Chapter five
Wyatt's big day
Piper had saved up all summer so she could spoil Wyatt for his first school year. To make him feel special, Leo and Piper left Chris and Melinda in Victor's care while they took Wyatt to the store to buy all of his school supplies. Piper put the car into park and Leo got out from the passenger's seat. Wyatt wiggled around in his car seat excited to get into the store. He loved shopping with his parents, his little brother, on the other hand, found it completely boring, and Piper hated having to bring Melinda to the store since she was so fussy. He watched his father walk to the side of the car and open the door. Leo unbuckled him and Wyatt jumped down from the car. His mother came around as Leo closed the door. He smiled up at his parents as he took their hands.
Across the parking lot and through the automatic doors. Into the great mall. He looked around at all the passing people as he walked with his parents. Passing store by store. Suddenly his parents came to a stop and Wyatt's attention went to the escalator. He loved riding on them. His parents were muttering about something he wasn't listening to. A boy riding the escalator beside a woman looked in his direction and waved to him. It was a boy Wyatt knew from daycare. Wyatt waved back. "What do you want to do first?" Leo asked. He looked down at his son and saw he didn't have his attention. "Wyatt." The boy looked up at his father, a big smile came across his face. "Do you want to get a backpack first? Or crayons? New outfit for the first day?" Wyatt had to think about it for a minute as he looked around at all the different stores. He didn't which to choose first. After a few seconds, he pointed over to a store. Leo looked and let out a laugh. "Honey, you're not going to a wedding. You're going to kindergarten. You don't need a tux." Wyatt, who didn't know what a tux was or what event it was to be worn at, shrugged. "Backpack," he said.
They started walking again and stopped in front of the bag store. They walked in. Five women were checking out purses, and a few moms and dads with kids of different ages looking at the schoolbags at the front of the store. This is where Leo and Piper led their child. Leo got down on Wyatt's level. "Which one do you like?" He asked his son. Wyatt spent a few minutes examining the bags, he always had to ponder over his choices. He liked the spiderman bag but also wanted the blue's clues one. In the end, he chose the spiderman bag. He was led to another section of the store where the lunchboxes were displayed. He quickly picked out a dark blue one. His parents brought him over to the check-out counter and Wyatt happily watched his mother pull her wallet out from her purse.
Wyatt followed his parents over to the mall's Walmart where'd they'd be purchasing the rest of his supplies. He went in and walked over to the "back to school," section that had been set up for the last few days of August and the first two days of September. They ran into Darryl and Sheila. Wyatt started running around with Mikey and Darryl Junior while their parents talked. "Is Wyatt starting kindergarten already? Oh, yea, I suppose he is, isn't he? He's only a year younger than Darryl Junior,' Sheila stated." Piper nodded to confirm he was starting kindergarten this year. "That means little Darryl will be in senior kindergarten this year," Leo realized. "Yep, and Mikey's going into third," Darryl replied. "They grow up so fast, don't they?" Sheila asked. "Yes, they do," Piper replied in agreement. Sheila looked over at her boys. "Hey, stop that before you break something," she scolded her sons. They were very close to some breakable dishes. Leo called over his child to keep him out of trouble too. Piper looked at the list Wyatt's kindergarten teacher had given her.
1. Backpack
2. Lunch bag
3. washable markers
"Wyatt, go get some markers, over there," Piper instructed.
Wyatt nodded and headed off to where his mother had pointed. Sheila looked at the lists she was holding. "You boys too." Her boys nodded and followed Wyatt. "Is Wyatt going to have Mrs. Wellington?" Sheila asked. "Yes." The three boys returned to their mothers and dumped their packs of washable markers into the shopping carts. Piper looked down at the list as did Sheila. All three boys were sent to grab packs of pencils. "She's nice, both of my boys had her," Sheila mentioned. The dads had wandered away talking about tools. "She is nice. We met her last week at the meet and greet," Piper shared. Sheila nodded. "Darryl has Mrs. Hudson this year. She seemed nice but I sense she's more strict than Mrs. Wellington, Mikey didn't have her. He has Mrs. Kaycee this year, she seemed nice too." Piper nodded following the conversation. The boys ran back over and dumped their pencils into the carts. "Well, that's it for us. See you around, Piper." Piper nodded and watched Sheila and her boys walk away in search of Darryl.
