His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 167

#Chapter 167: First Day of School

Moana

A few weeks passed after that. With each passing day, Ella became more and more excited for school, and I was just as excited. After singing my paperwork and getting the keys to my classroom, I then spent the next few weeks leading up to the start of the school year preparing my lesson plans, stocking up on supplies, and cleaning out the abandoned art classroom.

On the morning of the first day of school, I woke up to Ella jumping on the bed and shouting.

“Moana! Daddy!” she shrieked excitedly, jumping up and down and jostling both of us out of our sleep. “Wake up! It’s the first day of school!”

I cracked my eyes open to see Ella standing above us with a wide grin on her face. Beside me, Edrick groaned slightly and finally sat up.

“Alright, alright,” he said, rubbing his eyes and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “Come on. Let’s all have breakfast together before your first day of school.”

The night prior, I had already helped Ella pack her backpack and laid out her uniform. I had also packed my own bag filled with the things that I would need for the day, and set our bags out by the front door together. I had to admit that I felt a little nervous as I got dressed that morning, but I was also excited, and seeing Ella in her adorable little plaid uniform and Mary Janes made me smile.

After breakfast, it was time to go. Selina packed a lunch for both of us, and even gave Ella a little squeeze and a smile before sending us on our way. Edrick walked to school with us; once again, Ella walked between us and held each of our hands, and I felt like we were a little family once more. I hoped that this would become a tradition of ours.

As we arrived at the school, the front yard was bustling with the activity of the hordes of other little girls who were excited for their first day. The display ranged from preschool children who were crying and being carried in by their exhausted parents, all the way to bored high school students who just seemed happy to see their friends and to know that they would be graduating this year. Ella was clearly nervous, and clung to Edrick’s leg tightly as we walked up to the parent drop-off point.

“Daddy, I’m scared,” Ella whined, looking up at Edrick with big saucer eyes. “There are so many kids. And it’s loud.”

Edrick smiled and crouched down to her level. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and then held her firmly by both shoulders.

“You’re going to have a lot of fun,” he said. “I promise. And Moana will be here all day if you need her, and I’ll be waiting right here for you when the day is over. It’ll go by before you know it. Okay?”

Ella hesitantly nodded, sniffling a bit. Edrick planted a kiss on her cheek.

Almost as soon as he did that, it seemed that another group of little girls had already taken interest in Ella and were slowly inching their way toward us, fiddling nervously with their backpack straps.

“Um… What’s your name?” one of the little girls, a scrawny little thing with wispy blonde hair, said sheepishly.

“Ella,” Ella replied, her face turning red.

One of the other girls, a slightly bigger girl with brown hair and freckles, stepped out from behind the rest of the group and grinned widely. “I’m Stacie. Wanna play with us before school starts?”

Ella hesitated and looked up at Edrick. He nodded, and as though she had known these girls for her entire life, Ella took off toward the playground with them. I couldn’t help but laugh at how simple it was for children to make friends; I missed those days. By the end of the day, I was certain that she would be calling them all her best friends forever.