"Alright, everyone," Mrs. Jones called out once all of her kiddos had arrived, and it was time to begin their morning routine. "It's time to clean up and come meet on the carpet. We have some exciting new things to talk about today."
"Tum on, Kurt," Blaine said, clearly knowing what they were supposed to be doing. "You sit by me if you wanna."
"I'd like dat," Kurt said shyly. He was nervous about meeting everyone else and was hoping that his new friend would help ease his nerves. A very bubbly blonde girl sat down next to him, and another girl sat on the other side of Blaine.
"We have some new friends with us today," Mrs. Jones said when all of the kids were in their spots. "I want everyone to say hello to Kurt and Santana."
"Hi, Kurt. Hi, Santana," the kids all said in unison.
"We're all going to go around the circle, say our names, and one thing that you really like to do," Mrs. Jones said to the group. "I'll go first. My name is Mrs. Jones, and I really enjoy singing."
"I'm Mercedes," the girl in a black shirt and leopard print pants with a pink bow in her hair said. "I like singin' an' eatin' tater tots. They's my favorite!"
"I'm Santana," the next girl said. She was wearing a mustard skirt with suspenders and a leopard print top. Her hair was pulled up in a bun on top of her head. "I like to dance. My momma dances, and she sometimes does it at home wif me."
"'m Blaine, and I yike to weed an' pway puppets an'...Batman!"
"I'm Kurt, an' I like to read…an'…"
"Kurt," Mrs. Jones said gently, sensing that there was something else he'd like to say but was too scared to say it. "You can tell us what you like to do. Nobody here will laugh at you, and you might be surprised that others like to do those things, too."
Taking a steadying breath, and trusting that what Mrs. Jones was saying was true, Kurt said, "I like to play tea party, color, an' sing."
Hoping that she could ease her new student's nerves, Mrs. Jones asked, "Who else likes to play tea party, color, or sing?" Everyone raised their hand that they liked to do at least one of those, and Kurt beamed. "Thank you for sharing that with us, Kurt! Brittany, it's your turn."
The girl sitting next to Kurt was wearing very brightly colored unicorns and rainbows all over her shirt and leggings. "I is Bwitt, an' I yike to talk to my kitty. He's super-duper-mega smart, an' he tewws me not to do naughty fings!"
"My name's David," the next boy said. He was nicely dressed in khaki pants and a red, button-down shirt. "I like to dance an' play Superman. He's way cooler 'an Batman!"
"Nu-uh!" Blaine retorted.
"Boys," Mrs. Jones interrupted sternly, "we've had this discussion before. You are all allowed to like whoever and whatever you want, and you will not be rude to others if they like something different. David, that was not kind to antagonize Blaine like that. Please apologize."
"Sorry, Blaine," David said, thoroughly reprimanded.
"Is okay, David!" Blaine replied and turned his eyes to Nick to continue.
"'m Nick," a boy on the other side of the circle said. He was wearing jeans and an Ohio State University pullover hoodie. "I yike to pwayin' wif puppets."
"I'm Jeff," the blonde boy wearing a graphic t-shirt and jeans said. "I like to dance an' play tea party, too!" He smiled at Kurt, who smiled back, loving that there was another boy who liked to play tea party.
"My name's Noah," the next boy said. His hair was cut into a mohawk, and he was wearing camouflage pants and a henley shirt that said "Dude" on it. "I like lif'in' weights and buildin' my mupples up." The class laughed when he held up his arm and showed off his muscles.
"You're very strong, Noah, and you use those muscles to make sure your friends are safe!" Mrs. Jones commented. She tried to correct words when kids got them wrong and do it in a way that wasn't embarrassing. The kids all knew this, and it was a great way for her to model her teaching tactics to the two new students. She knew that all of her kiddos would repeat the word they missed if and when she corrected them.
"Muscles," Noah repeated.
A pretty blonde girl wearing a pale blue shirt and pink pants with navy hearts on them went next. "I'm Quinn, and I love to sing, dance, and play with babies. I wanna be a mommy."
