"First day of school! First day of school! Wake up, wake up! C'mon, first day of school!"
"I don't wanna go to school," mumbled Marlin, pulling the blankets over his head, "five more minutes."
"Not you daddy, me!"
Marlin opened his eyes and yawned. His seven year old son, Nemo, was jumping up and down on his bed chanting excitedly about his first day of school.
"Get up, get up! It's time for school! It's time for school! It's time for school! It's time for school! Oh boy! Oh boy!"
"Alright, I'm up," mumbled Marlin, just as Nemo fell of the bed, landing on the floor with a thud, "Nemo!"
Marlin scooped up his son and sat him down on the bed, checking him all over to see if he was hurt.
"I'm fine dad," moaned Nemo impatiently.
"Well you weren't last week when you broke your arm were you?" he said, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Six."
"No! See, something's wrong with you. I'm holding up seven fingers."
"No, you're holding up six fingers and a thumb."
"Oh, you're okay," he said, "Come on then, let's get you dressed."
"I already am," said Nemo, who was wearing his new school uniform.
"Did you brush your teeth."
"Yes!"
"Really?"
Nemo hesitated, and then said "No..."
"Go brush your teeth."
Nemo let out an irritated grunt as he sprinted out of the room.
"Slow down," Marlin called after him, "you're gonna fall again."
"No I won't!" yelled Nemo from the other room.
Marlin was nervous about sending his little boy to school for the first time. Up until recently he'd worked evenings in the pub down the road and had home-schooled Nemo. Nemo finally got to go to school, because he had a new job, which was during the day. Okay, so working in a call centre wasn't exactly his dream job, but it was more hours and better pay.
His younger brother, Simon, was currently in between homes since his girlfriend kicked him out, so Marlin had agreed to let him stay in his spare bedroom rent free until he got back on his feet, as long as he took care of Nemo while he was at work. This was six years ago and he was still sleeping in the spare room.
While Marlin was irritated that his brother was always around to make a mess of things, Nemo loved having an adult around that wasn't always such a killjoy – that is if you could call Simon an adult!