Chapter 44 - School Trip
Today was the day they went to check out the local primary schools, Mia would be starting in September and they needed to get her a place, she was rather excited though Jonah and Cesca were nervous their little girl was going to be starting school, she was going to be a big girl. It just exaggerated how quickly the time had flown by, how they had all moved forward and mastered the obstacles that got in their way, sticking by each other for good, the whole journey being taken together as a family, as the Kirby’s. Mia had woken up and was making lots of noise in her room, throwing her teddy’s around and generally being over-excited despite not knowing what they were doing today, Mia was a 3 year old, with a ton of energy, enough to power a street light for hours, not dimming in the slightest once. She was everyone’s little sunshine beam, she put smiles on everyone’s faces. She was such a good little girl, caring and sensitive. She was definitely mature for her age, not many 3 year olds acted the way Mia did, but it was reassuring to know that despite being grown up, she hadn’t lost the sense of fun, the chance to play around, be a normal 3 year old girl. However reassuring it may have been Cesca and Jonah weren’t for ones being woken up at 6am, still they knew there was no chance of catching anymore sleep so gave into the racket and pulled them out of bed. Cesca headed for the shower first, she hadn’t been feeling so sick recently but the sickness had been replaced by every other pain imaginable. Jonah headed for Mia’s room, to find a rather hyper 3 year old, running around her room, her teddy’s flying round the room as if they were Peter Pan, “Mia baby, as much as I am sure your teddy’s like being thrown around, it’s 6 o’clock, too early to be being silly”, Mia shrugged her shoulders, dropping her little candyfloss coloured teddy to the floor as she folded her arms in a strop. Jonah gave into her sad little face, every time! He couldn’t say no, she was his little girl, he could never stay mad at her, “Whose for coco pops?”, Mia was just about to respond as Cesca appeared at the door with, “No one, Mia you have had them every day this week, there meant to be a treat, every once in a while”, Cesca shook her hair as she added volume to it, Mia was in even more of a strop, “J, she can’t keep eating all this rubbish, she has way to much energy as it is, plus I am the one who is going to be walking round schools with her while she practically runs up the walls”, “Fair enough, Mia mummy’s right”, Cesca was quite liking the fact Jonah had admitted she was right, but then she secretly knew she always was. “How about we have bananas on toast”, “No nanas”, “Mia, it’s that or nothing”, Mia shrugged, her bottom lip popping out as it usually did when she didn’t get her way, “Bananas on toast it is Mia, you’re not going without just because you’re in a strop, come on”.Mia began to cry as she walked towards Cesca, holding out her hand so that she could go and walk her downstairs, Jonah watched, Cesca was so good with Mia, but he hated seeing her so sad, he didn’t want to be the pushover parent but he couldn’t help but just want to see her happy, they began to walk down the stairs so Jonah went to get ready.
“Mia, stop the tears. It’s not the end of the world, plus we are going to visit waterloo road primary today, you might be going there in September, so you going to be the big girl I know you can be?”, “Big school!”, “Yes baby, you’re going to see big school”. Cesca smiled, “Right you eat up your breakfast, you’ll be hungry otherwise, Cesca headed to sit down on the comfy sofa, her feet were already starting to hurt. Jonah came back down, grabbing his bag and the coursework he had been marking the night before and headed for a kiss from Cesca before leaving to go to school. “I’ll see you later, I love you”, “I love you to, I should be in by lunchtime, the meeting doesn’t start till 10”, “Okay, Mia you be good and I will look forward to hearing about big school”. Jonah closed the door behind him, Cesca tried to get comfy as she caught some morning TV something she hadn’t done in a while, it always felt strange, feeling like you should be somewhere else. Cesca had taken the morning off to visit Mia’s possible new school, they couldn’t both go as the school would be under staffed, it was a shame because they would have both loved to see where their little girl would be educated, the school had good reviews and Cesca and Jonah had high hopes. Mia began to get down, a little soon for Cesca’s liking, “Mia, have you finished?” , a guilty smile spread across little Mia’s face, she defiantly wasn’t one for keeping secrets hidden very well, “Mia... go an finish your breakfast” Mia climbed up but sat with her elbows on the table and her head in her hands, Cesca got up and sat opposite her, “Right pickle, you eat two more mouthfuls and you can get down”, Cesca gave Mia a reassuring smile before staring at the bananas on toast, insisting that she should start eating. Mia groaned before hesitantly having the first of her two last mouthfuls, “That’s one” , Cesca’s words were encouraging, Mia picked up the toast once more, dropping a piece of banana as she did so, quickly picking it up and popping it in her mouth, which just made the pair of them giggle. Mia ate her last piece, “There we go, wasn’t too hard after all”, Cesca began to fiddle with her wedding ring, it was beginning to become tighter and feel uncomfortable, these twins really were starting to make their presences known. She looked up to find an empty plate, “Mia, did you eat it all”, Mia tried her hardest to keep her smile inside, but she couldn’t help but beam when she knew that Cesca was so pleased with her, “Well done lovely”, Cesca got up, giving Mia a big hug and a kiss before taking her plate through, “Mia, can you get your shoes on because we need to go”. Mia wiped her mouth on her arm before going to slip her pink and orange striped espadrilles on, she looked so summery in her floral pink skirt and orange t-shirt, her outfits never clashed, they just showed how fond of fashion Cesca was, she really did love to just dress Mia up in pretty clothes, she would soon have the joys of dressing up another little girl in a few months and a little boy, Cesca was excited about having a son, it would be a whole new adventure, one she couldn’t wait to take on.
