. Go on over and see if you can find your picture."

Oliver headed over, discovered his picture quickly, and also discovered that his best friends were in his class. He started talking to other kids he knew and was cracking them up in typical Oliver fashion.

"Dr. Hunt, right?" Ted confirmed as he stood up and shook Owen's hand.

"Yes. Nice to meet you. My wife will be here soon. She's in the Kindergarten room with our daughter," Owen shared.

"I think…" Ted began slowly with a grin, "that I saw you once in the ER at Grey Sloan. A buddy of mine had broken his arm and I was his ride home. Since I saw you from across the auditorium tonight, I've been trying to place you."

"That was probably me. I'm in that area a great deal," Owen explained humbly without pointing out his titles and responsibilities.

Ted shared an observation jovially, "It was crazy watching all of you keep the place organized. It made me think that a classroom was a piece of cake by comparison."

Amelia walked up to the two men and handed Bronwyn over to Owen. She hadn't wanted to leave the kindergarten room and her sullen face was enough to cause anyone to feel sorry for her. Rather than try to prompt her to keep up as they walked, Amelia decided it would be easier to just pick her up. Bronwyn immediately buried her head into Owen's chest and closed her eyes.

Extending her hand, Amelia introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Amelia Shepherd-Hunt, Oliver's mom."

"Dr. Shepherd-Hunt, nice to meet you," Mr. Samuels responded. "Ted Samuels. I'm looking forward to having Oliver in my class. I've heard that he's a smart young man with a quick wit."

Owen smiled as Amelia grinned and communicated, "He can be a handful, but he is curious and loves school. I hope you'll still be glad to have him as your student next time we speak."

"Any kid who can entertain that many 3rd graders at once seems pretty cool in my book. We'll find some great ways to channel his energy and charm," Ted laughed as the three adults looked over at Oliver. He was surrounded by classmates who were all captivated as he told a funny story with dramatic expressions and large gestures.

After checking out Oliver's room and giving him an opportunity to reconnect with friends, the family headed toward the middle school wing. Bronwyn was asleep in Owen's arms. Oliver was on a high and couldn't wait to start school. Now he was celebrating that he'd been assigned to Mr. Samuels' room.

When they reached the middle school area, the wing was full of 7th and 8th graders all attempting to avoid their families. Likewise, parents were trying their best to remain in the background in hopes of not embarrassing their sons and daughters. Amelia spotted Finley at the far end of the hall chatting and chuckling with a girl. He appeared to be deeply determined to charm her with his smile and words.

"Hey, Oliver, how about if you go up to your brother and tell him we're ready to go?" Amelia suggested.

Owen, not having spotted Finley and unaware of what Amelia saw, volunteered, "I can go, Mia. Where is he?"

Mumbling to Owen, hoping Oliver wouldn't overhear, Amelia shared, "He's flirting with a girl."

"Oh," Owen responded with surprise. "Ummm…hold up, Ollie. I'll just text him. How about if you, Bronwyn and I head out to the car and Mom and Finley come in just a minute."

Amelia smiled at Owen and whispered, "You're a thoughtful guy. Great idea."

Owen grinned and winked at his wife, "I'll tell him you'll be right here."

Attempting to be as invisible as possible, Amelia watched Finley receive the text and look down at it. He said something to the girl, smiled at her, and gave her an awkward but authentic hug. As they let go of each other's grasp, they looked in one another's eyes and Amelia found herself silently hoping they would kiss.

Unable to control herself when Finley approached, Amelia spoke to her son like she would have spoken to Derek in their younger years, "So…what's her name?"

"Mom…" Finley growled quietly. The two walked out the main doors and headed toward the car.

Once nobody was nearby, Finley grinned and elbowed his mom. Without looking at Amelia, he informed her, "Her name is Naomi."

Amelia moved her eyes sideways toward Finley and pressed her lips together and up toward one cheek. She thought to herself, here we go…let puberty begin. And please, God, don't let any of these children be like I was at their age.