"Okay, pencil grips, whatever that is," Piper said to her son.
September fourth started at half-past five for Piper and Melinda. Exhausted from a tough night, Piper stumbled into the nursery and removed her crying daughter from the crib. She wasn't as fussy as she had been as a newborn but she still wasn't a quiet baby. Piper carried her six-month-old daughter out of the nursery, down the stairs, through the hall, and into the kitchen. Holding her crying baby in her right arm, Piper went about preparing her bottle. Finished, Piper sat herself down on a chair at the table, placed the baby comfortably on her lap, and plopped the bottle into her mouth. She almost fell asleep a bunch of times as her daughter drank her bottle.
Paige jumped into the shower before the babies had woken up and while she was in there, Henry had to tend them half-dressed. He had on the top half of his uniform and his underwear. He entered the nursery and took Tamora from her crib. He held her with his right arm and lifted Kat out of the other crib with his left arm. He carried them into the living room where he placed the almost four-month-old twins in the bassinets. He dragged his legs into the kitchen to prepare them their morning bottles. Paige meanwhile emerged from the shower and wrapped herself in a brown towel. She walked over to the counter and plugged in their hairdryer. Her clothes for the day were folded neatly on the counter.
Leo got up and Piper handed the baby over to him so she could get ready for the day. She had to stop by the club to make a final decision on what the new napkins were going to look like. She wanted to look confident when really she couldn't have care less about the color and design of the napkins. Leo carried his daughter into her room and placed her down on the changing table. She was currently wearing only her diaper which needed to be changed. He unlatched the diaper and removed it. He was relieved that she had not done a number two but she had done a number one.
While Paige was now dressed and starting on her makeup, Henry was struggling to dress his daughters. Tamora and Kat hated being naked, so changing their diapers and clothes was never an easy task. He had managed to change them both. Tamora was in her crib completely contempt at the moment. Kat, on the other hand, rested on the changing table screaming her head off. She wiggled around as Henry attempted to get a pink t-shirt over her head. He completed this task and moved on to getting her shorts on. She was now dressed and starting to calm down. Henry smiled as he looked at his daughter. He loved being a father. One thing about the twins he didn't understand was their red hair. Both girls had a patch of red hair on their heads. Both he and Paige naturally had brown hair though Paige liked to occasionally change her hair color. He knew that Paige's grandmother Penny had red hair but he thought it was strange the girls had inherited it without Paige being a redhead too. Kat gurgled as her dad made a funny face at her. He picked her up and placed her down in her crib. He then picked up Tamora and placed her down on the changing table bracing himself for another meltdown.
Wyatt and Chris seated themselves at the table. Wyatt was talking to his father excitably about starting kindergarten. Chris was furious he had been woken up and was sitting in his chair looking miserable. "It is a little different than daycare," Leo informed his son. "There will be playtime, other kids, a teacher, and you will get to learn new things." Wyatt's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He was looking forward to learning how to read and count, he had been talking all summer about how he going to get really smart. Leo looked over at his second son. "Chris, are you excited to go back to daycare?" Chris refused to look at his father and shouted "NO!" Leo sighed at his two-year-old and turned back to Wyatt. Melinda sat in her first high chair next to Chris perfectly content. "You know what you get to do after kindergarten?" Wyatt shook his head. Had his parents forgotten to mention it? "You get to go to magic school. You will learn new things there and you get to use your powers." Wyatt's mouth opened in delight and he laughed excitedly. "Chris and Melinda are going to daycare at magic school, but you will be with the big kids." Wyatt smiled at his dad.