Cesca was all ready to leave, on went her comfy navy boat shoes and out the door they went, Mia had an excited smile on her face, she was rather liking the idea of going to big school after all she was a big girl. They got into the car, Mia was unusually quiet, “Mia, are you okay back there?”, Cesca asked, confused and slightly worried, “Yes mummy”, Cesca had been wondering whether she was nervous, but Mia wasn’t really one for getting nervous, she had proved that at her first day of nursery school, but they were groups of children all the same age as Mia, there would be children the same age as Mia at the meeting but there would be a school full of older children to and that was something that was beginning to freak her out a little. Cesca was excited, it was exciting to watch her little girl develop and learn and this was the starting point for it all, this is where all the most important moments in Mia’s life would take place, this is where she would have so many memories and friends, Cesca found comfort in looking towards the future. They reached the school, Cesca helped Mia out of the car, before holding her hand as they walked in together, Mia was beginning to suck Flopsy’s ear something she hadn’t done for a while, a sign that she was getting ever so slightly worried. Cesca stopped looking down at Mia, she would have crouched down but her baby bump prevented her from doing so, “Mia, you don’t have anything to worry about, mummy’s here. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Now come on, this is meant to be exciting”. Cesca took her hand once more as they were greeted by the head teacher, who seemed freakishly familiar. “Morning, I am Steph Haydock, I am the head teacher here at waterloo road primary”, “Thought you seemed familiar, I’m Cesca. Do you remember the fundraiser at waterloo road?”, “Gosh, I do indeed, that was a while ago, so is this your little girl then?”, “Yes, this is Mia, she’s being unusually shy I have to say”, “Hello Mia, you don’t have anything to worry about”, Steph guided them to some seats whilst they waited for others to arrive. “Mummy?” Mia asked, beginning to open up from her shell, “Yes baby”, “Who was that lady?”, “She is the head teacher, mummy met her at her school, she used to work where mummy works”, Mia smiled, as she asked for a hug. Other families arrived, Mia looked particularly grown up compared to the majority of them, sitting in her own seat instead of on her mummy’s lap and she was one of the youngest, still only being three. Cesca listened attentively to the information given, looking down at Mia who was also rather interested, Mia was always good at paying attention; she had been brought up well. Cesca couldn’t help but look at Steph and remember the fundraiser, remember the day she was introduced to her and reminded of her flirtatious ways, it was nice to know the head teacher personally, though found it all a bit of a joke. Steph wasn’t exactly one of the most serious of people and to be teaching younger students wasn’t exactly the behaviour a head teacher required for the job. Though Steph proved herself in the meeting to Cesca, she had made up her mind before they even got to the tour of the school. Cesca could see in Mia’s face how much she liked being here even if she was a little shy at first. The tour was nearly over when they bumped into Daisy and her mum, Daisy seemed excited but as her mum kept talking to her, her cute little smile slowly disappeared. Cesca didn’t want to get involved, it was their family tiff so decided that they should go before Mia saw her, she knew something wasn’t quite right but didn’t feel that it was really her place to say anything.
