Hey guys!

Hope you enjoy this little update!

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Xoxo,

Nina

"I'll get it!" Her voice was chirpier than ever, no matter what her parents told her or how hard she tried, Grace Ruzek could not contain her excitement.

Many great things were going to happen today. She was going to be officially a second grader, she was going to need to call her aunt 'Miss B' and maybe, just maybe and if she was very lucky she was going to be able to slip a very subtle 'Aunt Kim' here and there around school. But what was probably keeping this adorable little girl so hyped was the fact that after the award ceremony, her big party was going to happen.

"Ok, but ask who's there first." Anne called from the kitchen, where she was getting some water to fight the heat of the day.

"It's Uncle Adam, I can see his car parked through the window."

"Sweetheart, you know you still have to ask." Although she couldn't see her daughter's face, Anne knew those lovely little eyes were probably rolling all the way back to her brain.

"Who is it?" Her sweet voice was loud enough to be heard from the other side of the door.

"It's your favorite uncle."

Grace just giggled to his playful answer and was quick to open the door for him.

"Uncle Adam!" She practically jumped into his arms.

"Look at you! You are particularly beautiful today."

"Thank you." She said blushing. "Mom let me put on my favorite dress because it's a special day."

"You bet!"

"And Aunt Kim? She's not coming?"

"Oh," Adam said looking a bit disappointed. "So I am no longer enough for you?" He asked, pretending to be hurt by her question.

"No, silly! But I like it when Aunt Kim comes, too."

"I know muffin, I was playing with you. Your aunt is not coming with us because she is already at school, waiting for all of you to arrive. But, she told me to let you know, that she is super excited and that she can't wait for your party, she is even wearing her bracelet invitation already."

Gracie gasped, taking her little hand to cover her open mouth. "Really?"

"Yes. I have a picture, wanna see?"

"Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically and waited for her uncle to show his phone to her.

"Hey, Adam!" Anne greeted and interrupted their conversation. "You know you don't need to stand by the door, right? You can make yourself at home. Although I know it's difficult when little Miss Ruzek won't let you move."

"I let him move." She shot back at her mom. "He was just showing me a picture of aunt Kim."

"Oh, I see." She smiled, truly loving the bond the three of them had developed.

"It's fine Anne, she was just being a sweetheart, like always."

"You and Kit are going to spoil her." She said, rolling her eyes. "Can I get you anything to drink while we wait for your brother? He was finishing up with a client and coming straight home and your dad is meeting us there."

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks."

"Dad needs to hurry up, I don't want to be late for my award ceremony. I'm getting an excellent reader award." She said proudly.

"Are you?" Adam inquired.

"Well, I should. I'm very good at reading."

"That you are."

"We'll see what happens Gracie." Her mom said as she ran her hand through her soft curls. "We will all be super proud of you, with or without awards."

"I know. I love you mommy."

"I love you too, sweet pea."

Honking from the outside interrupted the sweet moment.

"Sounds like dad is here. Go get you things!"

Gracie didn't need much encouragement to get going. She darted out of the living room and ran to get the rest of her things and finally get to her school.

Kim was a bit nervous. Sure her job meant that she needed to be standing in front of a crowd, talking to them, engaging them and hopefully manage to get them to learn something. But all of this was with an adorable bunch of kids, her kids, not adults.

Standing in front of all the families and sharing her thoughts and feelings with them was a bit intimidating, and she was working hard for this stimulus not to trigger any of the anxiety that had been bubbling up lately.

"You can come in, Kim." Kathleen's soothing voice forced the brunette to escape her thoughts and step back to Earth.

"Great." She stood up and followed her boss back into the office.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. A bit nervous, but good."

"Oh, please. There's nothing to worry about. I read your speech and it's wonderful."

"Thank you. I'm glad you like it."

"I do." Her warm smile made Kim feel at ease. "Take a seat, there's something I would like to talk to you about before the kids get here and all the madness starts."

"Is everything okay?"

"Um, yeah. I'm just thinking about the next school year."

"Oh. Well, you know I will be available. My doctor says I'm doing well, all my test results are coming out great and I feel better."

"I know and I am so happy to have you back. It was so hard to find a replacement for you and that actually got me thinking."

"What about?" Kim was getting a bit stressed. She had no idea where Mrs. Quinn wanted to get to.

"I need you to help me share your vision with other teachers. I know you do that in all the teams you are ever part of, but I'd love for the whole school to be aligned. Kim, I've been thinking a lot and I would love to offer you the position of teacher coordinator."

Kim was shocked. "Now, I know how much you love to be in the classroom, but this way you will be able to be in all the classrooms and I'm sure your contributions can enrich the learning processes of our students so much."

"Wow, Kathleen. I don't know what to say."

"Well I was planning on sharing the news today, but if you're not sure yet you don't need to give me an answer right now. Just promise you would think about it."

"I think it's a wonderful challenge, but I'm not sure I'm the right person to do it."

"I think you are the perfect person for that position, Kim. I wouldn't be offering this to you if I didn't believe in you and your hardwork and dedication."

"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"You should know that your presence here means a lot to us sas well. However, I think you need to have the whole picture so you can make an informed decision. If you decide to take it, there are some complementary courses that I would love for you to take. I will send you all the details via email."

"When would I need to take those?"

