"MOOOMMY" the voice of a very anxious and excited five year old woke Lauren up immediately, "First day of school! First day of school!" the little boy chanted jumping up and down on the bed where Lauren lies.
On any other day Lauren would not be pleased to be awoken by yelling, especially at 6 o'clock in the morning. But today was her baby boys first day of kindergarten and she was feeling a little emotional. She sat up and grabbed the little boy in midair, bringing him to her lap and tickling him till he had laughing tears in his eyes.
"Greyer Alexander Jauregui, are you excited for your big day?" Lauren asked the little boy who was out of breath from laughing. He just nodded eagerly with a big smile that revealed his missing front tooth, the first of many.
"Mommy you promised we could go get bagels before school, remember?" the look of sheer joy in his eyes was enough to make Lauren's heart swell.
"I do remember, why don't you run and get dressed while I get ready and then we can pack your backpack and go to eat with 'the big kids'?" Lauren wasn't sure why he wanted to eat at the business district bagel shop downtown but she had a feeling it had to do with her always eating there before heading to work at the law firm down the street.
"What should I wear?" the little boy with emerald eyes and jet black hair asked her lovingly.
"Loquesea, it's your first day not mine mijo" she replied kissing his forehead before he jumped off the bed eagerly. She was always giving him permission to wear whatever he wanted because frankly she wanted him to be himself, not a version she created.
Lauren threw back the covers and retreated to her walk in closet to pick out her outfit. Settling for a loose pale green blouse and a pencil skirt with some black pumps, similar to her usual work attire. She heard Greyer in his room rummaging, and likely throwing clothes everywhere, through his dresser to pick out his outfit as well. She walked down the spiral stairs to the door and grabbed the newspaper the doorman always personally delivered to her loft in exchange for a generous Christmas bonus.
She walked to the kitchen that was under the overhang of the lofted bedrooms. After a while Lauren was sipping on a cup of coffee and grazing the newspaper when she heard footsteps, well foot stomps, coming down the stairs. She set down the paper and started walking to the entryway watching two little feet hop down the exposed stairs.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs he looked at his mom with a giant grin. "What do you think?" he asked Lauren while striking a pose crossing his hands over his chest causing the woman to chuckle. He was in puddle boots, khakis, a white t shirt and his favorite black bomber jacket just like the one Lauren had.
"You look good, heartbreaker." Lauren grabbed her bomber jacket out of the closet although she normally only wore it on the weekends, never to work. Once she pulled it on she ruffled her son's fauxhawk and grabbed her keys. "Abre tu mochilla, I'll read you the list of things so we don't forget anything." he grabbed his backpack as Lauren read the list out loud to him.
--
Five minutes later they were in the parking garage of their building and getting into Lauren's Audi S5. Once they were on the road she looked in the rearview mirror and saw her son deep in thought staring out the window at the rain. He didn't look nervous just generally excited and that made Lauren so happy.
"Hey bud, Camila is going to be joining us for breakfast. She's meeting us there before work too, she wanted to be a part of your big day" she glanced in the rearview mirror again to gauge his reaction. He exhaled enough to make the window he was looking out fog up. She knew he didn't hate Camila, he just didn't like that Lauren gave her attention because for four years he was the only person she loved.
"Does Miss Camila like bagels, Mommy?" he broke the silence with a reply Lauren wasn't necessarily expecting.
"Grey, you don't have to call her Miss Camila" Lauren laughed wondering where he even got that long running nickname from, "But yes, she loves them almost as much as I love you." His little green eyes instantly met hers in the mirror and he tugged his ear once, their secret symbol for 'I love you', and Lauren pulled on hers back and watched him smile.