Cesca got in the car placing all the sheet of paper, forms and the school brochure in the passenger’s seat before heading off to Mia’s nursery before going off to work, she still had the rest of the day to get through, he stomach wasn’t too sore at the minute and to be honest she was just happy to be sitting down. They approached the nursery, Cesca walked Mia in giving her a kiss and a cuddle before wandering back to the car, her mind fixed on the fact that Daisy wasn’t there, it was a little odd considering she had seen her leaving at the same time, it was 12 o’clock and Cesca was sure that Daisy’s mum would have needed to be back at work, just like she did. Cesca couldn’t understand why she always managed to bog herself down in other people’s problems, how she always found herself in the deep end despite never wanting to swim that far. Cesca headed off to school, Daisy in mind. Where would she have been and why was she looking so sad, something was defiantly not right and Cesca was going to find out but she needed to do so without being nosey. Cesca got out of her car and headed in to her next lesson, year 8 Spanish, they were a rowdy class and Cesca wasn’t really in the mood to be dealing with it all but she had to and surprisingly things panned out okay, they were settled a bit chatty but Cesca wasn’t one of those teachers who demanded they worked in silence, she was happy as long as they finished their work. Cesca liked classes like this as it led to discussions, not always on topic but it built up the respect between student and teacher and Cesca was defiantly the teacher that everyone favoured, she was fun yet firm, she had the balance just right despite being slightly naive in her own behaviour, but then she wasn’t as experienced as some of the other teachers, she had to learn from her mistakes something she would continually find herself doing throughout her time at waterloo road.
“Mia, stop the tears. It’s not the end of the world, plus we are going to visit waterloo road primary today, you might be going there in September, so you going to be the big girl I know you can be?”, “Big school!”, “Yes baby, you’re going to see big school”. Cesca smiled, “Right you eat up your breakfast, you’ll be hungry otherwise, Cesca headed to sit down on the comfy sofa, her feet were already starting to hurt. Jonah came back down, grabbing his bag and the coursework he had been marking the night before and headed for a kiss from Cesca before leaving to go to school. “I’ll see you later, I love you”, “I love you to, I should be in by lunchtime, the meeting doesn’t start till 10”, “Okay, Mia you be good and I will look forward to hearing about big school”. Jonah closed the door behind him, Cesca tried to get comfy as she caught some morning TV something she hadn’t done in a while, it always felt strange, feeling like you should be somewhere else. Cesca had taken the morning off to visit Mia’s possible new school, they couldn’t both go as the school would be under staffed, it was a shame because they would have both loved to see where their little girl would be educated, the school had good reviews and Cesca and Jonah had high hopes. Mia began to get down, a little soon for Cesca’s liking, “Mia, have you finished?” , a guilty smile spread across little Mia’s face, she defiantly wasn’t one for keeping secrets hidden very well, “Mia... go an finish your breakfast” Mia climbed up but sat with her elbows on the table and her head in her hands, Cesca got up and sat opposite her, “Right pickle, you eat two more mouthfuls and you can get down”, Cesca gave Mia a reassuring smile before staring at the bananas on toast, insisting that she should start eating. Mia groaned before hesitantly having the first of her two last mouthfuls, “That’s one” , Cesca’s words were encouraging, Mia picked up the toast once more, dropping a piece of banana as she did so, quickly picking it up and popping it in her mouth, which just made the pair of them giggle. Mia ate her last piece, “There we go, wasn’t too hard after all”, Cesca began to fiddle with her wedding ring, it was beginning to become tighter and feel uncomfortable, these twins really were starting to make their presences known. She looked up to find an empty plate, “Mia, did you eat it all”, Mia tried her hardest to keep her smile inside, but she couldn’t help but beam when she knew that Cesca was so pleased with her, “Well done lovely”, Cesca got up, giving Mia a big hug and a kiss before taking her plate through, “Mia, can you get your shoes on because we need to go”. Mia wiped her mouth on her arm before going to slip her pink and orange striped espadrilles on, she looked so summery in her floral pink skirt and orange t-shirt, her outfits never clashed, they just showed how fond of fashion Cesca was, she really did love to just dress Mia up in pretty clothes, she would soon have the joys of dressing up another little girl in a few months and a little boy, Cesca was excited about having a son, it would be a whole new adventure, one she couldn’t wait to take on.
