Chapter Text
Vi really hoped the little girl with the dark pigtails and lavender sundress wasn’t one of her students. Not because she looked like she would be a handful (you could always kind of tell which kids would be), but because her mother was very, very attractive.
She was tall. She easily had a solid couple of inches on Vi, and was wearing a sleek, trim pants suit. The pumps she had on made her legs look even longer than Vi was sure they were without them. Her dark blue hair was tied into a neat ponytail.
Yes, Vi was at work. Yes, this was Kindergarten orientation, but no one here was a mind reader. Vi was allowed to think whatever she wanted. It was a whole week before the school year even started; anything could happen.
Being delusional was well within her rights.
The woman’s head turned and her eyes lit up, and Vi’s heart sank. Of course her daughter was Claire Kiramman, the one student she’d had yet to meet.
Vi made her way across the crowded gymnasium. Now that she definitely had no chance, it was best to get things over with.
It was rarely ever the kids that drove Vi crazy, though there were certainly moments; the parents, however, were a different story. She’d been teaching five years (she was now at the year most people left the profession, but she was trying to ignore that), and she knew by now that Kindergarten could be just as big of a transition for the parents as the kids.
Nine times out of ten, the kids handled it better.
Vi knew she was biased; she would argue the kids would handle it even better if their parents weren’t quite so overbearing. Vi always appreciated help in the classroom, but she rarely ever got it where it was needed.
It was especially bad with the moms who wore pantsuits to Kindergarten orientation, regardless of how gorgeous they were. Vi noticed a pattern of that demographic always being the biggest pain.
None of them had been as attractive as this woman was, and Vi was only left to wonder (and worry) how big of a headache she might be.
“Are you Ms. Lane?” The woman asked as she approached. Vi noted a British accent.
“Yep. That’s me,” Vi smiled, extending her hand.
“I’m Caitlyn Kiramman. Nice to meet you.”
Caitlyn returned the smile, and Vi ignored the butterflies in her stomach. Instead, she turned her attention to the little girl, ostensibly Claire, who had wrapped herself around Caitlyn’s legs the moment Vi approached. She had her head turned in the opposite direction, pressed into the fabric of Caitlyn’s pants, avoiding eye contact.
Vi crouched down to her level. “You must be Claire,” she greeted warmly. “I’ve been looking all over for you. It’s so nice to meet you!”
Claire remained glued to Caitlyn’s legs. Caitlyn placed her hands on her shoulders, attempting to gently pry her away. After a few attempts, she remained unsuccessful; Vi would’ve been surprised if she had been. She was more toned than the average person, but young children could be surprisingly strong, especially when it came to grip.
“Sorry,” Caitlyn laughed lightly. Clearly they were very aligned when it came to nerves. “She’s a little scared.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Vi said, though she knew all Caitlyn would do is continue to worry. “It’s completely normal.”
Every year Vi had an even mix of kids that were complete basket cases and kids that were shockingly indifferent to starting school. Maybe it was because it was part of her job, or because she had also been one of those kids who cried their eyes out on the first day, but Vi always had a soft spot for the ones who were a little bit scared.
Or, in the case of Claire, petrified.
If she was like this at orientation, Vi could only wonder what would happen when she actually had to be pried away from her mother. Thankfully, the first day drop-off was usually a nightmare, so she wouldn’t stick out that much.
“We’ve kind of had a rough time this past year,” Caitlyn explained. “She - We were in London until the start of the year. My wife and I - Anyway,” she waved a dismissive hand. It was her left hand. Vi immediately noticed the lack of a ring.
So, you’re single? She wanted to ask.
“Yeah, no. I totally get it,” is what she said.
Still crouched on the ground (something she had experience doing for very, very long periods of time) Vi returned her attention to Claire.
There was always something, at least one thing, that made each kid absolutely light up. Vi was determined to find out what Claire’s was, just to get her to come out of her shell a little bit. Vi would take anything, even if it was just eye contact.
“I like your dress. It’s very pretty.”
Claire mumbled something that Vi assumed was a thank you, muffled by the fabric of Cait’s pantsuit. Still, she remained stuck.
Come on sweetie, give me something.
Vi wracked her brain, going through all the tricks she had to get through to kids. Her eyes drifted down to Claire’s sandals. They were white, patterned with tiny purple and blue flowers to match her dress…
They were violets.
Maybe it wouldn’t be enough, but it was something.
Vi gasped, feigning shock. “Are those violets on your shoes? That’s so cool - those are my favorite flower.”
It was enough to get Claire to look up. She glanced down at her shoes, and then back up at Vi, bright blue eyes wide and shiny with unshed tears.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Vi whispered, hoping she could manage to keep Claire bawling.
Claire nodded, tucking the tip of her thumb into her mouth. She was still clutching Caitlyn, albeit now with only one arm.
Vi leaned in closer. “My name’s Violet.”
She watched as Claire’s eyes widened and Caitlyn smiled with relief.
“But don’t tell any of the other kids. It’s supposed to be a secret.”
