oxygen (e.d.)

short chapter 9: preschool

<ethan>

"mom!" i call out, trying to wrestle emerson's sandals on her feet.

a tired, but happy, riley appears in the door.

"you know you don't have to call me mom too," she teases, taking over the sandals for me.

"sometimes i don't even realize i'm doing it," i admit and place a kiss on the top of her head.

"i have to leave for work," she says, fixing her hair a little, "so you have drop off, okay?"

emerson looks up at me with a small grin, and her eyes light up.

my heart melts.

she's just like her mother.

"first day of preschool, emmy." riley says in a high pitched little kid voice as she bends down to be at eye level.

emerson giggles and says, "i'm big now!"

"yes you are," i smile and pick her up, "how old are you?"

she holds up 3 fingers and grins.

i kiss her forehead and set her back down so she can run off and pack her bag.

"have a good day," i say to riley, "go argue and whatnot."

"so i don't get a kiss too?" she pouts.

"you didn't give me time," i mumble before placing a long kiss on her lips.

when she pulls away, she's smiling. "make sure she doesn't sneak in any skittles in her lunch." she whispers.

"goodbye," i laugh, "i love you."

"love you too," she says, swinging her work bag on her shoulder, "by emmy! i love you!"

emerson comes running from the kitchen to give her mom a big hug, and riley sends me a look of pure bliss.

"love you mommy." em says and goes back to the kitchen.

i watch riley leave out the window and hoist emerson  up so she can see too.

"wave goodbye," i say, and she does. riley waves from her car window and blows a kiss.

once she's left the driveway, i set emmy back down.

"alright miss, i think it's about time to leave. did you finish packing your bag?"

"yes," she says.

"did you sneak in remy?" i ask. remy is her favorite stuffed ostrich that she can never put down.

her eyes widen and she shakes her head slowly, saying, "no,"

"are you lying to me?" i hide a smile and crouch down on my knees.

"no daddy. remy is in my room."

"what if i check?" i raise an eyebrow, picking up her bag.

"no!" she yells.

"okay," i soothe before an early morning temper tantrum erupts, "i won't check."

still, when she's not looking, i open the zipper and see remy's ostrich hair sticking out. i laugh to myself and decide to let her keep it, but only for the first day.

i get her in her booster seat in my kia and crane my neck to see my old rubicon hidden behind our house.

it meant a lot to me, so riley let me keep it. she just made me promise i wouldn't take emerson out in it.

"uncle grayson's coming over for dinner tonight," i say, glancing in the mirror at emmy.

"are amelia and elias coming?" she mumbles, playing with the straps of her backpack.

"his whole family is," i say.

ever since we both started family's, grayson and i make sure to stay close and have dinner together once a week.

she yawns and leans her head back. i smile a little and sigh a content sigh.

when we get to her school, i help her out and hold her hand on one side, and her backpack on the other.

"ready?" i ask.

"yes," she says, but i can tell she's nervous. she's a lot like riley.

"i'll come pick you up at 1, and we can go out for ice cream, okay?"

her eyes light up and she nods.

her teacher takes her backpack and directs her to where the other kids are playing.

"don't worry," she says to me, "she'll fit in just fine."

.........

hey! i'm actually realllyyyy enjoying writing these but i feel like you guys are getting annoyed with the updates lol. are you or is that just my anxiety? i really want to do a few more of these since there's so many story points i want to write about, but PLEASE let me know if you're over with them.

love you beautiful,

d