Seasons Of Love

If/When

"Hurry, Mama! Late!"

Rose skipped through the doors of the nursery at 9 AM on the dot, excited to see all her friends. She held Autumn's hand, pulling her through the hallways as she decided that her mum was not moving quick enough. Most days Winter dropped Rose off at nursery. Usually Autumn had an early meeting with a parent or vendor or started her day at head office, so it was just easier for him to do drop off and for her to do collection. But for once Autumn had a later start, so she decided to keep Rose home with her to give them a few extra minutes to get ready. Their little girl was not a morning person, so any chance they had to give themselves more time they took.

"We are not late, my little love. We have plenty of time."

Rose stretched up on her tiptoes trying to open the door, but the handle was just out of her reach. She turned back to Autumn and yelled as she pointed through the glass door to the toddler's gathered for song time, her favorite time of day. "LATE!"

The second Autumn opened the door, Rose dropped her bag and ran to take her usual seat next to her cousin Carly. But as Autumn stood just in the entrance doing a very quick handover with Charlotte her daughter came running back to give her a huge hug. She bent down, hugging her daughter tight much to the surprise of the other parents in the room.

"Love you Mama!"

"I love you too Rose. Be good for Charlotte today."

"I always good."

Rose placed her hands on her hips and gave her mum a mischievous smile. Every time she smiled like that, Autumn couldn't help but smile back. It was times like this that she saw just how much of Winter's sass their daughter had inherited and it made her happier than she could even explain. She didn't even care that the other mother in the room audibly gasped as her show of affection. Autumn handed Rose's bag off the Charlotte before shooting a hardened glance at the other woman in the room. Just to remind her that even though Autumn loved her daughter, that didn't mean she wasn't the same manager the parents had always dealt with.

"Excuse me?"

An unfamiliar voice called out behind Autumn as she made her way down the hall. But she kept walking. There was no indication that the person was calling after her and she didn't start her shift for another twenty minutes, she saw no point in stopping. And judging by the overly sweet tone of the woman's words she knew if this was meant for her it was not going to be the kind of conversation she wanted to have first thing in the morning. Once she reached her office, though, she was unable to ignore the same voice calling out again as the parent who she'd just seen in the toddler room knocked on the open door.

"Excuse me, Autumn?"

Autumn set her bags down on her desk as she took a deep breath to compose herself before facing the parent. She turned to meet the woman's smiling face, her glare just as cold as she'd given her before.

"Yes." Autumn's tone was as professional as ever.

"Hi! I'm Daniele, Liam's mum. He's in the toddler room with Rose."

"Of course. How can I help you?"

"I just wanted to introduce myself properly. I wasn't aware that Rose was yours."

"I'd have thought my husband dropping her off would give that away." Autumn raised her eyebrows as Daniele gave an obviously fake laugh. She rolled her eyes as she watched the mother invite herself into the office and sat in the chair next to her desk. It was clear that this conversation wasn't even close to over. "Was there anything else?"

"Is Rose your only little one?"

"Yes." Autumn crossed her arms and gave a heavy sigh; she knew exactly what was coming next. She couldn't even count how many times she'd been through this exact conversation.