Taking another scan of the gymnasium, Vi realized that the commotion of the orientation might be a lot for this little girl. She would probably feel comfortable somewhere more secluded. Vi glanced up to the clock; it was already 4:45.
She straightened up, meeting Caitlyn’s gaze once again. “Would you two want to see my classroom?” she asked.
Caitlyn blinked. “We can? But don’t you need to be here-”
Vi shook her head. “It’s ending in fifteen minutes and I already met all my kids,” she glanced down to Claire, who had returned to attempting to melt into her mother. “It might make things a little easier for her, too. You know? She could get familiar with stuff.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course not. It’s what I’m here for.”
Once they were out of the gymnasium with the sound muffled behind them, Claire immediately relaxed, opting to walk beside Cait and hold her hand instead of clutching her in a death grip. Vi noticed that Caitlyn seemed to relax, too.
They both really enjoyed quiet time. Noted.
Vi was trying her best not to look at Caitlyn too often, because that totally wouldn’t be creepy, but she was very beautiful.
Cait stood at the doorway to Ms. Lane’s ( Violet’s) classroom, feeling so relieved she could cry. Claire going off to kindergarten had been keeping Cait up at night since she’d turned three, and now Cait was positive her heart wouldn’t leave her throat until she turned thirty.
Or maybe never. Parenting was terrifying.
But as Cait watched Violet lead Claire around the classroom, showing her all the different things in it, Cait felt herself relax a little. A lot, actually. She’d heard great things about Violet from some of the other moms in the neighborhood, but she still remained apprehensive.
Kindergarten would be the longest time Claire would be spending outside of the house without Cait since…well, ever.
Cait had taken a year off of work when she was born, and from that point until her and Maddie’s divorce last year, they’d had a live-in nanny. When she’d decided to uproot everything in dire need of a fresh start and move to America, Cassandra had come along with her and Claire in a fit of selflessness that only a mother could have.
It had been to just help them get settled, but it was nearly September and Cassandra showed no signs of leaving.
Living with your mother would be a nightmare for many thirty-four-year-old women, but Cait was dreading the day Cassandra decided to leave and rejoin her father in London.
Claire got her clinginess from someone, and it certainly wasn’t Maddie.
Settling Claire at one of the tables with a piece of paper and crayons, Vi walked over to Cait, and Cait felt her breath hitch.
She was definitely younger than Cait, not by a lot, but enough to notice. Under normal circumstances that wouldn’t deter Cait. She never discriminated with age when it came to women unless the age gap bordered on alarming. She would never forget one of the first, abysmal times she’d forced her to go out after the divorce. It was a nice, upscale bar in London. She’d struck up a nice conversation with a nice, younger woman, that had promptly gone sour when the woman revealed she was still in university. To be exact, she was twenty.
After nearly choking on her drink, Cait had asked dryly if her parents knew where she was on a weekday night.
Something similar had happened several weeks later with someone who’d ended up being the same age as her mother. Completely opposite end of the spectrum, but very jarring nonetheless.
Those two instances, combined with a couple of other, equally terrible ones had turned Cait off dating completely.
She was incredibly horny though, almost to a scary degree.
As elated as she was that Claire appeared to have gotten the perfect teacher, Cait wished desperately that her and Vi had met under different circumstances. Especially when she looked at Vi’s shoulders underneath her dress shirt.
“Thank you so much,” Cait said as Vi joined her in the doorway, banishing those thoughts from her head. Surely if Vi found out what she was thinking, she’d be horrified. “It means so much that you’re doing this. Really.”
Vi shrugged. She leaned against the doorframe, crossing her legs at the ankles. “It’s my job. It’s no problem - I love doing it.”
Women weren’t much better than men when it came to reacting to you having a child - Cait had realized that rather quickly. She couldn’t really blame them, either. If the roles were reversed, she’d perhaps see it as too much baggage.
Cait watched Claire color, so she wouldn’t keep glancing over at Vi.
She really didn’t understand it, come to think of it. How could anyone look at Claire and see her as baggage, something that was too much? It broke Cait’s heart.
It also made her want to give someone a black eye.
The silence between her and Vi was growing palpable, and Cait scrambled to find something to say. Though she barely knew her, Cait already decided several things about Vi Lane.
She was very attractive.
She was very attractive and very good with kids.
She was very attractive and very good with kids and her daughter’s teacher.
One of those things was not like the others.
“How long have you been teaching?” Cait blurted out.
“This’ll be my fifth year.”
So she was at least twenty-six.
“Have you always done Kindergarten, or…?”
Vi nodded. “I originally wanted to do high school, but they fu - they messed up my placement when I was student teaching and put me in elementary school instead. I thought I’d hate it, but obviously I liked it enough.”
She grinned at Cait, and Cait felt herself blush.
“That’s usually how it goes, right?” Vi continued. “Things work out in a way you’d never expect.”
Cait nodded.
When she and Maddie started planning for a family, they’d done rock-paper-scissors to decide who would carry. Cait was bad at rock-paper-scissors, but Maddie was worse, so she’d been shocked when Maddie had won.
