The Secret of Xavier

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

       Most mornings, Nova would show up at my house, knowing I was constantly too tired to drive myself to school. Not only that, but Xavier loved seeing Nova in the morning. He loved seeing Nova whenever he could.

       Right as Nova and I were about to leave, Mom said, "Hudson, we have a problem."

       I looked at Mom. "What is it?"

       "I was just called into work, even though I told them I can't work today," Mom said. "Apparently, it's an emergency."

       I sighed. "And I can't stay home. I have two tests I can't get out of. And I don't think Xavier is ready to go to daycare, especially when it's in a whole separate building."

       "What about the daycare at the school?" Nova asked.

       I looked at Nova, my eyebrows furrowed. "Since when was there a daycare at school?"

       Nova shrugged. "I don't know. I saw it a few days ago when I was walking around school, trying to skip class. It's for the teachers with kids since it's a lot easier having a daycare in the school than taking them to another one, but obviously they'll let you keep Xavier there."

       I hesitated for a bit, wondering if I should take Xavier to the daycare at the school. If anything, that would probably be the best option. He had been in the school a few times, so it wasn't like he would be somewhere he didn't know. Not to mention I would be in the same building; just in different rooms. I could always visit him at lunch or take quick breaks to see how he was doing. And if there was always a problem, I could be down there as soon as possible.

       Maybe I could even convince my teachers to let me leave class once I was done my tests to go see Xavier.

       "Okay," I said. "I'll do that." Maybe it would also help for Xavier to be around kids his age.

       I told Xavier that we had to go somewhere, so he stood up from where he was sitting by the coffee table. Mom had to get to work, so she left now that I planned to bring Xavier to the school's daycare. 

       Nova helped get Xavier ready while I packed a backpack of things for Xavier. I was very worried about how Xavier would react to me leaving him at the daycare, but I didn't know what else to do.

       Once we were all ready to go, we left my house and I locked the door behind us. Since Xavier's carseat was already in my car, I let Nova drive it because, like always, I was still too tired to drive. It didn't help that Xavier kept waking up and asking if we could play.

       As soon as we got to the school, Nova led me and Xavier to where the daycare centre was. Honestly, I should have paid more attention to what was in the school because I had no idea this was here. Then again, I always only went to my classes and the cafeteria, sometimes the library; I never stayed after school because I had to get home to my son.

       Two adults were in the daycare room; one I actually recognized as one of the guidance councillors of the school, Mrs. Burton. When she noticed me here, she walked over, giving me a smile. "What can I do for you, Hudson?"

       I looked down at Xavier, who was hiding behind me leg. "Well, my mom had to work today and couldn't look over my son, Xavier, here while I was at school. And he has really bad separation anxiety so Nova told me about the daycare centre here. I figured it would be best to leave him in the same building as me."

       "I didn't know you have a son," Mrs. Burton said. She crouched down, smiling at Xavier. "Hi, Xavier. I'm Mrs. Burton."

       Xavier's reply was only to hide behind my legs even more. He must have figured I was going to leave him here.

       A little girl with pigtails suddenly rushed over, holding a teddy bear. She smiles, holding the bear out towards Xavier. "Hi!" she said happily.

       Xavier hesitated before taking the bear and holding it tightly to his chest. The girl rushed off, then came back with another toy to give to Xavier She kept doing that until Xavier's arms were full of toys and he was smiling widely. The girl ran off again, sitting down by a bunch of toys. Xavier didn't hesitate before he followed her, sitting down beside her.

       Mrs. Burton laughed slightly. "That's Tulip, Mr. McCormick's niece. She does an amazing job at making other kids feel comfortable here."

       "Do you think he'll be fine?" I asked. "This is the first time I'm leaving him at a daycare..."

       "I think he might be," Mrs. Burton said. "You made a good decision to bring him here, though. If there's any problems, I'll make sure to contact you immediately. So is there anything I should know about him?"

       "Just that he's allergic to bananas," I said. 

       "Then it's a good thing we don't have that for lunch today," Mrs. Burton said. "But I assure you that he's in good hands."

       "Thank you," I said. "I'm just going to say goodbye to him before I leave."

       Mrs. Burton nodded as I walked over to Xavier and crouched down beside him. "Xavier, Daddy has to go. You have fun with Tulip here, okay?"

       Xavier looked at me and gave me a tight hug. "Bye bye." He did look a bit sad, but he was willing to let me go.

       This Tulip was a miracle worker.

       After Xavier pulled away, I left the daycare room. Xavier didn't run after me or start crying. He just waved and went back to playing with Tulip.

       I wished I knew about this place a lot sooner. I guess I should really be paying attention to what was in the school. 

       "You think he's going to be okay?" Nova asked me as we started walking away.

       "Actually... Yeah, I think so," I said. 

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tulip aweeeeee <3 

i'm not going to lie, i'm running out of ideas for this book :(