Disclaimer: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me, except for Elle and Harrison Stokes.
...........….............................................................. ...........….
Sara had brought the twins to kindergarten today. Class started at 10AM, and was over at 1PM. Nick wanted to come, but Ethan had a temper tantrum and couldn't leave him with the babysitter, screaming his head off. The twins were disappointed that Nick wasn't there. Preschool was a big experience, but kindergarten was even bigger. They were in an actual school now, not just some church's basement. Nick held Ethan as he said goodbye to his oldest children, his first borns. He could tell something was going on with them, but just brushed it off as he figured they were nervous for kindergarten. They weren't going to be in the same class, and they had never been separated for more than a couple of hours. Sara didn't know how either of them would react.
She had brought Elle with her the day before, and had bought new outfits for the first few days. Harrison had voiced his opinion that he didn't want to match Elle anymore. They were "big kids" as he said. Sara agreed, figuring no one would even notice that the two matched because now they were in different classes, with different teachers.
Sara walked into the elementary school, and headed for the last hallway which included the rooms of the kindergarten classes. Elle's room came first, Room 200.
"Elle, sweetie, this is your room." they said. Other parents had been dropping their kids off. Some mothers were crying, as the fathers comforted them. Some parents waved and said quick goodbyes, to avoid any tears. And others simply directed their children to their classroom, and left. No emotions involved. Their kids were out of their hair for a couple of hours, and that's all that mattered to them. Not that this was a big step in their children's life. It saddened Sara. She could never imagine doing that to her twins.
"OK, mommy." Elle let go of Sara's hand, and poked her head inside the classroom. "Mommy, look. The walls are pink!" Elle exclaimed. Seeing her favorite color splashed across the walls of her new classroom made her feel a little more comfortable.
"Oh, its so pretty. And look" Sara said, lowering herself to Elle's height and pointing. "There's Amy!" Elle looked to where her mother's finger was pointed, and spotted the little blonde girl, who could've been Elle's twin if her hair was curly.
"Amy!!" Elle called out, startling a little boy who was walking in front of her. Sara apologized as her daughter ran for her friend. As Sara got up, a young woman, in her mid-20s walked up to Sara.
"Hi, I'm Mrs. Hobey. Is that your little girl?" the young woman said, pointing towards where Elle was seated, next to Amy.
"Yes, hi, I'm Sara Stokes. This is my son, Elle's twin, Harrison. He'll be down the hall." she said, shaking Harrison's hand as she held it.
"Well, its very nice to meet you Mrs. Stokes. I'll be Elle's teacher for the school year. I see she already knows one of her classmates." she said, smiling widely as parents walked into the classroom with their children. She was a very pretty teacher, with sparkly white teeth and long red hair.
"Yes, her and Amy went to preschool together. We didn't even know they'd be going to the same school, let alone be in the same class."
"Its always good for a child to be acquainted with at least one of their classmates. Class will be over at 1PM today, does Elle take a bus?" Mrs. Hobey asked, looking at her watch.
"No, either me or my husband will be picking her up. We have newborns, triplets, at home so its been kind of crazy for all of us lately." Sara explained.
"Well, I'll make sure to ask Elle about the new triplets in the house. Most kids love to talk about new siblings, especially babies." she said, practically glowing. Sara supposed she was either extremely nervous about the first day, or couldn't wait to begin. "Do you like the new babies, Harrison?" she asked, looking down at the little boy.
"They're OK, except they make too much noise." he said, making the older women laugh.
"OK, well let me go take him to his classroom and we'll see you later." said Sara, noticing Harrison getting antsy. "Bye Elle!" she said, watching as Elle waved to her.
"Bye Mommy! Bye Harrison!" she said, waving. Harrison said goodbye, and they made their way towards Room 205.
As Sara approached the classroom, she noticed a serious change in mood and sound. Mrs. Hobey's room was loud, and fun and bright. Harrison's room did not seem so happy.
"Hello" a woman said, standing at the front door. She looked about 50 years old, with stark white hair that was pulled into a small bun. She seemed very serious, and not as peppy as Mrs. Hobey.
