Maya's POV
"Oh come on Timothy, you've gone here before!"
"I don't wanna go! None of the kids like me." He peered at his shoes.
"Did they say that to you?" I asked concerned.
"No...but no one talks to me other than Ms. Bird."
"Oh sweetie, it's ok if it takes a while to make new friends. I didn't find Riley till I was 6!"
We were standing outside of his school, I kneeled down and looked into his green eyes.
"You will find a friend. You've only gone to preschool a few days! Just hang in there, kid."
Timothy sighed and nodded his head. He grabbed my hand and walked in his classroom.
"Timothy!" A tall brunette said as we walked in
"Hi Ms. Bird." He smiled.
I never truly met his preschool teacher before, in my defense Timothy's only been in school 3 days.
"Hi, I'm Maya, Timothy's mom." I smiled
"Oh hi! I'm Ms. Bird! It's nice to finally meet you!" She extended her arm to greet me.
I just smiled and shook her hand.
I knelt down next to Timothy and brushed the hair out of his eyes.
"Ok kid, have fun." I pressed my nose up to his and he scrunched his nose, he set his backpack down and joined the other kids
"Mom!" He turned around and places his hand on his heart signaling me to do the same...that's our sort of handshake. I placed my hand over my heart and smiled. I love that kid.
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Sidewalk
Since Lucas isn't here anymore, I had to get a job. I work at John Quincy Adams Middle School...I know I know, I'm Feeny. But I really enjoy working there, I'm the art teacher. Shocker.
I open the double doors to the school and rushed to my classroom.
"Good morning! I would like to continue our cat drawing for the purple cat competition! We do this every year and I can't wait to see who wins this year!" I clasped my hands together with excitement.
The day went by pretty fast, before I knew it, it was time to pick up Timothy from school.
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Walking home from his preschool
"Mommy?"
"Yeah kid?" I looked down at him as we walked down the street.
"Do I have a dad?" He looked up at me with squinting eyes from the glaring sun.
My heart stopped.
"Yes, you do." we stopped walking and I knelt down "he's in heaven. But he loved you very, very much." I smiled as I felt a tear slipped from my eye, I wiped the tear, and stood up, "What made you ask that?"
He sighed "nothing, it's just-whenever you pick me up from school, I see other kids with a mommy and a daddy...I was just wondering if I had one too."
I smiled at him as I grasped my necklace with my engagement ring on it.
"I loved your father very much Timothy. I still do."
"If I met him, I know I would love him too." Timothy smiled up at me and continued walking.
"So, how was your day today? Did you make any new friends?" I asked changing the subject as we crossed the street.
Timothy thought for a moment.
"I played in the sandbox with Lacey." Timothy remembered, looking to the side. "She was nice."
"Ooh Lacey do you like her?" I probed. Gosh I'm turning into my mom. "Is she pretty?"
"No!" Timothy ran up the steps to our apartment building, closing the door behind him.
"Wait! It was just a question." I sighed as I walked up the steps and opened the door to find Timothy sitting on the steps in the lobby.
"Hey, you ok? I'm sorry I asked about Lacey." I apologized crouching down on my heels looking up at him. "If you don't want to talk about her that's fine. I was just hoping we could have a play date with her sometime and go to the park. Would you like that?"
Timothy stared up at me and smiled showing all his little baby teeth. "Yeah!"
"Good. Let's go make dinner. Pasta or Mac N' cheese?"
"Mac N' cheese !" Timothy exclaimed.
"With extra cheese!" We said at the same time laughing.
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Ms. Bird walked to her car across the school carrying her book-bag over her shoulder. She started her car and drove to her apartment in Greenwich Village.
Just then her phone buzzed.
Bzz-zzz
Hubby: "Hey are you home?"
She smiled as she walked up the steps to her apartment complex and texted back.
Amanda: "just walked in. Heading up now :)"
Her heels clacked against the wooden hallway to her door. The door opened and the smell of wet hair and soap filled her nose.
"Babe? I'm home." She called out setting her bag down on the couch. The brick wall behind her showed picture frames of her and her diploma and old photos of her family. The wooden floors creaked as a 6,2" man made wet footprints across the living room to greet the brunette.
"Amanda." The man smiled kissing her cheek.
"Stop it, you're getting water on my shirt." She squirmed away from him smiling.
"Sorry. Oh I didn't know when you'd be back so I ordered Thai food. Is that okay?"
"That's fine. When do you think it'll be here?" Amanda asked while taking off her flats by the foyer.
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Right now. Hey would you mind getting my wallet in the kitchen? I gotta go get dressed." The man quickly ran back to the master bedroom and held on to the towel wrapped around his waist.
Amanda laughed and went to open the door and grabbed the wallet on the counter. Perhaps it was lucky she missed it, or even a close call, but as Amanda opened the wallet and took out a $20 you had to look carefully at the picture on the right side. Some may have mistaken the old photo for a younger daughter at a first glance. But if you really looked, I mean really saw her you could say the women in the photo looked a lot like Maya Penelope Hart. What a relief Amanda didn't see it.
"Thank you." Amanda closed the door holding a warm bag of Thai food. "Lucas, come help me set the table!"
"I'm coming." Lucas walked out in sweatpants and a t-shirt helping Amanda with the bag of food, almost noticing his wallet in her hands.
"Oh here, I gave him a twenty." Amanda handed him back Lucas' closed wallet who set it down in the dish of keys. "Thanks. Smells great. I'll get the plates."
It was a wonder how easily Lucas forgot he had the photo of Maya. I guess in time he gave up looking for her and found somebody else. But isn't it funny how life can get in the way sometimes and turn everything upside down? Deep down Lucas never completely forgot Maya. She was still in his dreams even though he was with someone else. He wasn't sure if Maya dreamed about him but he secretly hoped she did.
What do you guys think?
When will Amanda find out that the girl in Lucas' wallet is Maya?
Comment below!