The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box 33 (Edited for boo-boos) :D
-0-Sparkling Day School
"Come in."
They turned and walked in joined late by Venture and Miler. Prowl and Prime would be there shortly they told the trine as they gathered in the conference room for their infant's conferences.
"The rest of the family is coming," Bluestreak told their children's teacher, Dronino as he sat down in a chair next to Sideswipe. Sunstreaker pulled chairs for Miler and Venture, then sat himself.
"That's good. We can wait if they are on their way," Dronino said with a grin.
Bluestreak paused to check. "They're just arriving in the station." He turned to look at Miler and Venture. "How did the little mechs do?"
"Brilliantly. Rambler is a very remarkable student and the others have improved so much. Spirit is finally at grade level for reading."
They grinned and nodded. "That little mech works so hard, He's such a great little thing," Miler said. "T-Bar is more outgoing and his mathematics have increased in fluency greatly. Both he and Spirit are much improved."
"You can thank yourself, Miler," Sunstreaker said nodding. "The tutoring you give to them and Sunspot is paying off."
"It is the easiest thing I do," Miler replied with a giant grin.
They chatted, then the door opened as Prowl and Prime joined the throng for the word on the trine infants. When they were all seated, Dronino began with Kaon.
"Kaon is on track to meet and/or exceed his expected and charted goals for this learning period," the newly minted sparkling teacher began. This was the third conference of his career and as a newbie with a spark of gold and a desire to be thorough, he had over prepared for all of his little students. "If we start with the subject areas, you can see," he said sliding a flat datapad filled with the achievements of the tiny winger for all to see. "Mathematics appears to be a strong suit. He likes to count and can match groups of chips with my own really easily. He likes that game."
"He has one at home. We have the pre-math computer sim and the pre-math games that are produced by Spark-Tech," Sunstreaker said glancing up at Dronino. "We have taken his last report and targeted all the areas that were suggested with games and toys."
"That's wonderful, Sunstreaker. It shows," Dronino said with a grin. "His pre-math skills are very solid. He can match groups together, he can match numbers of things with other things, he's very happy to do so. His pre-reading and writing skills are very good as well. Have you done things with that too?"
"We have," Sunstreaker replied with a nod, his expression intensely serious. "We work on things at home everyday with all three of them. We want them to have everything possible."
"I can respect that greatly," Dronino said to the third overly intense ada he had conferenced with this day so far. All of the teachers had been given the memo on the carrier-soldiers and the update that Turquoise was close to a solution. "The indicators of language are strong with Kaon and he likes to work on the pre-writing exercises because they feel like art to him. He likes to cut and paste and I will give you his work when you go," he said nodding to the folder lying at the end of the table.
Sunstreaker looked at it like it was a target. When he got home, it would be intensely reviewed and all that could be learned about his son's progress would be gleaned with even the perceptions of need addressed with plans and objectives to obtain. Nothing would be overlooked in his campaign to help his son all he could. He nodded and they began again.
Miler glanced at Venture, a look of concern on his face. :Poor Sunny. I hope they find the cure soon:
:You and me both, Milie: Venture replied with a slight nod.
Dronino continued explaining this and that skill, this and that set of tests as he illustrated all of it with finished work. Kaon was a very good student, exceeding all of the markers for his age and beyond. His fine motor and gross motor skills were also exceeding expected levels.
"Sunny and Sideswipe play with the babies in the park when they can and they make sure they get out to run about as much as possible. I take them swimming at the city pool now that its open. It's our family time," Bluestreak said nodding. "We try to make sure they get to have exercise and not be house bound."
"That's extremely important. It would be easy to have that happen given the work schedules and school life that the babies live around. Getting them out to explore is great," Dronino said nodding. "We use the pool here to give them the basics for swimming and to help them with their physical development. We also don't want them to fear water. Since it is so rare here, we want them to have a good opinion about it anyway."
"We plan to have them take formal swimming lessons when they get a bit older. For now, it's just play time," Bluestreak said nodding.
Dronino nodded. "Anything that enhances their physical development also aids in the social. Kaon is such a good little bot. He's kind and loving, plays beautifully with others and is helpful to his teachers. He does what he is told very well, shares and has wonderful manners. He has taken it upon himself to be El's helper. He reads to her, helps her with her activities and keeps her company."
"How is she doing? I just love her," Miler asked with concern.
"She's getting stronger. She can sit up now without support," Dronino said. "Ratchet visits her on schedule here to watch her development against the future of her surgery schedule and says she's doing much better."
"That's good," Venture said nodding. "She is a sweet baby."
Dronino nodded. "She is. She's one of Kaon's best friends. They sit together when they listen to stories and he makes sure her chair is hung up after activities."
Sunstreaker nodded. "She's a great little femme. Kaon loves her."
Dronino nodded. "She loves him." He turned and tapped the monitor screen. "Let me show you some things."
They sat and watched tiny videos of Kaon in the pool, his little wings flapping behind him like extra arms. That they didn't help more than splash didn't matter to the madly smiling little mech. They showed him listening intently to stories, one of the videos showing him holding El's servo. He was shown working on cut and paste, colors, skills, hopping and skipping, stringing things, putting up and getting down little chairs, music and singing as well as keeping his area cleaned up without being told.
"He's a very neat sparkling," Dronino said pausing the video.