Piper came over with two plates of toast. The peanut butter toast went to Chris, and the toast covered in raspberry jam went to Wyatt. "Thank you, mommy," Wyatt said. Piper smiled and kissed the top of his blonde head. She looked at Chris and waited for his thank you but did not receive one. Not wanting a tantrum on her hands, Piper simply sighed and let it go. Melinda smiled at her mother as she removed her from the high chair. She carried her over to the counter where she retrieved the jar of mashed carrots and a baby spoon. She seated herself down on a pulled-out chair at the table and placed her daughter on her left lap. She used her right hand to dip the spoon into the jar. Melinda, who loved to eat, opened her mouth happily as the spoon approached it.
Leo smiled at his daughter and looked at his boys. Wyatt's face and hands were covered in the sticky jam. He smiled at his dad and waved one of his sticky hands. Chris was even more of a mess. His hands, face, and pajama top was covered in peanut butter, the tabletop as well. Both boys were nowhere near finishing their toast, though they had been eating for the past five minutes.
Already dressed with her short brown hair brushed, Phoebe stood in front of her bedroom mirror looking down into her jewelry box as she pondered over which pair of earrings would match best with the top she was wearing. Being seven months along in her pregnancy now, she was wearing maternity clothes, and like Piper, wasn't very fond of them. They didn't really come in a variety of styles. Coop came from behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled at him through the mirror. "You look beautiful no matter what you wear," he whispered in her ear. She turned around and their lips met in a kiss. "Are you heading off?" Her husband nodded to her and kissed her again. "There are two teenagers with obvious feelings in need of my help. I've got another pairing before then." Phoebe nodded and they kissed a third time. "I love you, and be careful. Neena is still a threat, we don't know when she'll make her next move or where she is." Coop nodded and leaned down. He pulled up Phoebe's shirt a little and planted a quick kiss on her belly. He got back up and kissed his wife for the fourth time. "Not much longer before our little girl arrives." Phoebe smiled warmly and placed a hand on her bump. She had just started her last trimester and was starting to get impatient awaiting her daughter's arrival.
Leo brought the boys and Melinda up to the boys' bedroom and walked over to Wyatt's dresser to collect the outfit Piper had laid out the night before. Melinda butt-scooted around. She was working on learning how to crawl. "Hey, those are my socks," Wyatt whined. Chris laughed in response and said, "mine now." Leo turned around to look at the boys, Wyatt's clothes in his hands. "Chris, where did you find the socks?" He asked his toddler. Chris pointed to a space on the floor right next to his bunk bed. Leo looked at the socks in Chris's hands. He could tell right away who the rightful owner was. "Chris, those are socks are too big for you, they are Wyatt's. Put them in his laundry basket please." Chris shook his head and orbed out, still holding his brother's dirty socks. Wyatt looked down at his bare feet and winced. "Don't cry. I have clean socks for you right here. Take your clothes and get dressed, please. You don't want to be late for your first day of school." Wyatt smiled at the thought of school and happily took his clothes from his father. A fresh pair of undies, clean white socks, a pair of navy blue jeans, and a light-blue button-up shirt. Leo had to help him with the buttons. "Okay, go see mommy. She's in the bathroom."
As Piper easily brushed Wyatt's blonde hair, Leo orbed Chris back into his room. Having taken the socks from him and tossed them into the laundry, Chris threw a complete meltdown. Leo wrestled with his toddler to get him out of his jammies and into clean daytime clothes. Grey shorts and a brown t-shirt with a truck on it. Melinda giggled as she watched her big brother throw his tantrum. Little did she know that she was next. Finished, Leo picked up his screaming toddler and carried him out of the bedroom, leaving Melinda unattended. He handed him over to Piper and returned to the boys' room and luckily, his daughter hadn't gotten herself into any trouble. He scooped her up and carried her to her bedroom.
Leo laid her down on the changing table and Melinda freaked out. She began screaming wiggling around trying to free herself. Leo had to hold her down to stop her from levitating. He reached down to grab the clothes Piper had placed there for her the night before. He found it easier to start with her socks and then got her blue dress over her head and her arms through the armholes. Melinda started calming down as her dad pulled down the bottom of the dress and placed her back in his arms. He carried her into the bathroom and handed her over to her mother. Not that she had enough hair to brush and she hadn't started teething yet.