"I'm Finn," the boy next to her said. He was wearing jeans and a shirt with a puffer vest over it. "I like sports and action fingers. Ninja Turtles are the best, an' Mikey totally rocks!"
"Action figures, Finn," Mrs. Jones corrected.
"Figures," Finn replied.
"Last, but certainly not least, I'm Rachel," the loud girl with the too busy clothes said. "I sing, and I'm gonna be famous one day. My dads tell me alla time how big-"
"Rachel," Mrs. Jones interrupted, knowing if she didn't cut Rachel off now, they would be there all day long, listening to her talk about herself. "We've talked about how everyone's time is equal. You shared what you liked to do, and that was all I asked. Now, we've done introductions. Noah, what do we normally do when we come to circle time in the morning?"
"We do calendar an' read a yittle story 'fore we do centers."
"That's right," Mrs. Jones said. "Would you be my helper today?" He nodded that he would; Noah really liked helping out at school, because he got praise and was asked to do things instead of told like he sometimes was at home.
The group went through calendar time and then sang the days of the week song. Noah picked out A Family is a Family is a Family for Mrs. Jones to read. It was his favorite book, because it showed how different families are made. And, his family looked different than some people's since he only had a grandma who took care of him and his sister.
After reading time, Mrs. Jones broke the group up into small groups of four and put them at different centers. Kurt, Blaine, Santana, and Brittany all were at the block center first, working on building, counting, and colors. Quinn, Noah, Finn, and Rachel were at the fine motor center, putting beads and other objects onto string. Mercedes, David, Jeff, and Nick were at the art center, learning how to mix colors. They all spent about 25 minutes at each center, working on different skills. Kurt enjoyed getting to know Santana, Blaine, and Brittany better.
"C'n I axe you guys sumpin'?" Kurt said when they were at the fine motor center, putting beads on strings.
"Sure," they all answered in some form.
"Would you ever wanna come to my house for a tea party?" he asked, becoming more confident that they wouldn't laugh at him. "I has a supa cool tea set I getted for my birfday, and my Mommy makes yummy cookies that we could eat."
"Dat sounds awesome," Brittany said.
"I'm in," Santana said.
"'m not sure my daddy would yet me," Blaine said sadly. "But I axe him."
"Your daddy not like tea and cookies?" Kurt asked.
"I dunno," Blaine explained. "He yikes me to do 'boy' fings. But Mrs. Jones says there is no 'boy' fings or 'girl' fings, just fings kids wanna do for fun."
"That's right, Blaine," Mrs. Jones said. She had been within earshot when Kurt asked his question, and she was curious to see how her kiddos answered it. "It's just like there are no 'girl' toys or 'boy' toys. There are only toys for kids to play with and enjoy. I hope you all can go over to Kurt's for the tea party. Maybe, if you all can't, we could have one in here one day."
"Dat would be so fun!" Kurt exclaimed, thinking about how much fun it would be to have a tea party with more than his mom and dad.
"I'll look at our calendar and see where we could fit it in," Mrs. Jones said as she was getting the snack out for the class.
Blaine, Santana, Brittany, Kurt, Mercedes, and David sat together and ate their snack. Kurt really loved the fresh fruit they had and enjoyed getting to know the other kids at his table. He had been cautious all morning not to touch anyone, especially after his talk with his mother the night before. It was hard, though, because his new friends were very kind, and he knew that one way to show appreciation was a hug.
After snack, the kids all went outside to play for just under an hour. Kurt loved playing on the swings and slide. Blaine tried to talk him into playing in the sandbox with him, but Kurt politely told him he didn't want to get his clothes dirty. All of the kids loved to be outside. Well, Rachel didn't. She complained the whole time and followed Finn around like a puppy, which seemed to annoy him. But she didn't catch on. Kurt got nervous when another classroom came outside to play, and he saw one of the kids that had picked on him when he was at the park. Blaine must have noticed, too, because he, Santana, and Brittany came over to join him, Quinn, and Jeff by the picnic table. Kurt had never felt more protected by someone who wasn't his parents in his very short life.
