The Tale of Zachary Willowbrook: A Leap Day Paradox

Chapter 8: Audrey's Secret

Just a few days later, Stacy enrolled Audrey for kindergarten at Nimbleburg Elementary. Gina, who was now good friends with Stacy, enrolled Emma at the same school.

In early July, David and Stacy planned a family vacation. For a whole week, they went to a theme park in Florida. This theme park was said to be the "happiest place on earth". With that, they took pictures with the themed characters and rode on a few rides with the kids. Overall, it was a fun vacation for the whole family.

After the vacation, Audrey was bummed. This was because her friend Emma was staying at her grandparents in California for a whole month. To remedy this, Stacy cheered her up by buying her toys and some new movies for her to watch.

One month later, Emma was back. With that, Audrey stayed at her house for a night. She was picked up the next morning by Stacy.

After a few more days, it was now August 20th. Timothy was now two. Stacy and David celebrated his birthday with a little cake, ice cream and presents. One of Timothy's presents was a big boy potty. Stacy explained to him that he would start using it tomorrow.

Nine days passed and August 29th came. It was yet another big day for Audrey. It was her first day of kindergarten. Stacy drove Audrey to Nimbleburg Elementary and dropped her off.

Audrey's teacher was Mrs. Shellenberg. She was a new kindergarten teacher with about three years of classroom experience.

Before Stacy dropped Audrey off, she explained to her how her daughter was still attached to her pacifier.

At that, Mrs. Shellenberg gasped. "Oh. No no! Audrey will not be using a pacifier at all in my classroom. I will allow it for today, but I will not let her use it until recess. If I see her using it tomorrow, I will take it from her and throw it away."

Stacy looked at her and smiled. "Audrey's days with that thing are numbered."

Mrs. Shellenberg studied her and looked at Audrey. "Difficult child? Attached to her precious object of security? I don't teach babies, Mrs. Willowbrook. If she wants to use that thing, she can use it at home. But she can't use it here. Good day, Mrs. Willowbrook. I will see you at the end of the day."

After Stacy left, Mrs. Shellenberg called Audrey over. Looking at Audrey, she gasped, and yanked the pacifier out of her mouth.

"Listen Audrey," she told her. "I don't want you using this in my classroom. I will let you use it today, but only at recess. After that, if I see it, it's in the trash. Do I make myself clear, Audrey?"

Audrey nodded. From her experience with Mrs. Harper, she understood these rules quite well. "Yes, Mrs. Shellenberg."

With that, Audrey sulked to her assigned desk.

Moments later, Gina came in with Emma. Audrey felt a little better when she saw that Emma's desk was near hers.

Emma looked at Audrey, who was staring at her desk, frowning. "What's wrong, Audrey?"

Audrey pouted. "She took it. The teacher took my pacie."

Emma frowned. "She did? That's too bad...."

"Where's yours?"

Emma smiled. "I said good-bye to my binky. I threw it away in the trash a week ago."

Audrey gasped. "Why?"

Emma showed Audrey her teeth. "This is why. My mommy told me that my binky was bad for my teeth. After that, I said good-bye to my binky and threw it away."

Audrey frowned. "I don't get mine back until recess."

Emma frowned. "You should stop. It's bad on your teeth. Your teeth kinda look like mine."

Audrey shook her head. "No. I'm never giving up my pacie."

After that, the class began. Mrs. Shellenberg introduced herself, and wrote her name on the chalkboard. At that time, all the activities were planned for the day, with lunch and recess being part of the daily plan.

When the activities were planned, the classroom was dispersed and all the kids did those activities. Audrey played with Emma, and a couple of other kids that she knew from preschool the previous year.

Halfway through the day, Mrs. Shellenberg led the class to the cafeteria for lunch. Once there, they all ate together as a class. After lunch, she led them back to the classroom and dismissed them for recess.

Audrey approached Mrs. Shellenberg with her expectant look.

Mrs. Shellenberg nodded, and handed her the pacifier. "Here's your binky," she told her. "Now you can run around outside and show how silly you look to everyone in the school that doesn't have one."

Before Audrey ran off, Mrs. Shellenberg stopped her.

"I get it back after recess, or it's gone today," she warned her. "You can have it back at the end of the day."

With that, Audrey ran off, with her pacifier in her mouth.

Meanwhile, Stacy was at home, toilet training Timothy. So far, he was making really good progress. Since his birthday, he has already gone a few times. While she was doing this, Zachary was in his playpen, playing with his blocks.