Cesca was all ready to leave, on went her comfy navy boat shoes and out the door they went, Mia had an excited smile on her face, she was rather liking the idea of going to big school after all she was a big girl. They got into the car, Mia was unusually quiet, “Mia, are you okay back there?”, Cesca asked, confused and slightly worried, “Yes mummy”, Cesca had been wondering whether she was nervous, but Mia wasn’t really one for getting nervous, she had proved that at her first day of nursery school, but they were groups of children all the same age as Mia, there would be children the same age as Mia at the meeting but there would be a school full of older children to and that was something that was beginning to freak her out a little. Cesca was excited, it was exciting to watch her little girl develop and learn and this was the starting point for it all, this is where all the most important moments in Mia’s life would take place, this is where she would have so many memories and friends, Cesca found comfort in looking towards the future. They reached the school, Cesca helped Mia out of the car, before holding her hand as they walked in together, Mia was beginning to suck Flopsy’s ear something she hadn’t done for a while, a sign that she was getting ever so slightly worried. Cesca stopped looking down at Mia, she would have crouched down but her baby bump prevented her from doing so, “Mia, you don’t have anything to worry about, mummy’s here. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Now come on, this is meant to be exciting”. Cesca took her hand once more as they were greeted by the head teacher, who seemed freakishly familiar. “Morning, I am Steph Haydock, I am the head teacher here at waterloo road primary”, “Thought you seemed familiar, I’m Cesca. Do you remember the fundraiser at waterloo road?”, “Gosh, I do indeed, that was a while ago, so is this your little girl then?”, “Yes, this is Mia, she’s being unusually shy I have to say”, “Hello Mia, you don’t have anything to worry about”, Steph guided them to some seats whilst they waited for others to arrive. “Mummy?” Mia asked, beginning to open up from her shell, “Yes baby”, “Who was that lady?”, “She is the head teacher, mummy met her at her school, she used to work where mummy works”, Mia smiled, as she asked for a hug. Other families arrived, Mia looked particularly grown up compared to the majority of them, sitting in her own seat instead of on her mummy’s lap and she was one of the youngest, still only being three. Cesca listened attentively to the information given, looking down at Mia who was also rather interested, Mia was always good at paying attention; she had been brought up well. Cesca couldn’t help but look at Steph and remember the fundraiser, remember the day she was introduced to her and reminded of her flirtatious ways, it was nice to know the head teacher personally, though found it all a bit of a joke. Steph wasn’t exactly one of the most serious of people and to be teaching younger students wasn’t exactly the behaviour a head teacher required for the job. Though Steph proved herself in the meeting to Cesca, she had made up her mind before they even got to the tour of the school. Cesca could see in Mia’s face how much she liked being here even if she was a little shy at first. The tour was nearly over when they bumped into Daisy and her mum, Daisy seemed excited but as her mum kept talking to her, her cute little smile slowly disappeared. Cesca didn’t want to get involved, it was their family tiff so decided that they should go before Mia saw her, she knew something wasn’t quite right but didn’t feel that it was really her place to say anything.
Cesca got in the car placing all the sheet of paper, forms and the school brochure in the passenger’s seat before heading off to Mia’s nursery before going off to work, she still had the rest of the day to get through, he stomach wasn’t too sore at the minute and to be honest she was just happy to be sitting down. They approached the nursery, Cesca walked Mia in giving her a kiss and a cuddle before wandering back to the car, her mind fixed on the fact that Daisy wasn’t there, it was a little odd considering she had seen her leaving at the same time, it was 12 o’clock and Cesca was sure that Daisy’s mum would have needed to be back at work, just like she did. Cesca couldn’t understand why she always managed to bog herself down in other people’s problems, how she always found herself in the deep end despite never wanting to swim that far. Cesca headed off to school, Daisy in mind. Where would she have been and why was she looking so sad, something was defiantly not right and Cesca was going to find out but she needed to do so without being nosey. Cesca got out of her car and headed in to her next lesson, year 8 Spanish, they were a rowdy class and Cesca wasn’t really in the mood to be dealing with it all but she had to and surprisingly things panned out okay, they were settled a bit chatty but Cesca wasn’t one of those teachers who demanded they worked in silence, she was happy as long as they finished their work. Cesca liked classes like this as it led to discussions, not always on topic but it built up the respect between student and teacher and Cesca was defiantly the teacher that everyone favoured, she was fun yet firm, she had the balance just right despite being slightly naive in her own behaviour, but then she wasn’t as experienced as some of the other teachers, she had to learn from her mistakes something she would continually find herself doing throughout her time at waterloo road.
