Tell Me You Love Me

Ms. Gander's POV(Eighty-One)

Edited 11/14/18

I'm a preschool teacher here in New York. I have been for three years. Every Spring, I have the children make Mother's Day presents for their mothers on the holiday. This is a story of this year's Mother's Day projects and a little girl who melted my heart.

We were making pictures on heavier card stock colorful paper. I laid out the foam hearts and the markers and the glitter glue, prepared for a mess. I walked around, watching the kids and their 'masterpieces'. I had to stop Johnny from eating the glitter glue, but I was prepared for that too.

What I wasn't prepared for, was little Ariana's project. It was beautiful, and that's saying a lot when talking about a four year old's art project.

It was on a pink piece of paper with multiple layers of pink and white paper hearts popping up, some cut to look like lace. The foam hearts where proportioned perfectly and the glitter glue accentuated the edges of the paper, making them shine in the sunlight coming in through the window.

The handwriting was a little sloppy, an attempt at cursive(that they wouldn't even learn till the third grade). It read 'Happy Mother's Day Mommy. I love you so much!'

I knelt down beside the table. "You're mom must be a pretty special woman."

"Yeah," She said, caressing one of the hearts, "Daddy's gonna take us to see her after school!"

"He's gonna take you to see her?" I asked. It wasn't uncommon for a child's parents to separate. Maybe her mother lived in a different house than her father.

"Yeah, we have to go to a cemetery to see her. It's so sad in there. Daddy always cries."

I froze. A lump formed in my throat. "Oh honey, I'm sorry. I didn't know you—". She looked down at her project and her green eyes glossed over.

"I miss my mom," she whispered. Another little girl, Violet, looked over and laughed at the tears leaking from Ariana's eyes. That just made Ariana cry harder, sobbing now.

"Here—come here honey. Do you want to go home?" She nodded so I led her to my desk. I grabbed the emergency contact list and got to her name. Jackson. The first name was Perseus, her father, and the second was a Jason Grace. I dialed the first number and informed the man on the other end of the problem. He told me he'd be here in fifteen minutes.

Ariana sat and waited patiently, tears streaming down her face the entire time. There was a knock on the door and Ariana and I stepped out of the classroom.

There was a very handsome man there, young with black hair and green eyes. His arms were sleeved with tattoos and he carried a baby carrier in each hand. He set both down gently and got on his knees, opening his arms to his daughter. She waisted no time burying her face in his chest.

'Thank you' he mouthed to me. I had him sign her out and handed him her project. He studied it, his own eyes watering, and kissed Ariana on the top of the head. He gave it to her to hold and then swung her onto his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Perseus then picked up the baby carriers and retreated down the hall, talking to Ariana as he went.