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eighteen

Eighteen

"Kemper, baby, you have to go," Luke stroked Kemper's hair as she cried into his scrubs. It wasn't the first day of school jitters, but a fear of the first day of school. Luke and Sierra were having regrets of waiting this long to put her into school, but they did and now they have to deal with their choice. Kemper just continued to cry as Sierra packed her bag. Once it was all done, they made their way to the car and drove with Kemper sobbing in the back. No matter what they said, she still wouldn't calm down and clearly didn't want to go.

"We'll walk you in, baby," Sierra said, but Kemper shook her head as Luke parked.

"I don't wanna go," she sobbed, which broke their hearts.

"You are going to have so much fun," Luke promised her, "and you'll make so many friends,"

"No," Kemper shook her head. The adults got out of the car and Luke carried Kemper, who just kept sobbing as they walked up in the school, getting weird looks for parents.To their relief, Mrs. Robinson was right outside of the school, already expecting this.

"I can tell someone's not very excited," she frowned.

"She really doesn't want to go," Sierra admitted.

"Most kids don't, that's alright,"

"We can go in and calm her down," Luke offered, but Mrs. Robinson shook her head.

"That will only upset her more," she said. "Sometimes you just have to let them go and give them a push,"

"No," Kemper shook her head.

"Kemper, your mom and dad are going to pick you up at 3:30, which will be here before you know it. But right now we're going to go to school and play with some friends. ANd we will read today as well," she reassured the girl. "Can you say goodbye to your mom and dad?"

"No, don't leave," Kemper clutched into Luke tighter. Luke sighed and knelt down, putting her down.

"You are going to have so much fun today, and we will see you soon, I promise," Luke kissed her cheek, followed by Sierra.

'Have a good day, we love you so much," Sierra added. Mrs. Robinson took Kemper's hand and led her into the school as Luke and SIerra went back to the car, both also fighting back tears. THe ride to work was silent, then they went in and went their separate ways.

"How was Kemper this morning?" Ashton asked as Luke walked to his office.

"I'm such a bad father, she cried the whole time," Luke mumbled.

"That doesn't make you a bad dad," Calum told him. "You have to push her sometimes,"

"She cried the whole time," Luke mumbled as he entered his office and sat at his desk, burying his face into his hands, "it was heartbreaking,"

"She's going to adjust and love school and his friends. Right now it's hard, and she might be mad, but she has to go," Michael said.

"She can't stay with you and Sierra all the time, she has to make friends and socialize. This is good for her, I would know, I'm her therapist," Ashton reminded him and Luke nodded, wiping the tears down his face. "It's going to be a rough time getting her there, but her teacher seems wonderful and she will love her class. Just keep encouraging her and pushing her to go. The teacher won't force her to do work more so get her adjusted to a school setting, that's the main point,"

"I guess," Luke sighed. "I still hated it,"

"She did too, but you have to keep doing it. It will get easier as time goes on," Michael rubbed Luke's back.

"Trust us, she will end up loving school. She loves learning new things, I'm sure she'll love school, just not right now," Calum said and Luke nodded. He knew they were right, but that didn't change the fact that he was worried.