Paige summoned the door to magic school. Tamora and Kat asleep in their double stroller. Herny was finally getting the chance to get himself ready for work while Paige was going to drop the twins off at the daycare at Magic school. The tall wooden door appeared in the middle of the living room and swung open. Paige pushed the stroller through the door. The halls were relatively empty. Students from the magic realm were just starting to arrive, mortal kids would be there after mortal school had ended. Paige made her way to the nursery and walked in, struggling to the stroller through the door. The teacher was there, coloring with a few other kids. She looked up at Paige and gave her a welcoming smile. She got up and walked over to her. They shook hands. "I've got a playmat all set up for them, it's over here." She led Paige over to the back of the room in a small corner. On the way there, Paige looked around and noticed her niece and nephew had not yet arrived.
Wyatt skipped out of the house and down the front steps, and he ran over to his mother's car. Piper caught up and unlocked the car. The child didn't hesitate to open the back door and climbed into the car and into his car seat. Piper buckled him in and closed the car door. She rounded the car and got into the front seat, buckled herself in, and put in the key. She put the car into reverse and Wyatt looked out of the window. He waved to the manor as the car rolled out of the driveway. His mother changed the gear to drive and off they went.
Holding Melinda in his arms, and holding onto Chris's hand, Leo walked through the door to magic school. In the hall leading up to the nursery, they ran into Paige. She dropped down to her knees as Chris ran over to her. He landed in her arms and they shared a big hug. She lifted him up and carried him over to Leo where she planted a small kiss on her niece's cheek. "How excited is Wyatt?" Paige asked. Leo laughed. "So excited. Piper's probably halfway to elementary school already."
After sharing pleasantries with Paige, Leo brought his two children to the nursery. Chris ran in once Leo had opened the door. He ran over to the blocks. Building was his favourite activity at daycare and at home. Leo handed Melinda over to the teacher. He kissed her head to say goodbye. He attempted to get a hug from Chris but the toddler was too invested in his tower and pushed his father away.
Paige returned home through the summoned door and exited her apartment through her front door. She walked down the hall and quickly squeezed into the elevator before the doors shut. She was accompanied by a man who was having a seemingly important call, and a kid around eleven years of age. Judging by the fact she had a backpack on, and by what day it was, Paige assumed she was heading off to school. The elevator doors opened on the bottom floor and Paige walked out behind the other two. She left the building and walked into the parking lot towards Henry's car. She got into the passenger seat. Henry looked exhausted. "Should I drive?" Paige asked him. He looked at her blankly for a minute. "Yeah, that's probably best."
Piper pulled into the parking lot at Westcott elementary and glanced at her son in the rearview mirror. He was looking through his window at the parents and kids heading up towards the playground. "Are we here?" He asked. "Yes." Wyatt jumped in his seat happily and unbuckled himself. He opened the car door and hopped down as his mom swung out of the driver's seat. She came around the car and took her sons' hand. He pulled her arm as he tried to get to the school with haste. Piper giggled and the two got to the fenced-in play area where the kindergarteners were kept. A female teacher smiled and walked up to the gate. "Hello Mrs. Halliwell, hi Wyatt." Wyatt had a big bright smile on his face. "Someone is excited," Mrs. Wellington noticed, looking at the child. "He hasn't stopped talking all morning," Piper told her. Piper got down on her knees and pulled her son into her arms for a quick hug. "Remember all the rules we talked about?" Wyatt nodded. "Okay, I love you. Be good, listen to your teacher, and have fun." Wyatt nodded and Piper planted a kiss on his cheek. She stood up and Mrs. Wellington unlatched the gate. She pushed the gate open for Wyatt to come through. Piper leaked a few tears as the teacher latched the fence with Wyatt inside.
Wyatt's teacher removed his bag from his back and placed it against the fence. She then kneeled down next to him. "Do you see any of your friends?" Wyatt searched through the crowd and his eyes fell onto one boy. Wyatt pointed over to him. "Oh, you know Darryl?" Wyatt nodded. "His mommy and daddy are friends with my mommy and daddy." Mrs. Wellington nodded. "Why don't you go and say hi then?" Wyatt nodded and ran off towards him. Little Darryl smiled and greeted Wyatt with a hug. "Come play," he said to Wyatt. He led him over to a group of other kinders.
