Classed

Christopher made his bed the way his father taught him before going to pick out clothes for the day. One good thing about homeschooling was that he could wear whatever he wanted.

Since it was still relatively hot out, he chose swimming trunks, scuba flippers and a Hawaiian shirt. He dressed for school quickly.

By the time he was pulling on his last flipper, Starfire came in. "Oh, bumgorf Christopher! You are the ready early!"

"Yeah, Mommy! It's the first day of school!" He stood up with a large grin.

"I am proud of you for awaking early. Have you brushed your teeth?"

"No. I just put my shoes on."

"Let us go to the restroom." She held her hand out.

He took her hand and followed her to the bathroom. "I'm so excited, Mommy! It's the first grade!"

"It is! The work will be much harder this year but I believe you will excel."

They reached the girls' bathroom and went inside. She gave him his toothbrush and put a bit of kiddie toothpaste on it before handing it to him.

He stuck it in his mouth and sung a silly song Bumble Bee taught him so he'd brush for exactly two minutes. He spit the toothpaste out after singing then swished mouthwash around in his cheeks before spitting it out.

Starfire cupped his chin as he grinned. "Beautiful smile."

"Thank you, Mommy!"

"Let us go above and have a nice breaking the fast."

"Okay, Mommy! Let's go!"

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Changeling walked around the room. "Alright! Times up! Let's see what you have!"

Christopher and Charlotte put their crayons down.

Changeling picked up their papers and studied them. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Uh huh."

"Daddy!" Charlotte giggled.

He grinned. "You did so good! You correctly drew a rainbow! Good job, guys!"

Both children cheered.

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"Empty your mind." Raven took deep breaths. "Push away every emotion."

Calvin copied her, breathing deeply. He tried to empty his mind but he could picture Nolan walking into things and giggled.

"Cal, you have to concentrate."

"Sorry, Aunt Raven." Calvin bit his bottom lip.

"No need to be sorry. Just breathe and relax. You can't control your powers if you can't control your emotions."

He tried again and took deep breaths. He tried to empty his mind.

"Push aside your emotions."

Calvin tried but he wasn't quite sure what that meant. "Okay."

"Try to avoid feeling anything too deeply. Don't feel sad or happy or anything."

He understood that. He blew out a breath and tried to push away all emotion. Suddenly a bundle of snow fell on their heads.

She shivered. "It's okay, relax."

He was close to crying and the wind picked up.

"Calm down." Her voice stayed measured. "Relax. Take slow, deep breaths. You're fine."

He took slow, deep breaths until he was calm again.

"Don't push so hard. Push away one emotion at a time."

He listened to the water lapping the beach and pushed one emotion away at a time. He was getting it.

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Starfire set the cover around Christopher's shoulders. "Was your day of schooling just as you wished?"

Christopher nodded hard. "It was even better! I can't wait for tomorrow!"

Nightwing laughed. "It's a good thing you like school."

"Did you like school, Daddy?"

Nightwing sweatdropped.