Chapter I.

"Did you brush your teeth? Do you have your lunch box? Is your homework finished?!" I nervously pace around our tiny apartment, double checking that my son is ready for his first day of school.

"Mommy. It's the first day of school." My son Knox reminds me, shooting me a look of confusion. He holds up his lunch box, and then zips inside of his backpack. "I brushed my teeth after breakfast."

"Oh, right. Sorry baby." I apologize, smiling at Knox. My brain was racing a mile a minute. I couldn't believe my baby was going into the third grade this year. It seemed like yesterday we were taking him to meet his kindergarten teacher. I had to stop myself, before I began crying uncontrollably. My baby was growing, and he was growing quickly.

I quickly hurried Knox out of the apartment, and quietly shut the door. His father and my fiancé, Adrien, was still asleep in our bedroom. The air outside was surprisingly chilly for an August morning., it felt good, refreshing almost. I quickly glanced at the time on my cellphone. The bus wouldn't be here for another 10 minutes.

"Are you ready for third grade, my love?" I ask Knox. Knox is silent for a few minutes, staring at the sidewalk, with his chin on his knee. He shrugs.

"I don't know." He says quietly. "I don't want summer to be over yet." He begins to whine.

Me neither kid. I think to myself. "Aren't you excited to meet your new teacher, and meet new friends? This year you get to go on a whole bunch of field trips. That's exciting right?" I ask trying to steer my son away from the whining. It was too early for the whining, and too early in the school year to be whining about school already.

"Yeah!" Knox perks up. "Third grade means I get to play on the big playground too! Not the dumb baby playground. There's actually monkey bars!" Knox shouts with excitement. That's my boy. I was so proud of him.

"Oh, that's right!" I share Knox's excitement with him. "You'll get play with the bigger kids." Knox nods with excitement, smile from ear to ear. The cutest little grin I ever did see.

I check the time once more. It's now five after seven. The bus would be pulling up any minute now, and my one and only baby would be heading off to third grade. My heart skipped a beat thinking about it, but I was so damn excited for some peace and quiet during the day again.

"How come Gigi and Papa Milo couldn't come to watch me go to school?" Knox asks. Gigi and Papa was my mom and dad - Knoxica and Milo. My son was actually named after my grandfather Knox. A little tribute to one of the greatest men ever. I always had a piece of my grandpa with me.

"Honey, Gigi and Papa and live a couple of hours away now, they would have had to get up super, duper early." I explained to Knox. I felt a little sad. I missed having my parents live five minutes away, but when my brother Bentley and I moved out, my parents decided to relocate near the ocean. My brother Bentley and his husband ended up buying the home we grew up in.

The honking of the bus's horn pulled me back to reality.

"Oh! Come on Knox, the bus is here." I quickly stand up and help Knox put his backpack on his shoulders. Knox smothers me with one of his famous "mama bear hugs" as he calls it.

"Let's make good choices today, okay? Remember when mommy and daddy aren't around, who is in charge?" I ask Knox seriously.

"My teacher, Miss Mitchell." Knox says bashfully.

"And let's remember to speak kindly to our friends and grown ups. I don't want to receive any calls today from Miss Mitchell. Capeesh?"

"Capeesh." Milo repeats. grinning.

"That's my sweet boy. Now, let's go learn something new and exciting, so you can tell mommy and daddy all about it later."

I bent down and kissed Knox on the cheek. I can see his cheeks turn a bright red with embarrassment.

"Okay mommy, I have to go to school now!" Knox pulls away from my kiss, which makes me sad. Normally I would have to coax him onto the school bus, but this year he was willing to just get on the bus. My mama bear heart couldn't take it.

"Okay, okay." I say and release Knox from my arms. "I need to talk to the bus driver anyways. Daddy is going to be getting you off of the bus today."

Knox ran toward the bus as quickly as he could, and I followed behind him. The first day of school was always busy for the bus drivers as well. Parents of new kindergartners, trying to calm the nerves of riding the bus alone. Parents waiting to speak to the bus driver about work schedules, and who would be there to collect their child in the afternoon.

I watch Knox take a seat near the front of the bus, already talking to one of our neighbor's kids. Another little boy by the name of Rudy. Fortunately Knox would know another person on the bus as well, my brother's son Silas was starting third grade as well. Even though Knox and Silas were cousins, they were super close. They did everything together.

"Hi. I'm Eden Hyde, I'm Knox's mom. I just wanted to let you know that Knox's father would be the one collecting Knox off of the bus after school today. Typically it will be me, unless something comes up."

"I'm Mrs. McConnell, thank you for letting me know! I appreciate the head's up." Mrs. McConnell smiles at me. The last kindergartner parent was able to get their child situated on the bus, and Mrs. McConnell finally is able to the shut the door.

Knox is beaming at me through the window, waving and with a smile, I wave back and blow him another kiss. Knox blows one back to me. He doesn't see it, but I pretend to catch it, and place it on my heart.

I watch the bus disappear down the street, right as a single tear rolls down my cheek.

"Have a good school year baby." I whisper, and walk back toward my apartment.

to be continued...