Back at Nimbleburg Elementary, recess has just begun.

At recess, Audrey found Emma and joined her near the monkey bars.

Audrey took out her pacifier. "Do you want to borrow it for a minute?"

Emma shook her head. "It's best I don't. My mommy's taking me to a teeth doctor next month."

At that, Audrey nodded and continued using it.

During recess, Emma played a game with her friends and Audrey joined in. When the other kids saw Audrey's pacifier, they gave her a weird look. It even attracted the attention of a nearby fifth grader.

"Look at that baby," The one boy teased.

Before he said anything else, he was jabbed by his friend. "Leave her alone," the friend told him. "She's just a kindergartener."

At that, they both walked away.

After a few more minutes, recess was over.

Almost in tears, Audrey entered the classroom and handed Mrs. Shellenberg her pacifier.

Mrs. Shellenberg placed it back inside her desk. "Done being a baby now? We will continue our activities for the day when all the other kids come in."

When all the kids came in, the activities continued. As it neared the end of the day, the activities ended.

Mrs. Shellenberg then reviewed and went over all the activities that they did that day. She called on kids, asking them what they did, how they liked it and what they learned from it. The day then ended.

After Mrs. Shellenberg dismissed the class, Audrey approached her.

Mrs. Shellenberg sighed. "You want your binky? Here. Take it." She handed Audrey her pacifier, with a somewhat mortified look on her face. "Now Audrey. I want to make myself real clear. Do NOT bring that pacifier tomorrow. If I see it, it's gone. You will never see it again. Am I clear, Audrey?"

Audrey nodded. "Yes Mrs. Shellenberg."

A few minutes later, Stacy picked up Audrey. She spoke to Mrs. Shellenberg for a brief moment to find out how everything went. Mrs. Shellenberg spoke in disgust about Audrey's pacifier, and how she doesn't ever want to see that in her class again. At that, Stacy nodded. Gina already picked up Emma earlier so she took Audrey and left the school.

On the way to the car, Stacy frowned at Audrey. "Did you hear that, Audrey? No more pacie at school. If Mrs. Shellenberg sees it, you won't have a pacie anymore."

Audrey sighed and nodded. "I know, mommy."

That night, Stacy told David everything about Audrey's first day of kindergarten. Audrey was a really good student. She was good in all the activities. The only problem was with the pacifier.

Upon hearing the news, David nodded. "I totally agree with the teacher. I don't think she should have it anymore."

Stacy frowned. "I know, David. We've tried and tried and tried. Just let her sleep with it. We both know that she can't sleep without it."

David sighed. "She can sleep with it, but this is getting ridiculous."

During the next few days at kindergarten, Audrey was determined to keep her pacifier. When she got dressed, she put the pacifier in her pocket and Stacy took her to school.

When it was time for recess, Audrey went out to the playground and took the pacifier out of her pocket. When recess was over, she put her pacifier back in her pocket and went inside.

This went on for a couple weeks. Mrs. Shellenberg did not know she had it in her pocket. While she didn't find out, her mother did.

One morning, Stacy entered Audrey's room to see if she was ready. As she entered, she saw Audrey placing her pacifier in her pocket. "Audrey!" she gasped. "You are not taking that to school!"

Audrey stood there and pouted. "I only use it during recess," she said in defiance. "It's my pacie, and I'm using it forever."

Stacy sighed. "Fine. But if your teacher catches you with it, it's gone forever."

But Mrs. Shellenberg never did. As the weeks and months progressed, Audrey took it to school with her, and only used it during recess. Emma knew about her secret, and promised not to tell the teacher.

A few months passed. Christmas came and went again, as did New Years. By now, Timothy was toilet trained during the day. He still wore diapers at night.

Towards the end of the month, January 29th came again. It was Emma's sixth birthday, and Audrey came over to celebrate. From last year, Emma came a long way in her growth and development.

In early February, Timothy was toilet trained. Stacy getting rid of his night time bottles played a large part in making this happen. At that, Stacy circled the total diaper tally in Timothy's notebook and put it in his keepsake box. "Two down, one to go," she said with a pleasant sigh.

With Zachary's second birthday coming up, they began planning for it. Since it only came around once every four years, it had to be big. At that, the preparations began. Only two weeks remained before February 29, 2012 - The day that Zachary Willowbrook turned eight.