"Hi, I'm Sara Stokes." Sara held out her hand, but the woman stood with her arms crossed in front of her, and she from time to time turn her head into the classroom, and shush the students who were already seated.
"Hello, Mrs. Stokes. I'm Mrs. Stevenson. Is this one of my students?" she asked, looking down as Harrison smiled up. Sara's heart broke as she saw Mrs. Stevenson not even crack a slight smile.
"Yes, this is Harrison Stokes." Harrison waved, and again, got no reply.
"He can go get seated, his name will be on the front of the desk. You will have a minute to say goodbye, and then you must leave, Mrs. Stokes." she said, looking at her watch. Sara gave Harrison a look of sarcasm. 'This woman can't be serious, he's 4 years old' Sara though. As if reading her mind, Mrs. Stevenson turned around and said, "Mrs. Stokes, I'm timing you."
After they found his seat and made sure he was comfortable, Sara kneeled down. "OK Har, I'm going to go home now. If anything happens, you can always go to the main office and they'll call either me or Dad, OK?" she said, helping him take his backpack off. He had chosen green, and Elle had chosen a light pink one.
"OK Mom, but the teacher seems really not nice." he said, taking a pencil out of his pencil case.
"I know sweetie, but maybe she's just having a bad day. I'm sure she'll be nice once everyone gets settled." she said. "I'll see you later, alright?" she said, kissing him on the forehead.
"OK Mommy, bye." he said.
"Mrs. Stokes, job well done. You still had 14 seconds to spare." Mrs. Stevenson said, as Sara exited the classroom, which was painted a chalky white color.
"Listen here, Mrs. Stevenson." Sara said, angry with the teacher. "My son is a good kid, and he doesn't deserve a bitchy teacher, so if you're not going to be nice to him, I can easily switch him into a different class with a nice, young teacher like Mrs. Hobey, right there." Sara said, pointing to the teacher who was still standing outside the classroom with a shimmering smile on her face. "So I suggest you change your attitude, or you're going to have a problem. Not only with me, but with my husband as well. Do we understand, Mrs. Stevenson?"
Mrs. Stevenson just stood there, shocked with what she had just heard. Some parents stood by, shocked at the random outburst from a mother who seemed calm. They all wanted to do the same, but none had the guts. They were glad someone had. She couldn't even begin to respond. "Goodbye Mrs. Stevenson. We'll see you later." Sara said, as she began to walk out. She winked to Harrison, and peeked inside Elle's classroom as she was still talking with Amy.
............................................................................ ...........….
"Hey Sar, how'd the kids like their teachers?" Nick asked from the nursery as he heard her come in.
"Oh, Elle loved hers. She's really nice, Mrs. Hobey. But Harrison's, my God, its as if Satan decided to go into teaching." she said, grabbing a diaper out of the Diaper Genie to help Nick, who was changing a fidgety Olivia.
"Sara…" Nick began.
"What? I didn't hurt the teacher or anything." she said, picking Benjamin up out of his crib. "I didn't."
Nick could see right through her, and knew she did something to the teacher, either physically or verbally. "Sara, what'd you do?"
"Nicky, you would have done the same if you saw how she was. Poor Harrison had the biggest smile on his face, and she just stared at him with her cold eyes. I felt so bad for him, I had to say something." she said, sitting in the rocking chair, cuddling Ben.
"Well, what did you say, Sar?" he asked, placing Olivia on the floor to play with the toys that were sprawled across the floor.
"I just told her that if she didn't change her manner, we're going to switch Harrison into a different class." Sara said, seating Ben on the floor next to his sister. Nick looked at her, with a confused expression on his face. "Nicky, teachers get paid by how many students they teach each day. So one less student for Mrs. Stevenson, the less money she'll make."
"Ooh" he said, handing a rubbing frog to Olivia. "I'm just worried that if you say something to his teacher that rubs her the wrong way, she'll treat Harrison differently."
"But that won't happen, Nicky. I promise, there won't be another outburst like that." she said, picking up Ben who had fallen back to sleep and placing him in his crib. "Not today."
"Sara…" said Nick.
"Nicky, just pick up Olivia and bring her into our room. We can use a little more sleep, and the twins don't have to be picked up for a few more hours. She'll fall asleep the second we do." she said, leading the way towards their bedroom.