Lunch followed their outdoor time. Kurt's mom had packed him a lunch, not sure what the food at the center would be like. She knew he was fairly particular about what he ate when he wasn't at home and didn't like to stray too much from it. If he ever had to eat some place that wasn't at home or guaranteed to have chicken strips and french fries, he ate a peanut butter sandwich, Goldfish or Cheez-its, applesauce, and pink lemonade. He told his mom that pink lemonade tasted so much yummier than plain old yellow lemonade, and from then on, that's what he got in his lunch whenever he had to take one somewhere.
After lunch, all of the kiddos washed up and pottied while Mrs. Jones got their cots out. Seeing how comfortable Brittany, Santana, and Blaine had made him, she put Kurt's cot by theirs. She was so happy that both of her new students were fitting in and worked well with the overall dynamic of the group.
Kurt got his Winnie the Pooh blanket and stuffed Piglet for naptime and headed over to his cot. He was happy to see that Blaine also had a stuffed animal, a bunny, and his blanket had Star Wars Rebels on it. "I love Yoda," Kurt said.
"He's coo'," Blaine agreed. "I yike Chewy…he getted cwazy hair yike me! I yike your bwanket. Tigger's my favorite. Sometimes, I yike to bounce yike him, but den my daddy tewws me dat I gots to ca'm down."
"Alright, kids," Mrs. Jones said. "It's quiet time. You don't have to sleep, but our voices do have to be shut off." She turned the lights down and turned on a CD that played soft music that Kurt sang quietly to as it played.
"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true"
Blaine fell asleep very quickly and looked very peaceful. Kurt couldn't stop staring at him. For some reason he couldn't begin to understand or explain, he was drawn to this boy. It gave him weird feelings in his tummy, but they weren't icky feelings, just weird. Maybe I'll talk to Mommy 'bout dem tonight, he thought and then fell asleep, dreaming peaceful dreams about him and someone who looked like a much older Blaine in a very strange place that had lots of strange looking people.
When Kurt woke up, Blaine wasn't in his cot anymore, and he panicked a little, thinking that everyone was gone. His brain woke up all of the way, however, and he could still hear the soft music playing. So, he knew he was still at daycare. He looked around and found Blaine in the reading area, looking through The Very Hungry Caterpillar and smiling. Before he got up, he saw that Blaine's blanket was folded up as best as a three-year-old could get it and was lying on his cot. Kurt folded his own blanket and set Piglet on top of it then walked over to where Blaine was. Santana and Brittany were there, too, reading Fox in Socks and Mr. Cow Can Moo, respectively, in silence, giggling every once in a while at the funny pictures.
Kurt sat down by them all after grabbing The Monster at the End of this Book. He was curious to read the new book after hearing how Blaine had talked about it earlier. He'd for sure have to ask his mommy and daddy if they could get it for him.
When the kids were all awake, they split back into the groups they were in for the morning and rotated through the dramatic play, manipulative, and writing centers. Kurt loved the dramatic play center. He thought it was fun to dress up and pretend to be someone else, if only for a little bit. What made it most fun, though, was who he was with. He was really starting to enjoy Santana and Brittany and hoped that the four of them would be friends for always.
After center time, it was time to read one more story all together before they went back outside until it was time to go home. Finn got to choose the book for the afternoon, and he chose his favorite one, Ferdinand. Kurt had never heard it before but loved how the bull didn't like to fight and how he wanted to try to solve problems in other peaceful ways.
Kurt was swinging when his mom and dad showed up to pick him up. When he noticed them, he told his three new friends that he had to go and, impulsively, the four of them hugged each other all at the same time. None of them would know the repercussions of that hug until they all took their baths that night.
A/N: The song used in the text is "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinnochio.