Chapter 37 First day at school

(Lydia)

I shot a glance at my wrist watch. 2:50 pm. I was not late. I was actually ten minutes early, in fact. What in God’s name was happening here?

Margaret looked up at me, a surprisingly pleased-with-herself smile etched across her face. Her eyes glinted at some secret joy.

Mabel and Miles squealed and jumped in glee. They both ran towards and hugged me at the knees. And let out a laugh.

“Mommy, mommy! I drew a plane!” Miles exclaimed, excitedly waving a crayon drawing at me.

“I drew a house, mommy! Look, it’s pink and it glitters!” Mabel chimed in, hopping up and down. They both held up their arms as their eyes sparkled with pride at their work.

“That’s lovely, babies,” I smiled at them both, bending down and hugging them back. Their warmth instantly erased the coldness inside me from the strangeness of what had happened earlier this afternoon. I smacked a kiss across each of their cheeks.

“Mabel,” I said to my daughter, “Why don’t you show Miles how you put glitter on your house