In a matter of 15 minutes, the triplets, Nick and Sara were fast asleep.
............................................................................ ...........….
Sara woke up to the sound of the answering machine beep. 'I wonder who called' Sara thought, getting ready to listen to whatever message the person decided to leave.
"Hello, Mr. or Mrs. Stokes. This is Mrs. Stevenson, from Hillside Elementary School. You seem to be late to pick up your twins, Elle and Harrison. Its almost 2PM, they should have been picked up an hour ago. Please be sure to get here as soon as possible. Thank you." she heard the phone click, and the machine go off. She jumped out of bed.
"Nicky! Nicky!" she said, shaking him to wake him up. "Nicky, we forgot to pick the twins up at kindergarten. Nicky!"
He woke up at the sound of 'forgot' and 'twins'. "What? What happened?" he asked, jumping out of bed, still half asleep.
"Shit Nick, almost kill Olivia." Sara said, watching as he almost rolled over their baby. "We forgot to pick the twins up, can you go get them?" she asked, as she picked up Olivia who had started to cry.
"Sar, why can't you go?" he asked, pulling on a pair of flip flops.
"I can't go because she's hungry, and I haven't made any bottles today." she said, unbuttoning her shirt.
"Ugh, OK. What rooms are they in?" Nick asked, grabbing his keys off the night table.
"Elle's in 200, and Harrison is in 205. It's the last hallway. Shit Nick, how'd we just forget about them?" Sara said, angry with herself that she had completely forgotten about her children.
"I don't know, Sar. I'll be right back." he said, running out the front door and to the new minivan they had sitting in the driveway. There hadn't been enough room in the Tahoe for three car seats, and the twins. Sara finally gave in, and a month ago they had purchased a dark blue Town & Country minivan.
"Shit" Nick yelled, as he tried to put the car into drive but turned on the wind shield wipers instead. "Shit!" he yelled, trying again but somehow turning the radio on. "I hate this Barney crap." he said, as the voice of the purple dinosaur came through the speakers. "Finally" Nick exclaimed, as he got the car into drive.
As he pulled up to the elementary school, he saw two small figures sitting on the front steps of the school and a tall, thin figure standing behind them with her arms crossed in front of them. He put the car into Park after many tries, and got out.
"Hey guys, I'm so sorry I'm late." Nick said, as he walked up to the school. "Hi, I'm Nick Stokes. I really am so sorry, my wife and I fell asleep. Its been sort of crazy at our house lately, we had triplets a few months ago." he said, picking Elle up off the steps and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so sorry I was late, baby."
"Its OK, Daddy. But I don't think she's very happy about it." Elle said, pointing over her shoulder at the teacher standing behind them.
"Yes, Mr. Stokes. I do hope that you and your wife begin to get on a schedule where you remember your children. Its not every day that I would be so willing to stay with your children, an hour after school has concluded for the day." she said, walking towards her car.
"Hey Har, sorry for being so late bud--." Nick said, placing Elle back down on the cement. He saw no Harrison, but just his Spiderman lunchbox. "Harrison??" Nick asked, beginning to get worried. He turned around and saw Harrison approaching the highway. "Harrison!!! Harrison!!" Nick yelled. "Stop right there!!!" he began to run after him, with his lunchbox in his hand and Elle trailing behind him.
"Daddy! How could you forget us?" Harrison asked, tears forming in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, buddy. I really am. And so is Mommy. You know we would never purposely be late." he said, leaning down to Harrison's stature.
"Its because of those stupid babies, right?" Harrison asked, turning away from his father and towards the highway.
"No, me and Mommy still love you both just as much as we did before the triplets came. Its just that this is new, to all of us." He said, trying to turn Harrison around and Elle moved toward them. Nick turned away for a second to make sure Elle had reached them OK, and when he turned around Harrison was in the middle of the highway.
"Daddy, I'm walking home." he said. As he tried to reach the other side of the road, stopping when he saw a car coming, a car sped out a side street.
"Harrison!!" Nick yelled, too late to his son.
............................................................................ ...........….
Oh man, I know I said this would be a happy story, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve so that I can finally end this thing. Please, read and review.