Even though Amelia was touched by Finley and Larissa's interchange at the end of the evening, she stopped him before he headed up the stairs. She reminded him, "Finley, we need to talk about what you said about Dad in the school hallway."

Owen was upstairs settling Oliver and Bronwyn in bed. Amelia hadn't had an opportunity to tell him about the situation, but had told him that she needed him to come downstairs as soon as the kids were tucked in.

"Can't we just let that go, Mom?" Finley asked sincerely.

"Umm….no," Amelia declared.

Finley pled his case, "Mom, he's gonna be pissed when he finds out."

"He's going to be what?" Amelia asked with shock. Finley put a hand in front of one eye and over one cheek as he closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry. It just slipped out," Finley apologized.

Amelia looked at him and insisted, "Words like that don't slip out unless they are words you say regularly, Finley."

Knowing he would only be fighting a losing battle if he spoke, Finley decided not to respond at all.

Owen came bounding down the stairs, relieved to have the kids in bed. He headed to the fridge to grab a beer. Amelia requested, "Owen, can you come sit down with us at the table?"

"Sure," Owen smiled as he pulled out the chair next to Finley. "What's up, guys?"

"Finley?" Amelia prompted with a serious stare.

"Mom…really?" Finley protested. Amelia shot her eldest a firm look, and Finley sighed heavily before saying, "Uh…Dad, I guess I need to apologize to you. I'm sorry I got frustrated about the schedules." Finley tried to wiggle out of as many details as possible, hoping his brief words would satisfy Amelia.

"Uh, ok, Fin," Owen responded quizzically then took a drink of his beer. "I know you were eager to see your schedule."

"Finley, why don't you fill in some of the details. What did you say to Oliver while I was chatting with Jim?" Amelia pushed.

Looking directly at Amelia because he was embarrassed to have to tell his Dad what had happened, Finley stated, "I told Ollie that Dad was on a power trip and wasn't letting us have a say about getting our schedules."

"Power trip?" Owen asked.

"I dunno. I was just frustrated. I wanted my schedule and you made it really clear we weren't getting them and that bugged me," Finley shared.

Owen glared at Finley and responded, "Well, having you tell your brother I'm on a power trip because I set a reasonable limit bugs me. Quite frankly," Owen, clouded by his frustration, added, "it pisses me off, Finley."

Finley folded his arms, cocked his head to one side and looked at Amelia with an I told you so expression.

"Funny, Finley predicted you'd be pissed off, too, O," Amelia interjected.

Owen swallowed a gulp of beer, placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. He looked at Finley without saying a word. Finley looked down at his hands and fiddled with his fingers. Owen glanced up at Amelia with a look that communicated both exhaustion and questioning. After a minute or two, Owen calmly insisted, "Finley, we'll deal with this before I go to the hospital tomorrow night. Go on up to bed." Finley said nothing, stood up and walked up the stairs.

Left alone, Amelia and Owen looked at each other and Owen offered, "Where's the parenting manual to reference when your 12-year-old starts flirting with girls and mouthing off?"

Amelia laughed softly, "When you find it, grab me my own copy of it so I can make notes in the margins."

"It's not like he caused a scene or dropped an f-bomb, but still…" Owen thought aloud.

"I pulled him aside at the school and challenged him a little. I think if we impose a brief and clear consequence, we can put it all behind us," Amelia considered.

Owen suggested, "I'll talk to him tomorrow and tell him his words were disrespectful. Then I'll work with him to figure out some other ways he could have expressed himself. Let's take away the phone for a couple nights and have him tell Ollie that he was out of line for saying what he said to him. That's plenty."

"Dang! I so wish I wasn't going to be at the hospital tomorrow morning," Amelia teased.

Owen stood up and headlocked her from behind, "Yeah, sure you are." He kissed her neck and cheeks and then nibbled her ear.