"Ideally during summer break, but we could see what other options are available. Also, the new position also comes with new responsibilities and of course a new salary. I have Greta the heads up already, so if you want to step into administration after you leave my office they can give you the figures. Greta will probably explain it much better than me."

"I, I don't know what to say."

Kathleen checked her watch. "There's still thirty minutes left until the ceremony starts. Check out all the information and if you have a decision by then, great."

"Ok." Kim said with a smile. "Will do."

She walked out of her Principal's office glowing, unable to hide the smile on her face. Sure this was scary but it was also an incredible challenge and a great opportunity to see if she was really cut for that type of job.

As she walked to talk to Greta she pulled out her phone and did the only thing she was anxious to do.

Babe, I have news!

She sent the short text and in no time her phone was buzzing.

Everything alright?

Yeah! Kathleen wanted to talk to me about the next school year. Can't wait to tell you everything.

Adam smiled when he read that last part, because the same thing happened to him. He loved sharing all the parts about his day with her.

Belle that's great! I can't wait to hear about it either.

I'll see you in a little while. Love you!

She replied.

Love you, too.

The conversation with Greta was short but very informative. The boost in her paycheck was interesting and motivating but Kim still wanted some more time to think about it and that was exactly what she told her boss, who was super understanding about it.

The auditorium was full of people, families filling all the empty seats behind the rows that were saved for the students and their teachers, since they were nowhere to be seen yet.

This wasn't the first award ceremony he attended, but it was the first time that he wasn't there just for Gracie. His head was moving in every direction trying to find any of his girls but it was useless.

"Relax, man. Not even Anne is as excited as you." His brother teased.

"I just wanna get a good shot of Grace coming in."

"Yeah. Uh huh. Let's pretend I buy that's the only reason."

Adam chuckled and quickly changed the subject, which totally took Kit by surprise. "Hey, have you…" He paused for a moment. A part of him was feeling guilty or ashamed of asking this question. "Have you heard anything from mom lately?"

"Um." To say that he was shocked was an understatement. Adam was usually the one to avoid that subject, wanting nothing to do with his mother. "She texted a couple of weeks ago asking about Grace, but nothing more than that. Why?"

Adam shrugged. "I don't know." He sighed. "I was talking to Kim the other day and maybe there are some things that I need to ask her. Questions that only she can answer."

Kit was silent because he wasn't very sure what to say to his brother. "What? Do you think I shouldn't do it?"

"No. I didn't say that."

"Well, you actually didn't say anything at all."

"I think that if you want to talk to her, you should definitely do it. But Adam, don't expect anything major."

"I just want answers."

"Then you should definitely go for it. I never really had a deep conversation with her, it's basically been all about Grace."

"I know. You don't have to explain it to me, I understand. Besides, when she reached out in the first place I was the one who refused to see her."

"What I meant by saying that is that we definitely go together if you want."

"Really? You'd be up for that?"

"Of course man, this is something that we both should do and maybe it's finally time we face it. I will call her and see when we can meet."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Kit clapped on his brother's shoulder, giving him a light squeeze but their little moment was interrupted by the sound coming from the speakers.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen." Mrs. Queen greeted the families. "Thank you all for being here. Today is a very important day to all of us, since we are celebrating what was a wonderful school year and we're also welcoming our students to a new adventure and without any further ado, please welcome our first, second, third, fourth and fifth graders!"

She took a step back to clap her students and all the families imitated her. Adam did just as he had promised and was quick to take out his phone and get pictures of Gracie as she walked in the auditorium. She was beaming. She looked happy and proud and was carefully following the instructions given to her by her teachers, probably the only reason why she was doing that was because her Aunt Kim was there as well, and she was definitely someone Grace didn't want to disappoint.

"I would like to start by congratulating every single one of you for your hard work, your effort and for making this place what it is. Kids, you are the heart of this school, never forget that." She paused for a second, as she took the time to look at the kids and then back to the families. "Before we start handing the diplomas and awards and before you see some of the surprises the children have prepared for you, I would like to invite Ms. Kimberly Burgess to the stage to share some words with us."

Kim walked on the stage shyly, as the audience clapped in encouragement. She stood in front of the mic and looked at it before taking a deep breath to gather the courage she needed to look at all of the people who were there. "Hello everyone." She started softly calling everyone's attention, but the only pair of eyes she was scanning for were his. "For the ones who don't know me, I'm Kimberly Burgess. I've worked in this school for quite some time now and during the past years I've been working with the little ones, but allow me to tell you that they are not as little as they seem.

I didn't always know that I wanted to be a teacher. In fact in the thousands of scenarios that I imagined for my future, being a teacher wasn't one of them. What I did know was that I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to try to make someone's day a little better and the first time I set foot in a classroom I knew that was the place I had to be.

But this is not about me or my journey as a teacher, this is about these little giants standing before us. As educators we often think that it is exclusively our job to teach, but the truth is that they teach us every single day.

In the past months I have learned a lot from them. Their shared experiences, their innocent words of wisdom and most of all, from their unconditional love.

So yeah, I still want to make a difference and I really hope I do, but the real difference is the one they make. And I know for sure, that these kids will make our world a better place, because they're already doing it."

As everyone clapped, all she cared about was the little wink Adam had shot at her. He looked happy and proud to know that the wonderful woman with the most honest and pure heart that had just spoken was his girlfriend and he still had no idea how he had managed to win her over.