"Are these enough?", asked Makoto. Kyoko looked at the books in his hands, which were about shapes and the alphabet, and nodded. "Two should be just about right. We don't want to pressure Rei."
The couple have been recently teaching their daughter, Rei, to read. They were currently at the library to take out some children's books for her to practice with.
"Mama, can I have this book?", asked the aforementioned little girl. She had brown hair and green eyes just like her father. Makoto crouched down to her level. "Yes you can, Sweetie. Kyoko?" The lavender haired woman smiled. "I don't see any reason why we can't." "Yay!" "Quiet now, we're in a library, remember?", said Makoto, putting his fingers to his lips. Rei did the same, and the father and daughter shared a giggle.
The family walked over to the counters and took out the books, ready to learn their daughter the wonders of reading.
. . .
"Mama, what's this shape?", asked Rei. "That's a square, Rei." "A square?" "Yes, Sweetie. A square."
Makoto walked into the room to see his daughter sitting on his wife's lap. He walked over to them and sat next to them.
"Look, Papa! It's a square!" "It is! Good job!" Kyoko turned the page. "Another square!", cheered Rei. "No, Rei. This isn't a square. This is a rectangle", corrected Makoto. "Rectangle?" Kyoko turned the page back to the square. "Yes. See how it looks different from a square?"
"It's longer!", said Rei. Kyoko nodded. Her daughter looked up at her. "Just like you and Papa. You're longer than me. You're rectangles." The parents laughed. "Yes, we're rectangles, and you're our little square", said Makoto, pinching the little girl's cheek. Kyoko turned the page again. "What's that one?", asked Rei. "This is a circle", explained her mother.
Makoto picked up his daughter. "Yeah, and it goes round, and round, and round!", he said, spinning around with Rei. She let out a hysterical fit of laughter. Kyoko closed the book about shapes and moved on to the book Rei took out.
Makoto put his daughter back down and sat next to her as Kyoko began to read. "Okay, Rei. This is going to be special, because you will be reading with Mama. Sound good?", asked Kyoko. Rei made a face of awe. She sat on the lavender haired woman's lap again, with her father sitting next to them like before. "What is this word, Rei?" "That's hare!" "But?" "It's with an 'e' and it's a bunny!" "Correct. It's completely different from this hair", said Makoto, who fidgeted with his cowlick.
"And this letter is quiet in this word, so you don't say it. So it's not tor toys, it's tortoise." Rei pointed at the book's title. "What does that say?" "That says 'and'."
Rei looked at the book's title again. "The Tortoise and the Hare!"
Kyoko and Makoto clapped their hands and cheered and congratulated their little girl. Then they began to read.
After a few seconds, the book was finished and Rei ran around in joy that she was able to read. "Did I do good, Mama?" "You did great, Sweetie. Mama is very proud of you." Makoto picked up his little girl. "Do you know what happens to girls when their mama is proud of them?" He began to spun in a circle like earlier. "They go round, and round, and round!" Rei let out a hysterical fit of laughter.
Kyoko decided to be bold and run into her spinning husband, making the family of three fall to the ground in laughter.
She looked at her daughter. "Rei, how about we eat something as a reward for your hard work? What do you want?" "Pancakes!" Makoto stood up. "A batch of pancakes for a smart little girl, coming right up!"
