The first day of school is different for any child but for Grace Reagan, there was a lot of excitement. Her parents had enrolled her a year earlier than planned, mainly due to seeing how ready she was to go. They weren't the type of parents to get emotional with every milestone their daughter reached but this one felt a little bit different.
Grace woke her parents up close to five-thirty in the morning by bursting into their room and jumping on their bed. She was still in her pajamas and already had her sparkly backpack on, given to her by her godmother, and had made an attempt at taming her wavy hair with a small green bow. They couldn't help but laugh at her antics. They pulled her into bed with them and were successful in putting her to sleep for a little bit longer, until her usual six-thirty wake up time.
When it was finally time to get up, her mother worked with her on picking out her outfit and fixing her hair while her father made breakfast. He smiled as he heard the conversation going on in the other room. Grace was very particular on what she wore and seemed to be giving her mother a hard time with the outfits she was picking. Finally, a little while later, Grace came out of the room with a pair of blue shorts and a colorful striped tee. Her mother had fixed her hair into a simple ponytail with a bow that they knew would come out of her hair by the end of the day.
Picking a school for Grace to attend was more difficult than they anticipated. They wanted it to be close to their home or precinct, so they could reach her quickly in case of an emergency. They toured four schools before finally deciding on Pine Street School, that was just a few minutes away from their precinct. It was smaller than most schools in the area with their largest class being just of ten students.
They weren't too worried about their daughter, who was already quite a social butterfly. She played well with anyone and would invite other children to play along if she saw anyone by themselves. If anything, they were more worried about themselves and how they would cope with her being in school. They throughly vetted the school and teachers (and were sure that a certain high ranking grandfather had done the same) but still couldn't help but worry leaving their daughter in the care of someone who wasn't them.
They made it to Pine Street School about fifteen minutes before it was time for class. They had taken the morning off of work to take her and to be available just in case something happened. Eddie was grateful that the little boy in her stomach decided to hold off making an appearance just yet, especially since her due date was in two days. Grace excitedly hopped out of the car and held both of her parent's hands as they walked her into the school. She already knew the building well, as they had attended a meet the teacher night a week prior to drop off a majority of her supplies and meet her other classmates.
They made it to her classroom and were greeted by her teacher, who told them that they could stay with Grace until it was time for class. The three year old put up her backpack in her assigned locker and immediately went over to a group of classmates that recognized from the previous week, leaving her parents standing alone.
Eddie gave a sad smile as she leaned against her husband, "I guess we're history, Jamie. She has new people now."
He kissed the top of her head. "No we're not," he reassured. "Would you rather her be like this or kicking and screaming that she doesn't want to be here? We've already seen a few of those when we were walking in."
"That's true," she replied. "It still makes me sad though."
"I know. Me too."
"Should we go ahead and leave?" she asked after a few minutes, looking over at Grace. "She seems to be okay."
"I think so," he replied. "But let's just ask her to see."
They got Grace's attention and walked over to her.
"Will you be okay if we leave bird?" Jamie asked his daughter as he and Eddie bent down to her level. "Or do you want us to stay until class starts?"
"You can go," she replied immediately, which sent a little sting through their hearts.
"Are you sure?" Eddie added, brushing a loose piece of hair behind Grace's ear.
Grace nodded. Eddie let out a small sigh and pulled her in for a hug. "Have a good first day, honey. Daddy and I will be here right after school to pick you up."
She kissed her mother on the cheek and hugged her back before moving onto her father. "I love you, Grace," he whispered into her ear before kissing her cheek. "Have a good first day."
The three year old gave each of her parents one last cuddle before turning around and running off to her group of friends. They walked out of the room and lingered at the window, watching her for a few moments.
"She's going to be okay, isn't she?" Eddie said to her husband, placing an arm around his waist as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
He smiled and nodded, "Yeah, she will be."