Wyatt covered his ears as the loud bell rang, it was his first time hearing the bell. Along the back wall were two doors leading to two separate classrooms. One for the senior kindergarten class, and the other for the junior kindergarten class. From the senior kindergarten class, a teacher emerged through the door. The bell had caught the attention of all the students. Standing in front of the door leading into the junior kindergarten classroom, Mrs. Wellington spoke.
"If I call your name, I want you to get your bag and come into this classroom and sit down on the blue carpet."
Mrs. Wellington looked down at the clipboard in her hand. "Winston." A little four-year-old Chinese boy walked through the crowd of kids and passed his teacher as he walked into the classroom. He was followed by a little white boy with black hair named Dallas. Mrs. Welligton peered down at the sheet of names on her clipboard. "Wyatt." Thinking Darryl was going to be in the same class as him, he didn't say goodbye before grabbing his bag and walking towards his classroom.
The small blonde child danced into the classroom. The walls were colorfully painted and posters presenting the different shapes, numbers, and letters. A small area was filled with empty cubbies, names of the students labeled on the cubbie belonging to them. In the back of the room next to the door, there was a small area where a sink was located, counter spaces, a roll of paper towel, a soap dispenser mounted on the wall above the counter. Filing cabinets next to the sink, they contained art supplies, extra pencils, and erasers. In the middle of the room, there were several tables, each a different colour with six chairs spaced around them each. The children's names written neatly on the tables on paper name tags tapped down where they'd be sitting. In front of the room on the right-hand side, there was a time-out corner. On the left-hand side, there was a blue carpet, an easel, and a chair, a few small bookcases as well. The long white paper on the easel had the days of the week written out, each day was written in a different colour.
Wyatt walked over to the blue carpet and sat down on it, he had his backpack on his back. He sat next to the first boy that had entered the classroom. The other boy sat at the back of the carpet. Two more little boys, who Wyatt didn't know, came over to the carpet and sat down, neither of them next to Wyatt. A third boy came in and Wyatt knew who he was. "Austin!" Wyatt jumped up and approached the tiny sandy-haired boy. They shared a hug and then seated themselves on the blue carpet. One by one the other children came in, followed by the teacher. Wyatt looked around and then stood up. "Mrs." His teacher turned her attention to him. "You forgot Darryl." The teacher double-checked the class list on her clipboard before realizing the mistake. "Darryl is in the other class, but don't worry, you will have lots of friends here." Wyatt sat back down and pouted. "I'm your friend," Austin told him. He wrapped his arms around Wyatt but Wyatt didn't acknowledge him.
Phoebe stepped into her office and closed the door behind her. Finding the air too humid, she walked over to the window and slid open the glass door. A gush of fresh air entered and surrounded the entire office. Phoebe seated herself at her desk and turned on her work computer. She placed down her purse and work bag down beside the desk and pulled out a box from underneath. Closing her eyes, she reached into the box and pulled out one envelope. Her brown eyes opened and she tore the envelope and removed the letter inside. She unfolded the letter and began to read.
Dear ask Phoebe
How do you know when you're ready to get married? I've been in a successful long-term relationship for the last six years. We get along great and don't have many arguments. Our families approve and I do see a future with him. We have recently started talking about marriage and I honestly have mixed feelings which I've discussed with my boyfriend. I am deeply in love with him but marriage is still a scary thought. We do currently live together but I don't know if marriage is the right move at the moment. I've heard you recently got married last November. How did you know you were ready to spend the rest of your life married to your husband?
- Mandi Tobez
Phoebe closed her eyes and recalled her relationship with Cole and her relationship with Coop. She had been so in love and so sure when she had married Cole and it had turned out to be the worst mistake she had ever made. With Coop, Phoebe had unintentionally developed feelings for him and thought it was forbidden, with him being a cupid and her being a witch. Then she learned the Elders, the boss white-lighters who were pretty much in control of all good magic, had sent him to her in hopes she would fall in love with him. Knowing this, they started dating and got married within the same year. How did she know she wanted to marry him? Or was ready to marry him? She had never asked herself because she had just known. She had just known she wanted to marry this man, spend the rest of her life with him, raise a family with him.
Back in November, Paige had reunited a woman named Michelle who was a recovering alcoholic, and her twelve-year-old son Caleb. Today, Paige was stopping by for their last surprise visit. She walked up the front steps and knocked on the door lightly. Michelle answered just a moment later and smiled welcomingly. She opened the door and stepped aside to let Paige in. "Caleb, he's at school?" Paige asked getting right down to business. Michelle nodded. "You were told you needed the enrollment papers for proof he's in school." Michelle nodded and excused herself. She walked into her bedroom and returned just a moment later with a file. She handed it to Paige who quickly skimmed through the papers in it. "Okay. I just need to do a quick house check and then we're done. Last visit." Michelle smiled happily and was confident Paige wasn't going to find any alcohol or drugs anywhere in her home because she wasn't using and she wasn't drinking.
She searched the living room first. It was clear. She moved on to the kitchen and checked the fridge and cabinets. Stocked with food, plenty of fruits and vegetables. No drugs, no alcohol. Good. She moved on to Michelle's bedroom and was happy to not find anything Michelle wasn't supposed to have. She moved on to Caleb's bedroom. She needed to make sure he had a bed, dresser, a window in his room, activities to occupy himself with, and at least seven outfits. He had a bed with sheets and a big blanket and pillow, his dresser and closet were full of clothes. No drugs under the mattress or in other places she could have been hiding them. Finally, she moved on to the bathroom then met Michelle back in the living room.
"Everything looks good. Congratulations, Michelle. I'll file all the remaining paperwork. Continue the good work and we won't be meeting like this again."
"Don't worry. You won't have to come back here."
Piper entered P3 and quickly spotted the lady she needed to speak with. They greeted each other politely with a handshake and seated themselves across from each other at one of the tables. The lady placed a briefcase down on the table and opened it, she turned it so Piper could see inside. The two napkin designs lay in the briefcase. One of them was baby blue with bright fancy writing, and the other was beige with simple writing. "Have you made the decision?" The lady asked. She couldn't understand what was taking Piper so long to decide on what the napkins were going to look like when they'd just be used to wipe off mouths and then thrown in the trash. "Yes, I'm going with the beige. I just want them to say P3, right in the middle." The lady nodded and closed the briefcase. Honestly, both of them were happy to have this decision over with. Piper straightened herself up. "I was also thinking about changing the cups."
Mrs. Wellington sat on the chair on the blue carpet facing her kindergarten students. "Good morning boys and girls," she said in a bright happy tone. The children responded by saying good morning to her. "I am your teacher, Mrs. Wellington but you can call me Mrs. W if you wish." She paused to see if any child had a question, none did. "Let's go around and introduce ourselves. The means you stand up, say your name, and how old you are. Dakota, let's start with you." A little girl with light blonde hair that barely fell over her shoulders stood up. She was wearing a white dress and a white ribbon in her hair. "My name is Dakota and I'm four." "Can everyone say hi Dakota?" The teacher asked. "Hi Dakota," the children all said at once.
Dakota sat back down and the teacher looked over the children. She pointed to a little girl with dirty blonde hair that was just about the same length as Dakota's. She wore a white t-shirt and a frilly hot-pink skirt. She stood up and adjusted her skirt. "I'm Kennedi and I'm four." "HI Kennedi," the children sang. The girl sat back down and Mrs. Wellington pointed at the next child. "My name's Wyatt and I'm four." "Hi, Wyatt," the children sang. Wyatt smiled at them all and sat back down. He had completely forgotten his friend Darryl wasn't in the same class as him.
Chris was in a bad mood because a girl named Hanna had stolen the truck he'd been playing with. He now sat in a corner alone and anytime someone came up to him, he'd orb to the other side of the daycare. Melinda was but-scotching around. She kept trying to get to her brother and when she did get to him, he'd orb away. After her fifth attempt, Melinda just sat there and cried. Normally Chris hated it when his baby sister cried, but today he just didn't care about anything. Tamora and Kat were taking naps in the cradles that were lined up against the right-hand wall.
