Meeting Mr Wainscott

1: Friday

   All Cygnus Barnes could talk about was his kindergarten teacher, Mr Wainscott.

"Mama! He's so nice!" he would exclaim with all his five-year-old joy bunched into those few words as his mother would pick him up and drive him home.

"That's wonderful, Cygnus," Friday, his mother, would reply, just relieved her child was happy. She had never met the man, but high praise from her son was hard to come by.

As long as her baby boy was happy, that was all that mattered to her. She felt at ease by the pure and carefree looks he had on his face. His big brown eyes would shine with hope for the future and that was all she needed.

At a red light, she turned and coiled a curly strand of his brown hair around her finger.

"Your hair is getting long, Cygnus," she sighed, pursing her lips. "Maybe it's time for a cut."

"No!" Cygnus exclaimed, shaking his head furiously.

Friday laughed to herself. "I understand, love, you can keep it long."

It was a tough decision to move to the city, just the two of them. Twenty-six and recently divorced, it was the only thing that she could think of. Work wasn't a problem for her. She was recognised as one of the world's youngest surgeons but after the move, she decided to quit and pursue astrophysics.

Of course, that wasn't what she wanted to do, but...

"Mama, what's for lunch?" Cygnus's voice rose.

"Oh!" she yelped, getting jolted from her thoughts. "Sorry, dear, I didn't hear you. We're going over to Melanie's for lunch."

"Will Auntie Susan's dog be there?" Cygnus asked, his little feet kicking against the car seat in excitement. He was so small he looked odd against the seat, as though he was a doll sitting on a too-big chair.

Friday sighed. "No, I don't think so, love."

Cygnus pouted but didn't make a fuss. He never made a fuss.

"How about tomorrow after school we go to the pet shop? Doesn't that sound like fun?" Friday said, smiling softly at seeing how his eyes lit up.

"Thank you, Mama," Cygnus laughed, his smile wide and bright.

Friday ruffled his hair, pulling into her apartment building's underground car park and into her designated parking spot.

It always went like this. As soon as Cygnus hopped out of his seat he'd rush over to the other side and open the driver's door, holding out his tiny hand for his mother to take.

"Such a gentleman," Friday cooed, taking his hand in hers and locking her Porsche.

The two would walk into the building lobby and Friday would have to wait a few minutes while Cygnus greeted everyone he could see. Friday would simply smile and watch as he ran around, soaking and attracting everyone's attention. Compliments would flow out of anyone's mouth who saw him. Friday herself didn't know why he was like this. She was reserved herself, taking everything from a logical standpoint. Her ex-husband...

She didn't like to talk about him.

But how her little boy turned into a ball of sunshine, she'd never know. Friday was just glad she got to see him grow.

Once he would finish greeting everyone, he'd run back to his mother and she'd scoop him into her arms. It was slightly hard to do in her lab clothes, but she managed. They'd wait for the elevator and Cygnus would admire the water feature in the walls while Friday would bore him to death with the physics of it all. Then they'd step into the elevator and reach their floor, Cygnus would now be running ahead of his mother by now to open the door with his own keys and hold the door open for her. Friday would then take his white kitty backpack and empty the contents while Cygnus got changed.