...........….............................................................. ...........….
Sara had brought the twins to kindergarten today. Class started at 10AM, and was over at 1PM. Nick wanted to come, but Ethan had a temper tantrum and couldn't leave him with the babysitter, screaming his head off. The twins were disappointed that Nick wasn't there. Preschool was a big experience, but kindergarten was even bigger. They were in an actual school now, not just some church's basement. Nick held Ethan as he said goodbye to his oldest children, his first borns. He could tell something was going on with them, but just brushed it off as he figured they were nervous for kindergarten. They weren't going to be in the same class, and they had never been separated for more than a couple of hours. Sara didn't know how either of them would react.
She had brought Elle with her the day before, and had bought new outfits for the first few days. Harrison had voiced his opinion that he didn't want to match Elle anymore. They were "big kids" as he said. Sara agreed, figuring no one would even notice that the two matched because now they were in different classes, with different teachers.
Sara walked into the elementary school, and headed for the last hallway which included the rooms of the kindergarten classes. Elle's room came first, Room 200.
"Elle, sweetie, this is your room." they said. Other parents had been dropping their kids off. Some mothers were crying, as the fathers comforted them. Some parents waved and said quick goodbyes, to avoid any tears. And others simply directed their children to their classroom, and left. No emotions involved. Their kids were out of their hair for a couple of hours, and that's all that mattered to them. Not that this was a big step in their children's life. It saddened Sara. She could never imagine doing that to her twins.
"OK, mommy." Elle let go of Sara's hand, and poked her head inside the classroom. "Mommy, look. The walls are pink!" Elle exclaimed. Seeing her favorite color splashed across the walls of her new classroom made her feel a little more comfortable.
"Oh, its so pretty. And look" Sara said, lowering herself to Elle's height and pointing. "There's Amy!" Elle looked to where her mother's finger was pointed, and spotted the little blonde girl, who could've been Elle's twin if her hair was curly.
"Amy!!" Elle called out, startling a little boy who was walking in front of her. Sara apologized as her daughter ran for her friend. As Sara got up, a young woman, in her mid-20s walked up to Sara.
"Hi, I'm Mrs. Hobey. Is that your little girl?" the young woman said, pointing towards where Elle was seated, next to Amy.
"Yes, hi, I'm Sara Stokes. This is my son, Elle's twin, Harrison. He'll be down the hall." she said, shaking Harrison's hand as she held it.
"Well, its very nice to meet you Mrs. Stokes. I'll be Elle's teacher for the school year. I see she already knows one of her classmates." she said, smiling widely as parents walked into the classroom with their children. She was a very pretty teacher, with sparkly white teeth and long red hair.
"Yes, her and Amy went to preschool together. We didn't even know they'd be going to the same school, let alone be in the same class."
"Its always good for a child to be acquainted with at least one of their classmates. Class will be over at 1PM today, does Elle take a bus?" Mrs. Hobey asked, looking at her watch.
"No, either me or my husband will be picking her up. We have newborns, triplets, at home so its been kind of crazy for all of us lately." Sara explained.
"Well, I'll make sure to ask Elle about the new triplets in the house. Most kids love to talk about new siblings, especially babies." she said, practically glowing. Sara supposed she was either extremely nervous about the first day, or couldn't wait to begin. "Do you like the new babies, Harrison?" she asked, looking down at the little boy.
"They're OK, except they make too much noise." he said, making the older women laugh.
"OK, well let me go take him to his classroom and we'll see you later." said Sara, noticing Harrison getting antsy. "Bye Elle!" she said, watching as Elle waved to her.
"Bye Mommy! Bye Harrison!" she said, waving. Harrison said goodbye, and they made their way towards Room 205.
As Sara approached the classroom, she noticed a serious change in mood and sound. Mrs. Hobey's room was loud, and fun and bright. Harrison's room did not seem so happy.
"Hello" a woman said, standing at the front door. She looked about 50 years old, with stark white hair that was pulled into a small bun. She seemed very serious, and not as peppy as Mrs. Hobey.
"Hi, I'm Sara Stokes." Sara held out her hand, but the woman stood with her arms crossed in front of her, and she from time to time turn her head into the classroom, and shush the students who were already seated.
