Andante

7

"Baby, can you get your coat, your dad is going to be here soon to take you to school," I say to my daughter who is sitting at the table still shovelling waffles into her cheeks. I smile as she shoves the remaining piece into her mouth and stands up to do as I ask her. She comes back in, her jacket thrown on, I walk towards her and untuck her hood from inside.

"How do you always manage to get that stuck in there?" I ask her, laughing gently. She twists and turns to whatever music is playing in her head while I tug at the hood. I pull it free right as I watch her dad's car pull up in front of the house. The sight makes my heart sink into my stomach. We've gone from running around after two girls together, him plating breakfasts, me chasing uniforms to one doing it all and the other just coming and picking them up. It also is a sign that they won't be here tonight. I have had them for two nights now and the sound of them playing and laughing took the edge off of my awful start to the week.

Now here he is, ready to take them for three days, leaving me to pick up the crumbs of what they left behind and sit in silence until they come back. I shouldn't rely on my children to brighten my mood and I would never let them think that my happiness is their responsibility, but right now, having them here is the only thing that makes me feel normal.

"OK girls, Dad's here, let's go!" I shout and they both scurry out the door and down the drive. I follow them and wait for them to stop and give me a hug.

"Be good, don't chew up Dad's couch" I joke and they laugh.

"Mum! We're not dogs!"

"Are you sure?" I ask and they laugh again.

"Ok go get in or you'll be late." I watch as they jump into the back seat. I look to my ex-husband who smiles weakly.

"All good?" He asks, I know he means the girls.

"Oh yeah, they're brilliant." I wave off.

"Ok well, I'll see you on Saturday then?" He says and I nod. I wave to the girls in the back of the car as he drives off and the silence falls on me immediately. I know I have to head back inside to clean up their breakfast and their toys and that tidy-up is probably the loneliest moment of the day.

******

At work I was calm, I knew I had to leave my problems at the door and being around my co-workers and the kids always helped take my mind off of things. Besides, being in work meant I wasn't at home. It had been a pretty normal day, despite Mia still hanging around and causing some trouble here and there. I wasn't sure why she was still here, Marjorie and Reece were both back but she seemed to be reluctant to leave, though having said that, Marjorie was spending more and more time over in the sister nursery with Reece so really, we needed another manager to be here when she isn't.

That sounds petty, but I don't really mean it to be, though I do miss having her around, we have worked together for so long and she has become someone I can call a friend, though that wasn't always the case. It just seems to me like there's something different now and I'm not sure if it's me that's retreating or her not really paying any attention to me but either way, there's something missing.

Having Mia around doesn't really help much, though she hasn't caused me any trouble, suspiciously, she does cause trouble for my friends and co-workers so in that aspect, it's a pain. I can't help but be intrigued by her though. I hate to admit that, but there's something about her that I can't let go of. That something doesn't negate all the trouble she causes.

I pack away some of the toys after some of the children have left. We have some children who are only here for a few hours in the morning so it can be a little hectic but now, it's quieter and Jodie, who has been with Carly and me today, is writing observations while Carly entertains the children so that I can clean up without and sticky fingers pulling out the toys I just put away. Jodie may not be a great help in the room, but at least she can manage the observations so we can do other things.

"Jodie?" I hear a sultry voice come from the door but I don't look up. I don't want Mia's attention today but every time I see she seems to gravitate toward me.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come to my office please?" She asks and I don't like her tone. It's also not her office in the first place, a childish thing to be annoyed about but my fuse is short lately.

"Yeah sure, let me just upload this" She says and then puts the tablet back on its docking station. I hear her leave the room but I can still smell Mia's perfume.

"You look nice today Charlotte." She says and by the time I lift my head to look at her she's out of the room. Her scent and her voice trickle down my spine like static, leaving my body a little stunned.

"Eh, what was that?!" Carly asks, snapping me from my trance.

"I have no idea but I don't like that she's pulled Jodie out," I say and it was true, Jodie wasn't the brightest of all of us, I mean she had tried to eat some of the plastic fruit that we had for the toy kitchens and If Mia wanted someone to manipulate, Jodie was her best bet.

"Me neither," Carly says.

"Should I go listen outside the office?" She asks, always the nosey one.

"You can't, you're still in ratio," I say gesturing to the group of children around her.

"Ugh fine, but we're both missing out on juicy gossip then" She says and I laugh. You really can never have a serious conversation without Carly finding out about it one way or another.

Something about Mia's tone was suspicious. Usually, she sounds like she's up to no good but really it's just her sultry voice but this time felt real. Though it changed when she addressed me, her voice was gentler, softer, maybe even genuine. But I can't think too hard about that, I don't care