All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are mine alone. Steph and Ranger's gift to Olive can be bought online.
"I'm not sure how I was expecting to feel when this day came," Stephanie said into my chest, "but I'm not liking my current emotions so far."
I ran my fingers through her curls and tried to rub the tension out of her from the top down. "Olivia will be fine, Babe. She'll only be gone for a couple of hours each day."
"My brain knows that, but the rest of me keeps adding up the minutes she'll be on her own."
"She'll be far from 'on her own'. She'll be surrounded by other preschoolers and plenty of adults."
She rested her chin on my chest so she could aim a glare directly at me. "Do you have to be so reasonable all the time?"
I curled my hand around the back of her head and eased her back down against me. "Yes. But in this case, I'm just reassuring you that our daughter will be alright even when we don't have all eyes on her."
"I know, but I'm going to miss her. If I wasn't so emotional, I'd be laughing at how funny this is."
"Explain," I told her.
No matter how long I've been with Stephanie, her thought process continues to intrigue me.
"I used to have literal panic attacks at the thought of staying home solely to raise kids, and this morning I'm a little sad that Olive won't be with me for the entire day."
I pulled her as close as I could without our son kicking an objection, kissing her head. "Congratulations. You just put the final nail in the coffin of who you thought you had to be."
"Thank you, I think."
"You're running on pure feeling, not on what you were told to do or be. It's alright to miss our daughters, it's impossible not to. But you're the first one to point out that they are their own people, who need their own experiences, separate from us."
"Wow … I'm really annoying when I say stuff like that."
"But you're right nonetheless."
She tried to pinch the skin on my chest, but I caught her hand, rolled her onto her back, and gave her something more enjoyable to focus on. When I'm done loving her, it's possible she'll be too worn out to be anxious or sad.
"I no sleepy no more!" We heard just over an hour later. "I go to oolz!"
Steph sighed as we approached our baby's bedroom door. "Guess I'm the only one not excited about this change in our lives."
"Look at it this way, when our son is born … you'll be too busy or exhausted to think beyond the next five minutes."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "It should be illegal how your mouth can go from mind-blowing straight to reminding me of something I'm trying hard to avoid thinking about."
"Mama! Dada! Olive wake!"
"God, I love that kid," my wife stated before stepping around Mo to join our daughter where Olive was sitting up on her bed, bouncing up and down in anticipation.
Mado had been happy to curl up against a sleeping toddler. One who wakes up with an energy level at one hundred … not so much. Our cat almost landed on Gunny's back in her haste to usurp the big bed in our now unoccupied bedroom.
"We've reached the big day, Olive. Mama and Daddy will have to do our jobs all by ourselves while you're busy doing your thing at preschool."
"Maybe I should help Olivia get ready for her first day while you plate up breakfast, Babe," I suggested.
I felt her look at me as I sat in the chair opposite the bed. "You think I'm going to take our daughter and run?"
"You seem to prefer having her home than in school."
"Because I'm going to miss her, not because I'm trying to hold her hostage. You know how I get when you go in the wind …"
"You're equating preschool with a mission?" I asked, completely amused at this point.
"No. I'm saying I'll always miss you both when I'm away from you."
"Mama is going to need many, many kisses as you get ready," I informed our baby. "You should probably give her a few now while I get your clothes for you."
My wife's beautiful face was suddenly obscured as our daughter lunged at her. My head and hands disappeared into the closet to retrieve the First Day of School outfit my ladies had decided on after bath time last night. When I reemerged, they were both laughing and exchanging smacking kisses. And now their bodies are hard to see as Mo and Gunny bravely waded into the affection demonstration going on in front of them.
As much as I like adhering to a strict schedule, I put Olivia's clothes down on the chair I'd vacated and leaned against the wall just to take in the moment. As abruptly as it began, Olivia was off the bed and reaching for the jeans Steph found for her that had glitter subtly shining up and down the legs, plus the micro floral print top.
