First Day of Daycare
Chapter 40: First Day of Daycare
Peter slips up behind his wife, winding his arms around the smaller woman's waist as they look out at New York City from the floor to the ceiling of their apartment. "You knew this was going to happen eventually, right? I mean, if not now in two years when they start 4-K," Peter said.
"But they're so little Peter," Cindy said with a pout. "Can't they just continue staying at the office with us until they're ready to start school?"
Peter let out a sigh a what Cindy just said. "Cindy, Andrew and Alice made a mess in the office yesterday. They're our kids, and I love them, but confining them to a large building with only adults to interact with is not the best environment for them. Not to mention that I don't want them to keep seeing my employees' faces every day. It's not healthy for them."
"You know that Aunt May and my family interact with them too right?" Cindy said.
"Yeah, but not on a daily basis. And plus, have you seen the mess the kids made in the office? It looked like a fight just broke out over there. There were papers all over the floor, and I thought it was going to take forever to file them back together, especially when some of the papers went under the couch."
Cindy runs her fingers over one of the streaks of chocolate brown in Peter's hair. "You've been talking about highlighting it," Cindy said with a grin.
Peter shakes his head and sighs. "We should probably figure something out. Should we get Anna to babysit them or something?"
"No," Cindy said. "You're right. They need to interact with kids their age." She tilts her head. "But maybe only for this year. I have a plan."
Giving her wife a calculating glance, Peter wonders if he should be worried. In the end, he shook his head again. "So, we agreed that they start preschool tomorrow then."
"Yes," Cindy said with a sigh. "They will start preschool tomorrow." She covers her face. "I'm going to be a wreck. Or rather both of us are going to be a wreck. We've got both the office and patrol to deal with, and now this. I'm not sure if I can survive this."
Peter smiled. "I'll make extra sure that your coffee is already there when we get to the office and I'll even heat it up myself."
"With whipped cream?" Cindy asked.
"With whipped cream."
Knowing that answer, Cindy let out a huge smile. "Thanks. Still though, I just hope this will work out. Especially with Andrew and Alice."
This time, it was Peter's turn to let out a sigh. "You still worried about them?"
"Yes. I'm worried about what will happen to them the moment they introduce themselves to other kids. What if other kids try to take advantage of them? What if other kids try to make friends with them only just because they happened to be our kids? What if they get bullied because of us? I just don't want them to get hurt."
Peter then gave Cindy a hug in comfort. "It's okay Cindy. That's why we're here. If by any chance they get hurt, we'll help them recover. Trust me, I had my share of bullies in my life."
"Did that happen before you got bitten by the spider or after that?" Cindy asked.
"Both."
Cindy let out a giggle and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Guess the Parker Luck is only inheritable. You can't catch it."
"Yeah. Hope our kids doesn't catch its deadly curse," Peter teasingly said.
"I know."
The next day, Peter and Cindy took Andrew and Alice to the daycare center they signed up for. Andrew and Alice, for the most part, nervous about the whole thing. They were going to be separated from their parents for the first time. They were holding on to their parents' pants, gripping them tightly as they don't want to leave them.
"Mommy. Don't go," Andrew mumbled. "I'm scared."
"Don't worry Andrew. Everything will be fine," Cindy assured.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Daddy, will you come back?" Alice asked.
"I will sweetie. I will," Peter replied.
Reluctantly, Andrew and Alice let go of their parents and headed towards the room in front of them, leaving Peter and Cindy behind before saying, "Bye mommy! Bye daddy!" with a smile as the door closed in front of them.
"Do you think they'll be okay?" Cindy asked.
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Peter replied. "After all, none of the kids over there shouldn't have a grudge against me."
Cindy let out a sigh, not knowing if her husband was serious or not.
(After daycare...)
After a few meetings followed up by a few hours of patrol, Peter and Cindy came back to pick up Andrew and Alice. As they were waiting for their kids, the door to the classroom opened, showing a smiling Andrew and Alice walking out of the classroom, heading towards their parents.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Andrew and Alice exclaimed as they ran up to Peter and Cindy.
"Hi there you two," Cindy said with a smile. "How was daycare?"
"It was great mommy!" Andrew exclaimed. "We did a lot of fun stuff!"
"Yeah! We did finger-painting, did some drawings, played around, and so much more!" Alice exclaimed.
"Did you like it?" Peter asked.
"Yes. Not only that, but everyone was nice as well!" Andrew exclaimed.
Peter and Cindy let out a smile after hearing Andrew's words. Turns out that they didn't have to worry about their first day after all. As the family of four went out of the daycare center, Cindy asked Andrew and Alice one simple question.
"Andrew, Alice, do you want to go back to daycare again?"
"Yes!" Andrew and Alice exclaimed excitedly.
Cindy smiled at her children's answer.