Sandy parked the car opposite the grade school his son was attending.
He glanced at his watch, noting it was 10 to 3, so he had five minutes before he wanted to be at the gate, to be sure Seth would be able to see him as he came out of the building.
He knew Seth was a bright kid and that he'd probably be ahead of most of his classmates in English and Math. He and Kirsten had read to him from the day he was born and he'd been reading at the age of three and a half. His Math skills were great, as whenever he went to the store with his parents, they'd always counted the change with him from the note they'd handed to the cashier and played games with the food, like "If we buy 3 packets of bagels with 4 bagels in each, how many bagels will we have?", so he was pretty good at that. Sandy thought Seth was very good at Art too, a trait he'd obviously inherited from his mother. He was always drawing pictures, when he wasn't reading, watching TV or playing a "let's pretend" game with Captain Oats. Sport wouldn't be quite so good for Seth, Sandy surmised, as he wasn't particularly well-coordinated or skilled at throwing and catching a ball, but they were working on that, and Seth always tried his best and didn't mind if he didn't win. He hoped that any friends Seth had made had wanted to play in the sandbox or just talk quietly rather than playing a rough game that could involve Seth getting hurt.
Seth was a sensitive kid, not only to his own physical or emotional pain, but to others' too. He'd help people get up if they'd fallen over, was quick to offer comfort and affection to any kid who was missing their parents and would share his lunch with anyone who was still hungry after finishing theirs. He and Kirsten had done a good job raising him so far, he surmised.
Sandy turned off his "Greatest Hits from Musicals" CD, cutting Maria from West Side Story off in the middle of her declaration of how she felt pretty and witty after meeting Tony.
Sandy got out of the car, locked it and crossed the street to get to the school gate.
A few parents were there already, again mostly mothers or possibly au-pairs, as a lot of the Newpsie women worked, like Kirsten did.
He was looking forward to hearing all about Seth's day, but had to mentally prepare himself for the half an hour of non-stop chatter he'd have to endure.
A bell sounded out in the building and a ripple of excitement and noise surged through it.
A few seconds later, a sea of children aged 5 to 11 spilled into the playground, running, shouting, whooping, talking in whispers to divulge secrets and plans or wandering alone in their little dream worlds.
Seth was one of the last children to come out of his classroom. Sandy waved at him to make sure Seth had spotted him, and Seth waved back and smiled.
Sandy held his arms open, anticipating the force of Seth's body as he ran into his arms.
"Dadddddddeeeeeeeeeeee!" the small familiar figure screamed excitedly before running into his father's arms at such speed he nearly sent both of them flying.
Sandy picked him up, needing to hold his little boy close to him. He felt Seth's warm body squeeze closer to his and his warm lips on his cheek. Sandy kissed the top of his son's head sevreral times and gave him an extra squeeze before putting him down on solid ground.
He crouched down to Seth's level, removed his backpack and took it in his hand, and then smiled at Seth.
"I missed you, Setheleh. Did you have a good day?" he questioned.
"I missed you and Mommy too, can you guys come to school with me tomorrow? No-one asked me to play with them today and we're not allowed to stay inside and read at recess, only if it's a rainy day and no-one wanted to play in the sandbox with me and they didn't want to play pretend with me... And I have to sit with Marissa as her surname is Cooper, which is just after Cohen alphateb... alphabetically and Luke Ward, who sits at the back with Holly Williams because their surnames start with W got into a fight today and he's been sent home, so he's never coming back... Can I fight please Daddy, then I can stay at home with you and Mommy too?" Seth gabbled, telling his father everything that had happened during the day.
"I'm sorry, Setheleh, Mommies and Daddies can't come to school with their Seths, it's not allowed. And I think Luke will be back in school in a few days and that he was punished when he was at home, because fighting's not nice. You musn't fight, OK?" Sandy explained.
"Yes Daddy, I won't, I promise. And you and Mommy can't come to school because you already know everything, it would be too easy for you, wouldn't it? You'd be the best in the class and it wouldn't be fair!" Seth chattered, his father's explanations falling into place in his five year old mind.
Sandy managed to not burst out laughing at his son's reasoning and took his hand.
They crossed the road, Seth still talking about what he'd learnt in school. They'd drawn pictures of their families and written the names of each person underneath each family member or a few lines about them, depending on how advanced they were. Seth, of course, had wanted to write his whole life story and explain how his Daddy was like Superman because he was strong, clever and kind and that his Mommy was a princess because she was pretty and smart, but Miss Jones had said they'd do that another day. They'd done some math too, that had been very easy, according to Seth, "stuff like 3+2 and 4+1, Daddy" and they'd also pretended to be a tree in gym class.
Sandy got Seth seated in the back seat of the car and kissed him on the cheek impulsively as he did so.
Sandy got into the driver's seat, listening to Seth's account of lunch time, which he seemed to have spent on his own, following a comment from one of his peers that Spiderman wasn't cool. Seth seemed fairly unphased by the event though, so Sandy didn't give it a second thought.
They finally got home and Sandy said Seth could have Oreos and milk as a snack. Sandy got out the cookies and plates and mug for himself and a plastic cup for Seth while Seth attempted to get the glass bottle of milk out of the fridge. Sandy took it from him just seconds before it escaped his small hands.
Once the milk had been poured and returned to its correct place in the fridge, and Sandy had made himself a coffee, the two Cohen men went into the lounge and watched cartoons as they ate.
Seth finished the last of his milk and deposited a chocolatey kiss on his father's face. He was covered in cookie crumbs and chocolate, especially on his face and hands.
Sandy grabbed him and tickled him, while Seth begged for mercy.
" Cookie Monsters get tickled, that's the law!" Sandy declared teasingly, picking his son up as he did so. "Unless, of course, they agree to have their hands and faces washed," he added with mock severity.
"Yes Daddy, anything to make you stop," Seth uttered, gasping for breath between tickles.
His father slung him over his shoulder and made his way to the bathroom. Once there, he filled the faucet with warm water, soaked a washcloth in it and squeezed some liquid soap onto it.
He sat on the toilet seat and pulled Seth onto his lap, facing him.
"Now close your eyes, Monster, I don't want to get soap in them, OK?" he said.
Seth nodded and scrunched his eyes shut.
Sandy wiped his son's face and hands gently, and had just finished patting his face dry with a towel when a key turned in the front door.
"Please don't be Caleb, please don't be Caleb" he repeated to himself silently.
Seth scrambled off his lap and ran into the hall before Sandy could restrain him.
"Mommmmmmmeeeeeee!" Seth whooped in a thrilled tone upon seeing his mother in the doorway.
She'd just but her briefcase down thankfully, as Seth ran into her arms. She kissed him all over his face and cuddled him for a long while. She carried him into the lounge where Sandy now was. She deposited Seth on the sofa and kissed Sandy passionately on the mouth before sitting down herself.
Seth then scrambled to sit between his parents and tell his mother what had happened that day.
Kirsten smiled at his account, his choice of words and the way he flitted from different topics without warning. She was a little worried to hear he didn't seem to have played or really talked with or to anyone in particular in his class yet, but it was still early days, so it would probably take the kids a few days to find their feet in a new environment, but friendships would be forged in time. That was her theory anyway.
