Sweet Caroline

#49 Little kids with big questions

I shrug. "I don't know. Maybe. Fact is that it's not someone else. It's Michael Thompson. And I'm not going to call him about this."

"Fair enough. Then I will." Jeff holds up a hand when he sees I'm about to protest. "You can call Mallory and have the boys talk to her for a moment. I'm fine with that. I will call Michael so he won't get steamrolled by this. I'm not gonna ask him for permission, just tell him that the boys were so sad about not speaking to their mother that we had to call her so Manny and Tommy would be able to focus on school again. If he gets mad, then so be it. I don't give a shit. But I will not have one of my teachers do this kind of thing without informing the other parent."

"Okay," I agree with a sigh. "But if Michael Thompson shows up in my classroom later today, I will slam the door in his face and take off. I am not going to talk to that man again."

"Deal," Jeff agrees. "Now go on and call Mallory."

I do as he says. Luckily, she picks up right away and although she is hostile at first, she thanks me in the end for allowing her to talk to her kids. Apparently, she hasn't been able to get them on the phone ever since she left for a work trip a week ago. Her ex-husband doesn't pick up when he sees it's her and the boys are too young to have phones of their own. Poor kids. And poor Mallory. I'm not particularly impressed with the way she's handling the divorce, but after her ex-husband harassed me, I'm not so quick to judge her anymore. Who knows what kind of man he is behind closed doors? Fact is the boys miss her and if this phone call helps them, I'm glad I decided to make this decision.

Rose and Gracie come to talk to me at the end of the day as well, both looking flushed. I frown down at the two girls when I notice that they are waiting for all the other kids to leave the classroom before talking to me.

"Your parents are waiting for you," I tell them. "What's going on?"

"Tommy said that all parents get divorced," Gracie tells me, her cheeks bright pink as she fidgets with the hem of her dress.

Fucking hell. I just want this day to be over. I'm already nervous about having dinner with Sean and Jillian tonight, so I don't need all this crap with the kids. I can handle teaching them for a full day while my mind is elsewhere but all these conversations about parents... There's no preparing yourself for stuff like this. There's not a single class in college that taught me how to handle it when kids ask difficult questions that their parents should be the ones to answer.

"Not all parents get divorced," I tell the girls as I take a seat on one of the small kid's chairs so I'm not so far up on my own desk chair. I motion for Gracie and Rose to sit down as well. "Some parents do, some don't. Are you afraid that your parents will get divorced, Gracie?"

She nods, looking down with tears in her eyes. "Tommy said that when parents fight and yell, they get divorced. My mom and dad fight and yell sometimes, so..."

"Now you think that they will end up like Tommy's and Manny's parents?" I sigh when she nods. "Gracie... I can't promise you that your parents will stay together forever, but I can tell you that all parents have arguments. Doesn't mean that they will get divorced. My parents fight all the time, about little things like..." I try to think of something to tell her. "My father never replaces the toilet paper and it drives my mother mad. So sometimes, she yells at him for that. And then my father will shout back that she always leaves the door of the fridge open, making the stuff in there go bad because it gets too hot."

"Mommy told daddy that she thinks he's a lazy bastard," Gracie tells me, looking up at me with a frown.

I can't help but laugh at that. "Trust me, all mommies say that to the daddy sometimes. My mother once called my dad a fat pig, and they are still happily married. Gracie, if you're really worried about this, maybe you should tell your parents. I'm sure they will be happy to talk to you about this and explain it better than I can."