Ryan slowly brought the coffee up to his lips as he sat at the kitchen table. He silently read the article discussing a traded pitcher from the Yankees to the Boston Red Sox in the Sports Section. A lot had transformed over the past month and a half, Ryan sold Lauren's house and had bought a house of his own. The house was large in size with four bedrooms, one master bedroom, and three relatively large bedrooms. With three bathrooms, a finished basement, an office, a living room, a family room, and a large kitchen, it was perfect. Also the fact that it was right down the street from the beach didn't hurt.
Derek's parents had also put their house up for sale, hoping to move closer to Ryan and Skylar to help Ryan out. Ryan had moved all his belongings down to Charleston and was working from the office in his house. He had chosen a school for Skylar to go to and met with the principle, getting a tour and meeting with one of the two teachers she would have. So far, everything was going good. Skylar was still relatively quiet, not being her full self, but it's what he had expected. He put down the newspaper as he heard little feet coming down the steps quickly, and run into the kitchen. Ryan turned to Skylar and smiled, looking at her cute yellow sun dress and matching flip flops. Ryan had tried to do his best with her hair but it ended up coming out quite messy in two pigtails.
He smiled as he saw her hold her Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal in her arms, her eyes seemed scared and he knew she was nervous. "Uncle Ryan…do I look pretty?" she asked in a quiet voice. Ryan got up and knelt down in front of her, "of course you do sweetheart" he said, Skylar looked up at him and with tears in her eyes spoke quietly, "my mommy used to say that I was the pwettiest girl in the world" she said, mispronouncing prettiest, which made him chuckle. "Well she's right and she always will be" Ryan said as he kissed her forehead and stood up, he grabbed her Little Bear lunchbox and placed it insider her small pink backpack and handed the backpack to her.
Skylar grabbed his hand as they walked out of the house. Ryan clipped her into her car seat and got into the front seat, he started the car and they were on the way to school. The car ride was quiet besides the radio playing the latest Fray song; he slowly looked into the mirror and watched Skylar as she stared out the window. He knew what she was thinking, he could see it in her eyes, the first day of kindergarten wasn't supposed to be with her Uncle. It should be with her parents, her mom should pick out her clothes, do her hair, her dad is supposed to drive her there and kiss her goodbye. But sometimes stories don't follow the same path you would want them to.
We're only taking turns, holding this world.
It's how it's always been,
When you're older, you will understand.
They entered through the doors of the school and went down the hallway to the Kindergarten. Ryan and Skylar stood in the doorway where about 30 kids were situtated, the kids were either playing at desks, with toys on the rug, or with each other. There were puzzles, games, arts and crafts, books…just about everything. It was the nicest and most developed school in the area and Ryan made sure that Skylar got the best. Ryan looked up as he saw one of the teachers come up to him; it was Mrs. Andrews, the teacher he had met before. She was a nice looking woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes; he had remembered that she was very kind when he had first met her. "Hello Mr. Atwood" she said with a smile, Ryan smiled back "hi Mrs. Andrews, this is Skylar" he said gesturing to his niece. Skylar shyly looked up at Mrs. Andrews who smiled back, "hello Skylar…I'm your teacher, Mrs. Andrews" she said. Skylar smiled, "hi…I'm Skylar Watson, I'm five years old" she said while putting up five fingers.
Mrs. Andrews smiled and laughed and put out her hand for Skylar to grab, Skylar looked up at Ryan and Ryan smiled back at her, Skylar slowly put her hand into Mrs. Andrews and brought Skylar over to some of the other children where she started playing. "She's gorgeous" he heard from next to him, he turned to the speaker and was surprised at how gorgeous she was. She had light blonde hair and bright blue eyes; her hair was in a simple pony tail. She wore a light blue skirt that went to her knees, a white button down blouse, and a pair of white flats. "Thank you" he said with a smile, she smiled back at him and he felt his heart drop, "she's my niece" he said while looking back at Skylar play with the other little girls.
"Oh you're not her father?" the woman asked and Ryan turned back to her, "no…Skylar is my sisters child, but my sister and her husband…passed" he said quietly. A solemn expression came across her face and brought a hand to her mouth, "I'm so sorry" she said. Ryan nodded his head in thanks; he turned back to Skylar and smiled at how gorgeous she really was. "I'm Marissa, or Miss Cooper, Skylar's teacher" she said with a smile. Ryan smiled and put out his hand, "Ryan Atwood" he said and she slowly shook his hand, causing chills to travel down their spines. Marissa turned to look at Skylar while he still looked her over, wanting to feel her beautifully soft skin underneath his fingers. He shook his head, trying to get rid of his dirty thoughts and looked over to Skylar and chuckled as he looked at her hair, "I think it's pretty obvious that I'm a first time parent…her hair isn't exactly…well, neat in any way" he said with a laugh and Marissa giggled.
