Getting out of baby school, which was what the twins called their previous years, was a milestone. They were beside themselves with excitement at going into first grade. They wanted to hurry and get to school to see how many of their friends from last year would be in their class.
They’d dressed themselves in shorts sets and were wearing their “Miss Katie” headbands. Their toenails were painted and poking out from their little sandals, and they were sitting in the living room, shouting down the hall at Sam.
“Daddy! Are you ready yet?” Evie yelled.
“We’re ready,” Beth shouted. “We’re ready to go.”
“Coming!” Sam said as he gave himself one last look in the bathroom mirror, then grabbed his wallet off the dresser, made sure the toes of his boots were shiny, palmed the key to his patrol car, and headed up the hall.
The girls bolted for the door and were already on the porch by the time he grabbed his Stetson. He settled it on his head, then led them to the car, buckled both of them up in the back seat, and headed to school.
“Are you excited?” Sam asked.
“Yes! We get to see our friends and find out who our teacher will be,” Beth said.
“I want Miss Katie to be our teacher,” Evie said.
“Yes, Miss Katie,” Beth echoed.
“I don’t have anything to do with that, but it will either be Miss Marcy or Miss Katie, and whoever it is, you will be happy and not make a fuss. Do you understand?”
They nodded. “Yes, Daddy. We promise we won’t have ourselves a hissy fit,” Evie said.
“No fits,” Beth added.
Sam hid a grin. “Excellent choices,” he said.
They held hands as he drove, and when he finally got to the school and got them out, they each grabbed hold of Sam’s hands.
“I guess I’m too big to carry?” Evie whispered.
Beth looked worried. “I guess I am, too?”
“We’re holding hands. That’s better,” Sam said, and led them into the building.
The principal was standing at the doorway, greeting each family as they arrived and exclaiming how tall the children had grown over the summer.
When she saw Sam walking in with his girls, she sighed. There was something so endearing about that big man. Him, and all of the authority he represented in Borden’s Gap, being led by the two tiny beings at his side was a sight to behold.
“Good evening, Chief,” Susan said. “Good evening, Beth. Good evening, Evie.”
“You got us backward!” Evie said. “She’s Beth. I’m Evie,” and then they giggled.
Susan sighed. “My apologies, but you two are such peas in a pod.”
“Miss Katie can tell us apart easy,” Evie said.
“Every time,” Beth added.
Sam grinned. “She did. Right from the start.”
Susan laughed. “She’s a fine woman with a multitude of skills. You all enjoy your evening and go find your room.”
Now that they were inside the building, the girls got braver, remembering the layout as they moved farther down the hall.
“We went that way last year,” Evie said.
“But first grade is this way,” Beth said, and began skipping along beside Sam until they reached the first-grade rooms. There was a list of names on the bulletin boards just outside of each door.
“Find our names, Daddy! Find our names!” Beth said.
“You know your name. Look for it,” Sam said.
And as luck would have it, they read the list on Katie’s door first.
“Here they are!” Beth said. “Our names are here!”
“Then go through that doorway and you will see your teacher,” Sam said.
They got as far as the threshold, saw Katie up talking to other parents, and turned to Sam and whispered.
“Miss Katie! We get Miss Katie!” they said.
“Wow. And so you do. Let’s go say hello.”
Sam had expected squeals of delight, but they seemed subdued.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“We have to mind Teacher,” Evie whispered.
“Yes, mind her,” Beth added.
“Do you even know what that means?” Sam asked.
They looked at each other.
“Do what she says?” they echoed.
“Right. Just like you have to mind me.”
“We never had to mind Miss Katie before.”
“Well, you wanted her for a teacher, and you got lucky. If you don’t want to be here, I can go ask the principal to move you to the other class.”
“No! We’ll stay here. We’re just being silly gooses.”
Sam chuckled. “Where did you hear that?”
“That’s what Roxie calls us when we eat with our fingers instead of our forks.”
“Then don’t be silly gooses,” Sam said.
They giggled, and then made a beeline for Katie.
***
Katie saw them coming and grinned. “Surprise,” she said.
“We’re silly gooses,” Evie said.
Katie looked up at Sam, waiting for an explanation.
“It’s a long story,” Sam said. “Your room looks amazing. I wish I’d had a first-grade teacher like this.”
One of the other fathers was standing nearby and poked Sam on the shoulder.
“That’s what I said.”
“Oh, hey, Palmer. How’s it going?”
“Stu’s repeating first grade,” he muttered.
“Good move,” Sam said. “Kids don’t mature at the same rate. Now’s the time to let him catch up, instead of falling farther behind.”
Then they both turned and looked at Katie, moving about the room with a half-dozen children already following behind her like a broody hen with new chicks.
“She sure seems nice,” Palmer said.
“She’s in her element, isn’t she? And she’s pretty,” Sam added.
Palmer grinned. “Well, since my wife is standing right there I wasn’t gonna say it, but I won’t call you a liar, either.”
“She’s my neighbor,” Sam added.
Palmer sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets.