A.N. Chapter 3 in record time, kids. Please read and review .
Five-year-old Alexandra Stabler had never been a troublemaker in her kindergarten class. She was more then content to color all day, play with her friends, and listen to stories. All throughout the year, she had been her teacher's poster child for good behavior and had the intellectual smarts to boot. However, no matter how good a person is, we all have our breaking point. Alexandra's occurred during her class's Mother's Day tea.
Ever since the class had came back from Spring Break, Alexandra's class had been completely focused on their Mother's Day Tea. Everyday, they practiced a poem that they would recite on the day of the tea. They painted garden pots and planted seeds as presents. Their teacher, Mrs. Mayman, could sense the excitement buzzing through her classroom as she listened to her students gleefully share with each other how secretive they were being with their mothers about it.
The one child Mrs. Mayman was worried about was Alexandra Stabler. She knew Alexandra's mother was out of the picture; her father, Elliot Stabler, had confirmed it at parent-teacher conferences earlier that school year. Both Mrs. Mayman and Elliot had told Alexandra that if there was another person she would like to invite to the Mother's Day Tea, she was more then welcome to do it. When Mrs. Mayman brought this to Alexandra's attention, she gave Mrs. Mayman a shy smile and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Mayman. I'll think about it."
Mrs. Mayman had been excited to see whom Alexandra would ask to come with her. She had heard Alexandra talk about her uncles Fin and Munch, and her grandfather Cragen and was curious about meeting one of her aunts. However, on the final deadline for RSVPs to be returned to her, Mrs. Mayman had not gotten anything back from Alexandra. She considered suggesting to Elliot Stabler that Alexandra should be absent on the day of the tea, but she couldn't think of any good reasons besides the fact that she didn't have anyone coming to see her. Alexandra had been just as involved as her classmates in the planning of the tea and she could only imagine the heartbreak Alexandra would feel at not being invited. That decision made, Mrs. Mayman threw herself back into preparations.
Day of the Mother's Day Tea
Alexandra Stabler stood in a line with her classmates, ready to recite the poem. Alexandra still had the dark hair and blue eyes she inherited from her father. She smoothed the skirt of her yellow dress and twirled a pigtail around one of her fingers as her teacher, Mrs. Mayman, stood up and addressed the mothers. "Everyone," she said in her gentle voice. "Your children have been working to memorize a poem and it's time for them to recite it!" The mothers gave a polite applause, and the first speaker, Marissa Adams, began.
While she waited her turn, Alexandra began to think about her mother. She didn't remember her at all. Her father hadn't told her much about her either, just that her mommy felt it would be better for she and daddy to be a family. Even in her five-year-old mind, that stung. She stared out into the sea of mothers, who were paying attention to their children. Her eyes began to well up. "It's not fair," she thought bitterly to herself, "that everyone here has a mommy but me."
All of the sudden, Alexandra noticed a silence in the classroom. She realized that it was her turn to speak. She opened her mouth and took a breath, then closed it. She didn't have a mommy to say things to, why should she say anything to other people's mommies?
As tears began to stream down her cheeks, Mrs. Mayman came up to her with the master copy of the Mother's Day poem the class had been practicing. She knelt down to be eye level with Alexandra, and whispered, "Sweetheart, did you forget your lines?"
Alexandra shook her head no. Mrs. Mayman nodded and smiled at her, then whispered, "Alright sweetie, it's your turn then."
As she was walking back to her chair, Mrs. Mayman heard a quiet "no" coming from Alexandra. She turned around, "No? Why not sweetie?"
"Because," she screamed. "I don't have a mommy to say it to." She walked over to the table where her potted plant sat, picked it up, and threw it in the trash. Before Mrs. Mayman had a chance to ask, Alexandra answered the question, "I don't have a mommy to give this to. Why should I keep it?!?!?!??!?!?"
It was in that moment that Mrs. Mayman understood the deep extent of Alexandra Stabler's pain. She had her aide watch the class as she took Alexandra's hand and led her to the principal's office.
A half hour later
"Stabler."
"Mr. Stabler, this is Casey Mayman, your daughter's kindergarten teacher."
Elliot's stomach flipped. "What's wrong? What happened?" he asked frantically as a million possibilities for this phone call ran threw his head.
"Nothing too serious, Mr. Stabler. Just…we were having our Mother's Day Tea today and Alexandra decided that she didn't want to be a part of it if her mother wasn't there."
Elliot sighed and buried his head in his hands. "Where is she now? Is she alright?"
"She calmed down and is currently sound asleep in the nurse's office."
"Alright. I'll come and get her."
45 minutes later
"Sweetheart," Elliot whispered, pushing some hair back from his daughter's face. "Darling, come on. It's time to go."
Alexandra's eyes fluttered open. "Hi Daddy," she said quietly.
"Hey sweetheart. Want to tell me what happened in kindergarten today?" He asked, taking a seat on the cot and holding her close.
"Everyone else had a mommy come for the tea but me today," she mumbled into her father's shirt. "Everyone else could say things to their mommy and I had to pretend like I had one. I didn't think it would be much different when we were practicing and painting our pots, but today, I just couldn't do it."
Elliot nodded and pulled her closer. He was definitely happy that his daughter was able to express herself much clearer then most 5 year olds he worked with, but he was also upset that a lack of mother had hurt her this badly.
As he imagined all the things he wanted to do to Kathy for hurting them, Alexandra especially, his daughter pulling on his shirt interrupted him. "Hey daddy," she asked. "Can we please go now?"
Elliot looked at her and smiled. "Sure sweetheart. Why don't we go to your cubby and get your things? Then, maybe we can see if Uncle Munch and Uncle Fin would like to go to lunch with us."
The sparkle immediately popped back into her eyes and the events of the morning disappeared into the past as she dragged her daddy down the hallway.