Chapter One: The Kids Start School
By Shadows59
Angelwood Elementary
Bellwood, California
August 26th, 1992 C.E.
7:55A.M.
Some people loved Christmas, but the first day of school was always Anna's favorite day of the year.
" - pick a seat, Ms. Hunter, we'll be starting soon!" She said as she grinned down at the little girl with long blond haired that was held in a ponytail by a bright pink bow. The splash of color brought up the same little bit of resentment that she always had for the uniforms that the school insisted on - a plain black skirt and a blue sweater for the girls was so dull and the blue polo shirts and black knee pants for the boys was even worse when her kids should be splashes of color - but it was probably for the best when the little girl looked so cute as she danced on her toes and looked into the classroom with huge blue eyes.
Cute and then adorable when she pulled on the straps of the tiny Kitty Cat backpack that she had over her shoulders and squeaked out, 'Kay! Mz. Hughes!" Her little Mary Janes were so shined up that they all but glittered as the little angel raced in. Yes, the uniform was for the best. Anna was sure she never would have been able to take it if she saw the little girl in the bright dresses she must wear at home.
It was a cuteness that the woman standing next to her didn't even seem to see anymore as she just sighed, "Marci..."
Anna gave the woman a little look and then pretended not to notice as Mrs. Hunter's frown vanished the second the little girl came racing back and hugged the woman's knees for almost a whole second before she called out, "Bye mommy!" Then she went racing back to the only table that was still unclaimed and so she could pull the right chair out and clamber up into it. There was another excited squeal when she saw the crayons that were waiting for her and whoever picked the seat next to her.
"My Marci's not usually like this," Mrs. Hunter sighed as she ran her hand through her own long blond hair, like Ana needed any more proof that the two were mother and daughter.
"It's the first day of Kindergarten, Mrs. Hunter," Anna grinned at the woman because she could hold back her giggle, but not that. She took in the sight of the eight other kids that were piled up inside. Some were drawing like Marci, others were over by the toy box like they'd never seen them before and they all looked like they were having the time of their lives."Most of the kids are like this when they get here."
The rest usually burst out crying, and Anna hated that, but at least she didn't cry with them anymore. The last few years broke her of that.
But she still kept some candy in her desk, just in case. She'd only needed to hand out a few pieces this year, which had to be a good sign, and the two girls and the little brown haired boy who'd all had meltdowns before were all smiles now. All nine of her kids were. Everyone else could have Christmas, this was better.
For her, anyway.
She half listened to Mrs. Hunter as she said something else, something that sounded like the same lists of things that her little girl could and couldn't do that they'd gone over during Open House and if any of it was the least bit life threatening then Anna would have given it her whole attention, but it wasn't so she did her best and held back from blurting out that she wasn't going to sanitize everything before the girl touched it. Kids and dirt belonged together.
So did kids and fits, and from the sounds of it her friend had to deal with a barn-burner a couple of minutes ago. Even after the last five years she was still amazed that anyone could yell that loud, much less a kindergartner. She'd had a little girl who was almost as loud last year and Emma came charging over the second it started, but the woman had a good decade of teaching on her and that meant so much.
It meant enough that Anna chewed at the inside of her cheek as she oh so casually looked around the woman in front of her to the door across the hall from hers and tried to see inside. She saw a few kids in there, but none of them had the grins that hers did. They weren't storming out either, though. Not like the other mom did a few seconds after the screaming started, her face red and wet under her mess of dirty blond hair like her world was ending, too.
If Mrs. Hunter and Marci hadn't walked up at the same time…
Anna wished that she could have given the woman a hug and a tissue. If Mrs. Hunter wasn't staring at her, she still might have gone for the one she had hidden in the sleeve of her sweater just from the memory. As it was, all she could do was smile away the tears. "It's a good thing that Marci's excited, Mrs. Hunter."
"I suppose," the other woman sighed and said a few more things before she turned and started down the same hall that the other blond had fled not five minutes ago. Anna's eyes followed her as she looked for the other mom or her last student. She knew that she wouldn't have stood a chance if she was in the other hall, but this one was for kindergarten to fourth grade and even her five foot and three inch frame towered over most of the kids here, not that she was looking for kids, but it made finding the parents all the easier.
First time moms were always the easiest, too. They all had the same look that Anna saw in the mirror when she was nibbling on her nails and the red haired woman she saw making her way through the kids and towards her was no exception.
Almost. If anything, this woman looked even more worried than most as she kept glancing down at her right side until her left hand actually did brush her lips. First timers always needed kid gloves and this one looked like she needed it even more than most. Anna didn't need a class or her mentors to tell her that, but they all did. Especially when they were as young as the woman in front of her. Honestly, they could have gone to school together, except Anna never looked as put together as the woman in front of her did in her simple green sundress that had no right looking as good as it did. Not now, and she was sure not by the end of the day. And she'd never had hair that looked as good. Angelwood frowned on hair dye and that was the hardest part about taking the job, but she was sure that if she could find a bottle that matched that shade of red, even Mrs. Clemonte would look the other way.
That was before the kids in the hall finally remembered that they had places to be and they finally thinned out enough that she saw the tiny girl that was walking next to the woman and oh so purposely not holding her hand, but there wasn't any hiding the awe in her green eyes as she looked everywhere or the copper fire of her hair that put even her mother's to shame, much less the inky nothing of Anna's. That should have been enough, but the tiny thing looked adorable her uniform skirt and sweater, too.
"Hi, Sweetie!" Anna cooed as the girl and somehow fought down the urge to just give her a hug because if she did that she would have never been able to let her go, much less tell the mother, "I think you made a wrong turn, Ma'am. Preschool is back - "
"I'm not in Pwe-school!" The girl said, the words whistled through the spot where two teeth were just starting to come in and if she'd been just a few months older it would have… Well, it still would have been adorable when she stomped her foot and glared up.
"That's - " Anna started before she bit her tongue as she looked up and the mom showed just where the little girl learned her glare from.
But the mom had more self control. Her voice didn't have any of the indignation of the little girl, but there was still an edge as she sighed. "Mrs. Hughes? I'm Natalie Tennyson, we met at the open house last week?"
"I remember, Mrs. Tennyson," Anna said as she made her smile come back because she didn't. Not really. It was all a bit of a blur even though she did her best, but lists were always easier than faces for her and the name clicked. At least until she looked down. She kept the smile on her face, but she could hear the disbelief in her voice as she asked, "Then this is Gwendolyn?"
The woman - Mrs. Tennyson smiled down at her daughter as she reached down and brushed her hand through that fiery red hair. "All better from her cold."
"But - " Anna said as she tried to swallow her disbelief. The office knew what it was doing when it placed the girl here, she was sure - and she tried to ignore how her mentors would have laughed at that. Tried and failed as she knelt down, careful to keep her skirt in place and who expected teachers to get this dressed up for Kindergarten? If the money and the prestige wasn't so good… Prestige that meant that she shouldn't ask what she was about to, but the kids came first. "How old are you, Sweetie?"
The girl's emerald eyes lost all their fire as she grinned and showed off the gap in her teeth again. "4 and three-quarters!"
"Gwen…"
"A'most," Gw - no. No keep it at the girl. Don't get attached. Not if this really was a mistake and especially not when the girl was adorable as she blushed at the admission.
"How- ?" Anna almost finished that question before she bit off the almost. She made her smile stay in place even as she looked up. She didn't change her tone, not that it fooled the little girl. "Ma'am. I think that there's been some kind of mistake. Children aren't allowed to start kindergarten until - "
No, there wasn't any doubt where the little girl learned her glare from. "Unless they pass the tests for early placement, Mrs. Hughes. Which my Gwendolyn did with flying colors and so did - " Mrs. Tennyson started and stopped as she shot up and down the hall before she let out a sigh. "Of course they're late."
"They are?" Anna asked as she looked over all the kids that were finally starting for their classrooms even as they kept babbling happily to each other, but… Then she shook her head as she looked at the little girl in front of her. The one who was precious and looked a good five months younger and three inches shorter than everyone else. "It's - it's not just a question of intelligence, Ma'am, but…" she tried to say before she melted under the matching glares.
If the office thought it was okay….
"Go pick out a seat, Honey," Anna heard the words leave her mouth even as her stomach turned into a knot as she watched the tiny thing grin again.
The knot only got bigger as the girl hugged her mom's knee before she went dashing in as she called out, "Ben! Ben!"
"She's so small," Anna whispered.
She thought she whispered it to herself until she heard Mrs. Tennyson clear her throat, but at least she had the grace to look nervous as she kept looking up the hall. It was more than most of the mom's in this school would do. "My daughter can - "
There weren't words for how tight the knot in Anna's stomach got as the girl came charging back out. "Mommy! Ben's not here! You gotta - " she started as her breath came in little gasps.