"Can anyone tell me what day is today?" Mrs. Wellington asked. None of the children answered. She stood up from the chair and pointed to the word Tuesday on the easel. "Today is Tuesday. That means yesterday was Monday and tomorrow is Wednesday." She glanced at the children. None of them said anything. She flipped over the paper revealing one that had a capital and lowercase A on the middle of the paper. "We are going to learn our alphabet. Can you tell me what letter this is?" She looked at the children. "Raise your hands if you know this letter." None of the kids did. "This is the letter A, A is the first letter of the alphabet. This is a big a and this is a little a." The kids looked interested but it didn't seem like any of them had already started learning the alphabet. "Can someone guess a word that starts with the letter A?" A few hands shot up in the air. She picked a little boy named Nicholas. "Cookies!" Mrs. Wellington shook her head. "Nice try but cookies starts with the letter C." She picked a little girl. "Apple?" "Yes, very good Rosemary, apple does start with the letter A." She wrote the word apple on the board, saying each letter out loud as she wrote it. "Kennedi, do you know a word that starts with the letter A?" "Orange?" "No, but that was a nice try. Orange starts with the letter O." She picked Austin to try next. "Juice." "Nice try but Juice starts with the letter J. We are looking for words that start with the letter A." Wyatt raised his hand. "My brother was angry this morning." "Oh. The word angry starts with an A." Ignoring the rest of the comment, Mrs. Wellington wrote the word angry on the paper, saying each letter out loud.
A few more words were added to the paper before Mrs. Wellington decided there was enough. "Okay, class. I would like you to go put your bag in your cubbie. Follow me." She rose from her chair and led her students over to the cubbies, she helped each child find their cubbie. "Now, I want you to take your pencils out of your bag." She waited until each child had accomplished this task. "Good, now I'm going to tell you where you'll be sitting."
Wyatt was put at the orange table. He was accompanied by Austin, Dakota, Kennedi, Carter, and Jo-anne. Once the rest of his classmates were seated, Wyatt sat his teacher approach his table holding workbooks. She handed one out to each kid at Wyatt's table. He looked down at it. His name had been written on but he didn't know it was his name since he couldn't read or write yet. "I want everyone to open their book and look at the first page." She gave them a minute to do this. "What letter is that?" She asked. Everyone shouted out, "A." She assigned them the task of practicing writing the big and small A's. Wyatt knew how to hold his pencil well enough and easily managed to write his A's, though many of them were lopsided or the sick on the little a was on the wrong side. Still, he was proud of his work and even showed off his A's to Austin who in response showed off his own A's.
During snack time, Wyatt along with the rest of his classmates collected their lunchboxes from their cubbies and found their way back to their tables. "What do you have?" Austin asked Wyatt. Wyatt opened his lunchbox and a happy smiled formed on his face. "My mommy made me a sandwich, and I have donkeroos! I have carrots and grapes, and I have a juice box." He removed the juice box from his lunch and poked the straw through the hole on the top. He squeezed a little too hard and juice squirted out hitting him in the face. He started laughing causing the other kids at his table to start laughing. Mrs. Wellington came over with a small basket of white napkins, she handed him one. He cleaned up his mess and left the napkin next to his lunchbox. He removed his donkeroos and peeled off the wrapper. "What do you have for snack?" Austin looked into his green monster lunchbox. "I have crackers, a wattle bottle, a yogurt, and a sandwich. I think it's ham." Austin chose to have his yogurt because his mom had told him to eat it first so it wouldn't go bad.