"Don't worry…I see it every single year with single men and children, just trust me, it's not the worst I've seen" she said reassuring him. Ryan smirked and looked back at Skylar, "but it's still pretty bad" he said with a laugh and Marissa couldn't help again joining with his laughter. Their laughter died down and Marissa looked over to him, "if Skylar wants me to fix it, I don't mind, I have hair supplies with me" she said with a smile. Ryan smiled, "thank you, that'd be very helpful" he said while looking over to Mrs. Andrews who just clapped her hands in the center of the large classroom to get everyone's attention. Marissa turned to him and smiled, "I have to go…but it was very nice meeting you Mr. Atwood" she said. "Call me Ryan" he said as all the kids made a circle around Mrs. Andrews, "okay, Ryan" she said with smile. "Will I see you at the end of the day when you pick Skylar up?" she asked, Ryan nodded his head, "yes you will" he said and she grinned, "okay then…bye Ryan" she said and left his side to join Mrs. Andrews in the middle of the circle. "Goodbye Marissa" he said under his breath and turned and left the classroom, but not without turning once more to get a look at Skylar, and Miss Cooper.
Later that day, Ryan went into the school to pick up Skylar and stood by the doors, waiting the few extra minutes until the school day was over. He saw Miss. Cooper playing with some of the children and watched her smile, a beautiful smile it was, he couldn't turn away, that was until she turned to him and he quickly looked away. Marissa smiled and continued playing with the kids. Ryan turned and saw Skylar sitting at the desk with three other little girls as they drew pictures, he couldn't help but be excited for his niece, making friends already. Her hair looked good too; he made a note to thank Marissa for fixing her hair as well.
He heard the bell ring behind him and watched as all the little kids ran to their cubbies to grab their things and go with their parents. There were only a few kids left when he walked into the room and went over to Skylar who was grabbing her stuffed animal and backpack from her cubby. "Hey Sky" he said happily as she turned around and jumped into his arms as she saw him, "Uncle Ryan! I had the best day ever, I made so many fwiends" she said in excitement. Ryan laughed and ruffled her hair a little bit, "that's great sweetie, I want to hear about your entire day" he said. He looked up as he saw Marissa make her way over to them, "hello Ryan" she said with a warm smile, "hi Miss Cooper" he said. Marissa turned to Skylar, "Skylar, did you tell your Uncle Ryan about the day you had?" she asked with a bright smile.
Skylar nodded her head in delight, "I started to Miss Cooper, I had so much fun" she said to Marissa, who giggled. Skylar turned to Ryan, "and Miss Cooper did my hair Uncle Ryan, isn't it so pwetty?" she asked as she moved her head, shaking the pig tails. Ryan laughed, "of course it is…they look great, I think we might need Miss Cooper to do your hair a lot more often" he said as he looked up at Marissa with a smile. Marissa smiled, "any time…Miss Skylar was such a good girl when I did her hair" she said as she smiled at Skylar. Skylar started to grab her things and put her backpack on, and grabbed her Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal, "Uncle Ryan, can we go? I really want to go home so I can call Grandma and Grandpa and tell them about my first day" she said with a smile.
Ryan stood up with a smile, "okay…lets hit the road" he said and Skylar giggled. Ryan turned to Marissa who smiled, "I'll walk you guys to your car" she said as she walked with them out of the school. "So how was she?" he asked Marissa as Skylar trailed ahead of them, Marissa turned to him, "very good…she was so interactive with all the other kids and made some friends, she's such a nice girl, so whatever you've been doing, just keep on doing that" she said. Ryan nodded his head, "I will…thanks…its just so" he trailed off as he watched Skylar open the door of the car and put her things on the floor of the car. "Complicated?" Marissa guessed, Ryan turned to her and nodded his head, "yeah…I mean its complicated because I never know if what I'm doing is right or if it's what my sister Lauren would have done" he said. "Of course that's complicated…but from what I can tell, you're doing great so far Ryan" she said as she fidgeted with the piece of paper that was in her hand. Ryan noticed the piece of paper and saw as she inwardly sighed and put some hair behind her hair, probably a habit he assumed.
"In that case, if you ever need help with Skylar, such as advice or hair emergencies" she said with a laugh, "just give me a call, for anything" she added as she handed him a piece of paper with her cell phone number. Ryan looked over the number and nodded his head, "I will…thank you Marissa, I really appreciate it" he said. Marissa nodded her head and stepped back, "well I better get inside" she said as she turned to walk back towards the school, "okay…goodbye Marissa" he said and Marissa turned to him and smiled, "see you tomorrow Ryan" she said and turned back to the school.
Ryan watched her walk back to the school and lifted his fist into the air in triumph as soon as she was out of sight. He walked the rest of the way over to the car and buckled Skylar into her seat, "she's very pwetty Uncle Ryan, you should ask her on a date" Skylar said innocently. Ryan laughed and kissed her forehead, "thanks for the advice Sky, I'll keep that in mind" he said as he closed the door. He started the car and exited the parking lot, "So tell me about this day you had, I want to hear every single detail" Ryan said and Skylar immediately started speaking about her day, exciting Ryan more than he had expected.