Anna shot a look to her aide who didn't even waste the time it would take to nod before she dashed for the desk and the candy that was waiting because they could both feel the meltdown coming as the little girl stomped her tiny foot, but that wasn't what made Anna frown. That was her running through the list of her students in her head. "I don't have a Ben - "
That was as far as she got before Mrs. Tennyson sighed and knelt. Marie could have sworn that she heard the woman murmur, "We were supposed to do this together," under her breath. Not that the words or the hurt behind them made any sense. The next ones did as she hugged the little girl to her. "There were too many kids this year and Ben's mommy and daddy signed him up too late, Silly Bean, so he was put in the other kindergarten. Your daddy and I didn't want to tell you because I was sure that we could fix it. Ben's mommy and daddy didn't tell him either and we've been trying ever since we found out last week, but…"
Anna wanted to cry as the little girl pulled away from her mom and stared at her with wet eyes that just made the green brighter. "But - but - "
"You'll still see your friend at recess and lunch, Honey!" Anna burst in as she clutched her hands over her chest because she had to say something.
The little girl spun her head around so fast that her long, bright red hair trailed after her like a comet's tail, "but…" she tried as tears ran down her face.
"Gwendolyn Rose!" Mrs. Tennyson said even as she dug a tissue out of her purse and wiped away them away. "What did I tell you?"
"Ladies don't cwy," the girl said, and she sounded miserable as she said it.
"That's right," Mrs. Tennyson said as she pressed a kiss into her daughter's forehead and then wiped that away, too. "You heard Mrs. Hughes. You'll see Ben plenty, and you'll make lots more friends, too. Now - " she started just as the bell rang and it was loud enough that it almost hid the way that the woman sniffed, too. "Now, go with Mrs. Hughes and have fun."
"Okay, Mommy," little Gwen whispered and sniffled as she looked down at her feet. The girl didn't fight it at all as Anna reached over and took her hand and led her in.
She didn't even seem to notice as the tissue went to her mother's eyes, but Anna did. "Your mommy is right," Anna said to both of them as she gave the woman a smile and closed the door with the other hand. "I have a treat in my desk for brave little girls, and I think that someone saved a seat for you."
Gwendolyn sniffed and kept looking around, curious despite everything. Curious and worried. She saw the little lips move, but she couldn't hear a sound. "What was that, Honey?"
"What if they don't like me?" Gwen whispered, her lip quivering. "There was a mean girl at the park, and a boy at the libwawy who pushed Ben and… and I have to…"
All the HR rules in the world wouldn't have kept Anna from hugging the little girl then, or from squeezing her hand when she took it again and lead her to the desk up front and the little blond girl who was scribbling like mad. "Marci? This is Gwen and I was wondering…"
"You're hair is so pretty!" Marci burst out with glee the second she saw Gwen. Then the lithe blonde was off her chair and running over before Anna even finished. She might have felt the little red head squeeze her hand as and if she did, she didn't blame the girl one bit. Then the two girls were hugging - well, Marci was hugging while Gwen just stood there wide-eyed, but the girl didn't cry or yell even as she was pulled to the desk. The little blond babbled the whole time. "You're so tiny! Tiny like my dolly! We'll be best fwiends forever just like me and Buttercup! Come on! We have crayons and I'll share!"
There was something like a smile on Gwen's face as she pulled herself up into her chair and Marci pulled hers over so they could sit close, but Anna watched those green eyes keep looking around and her bottom lip quivered the whole time class went on.
- o - o - o - o - o -
"Dey have a jungle gym!" Anna heard a little boy shout the second the other door opened and she only jumped a little even as it made her kids yell, too.
"Mr. Flint, what did I just say?" A British voice called out and Anna hid her smile behind her hand as she glanced away from her kids as they chased each other around the yard. Especially the flashes of red and blond hair as they dodged this way and that through the playground in a game that might have been hide and seek if the giggles didn't keep giving them away.
"Marci! Gwen!" Anna called out for the third time as a brunette woman with messy hair led her kids out in a line that was just barely holding together even before she sighed, "All right, you can go play." They both watched their classes scatter as the other woman all but staggered over to the bench that Anna had already claimed.
"Bad day?" Anna asked as she held up the bag of apple slices that she'd been snacking on.
"Horrible," the other woman said with a tired smile as she sank down on the bench, too - only she made it look graceful. If Anna didn't love the older woman so much… "Apple slices, really?"
Anna just shrugged because this was all part of the game. "My kids get hungry, and I can't make them eat the stuff that you call food," Anna said and she bit down just so the apple crunched like none of the woman's homemade dishes ever did.
"That's because none of you Yanks know the slightest bit about culture or cuisine," Emma said as pushed her bushy brown hair out of her face and took a slice. Her eyes kept moving just like Anna's did, or they were until she heard what the woman muttered next. "And we know how to let kids be kids."
"You went to a boarding school!" Anna said, suddenly defensive as she looked for and saw Gwen again.
Their mad dash must have been over because she was sitting by the sandbox with Marci and Blair, but only the blond and the little Chinese girl were smiling as they sat there on either side of the little girl and tried to pass her back and forth as they pretended to feed her as the pinched look on Gwen's face got deeper and deeper until she finally pushed away and shouted, " - not a baby!"
Anna sighed and called out, "Play a game you'll all enjoy, girls!" They did after that. Kind of. The little Chinese girl was just staring at Gwen's red hair or looking at Marci like whatever the girl was saying was the most important thing in the world while Gwen kept looking around as her pout got bigger and bigger. Big enough that Anna started to get up when the woman next to her let out a snort.
"When I was eight," Emma said like Anna hadn't just yelled across the playground. She kept her voice low, but there wasn't any hiding the annoyance in her words. "Not four!"
"This isn't - !" Anna tried even as her stomach clenched. She didn't even bother to wonder how the woman knew already. It was Emma. The woman was just magic. "And Gwen's very bright for her age!" Which was such an understatement. Most of her kids knew some of the alphabet and their numbers, but Gwen knew them all. And how to read a clock, but still… "I can see why her mom - !"
"Her?" Emma asked as she turned and blinked. "Who's Gwen? I was talking about…" the woman sighed and dug the toes of her black shoes into the grass. "The boy in my class is bright, too, but… My God, Anna! Ben's not even five! He should be at home playing!" She shook her head. "You people are always in such a rush. I don't care what the office says, if his mother hadn't left when he started… I was so ready to give her a piece of my mind!"
"That poor woman," Anna said and it should have been a joke. It might have been if she wasn't so sure that her friend was talking about the lady with dirty blond hair who rushed away in tears. The same worry that almost made her chase the woman made her look around at all the boys that had come charging out, but none of them looked all that upset. "Which one is he? It looks like he's - "
"He's not out yet. He's why we're late," Emma muttered as she crossed her legs and kicked her foot. Then she sighed and took another apple slice before she sighed. "He's been sullen all day since that tantrum this morning, or he was until I said we were coming out here to have recess with your class and then he just charged for the door. I had to leave him inside with Cathy because he just wouldn't wait and get in line. I swear that that the only reason I'm not still in there is because I told him he'd spend all of recess inside if he didn't sit still." The words were so firm, but it didn't hide the way she sighed. "I can't even be mad at him. He's four. He should he playing at home with his friend, not…"
"His friend?" Anna asked as she looked at her little red haired girl again.
There was another little sigh and smaller nod. "A girl named Gwen. He's been going on about how they were supposed to be in class together all day. It would be sweet if he wasn't so..."
Gwen?!
"What did you say - ?" she started as Emma's door flew open again and a brown haired ball of energy came bursting out into the yard. He was a tiny stick of a boy who made even Gwen look tall and she could just see the other boys sizing him up already.
What was his mom thinking?
Not that the boy cared about that any more than he seemed to about keeping his messy brown hair neat. "You couldn't…" Anna asked as she patted her own hair as she tried to think. Neatness was a rule - especially in Angelwood - and an even better way to stall.
"He threw an absolute fit when I tried," Emma sighed again as she patted her purse. Then she shook her head and let out a little chuckle. "He has the will of someone twice his age, I'll give his mum that."
The lungs of one, too, Anna thought, as the boy looked all around and bellowed, "Gwen! Gwen! Marco!"
"Polo!" That was the only warning before a red blur shot by. That and the giggle as Gwen all but tackled the tiny boy and they both went to the grass.
"Gwendolyn!" Anna sucked in a breath and Emma gasped as they both shot to their feet, but the two just giggled as they hugged each other instead of crying or screaming.
At least until Gwen pulled away and scrambled back up to her feet and looked the boy over. Then she covered her mouth with both her of pudgy little hands as she burst out in more giggles. "You look silly!"
"Do not!" The boy shouted right back at her as he jumped up to his feet, his face going red with indignation as he shoved his hands over his shirt and knee length pants. "I look like daddy when he's being important!" Then he let out a bark of a laugh as he pointed right back. "And you're wearing a dwess!"
"Am not!" Gwen said as she stomped her tiny foot. "I'm wearing a skirt!"
"Silly!"
"Shut up!"
"Benjamin Tennyson!" Emma shouted as she hurried over even as the two stood toe to toe as Anna followed just a little slower because she could see them both grinning like this was the best day of their lives and they were kids at recess. They could shout a little. It wasn't like they were the only ones doing it.
Besides, it was all she could do not to join in. She might have if she didn't almost choke on the bit of apple that she'd been chewing on. "Tennyson?" She asked as soon as she could say anything. "Did you just say Tennyson?"
"If I say yes will you chew this time?" Emma said as she gave Anna worried look. "Why?"
A look that Anna barely saw as she stared at the two, who were still arguing and grinning all at the same time. "I wonder if they're…" she started to say brother and sister before she remembered that she'd seen both of their moms. Maybe it was just a coincidence?
She almost believed that until Marci came running up, her eyes wide with worry as she skidded to a stop next to Gwen and glared at Ben and they both spun to her. Maybe, just maybe the fact that they had the same chin could be explained away, but those emerald green eyes? They had to be related somehow. Then it didn't matter, not after the blond girl who looked so small to Anna even though she towered over the other two grabbed Gwen by the hand and tried to pull her away. "Gwen?! Gwen?! Are you okay? Who is dis - dis doofus!"
"AM NOT!" Ben shouted at her even as his face flushed red and he somehow pulled Gwen out of the other girl's grip.
But he wasn't the one who pushed Marci down. "My Ben is not a doofus!" Gwen shouted down, her face fierce enough that Marci just stared for a second before her hands went to her eyes and the tears started.
"Gwendolyn Tennyson!" Anna didn't shout the name, but her raised voice made every last one of the twenty kids in the playground stop dead and made a couple of them start sniffling even as the other woman sucked in a breath at the name and gave her a look. She tried her best to ignore all of that just like she did how pale the girl got as she spun around and stared up, or how Ben slipped in front of her, his face as red as Gwen's was white. If he were any taller… But he wasn't and Anna glared right over his head as she marched over. "We do not shove on this playground, Young Lady!"
"I - I - " Gwen started as she stared up and she worried at her tiny hands.
Ben took a step forward and his glare was precious. "Gwen didn't!"
"We don't lie, either, Benjamin!" Emma said, her voice clipped and so British that the boy actually took a step back.
But he didn't back down. "Not! She started it!" Ben said as he glared down at the blond girl who was still crying like this was the end of the world, but it didn't take Sherlock Holmes to see that her face was mostly dry under her hands.
"We don't name call either, Ms. Hunter," Anna said, her voice just a little softer but it still brought the thunder just so she wouldn't tear up, too.
Or yell at her friend, because the little girl was hurt, but Emma looked like she was fighting a grin as she knelt down. "Or pretend we're crying." The loud crying died down as Anna gasped and one surprised blue eye peaked out from between fingers. Then Emma leaned in and whispered, "Not that you're bad, but I'm British, young lady, and I could teach you a thing or two about acting."
"I was just…" Marci sniffed after a second and this time it sounded real. Real enough that there were a few tears on her cheeks when she dropped her hands. She sounded so small as she looked up at the tiny boy and girl in front of her and whispered, "I thought he was being mean."
"We still don't name call," Anna said, and she finally let her voice drop just a little as Emma helped the girl to her feet and brushed the wood chips off of her, "but this is why we're here. To learn how to do stuff like tie your shoes and read a book and say you're sorry."
Anna watched the three of them - four since Blair was standing just off to the side and glaring at Gwen - and tried not to think of the year she spent as an aide in middle school before she got this job. The kids there would have been at each other's throats for months after this, not hanging their heads. Not thinking. All except for Ben, who just kept glaring.
Right up until Gwen reached out and took his hand. "That's what Gwandpa says, too," the little girl said in a low voice that wasn't a whisper and the boy finally let the scowl melt away as the little girl looked at the other. "I'm sorry I pushed you."
Marci blinked and stared down at her feet as she shuffled them. "Sorry I called your boyfriend names." The words were said so soft, not that they mattered.
"I'm not her boyfriend!" Ben said, suddenly hot again as Marci, Blair and Gwen all started to giggle. "I'm her Ben!"
"Dat's right!" Gwen declared as her giggles melted away and she just looked fierce as she squeezed the boy's hand again and it was all Anna could do not to laugh, and that only lasted until she heard the little sputtered giggle come from next to her.
"Good. I'm glad that's settled. We only have ten minutes left, so go and play!" Anna said as she gave her friend a look as the kids disappeared.
"Oh, shut up," Emma whispered right back as they went back to their bench. "That was adorable." Then the woman let out a sigh that sounded much more like the noises that Anna heard on Masterpiece theater than the giggle did. "No wonder he was so upset when he found out..."
Anna just nodded as he watched the two start arguing again in the middle of the field, with Ben pointing at the teeter-totter and Gwen at her two new friends until the redhead's eyes got big again and there was more giggling as she pulled the two girls over. For some reason, Anna wasn't surprised at all as she watched Ben and Gwen jump on one side and the girls on the other. "She's completely different around him," Anna agreed with a sigh. She couldn't help staring at the little girl's wide grin as they shot up into the sky. It was so different from what she saw for the first few hours.
And from what she saw when the bell finally went off again. "Wanna stay with Gwen!" Ben shouted the second Emma got him off of the swings, and the little girl just nodded and glared and squeezed his hand again as she jumped off of hers.
"You'll see her again at lunch, Benjamin," Emma said as she tried to pull the two apart.
Tried and tried, but she didn't manage until Anna came to help pry their fingers apart. "School is stupid!" Gwen shouted, as mad as Anna had ever heard a kindergartner as she glared up.
"It is what it is," Anna said as she all but pulled the little girl back to their door and tried to ignore the eyes she felt burning into the back of her head and the commotion that Ben was making, a noise that only stopped when the door closed behind them. "It is what it is," she told the girl again because it was.
And that was that.
- o - o - o - o - o -
August 27th, 1992 C.E.
10:47 A.M.
That wasn't that, but she didn't figure that out until two days later and five minutes after recess as she pointed at the big and stylized T that she'd just finished drawing on the board. "Who can tell me something that they saw outside that started with this letter?"
The question should have been a boring one with all the trees that surrounded the school, but they always thought of something that surprised her. It usually wasn't right, but it was still so much fun, and today didn't disappoint. "My twain!" A little boy called out.
And everyone giggled, but especially Gwen, which was unusual. Gwen was so quiet when she was in class.
Anna scowled at that as she turned and said, "That's right, Julio!" As brightly as he could just to make the boy feel better as the girls' giggles kept coming. She didn't know why, but it wasn't like the kids needed an excuse. "Who else?"
"Gwen!" A boy whose voice she knew all too well burst out.
So did the two "Shhhhhh!"s A second too late.
"Ben?!" Anna gasped as she spun around and saw the brown haired boy sharing Gwen's seat as he sat there between the red head and Marci at their table. He grinned up at her so wide that it showed off the two gaps where teeth were just coming in. "What are you - ?!"
She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't get a chance before the door to the playground was yanked open and a white faced Emma came spilling in. "Anna! Have you seen - ?" The terror in her eyes didn't go away, but the panic was washed away be a relieved fury as she stomped over to the desk. "There you are, young man! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" The woman shouted for the first time ever as she stomped across the classroom for the boy who looked as ready to fight as run.
Then Gwen jumped between him and his teacher. "No!" She shouted so loud that her voice echoed as she stomped her foot and something flashed in those green eyes. "Mommy said we'd go to school together!"
"Gwendolyn!" Anna growled at the girl as she hurried over, too. "Do you want me to call your parents?!"
The little girl went so pale at that. Her and the boy behind her, but neither of them moved as Ben just shouted, "Mommy said!"
It didn't help. Neither did the way that they both started screaming as Emma grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room.
- o - o - o - o - o -
August 28th, 1992 C.E.
8:08 A.M.
"-son?" Anna called out one last time, just in case, before her eyes settled on the empty seat next to Marci, who just looked miserable as she sat there and looked at the spot that her best friend should have been. "Gwen must be sick today," she said with the softest sigh because…
Because she shouldn't feel relieved that one of her babies were sick, but she was. After the last week, after all the fights and all the spots that she'd found the little boy in - and she still didn't know how he'd hidden under Gwen's table! There wasn't an under! Somehow he pressed himself up against the side and just blended. She didn't even know how many times Emma came storming in after that first day, she just knew…
It wasn't the kids fault. It was the Office's. Anna tried to remember that, she really did, but today, she was relieved and she felt sick because of it. Almost as sick as Marci looked as she sat there and just stared at her little hands. "How are you feeling, Marci? Do you need to see the nurse?" Anna asked, worry making her voice even softer.
It should have been soothing, not make the girl look even more miserable as she shook her head and stared down at her feet. Miserable enough that Anna made her way over and sat down on the edge of her desk, ready to reach over just in case the girl did have a fever or spring back if it was an upset stomach. "Then what's wrong, honey? Gwen will be back tomorrow."
"I - " Marci started and sniffed as she clutched at her hands.
"Don't tell!" Blair shouted out from the next desk over.
Anna felt her smile vanish as she looked up at the other girl and felt her stomach twist again. "Tell what, Blair?"
"Gwen's here," Marci sniffed and once those two words slipped out the rest rushed out after. "I saw her! But she said that you said that Ben couldn't come in here no more, so she…" Then those little blue eyes went wide as her hands went to her mouth, but it didn't stop the words or the wailed, "Don't tell her I told!"
Anna knew that she should have reassured the girl - the girls - but she didn't. She just rushed for her door and then the next one down the hall. She pulled it open as she felt her own explosion of words building, including one or two she swore she'd never say in front of her kids, but they almost slipped out anyway when she saw the little red haired girl sharing a chair with the brown haired boy again.
Especially when her friend gave her a helpless look and a shrug as she made her way over even as she said, "That's right, Gwen! Aardvark does start with an A!"
"What are you - ?!" Anna hissed as the two kids turned and went pale as they grabbed for each others hands again like they had every day this week when they thought that they were going to get separated, but it was the look on their faces…
She loved it when her kids smiled and hated it when they cried, but these two were the only ones she'd ever seen scowl like that. Like they were daring the world to pull them apart, and for the first time ever she saw the other teacher flinch. "I know!" Emma said, her words in a rush, "I know, but we've been fighting with them all week and - "
"Fine!" Anna said as she threw her hands up. "Just for today, you two! Do you hear me?" They did. The way that they cheered as they rushed over and hugged her proved that. It was the idea of a quiet day that made her smile at them, that was all, and she didn't feel even a little jealous as they rushed back to their shared seat.
Not even a smidge.
- o - o - o - o - o -
"Why couldn't that boy have just gone to Drake?" Emma sighed as she pulled herself into teachers lounge and all but collapsed into her chair now that both of their classes were over.
Anna looked up from her water and tried not to wish that there was something stronger in it. "He was that bad?"
Emma just grinned at that as she pulled her water bottle out of the fridge and let herself collapse into the table. "Hardly. Today was the best Ben has been all week. He's a completely different child when Gwen's with him. Happy, attentive, and the way he shares his snacks with her... I swear, it should be illegal to be that cute."
"Lucky," Anna said as some of her jealousy came out. For getting to see that and because she wished she had someone who would share his snacks with her. "And Gwen?"
"She glowed the whole time, even when they're arguing, the little trollop," Emma said with a tired laugh. "And she knows everything already. They both do. It must be a joy to have her in your class."
"If I got that Gwen," Anna sighed. A glowing one instead one that glowered and looked ready to climb the walls? She wished… "Today is going to make the rest of the week all the harder when we have to separate them again."
"I know," Emma groaned as she buried her face into her arms. "I might just quit. One week was enough. I'm not sure if I have it in me to keep fighting those two."
"This is all the Office's fault," Anna grumbled as Emma just nodded and pushed herself up just enough to take a drink. "We should make them come down and - " And that was as far as she got before Emma spat the water across the table. "Hey!" She shouted as she sprang up, half soaked and glaring even though water wasn't the worst thing that she'd had spat on her. It wasn't even in the top ten. "What's the - !"
Emma coughed up the rest of the water. "That's simply brilliant, Anna!" The woman said and tried to explain at the same time and she mostly managed.
She did well enough that Anna forgot all about how cross she was as she dug into her pocket. "Let's flip for it!" She said and the coin was in the air before she even finished the sentence.
- o - o - o - o - o -
September 1st, 1992
7:59 am
Anna had to look and look that morning, but for some reason she wasn't the least bit surprised when she found the two huddled together back by the bookcases that she'd seen Gwen flee to during every quiet time.
"Dey going to make you go away again," Gwen groaned as she sat there with the little boy pressed up against her, misery making her sound even younger as she forgot all about being a little lady.
Ben's own growl mushed his words together even as he grabbed her hand and declared, "I liketa see them twy!"
"Ben?" Anna called out and the boy jumped, but he didn't look any less fierce. "Gwen? Ben? Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Why?" Gwen asked as she squinted up in a way no four year old ever should.
Anna shouldn't have laughed, she knew that she shouldn't. This whole thing was probably a bad idea, but she sat down anyway and smoothed out her dress as she did. "Because I talked to the Office over the weekend and they said that they made a mistake. Two people got put in the wrong classes and we're going to fix that today!" Anna grinned and waited, but as smart as they were, the two just blinked at that and Anna knew it was all her fault. She spent too long talking to the adults in the Office over the weekend. "If you want, Ben, you can stay - "
That was as far as she got before the happy squeals and hugs started. Anna just about joined them before they pulled apart and grabbed her up in their hug, too, and then Gwen took the boy by the hand and all but dragged him to her desk across the room. "Marci! Marci! Guess what! Ms. Anna said that Ben could - !"
"Ms. Hunter?" Emma called out from the door and the room went quiet. The British woman gave Anna a jealous look as she looked at the two cousins and then she smiled at their little blond friend. "I've been checking my books and I think you're in the wrong class. It turns out that mine could use a little actress in it, so If you'll come with me…"
"What?!" Marci gasped out, her blue eyes watering as she looked at Emma and then Anna. "Why?"
"The office switched you and Ben," Anna tried to explain, and when the little girl let out a sob she tried to take the blame. "It was all my - "
"You!" Marci howled as she jumped out of her seat and shoved Gwen to the carpet. "Why! We were friends!" She spat the words out as she cried and cried. "Why's he so special?"
"I - I - " Gwen tried and tried to explain. "He's my Ben," she finally settled on because it was true and not enough. "But we are fwiends! And we can still play at recess and - "
"Shut up! Shut up! I hate you!" Marci screamed and kept screaming even as Emma scooped the girl up and carried her from the room. Anna's stomach twisted one more time as everyone stared because she knew that none of the tears that were racking the blond's little body were the least bit fake this time.
"It's my fault, you two," Anna said finally as Ben helped Gwen up and the girl sagged into him. "I was the one who picked…"
"I'm her Ben," Ben said into Gwen's hair like it explained everything, but even he sounded a little sad at that. "Mommy said we'd go to school together."
"I know, Honey. Take your seat. I'm just going to take this to Marci." And maybe beg for forgiveness, but she really did think that Marci would do better in Emma's class. As much as she hated to admit it, the girl needed a teacher that could see through the fake tears. Emma could teach her how to be a lady far better than Anna could.
Gwen sniffed and looked at the papers and crayons that Anna was scooping up and slipping into the backpack that Marci had left behind. "Can I make her something? To say sowwy?"
"Together?" Ben said with a nod.
"Of course you can," Anna said as she watched the two open their tiny backpacks and grab their crayons. Crayons that they passed back and forth without a word as they worked on the same piece of paper. "And when we get back we'll learn about dinosaurs! Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"We can tell Marci at recess!" Ben said, his eyes glowing like little boys eyes always did when dinosaurs came up.
"Maybe give her a bit of time first," Anna said and Gwen just nodded. But honestly, it was kindergarten, how long could Marci stay mad?
Nowhere near as long as these two would have stayed miserable if they'd been kept apart. Anna knew that just from the way she watched the two work together from the door as she hugged the tiny backpack tight against her chest. "Inside the lines!" Gwen shouted at him as they scribbled on the page, a mixture of wild sweeping crayon brushes and slow, determined strokes that was just starting to look like a dinosaur. One that was… "And dinosaurs aren't blue!"
"Are too! And that's no fun!" Ben shouted right back even as he leaned in closer to her. It was a little startling to see, because in the week that Anna had gotten to know Gwen, she'd discovered that the little girl hated being touched and hugged and jostled by Marci and Blair, because she'd always gone rigid and her face went squinty. But here was Ben, her cousin, pressed up alongside her, who'd constantly held her hand and snuggled and even gotten tackled by her out on the playground, and she looked as relaxed as Anna always wished she was. And for all the arguing, Ben lost the scowl that she saw marring his face so often and just grinned like being with her was the best thing ever. Even better than Christmas.
So maybe they did belong together after all.