From the enrollment papers Michelle had shown her, Paige knew Caleb attended the same school as Wyatt. She had decided to pop in real quick to secretly check up on Caleb. She was watching him play on the playground while she stood nearby cloaked so she wouldn't be seen. He seemed happy and it looked like he had plenty of friends, or at least, was welcomed by other kids. Satisfied, Paige orbed into the deserted parking lot and uncloaked herself. She then walked up to the kindergarten area and called Wyatt over. He ran to the fence and Paige knelled down on The other side to be at his level. "Hey, baby. How's your first day going?" Wyatt was smiling as he was happy to see his favourite aunt. "Really good. I love school," Wyatt informed her. Paige was happy to hear that, she had worried. She always worried about the kids, especially since she had become a mother herself. Mrs. Wellington noticed Paige and came to investigate.
"Excuse me, who are you?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Paige Matthews. I'm Wyatt's aunt."
"Is that true, Wyatt?"
"Yes, Mrs. W."
"I'm a social worker and I was just checking up on a child whose family I've been dealing with. Thought I'd say hi to my nephew before leaving." Mrs. Wellington nodded and unlatched the gate to let Paige in. Wyatt watched his aunt enter and kneel down to receive her hug. He ran into her arms and they shared a tight hug. "You can stay for just a few minutes. Recess is almost over." Paige nodded and looked at her nephew. He seemed so grown up all of the sudden. "What did you do today?" Wyatt moved his blonde hair out of his eyes, he was in needed a trim on his bangs. "I learned A. Austin sits at my table but Darryl is in the other class." He looked disappointed about this once again. "Of course he is, honey. Darryl Junior is a year older than you. He's in S.K., you're in J.K." Wyatt looked down at the ground sadly. "Have you made any new friends?" Wyatt looked back up at her and shook his head. "The other kids are nice but no new friends." "Well, it's still early. I'm sure you will make lots of new friends." Wyatt's eyes lit up, he liked the sound of that. "Can we go get ice cream?" Wyatt asked. Paige chuckled. "Maybe after school, if your mommy says it's okay." Wyatt now looked concerned. Piper was picky about letting her kids have sugar. "Okay, I have to go now, can I get a big hug?" Wyatt nodded and wrapped his little arms around her neck as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Paige kissed the top of his head and headed for the gate. Wyatt watched her leave and her leaving made him cry a little.
Piper arrived at the school at the end of the day. The kindergarten students were in the fenced-in area or we're walking away with their parents/guardians. Sheila had just picked up Mikey and was now heading to the kindergarten area to collect Darryl Junior. They had just shared a hug when Piper made it to the fence. "Hey, Piper." "Hey." Piper looked at the two boys. "How was your first day?" Mikey shrugged uninterested. "I had fun, we played in the gym," Darryl junior announced. "Wow, that must have been fun." Darryl junior nodded and they parted ways. Mrs. Wellington unlatched the gate and Wyatt came running through landing his mother's arms. "How was your day? Did you have fun?" Wyatt nodded and leaned back into his mother's arms for a second hug. "Did you get really smart?" Piper asked. Wyatt again nodded his head. "Auntie Paige said we can go get ice cream." A confused expression came upon Wyatt's face. He hadn't spoken to his aunt today as far as she knew. "Paige stopped by, I let them talk for a few minutes. I hope that's okay," Mrs. Wellington explained. "Oh, it's more than fine. I trust Paige completely. She and my other sister Phoebe are Wyatt's emergency contacts. My brothers-in-law too, Herny Mitchell and Coop Halliwell." (Coop didn't have his own last name, so on paper, he used his wife's last name. Halliwell.) Mrs. Wellington nodded. "Wyatt had a very good day. He's a very social little boy. He made sure the entire class knew his bother was angry this morning." Piper laughed and got up. "Chris, my little terror. He's so cranky in the morning, and my daughter, she's just the fussiest little baby." Piper laughed again. "This one's my easy kid," she said jokingly looking down at Wyatt. This made his teacher laugh. "I can believe that he was very well-behaved."
Piper took Wyatt's hand and they started walking away from the school. Once in the car, Wyatt got all excited when he remembered his school day wasn't over. "I go to magic school now? Wyatt asked. Piper nodded as she buckled him in. "You'll be home right in time for supper." Wyatt didn't care that he had to attend two different schools. He loved learning and he loved magic school because he could use his powers there as much as he wanted. There were no mortals there to look out for.