Woolly Jumpers || Nativity

Two

Jamie Harper was a very forgetful person. For that reason, and that reason alone, he had been forced to eat in the lunch hall with all of the children. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought any food with him. It had happened before, and Robin made sure it never would again.

The next day, when lunch came around, Jamie found himself at the counter, picking up the grainy macaroni cheese when he saw an odd sight. A grown man at one of the dining tables, holding a lunch box close to his chest.

He found himself smiling. Then, he sighed to himself, before dragging the tray along with him. Jamie sat down in front of him, and smiled.

"Hi."

The man sheepishly looked up. "Hello."

He was chubby, with wide eyes and stubble coating the lower part of his face. It didn't look like he knew how to shave properly, and his clothes were ever so slightly mismatched. Honestly, he seemed kind. Kind enough for Jamie to make an effort.

Not many things or people could do that.

"I'm Jamie."

"Mr Poppy."

"Oh." The Harper boy knew exactly who he was. "You're Mr Maddens' new TA."

"Well, yeah, suppose. What do you do?"

"My mum's the music teacher." He informed. "I'm doing a placement for college."

"Is it good?" Mr Poppy asked, curiously.

Jamie shrugged. "It's not bad."

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No one ever said that teaching was easy: Robin was proof of that. She loved her job more than anything, she loved that she got to teach her son too. However, children were stubborn little things.

They wouldn't sing solo without a friend, which then meant it wasn't a solo. All she had wanted to do was layer their voices so they sounded amazing. Clearly, it wasn't going to work.

"Okay, then, how about this?" Robin smiled, cheerfully. "Everyone stand up!"

There was a loud ruckus as they did so, pushing their chair in. Some leant over, some didn't. Some weren't paying much attention at all and took a while to get up.

"Right, stand up straight." She told them, and then they all faced her properly. "I don't want you to feel like you have to sing everything in one breath. You don't. Take as many as you need."

Alfie put his hand up. "Why?"

"Because it's good for you." Ms Harper made sure they knew it was true. She couldn't go into detail. They would get too confused.

It took a while. But, eventually, she did manage to get them to sing in rounds. Christmas Is Coming had a new spin on it and Robin was thoroughly impressed with her work.

Perhaps the Christmas Nativity wasn't going to as awful as it usually was. They seemed to be trying a lot more this year, and she could have been happier.

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At lunch, the teachers lounge was bustling with life. Every one of the staff was running around, making extra coffees for Mr Maddens. They felt like they owed him for taking over on the Nativity.