No doubt about it, my daughter looks like a summer morning I decided after we'd helped wrangle her out of her pjs and into her school clothes.
"Do you know what?" Steph asked Olivia.
"Wha?" Was the immediate reply.
"Daddy and I got you something for your big day."
I'd argue that this is just as much to put Stephanie's mind at ease as it is to comfort Olivia. But I've known my wife long enough not to point that out.
"I gotz a prezen!" Our baby shouted when I held out the box for Stephanie to give her. "It a uni-corn!"
"It is," I agreed. "Mama thought you'd like a friend with you today …"
"I did," my wife cut in. "You can wear this really sparkly unicorn necklace to school, and if at any time you miss Mama or Daddy too much, you can just touch her horn and we'll be there."
That sounded suspiciously like more than just our daughter having something physical to touch in order to remain calm.
"Did you have a tracker put in the unicorn?" I had to ask.
"Would I do something sneaky like that?" Steph asked, securing the necklace so it sat below the collar of our daughter's shirt.
"If you thought it would keep our daughter safe … yes. You would absolutely do that and more."
"Like you would absolutely have two guys stationed at the school so nothing happens there that shouldn't?" She fired back.
"Hal and Junior offered their services to patrol that area. It would have crushed them if I'd refused."
She didn't press that fact. She knows I'm not exaggerating. The men take their 'Uncle Duties' extremely seriously, so she moved on.
"Do you know what this is?" Steph asked Olivia, holding up the second charm that hung on the necklace.
"Itz da hawt."
"That's right. It's a heart. Can you tell what it says?"
Not wanting to be at a disadvantage, our baby looked down at herself and tried to put together the letters she knows in an attempt to form words she recognizes. Her eyebrows made a V as she studied the small silver heart.
"It says 'You are magical'," I supplied, "on one side and 'We love you' on the other."
"That means you are an awesome little girl," my wife interpreted in her own way. "And Mama and Daddy love you so much. Your preschool isn't going to know what hit them."
Not something I can disagree with.
The three of us followed our dogs to the kitchen and Stephanie got our daughter settled into her chair while I took the special breakfast pizza Ella prepared for Olivia out of the freezer. We only had to warm it up this morning when we were ready.
It has all of Olivia's favorite breakfast foods cut or laid out to create a lake scene on the dough. Bacon trunks for the spinach trees, scrambled egg bushes, olive birds, and a cheese lake beside a sausage walkway to name only a few.
"It's a pitcher," my daughter said after taking in the edible scene.
"That's right. Our Fairy GodElla made you a picture on your pizza. It's almost too pretty to eat, isn't it?"
The sudden gleam in Olivia's brown eyes reminded me so much of Stephanie, I had to take a deep breath just to keep the emotions in check that they both stirred up in me. Our baby lifted the edge of her personal pizza and took a large bite while her eyes stayed trained on her Mama. She chewed as she smiled, a skill Steph passed onto her. After me, nothing makes my girls happier than getting away with something food related.
"You are the best, Olive. Mama can't physically love you more than I do right now."
Olivia carried on the Manoso tradition of pushing the boundaries by offering Stephanie her picture pizza to take a bite of. I got the dogs and the rat fed and waited a moment to see if Mado got up to eat before I joined my ladies. My wife's expression accused me of being Olivia's favorite, solely because I was offered the part of the pizza that had a bacon, cheese, and sausage crossover. I kissed her right after so she wouldn't miss out on at least the taste of her favorite breakfast items.
Steph cleared the table while I lifted a well-nourished Olivia out of her seat and walked behind her as she ran to the front door to get her brand-new pink-haired mermaid backpack and her jacket. I wasn't surprised to see that a few of the Uncles had gathered in the lobby and provided a tunnel from the elevator to the front door for Olive to walk through. They all offered 'Good Luck' high fives as she passed them on our way out of the building.
Steph glanced back at our daughter just before we reached her preschool. "We're almost there. Are you still excited?"
Olivia's entire body moved with her nod, and she kicked her feet against her car seat. "I sees lotza kids!"
"You will. You'll also have a teacher just like Julie has."
"I big like my biiiiig sissa."
"Not quite as big as Jules, but you're getting there."
The car went quiet after that while Steph and Olivia both stared out their windows as we neared the newest milestone in our family. My wife put on a good show of being okay as I parked, and we each held one of our daughter's hands as we walked into the school and met her teacher.
"That is a real pretty backpack, Olivia. If you find your name, you'll have the perfect place to hang it up," Ms. Dervis told our baby once we'd introduced ourselves.
"Remember, Olive," my wife said to our daughter. "Look for a big 'O', small 'v', and two little bitty 'i's."
As our daughter ran to the line of locker hooks, her teacher smiled at us. She glanced down at Stephanie's obviously pregnant stomach for just a split second. "Congratulations. It appears Olivia will soon be having a …?" Her voice trailed away as if she caught herself saying more than she should.
"Olive's getting a baby brother," my wife told her, putting the teacher's mind at ease.
"Well … I bet us having little Olivia for a few hours will make the transition from one child to two go a little smoother."
This is where Stephanie went from mildly relaxed to slightly indignant. "We have two kids already. Our other daughter is a teenager now. I'm not sure I agree that Olive needs preschool. She's smart enough to go straight to kindergarten and I wouldn't mind having an extra year or two with her home."
"Don't mind my wife," I assured Olivia's teacher. "She's suffering from a bit of separation anxiety."
"Why wouldn't I be?" Steph asked me. "I love my kid and really like hanging out with her. She's my partner in crime. Figuratively, I mean. Not the real crime stuff."
That was said to reassure Olivia's teacher. I know better. Our daughter may not have been providing backup for her Mama on the street, but she has sat on or near Stephanie every time my wife utilized my 'gray area' view - and a few criminal contacts - to catch someone.
"We're in the security field," I explained to Ms. Dervis.
"That sounds … interesting."
"Probably not as interesting as a roomful of toddlers," Stephanie noted.
"You're not wrong. Sometimes I think they teach me more than I teach them."
"I feel better now," my wife said to me. It's a good thing she does, because our daughter in running back to us. "How are you feeling? Are you okay with Mama and Daddy leaving? Or do you need us to hang around for a few more minutes?"
"I see my fend."
"You made a friend already?" I asked her. "Where is she?"
"He dare," she replied, pointing to a table across the room.
She wasn't misrepresenting her new friend. He is in fact a little blond boy.
Steph gave me a nudge to the ribs. "Tag. Now you're it when it comes to wondering if this is a good idea."
"I promise you that little Olivia will be just fine here with us," Ms. Dervis assured us.
"Yeah, Hal and Junior will make sure of it," my wife whispered for my ears only.
I'd guess that's the real reason she's alright with hugging our daughter goodbye for a few hours.
"We'll be back to pick you up for lunch," she was telling our baby. "And we want to hear everything you did today."
"I play lots and do lots stuff."
"Yes, you will, Olivia," Ms. Dervis assured her. "You, your class, and I will be doing a lot of fun things together today."
With another kiss and a too-long goodbye hug from her Mama, we slowly made our way back to the car.
"This feels very different than when she sleeps over at your parents' house," my wife said, looking back over her shoulder at the preschool building.
"It is different. It's nearly impossible to get Olivia back when she's with her grandparents, whereas the school is legally required to return her to us."
"Good point."
"I didn't schedule anything beyond this school drop-off and pick-up, is there something you'd like to do?"
"I'm debating dropping in to see Mary Lou for a quick pep talk since she's been through this multiple times, or just going home and bugging One Shot as a distraction."
"A visit with Mary Lou would be the best thing for you, but I always enjoy watching you get a rise out of Atlas."
I opened the passenger door for her, but she paused before getting into the vehicle and smiled at me. "That settles it. Home and annoying Atlas it is. Olive's okay so I can put a little more effort into showing you a good time."