"Hello, Mrs. Stokes. I'm Mrs. Stevenson. Is this one of my students?" she asked, looking down as Harrison smiled up. Sara's heart broke as she saw Mrs. Stevenson not even crack a slight smile.
"Yes, this is Harrison Stokes." Harrison waved, and again, got no reply.
"He can go get seated, his name will be on the front of the desk. You will have a minute to say goodbye, and then you must leave, Mrs. Stokes." she said, looking at her watch. Sara gave Harrison a look of sarcasm. 'This woman can't be serious, he's 4 years old' Sara though. As if reading her mind, Mrs. Stevenson turned around and said, "Mrs. Stokes, I'm timing you."
After they found his seat and made sure he was comfortable, Sara kneeled down. "OK Har, I'm going to go home now. If anything happens, you can always go to the main office and they'll call either me or Dad, OK?" she said, helping him take his backpack off. He had chosen green, and Elle had chosen a light pink one.
"OK Mom, but the teacher seems really not nice." he said, taking a pencil out of his pencil case.
"I know sweetie, but maybe she's just having a bad day. I'm sure she'll be nice once everyone gets settled." she said. "I'll see you later, alright?" she said, kissing him on the forehead.
"OK Mommy, bye." he said.
"Mrs. Stokes, job well done. You still had 14 seconds to spare." Mrs. Stevenson said, as Sara exited the classroom, which was painted a chalky white color.
"Listen here, Mrs. Stevenson." Sara said, angry with the teacher. "My son is a good kid, and he doesn't deserve a bitchy teacher, so if you're not going to be nice to him, I can easily switch him into a different class with a nice, young teacher like Mrs. Hobey, right there." Sara said, pointing to the teacher who was still standing outside the classroom with a shimmering smile on her face. "So I suggest you change your attitude, or you're going to have a problem. Not only with me, but with my husband as well. Do we understand, Mrs. Stevenson?"
Mrs. Stevenson just stood there, shocked with what she had just heard. Some parents stood by, shocked at the random outburst from a mother who seemed calm. They all wanted to do the same, but none had the guts. They were glad someone had. She couldn't even begin to respond. "Goodbye Mrs. Stevenson. We'll see you later." Sara said, as she began to walk out. She winked to Harrison, and peeked inside Elle's classroom as she was still talking with Amy.
............................................................................ ...........….
"Hey Sar, how'd the kids like their teachers?" Nick asked from the nursery as he heard her come in.
"Oh, Elle loved hers. She's really nice, Mrs. Hobey. But Harrison's, my God, its as if Satan decided to go into teaching." she said, grabbing a diaper out of the Diaper Genie to help Nick, who was changing a fidgety Olivia.
"Sara…" Nick began.
"What? I didn't hurt the teacher or anything." she said, picking Benjamin up out of his crib. "I didn't."
Nick could see right through her, and knew she did something to the teacher, either physically or verbally. "Sara, what'd you do?"
"Nicky, you would have done the same if you saw how she was. Poor Harrison had the biggest smile on his face, and she just stared at him with her cold eyes. I felt so bad for him, I had to say something." she said, sitting in the rocking chair, cuddling Ben.
"Well, what did you say, Sar?" he asked, placing Olivia on the floor to play with the toys that were sprawled across the floor.
"I just told her that if she didn't change her manner, we're going to switch Harrison into a different class." Sara said, seating Ben on the floor next to his sister. Nick looked at her, with a confused expression on his face. "Nicky, teachers get paid by how many students they teach each day. So one less student for Mrs. Stevenson, the less money she'll make."
"Ooh" he said, handing a rubbing frog to Olivia. "I'm just worried that if you say something to his teacher that rubs her the wrong way, she'll treat Harrison differently."
"But that won't happen, Nicky. I promise, there won't be another outburst like that." she said, picking up Ben who had fallen back to sleep and placing him in his crib. "Not today."
"Sara…" said Nick.
"Nicky, just pick up Olivia and bring her into our room. We can use a little more sleep, and the twins don't have to be picked up for a few more hours. She'll fall asleep the second we do." she said, leading the way towards their bedroom.
In a matter of 15 minutes, the triplets, Nick and Sara were fast asleep.
............................................................................ ...........….
Sara woke up to the sound of the answering machine beep. 'I wonder who called' Sara thought, getting ready to listen to whatever message the person decided to leave.
"Hello, Mr. or Mrs. Stokes. This is Mrs. Stevenson, from Hillside Elementary School. You seem to be late to pick up your twins, Elle and Harrison. Its almost 2PM, they should have been picked up an hour ago. Please be sure to get here as soon as possible. Thank you." she heard the phone click, and the machine go off. She jumped out of bed.
"Nicky! Nicky!" she said, shaking him to wake him up. "Nicky, we forgot to pick the twins up at kindergarten. Nicky!"
He woke up at the sound of 'forgot' and 'twins'. "What? What happened?" he asked, jumping out of bed, still half asleep.
"Shit Nick, almost kill Olivia." Sara said, watching as he almost rolled over their baby. "We forgot to pick the twins up, can you go get them?" she asked, as she picked up Olivia who had started to cry.
"Sar, why can't you go?" he asked, pulling on a pair of flip flops.
"I can't go because she's hungry, and I haven't made any bottles today." she said, unbuttoning her shirt.
"Ugh, OK. What rooms are they in?" Nick asked, grabbing his keys off the night table.
"Elle's in 200, and Harrison is in 205. It's the last hallway. Shit Nick, how'd we just forget about them?" Sara said, angry with herself that she had completely forgotten about her children.
"I don't know, Sar. I'll be right back." he said, running out the front door and to the new minivan they had sitting in the driveway. There hadn't been enough room in the Tahoe for three car seats, and the twins. Sara finally gave in, and a month ago they had purchased a dark blue Town & Country minivan.
"Shit" Nick yelled, as he tried to put the car into drive but turned on the wind shield wipers instead. "Shit!" he yelled, trying again but somehow turning the radio on. "I hate this Barney crap." he said, as the voice of the purple dinosaur came through the speakers. "Finally" Nick exclaimed, as he got the car into drive.
As he pulled up to the elementary school, he saw two small figures sitting on the front steps of the school and a tall, thin figure standing behind them with her arms crossed in front of them. He put the car into Park after many tries, and got out.
"Hey guys, I'm so sorry I'm late." Nick said, as he walked up to the school. "Hi, I'm Nick Stokes. I really am so sorry, my wife and I fell asleep. Its been sort of crazy at our house lately, we had triplets a few months ago." he said, picking Elle up off the steps and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so sorry I was late, baby."
"Its OK, Daddy. But I don't think she's very happy about it." Elle said, pointing over her shoulder at the teacher standing behind them.
"Yes, Mr. Stokes. I do hope that you and your wife begin to get on a schedule where you remember your children. Its not every day that I would be so willing to stay with your children, an hour after school has concluded for the day." she said, walking towards her car.
"Hey Har, sorry for being so late bud--." Nick said, placing Elle back down on the cement. He saw no Harrison, but just his Spiderman lunchbox. "Harrison??" Nick asked, beginning to get worried. He turned around and saw Harrison approaching the highway. "Harrison!!! Harrison!!" Nick yelled. "Stop right there!!!" he began to run after him, with his lunchbox in his hand and Elle trailing behind him.
"Daddy! How could you forget us?" Harrison asked, tears forming in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, buddy. I really am. And so is Mommy. You know we would never purposely be late." he said, leaning down to Harrison's stature.
"Its because of those stupid babies, right?" Harrison asked, turning away from his father and towards the highway.
"No, me and Mommy still love you both just as much as we did before the triplets came. Its just that this is new, to all of us." He said, trying to turn Harrison around and Elle moved toward them. Nick turned away for a second to make sure Elle had reached them OK, and when he turned around Harrison was in the middle of the highway.
"Daddy, I'm walking home." he said. As he tried to reach the other side of the road, stopping when he saw a car coming, a car sped out a side street.
"Harrison!!" Nick yelled, too late to his son.
............................................................................ ...........….
Oh man, I know I said this would be a happy story, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve so that I can finally end this thing. Please, read and review.