She’d expected to hate pregnancy. The morning sickness, the stretch marks, the swollen feet, the swollen everything. While all of those things had happened, Cait found herself loving every moment of it. She loved having Claire all to herself during those nine months, but of course, none of it compared to the first time she held her.
“Can I give you some advice?” Vi asked.
“Sure,” Cait nodded. She was pretty sure she’d listen to anything Vi had to say.
Vi nodded over to Claire. “Her being nervous is completely normal, but it’ll help her a lot if you try to be a little more calm around her.”
Cait’s eyes widened. She had no clue her anxiety was that noticeable.
“Okay,” she nodded faintly. “Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”
“Because if she picks up on you being nervous, that makes things five times worse for her.”
That did make sense. Perfect sense. Cassandra had told her the same exact thing that morning, but Cait hadn’t listened. The key to being able to live with your mother at thirty-four was being able to tune her out.
“But she’s a great kid,” Vi assured her. “She’ll be fine. After a little bit, she won’t even notice you’re not there.”
Cait swallowed. She understood how necessary it was for childhood development, but that was also the last thing she wanted.
“Which I get is bittersweet,” Vi added quickly. “It’s tough for you guys, too. I don’t wanna overstep, but is your ex…”
“She’s back in London,” Cait replied quickly, keeping her voice low. “You probably won’t be seeing much of her.”
As much as Cait knew staying in an unhappy marriage wouldn’t be doing Claire any favors, she went into the divorce proceedings dreading whatever carnage would come from the custody battle.
When Maddie had handed her sole custody like Claire was simply another asset they had to split, instead of relieved, Cait was infuriated.
Maddie could’ve at least acted like she cared.
“Sorry,” Cait found herself apologizing. “You don’t want to hear about all this baggage-”
“It’s fine,” Vi said. “I’ve heard a lot worse. Plus, I would’ve found out about it anyway; five-year-olds don’t really have a filter.”
“Being a mandated reporter must be the least stressful job on the planet, isn’t it?”
Vi gave a rueful laugh. “It's rare I actually have to report anything, but-”
Her voice trailed off at the sound of a tiny pair of feet rushing towards them. It was Claire, a sheet of paper clutched in one hand. Perhaps selfishly, Cait was expecting Claire to bring the drawing over to her, and she was shocked when she presented it - a little shyly, but presenting it nonetheless - to Vi.
“Is this for me?”
Claire nodded. “Yeah.”
Vi held out the drawing for Cait to see. Claire was very into cats right now, part of her campaign to convince Cait to get one. The drawing was a pink kitten against the backdrop of bright green grass and a large yellow sun. It was a rather rudimentary drawing in general, but very neat lines for a five-year-old.
Cait was a little jealous that it was for Vi to keep; she would’ve loved to add it to her collection on the fridge.
“Thank you!” Vi beamed. “It’s beautiful - I’m gonna hang it up right by my desk.”
Cait smiled. “She’s very into art right now - and cats.”
“Is that what you want to be when you grow up?” Vi asked. “An artist?”
Claire nodded, twisting her fingers into the skirt of her sundress, a nervous tick she’d definitely picked up from seeing Cait do it.
“That’s so cool. That’s what my little sister does. She draws super cool stuff all the time, you would love it.”
As Vi walked over to her desk, making good on her promise to hang up Claire’s drawing, Cait looked at the clock mounted on the wall. The orientation had ended nearly thirty minutes ago.
“I guess we should get going,” Cait said, hiking her purse up higher on her shoulder, instinctively reaching for Claire’s hand. “We’ve kept you way too long-”
“It’s no big deal,” Vi rummaged through her desk, pulling out a roll of scotch tape. “I would’ve stayed later, anyway. I’m about to head out too, if you want me to walk you out.”
Cait’s eyes widened, and Claire eyed her mother with curiosity.
“If you don’t mind,” Vi added. Maybe it was Cat’s imagination, but she also looked a little flustered. “We both parked in the same parking lot.”
Who was Cait to say no?
On the walk to the parking lot, Cait could tell by the shuffling of Claire’s feet that she was going to knock out on the drive home. It had been a very big day for her, and Cait was immensely proud.
Cait slowed her pace when Vi stopped in front of her Jeep, fishing for her keys in the pocket of her jeans. She looked like someone who would drive a Jeep, and Cait never thought she’d find that attractive until now. Maybe she’d been in America too long, or maybe it was just Vi.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you guys on the first day. It was nice meeting you,” Vi said, meeting Cait’s gaze in a way that made Cait want to look away.
She was definitely reading too much into it.
“It definitely was,” Cait smiled, looking down at Claire, who was leaning her entire weight against her leg. Someone would be very cranky during dinner. “Say goodbye to Ms. Lane, Claire.”
Claire gave Vi a small wave. “Bye-bye.”
“Bye Claire,” Vi returned the wave, her gaze floating up to meet Cait’s once again. “Have a good night.”
“You too.”
As Cait predicted, Claire was asleep by the time she pulled out of the parking lot. It would be inconvenient later, but Cait enjoyed having the privacy to let her mind race.
Little did she know, Vi was doing the same exact thing.