"He has been taught to be neat," Bluestreak said with a chuckle. "Mr. Clean over here expects them to be good that way so they will be welcome around others."
Sunstreaker nodded. "They need to know manners so they can be welcome wherever they go. My kids are going to have it all."
Dronino nodded. "You are doing a beautiful job. Kaon is just about the only baby I don't have to ever tell to bus his area. He's self motivated that way and very cheerful."
Sunstreaker nodded as the others watched him. "That's good to know. My son is a good sparkling."
"He's a great sparkling, Sunstreaker," Dronino said. The expression on Sunstreaker's face would stay with them forever.
Optimus noted it and felt despair flash through him. His soldiers had suffered over the millennia and now that they could stop and take stock, it was becoming visible to the optic. The videos began again and all turned to watch.
Kaon running, sitting, laughing, swimming, cutting, pasting, eating his snack and going into his bassinet like a pro, all of it was there. Then the work came next. Pictures with reasonably neat cut edges of ships and puppies, kittens and one of Optimus pasted onto servo made backgrounds were laid out for inspection. Sunstreaker quizzed Dronino about the accuracy of the work, about the lines that were almost but not quite followed and the background details. When it was dissected, he sat back satisfied. Kaon had done a good job.
His servo print was exclaimed over. Bluestreak told them that they would all get a copy because Tie Down and Ravie were going to make them out of stainless steel. Sunstreaker was greatly pleased to know his sparkling's print would be on everyone's end table.
The silhouette was a delight. The clay pot was a caution. Everything was wonderful and they felt it. By the time the folio was handed over with the disks filled with videos, everyone was entirely pleased with Kaon and his life in the school lane.
They walked outside to wait for the twins' conference which was just about immediately called. Walking inside, they sat down and waited as Neo began to organize the work and film for the babies. She looked at Sunstreaker. "You look pleased. Kaon must be doing his usual exceptional job."
"He is. He aced it. There's a couple of things to do but he's ahead of the curve," Sunstreaker said to the one person in the school to which he felt the closest. They had deep long conversations about the school and the infants as part of Sunstreaker's intense quest to be for his own babies what no was for him.
"No surprise there," Neo said. "Now we can look at the girls." She turned and looked at her datapad. "These babies are ahead of their expected growth pattern but that isn't a surprise for me. I know that this family takes such care of the infants, getting them what they need and helping them excel. So none of the information I am going to give you should be a surprise.
"This is what we have tested out. They are exceeding the level one would expect for infants this age in gross and fine motor skills. They shouldn't be walking but they are. They shouldn't be running or trying to skip but they are. Being around older sparklings helps younger ones get better at what they can do and try other things ahead of schedule. These girls are unaware that what they do is theoretically impossible for them. They just do it.
"We are working on colors and shapes. They still put the shapes into their mouths. That is typical," Neo said as everyone grinned, everyone but Sunstreaker who was listening intently. "They understand how to group them together by kind and size. That is great. They are also getting to understand the concept of color and texture. They group shapes according to all four concepts as directed.
They are getting time in the pool now to help them move without the impediment of gravity. They are really loving to be in the water. I hear you swim in the community pool regularly," Neo asked.
"We do. The girls are especially happy to float on the little rafts or stand in the shallow end," Sideswipe said with a grin.
"That helps them doesn't it? It helps them with their walking and the body stuff, right?" Sunstreaker asked.
Neo nodded. "It helps a lot, Sunny. Right now, they are very steady and aware of space around them. Most babies are trying to walk and fall from time to time. They can walk very well and there are very few moments of imbalance. Walking in the water not only strengthens them with the gentle pressure of the liquid but allows them to fall without hurting themselves."
Sunstreaker nodded without comment, his optics focused on the datapad in Neo's servos. She continued, well aware of it as were the others. It was what it was for now.
"Iacon is more outgoing and confident. She's willing to step out and take more chances than Uraya. She's more shy but she's also pretty bold in some things. She isn't fond of new events but she adapts fast. They are very sweet together and one isn't dominant over the other."
"Hear that, Sunny?" Sideswipe asked with a smirk.
Sunstreaker glanced at his brother. "You would be drooling in a chair somewhere without me, Sideswipe."
A slap on the helm greeted that remark and they both turned their attention back to the task at servo.
Neo with a smirk of her own continued. "They are socially adept, they have friends among everyone infant and adult and are very much the femme group's leaders. The little femme bits like to sit together and 'discuss' things, especially their dollies and the snacks they eat" Neo said smiling. "They are also getting the basic movements down for dance and like to sing. Do they do that at home?"
"They stand and gyrate, staring at their peds. They do that when music is playing," Bluestreak said with a chuckle. "They shake their little afts standing in one place while they flair an arm. It's always one arm. I think they use the other one for balance because it's usually bent at their sides. It's so cute we have videos all over the place of it."
"They're practicing their moves," Neo said with a grin. "Next time Christmas Surprise comes around we are going to have a dance team ready for the festivities. The girls will be part of that with the others who were in the last program."
"That will be awesome," Sunstreaker said. "My son danced for the entire colony last time." He looked at Neo. "That was the most awesome thing I've ever seen. My son dancing for the colony, Neo."
Neo nodded. "You should have been up there with them, Sunny. I have to agree with you. It was the best thing I ever did."
They were of one mind.
-0-TBC
2013 (2) For Pip