Summer
I check the clock. Ten minutes to go.
Grayson should be here soon. He likes to meet me after class, then we go out for lunch, take a drive, or do something all regular couples do, something he and I are learning to appreciate as the months go by and we learn more about each other.
My students are working on their ongoing projects—a collage about the favorite parts of their culture. Looking up, I see Ramon biting his lip as he carefully glues a picture to poster board. Olenka is drawing with crayons, and Esperanza’s eyebrows narrow as she diligently cuts a picture from a magazine.
A gentle tap on my hand reverts my attention back to Anisa, a new student, who has been practicing writing the alphabet.
Anisa and her twin sister Zahra are new arrivals, refugees from Afghanistan. From what the program director has managed to learn about them, their father was a translator for the US Army who obtained visas for his family after two years of red tape and working through diplomatic channels. Because of their father’s occupation, they know some English, but I’ve also had to teach them basic classroom etiquette, while the other students have shown them social cues, like sharing a snack or holding hands.
I clap my hands five times to gain everyone’s attention.
“One, two, three, eyes on me,” I shout.
“One, two, eyes on you,” the students reply.
I rise from my chair. “Very nice. Boys and girls, please put away your projects in your cubbies and return the supplies to their proper places, then join me on the rug for our cool down activity.”
I check Anisa and Zahra’s writing. I give them both a big smile. “Very good, girls. You may go join the others,” I tell them, pointing to the floor where a few students are already sitting.
I sit down in my chair on the edge of the brightly patterned rug where I lead floor activities with the class. I notice Olenka and Esperanza talking with each other, so I raise my index finger to my lips, waiting until they notice that everyone else is silent.
It certainly helps when Ramon nudges Olenka with his elbow, pressing his finger to his lips, instantly quieting the girls.
“Thank you, boys and girls. What a fun day we have had! Esperanza, who is choosing today’s cool down song?”
Her brown eyes dart to the agenda at the front of the room. “Zahra.”
I turn to Zahra. “Zahra, what would you like to sing today?”
Her bright green eyes light up. “Itsy Bitsy,” she replies, just above a whisper.
“Itsy Bitsy Spider” was the first song we sang altogether on the first day, and it took them a while to learn the hand gestures, but now, both she and Anisa choose it when it’s their turn.
“Great choice, Zahra. Let’s start…The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout…”
I smile, watching everyone alternating their thumbs and index fingers, mimicking a climbing spider.
“Down came the rain, and washed the spider out…”
Suddenly, Ramon and Olenka stop singing, dropping their hands. Esperanza points to the door. “Who’s that?”
I turn to see Grayson’s face in the window of the door, but he just as quickly disappears from view. Usually he waits in the car with Emilia.
“Boys and girls, please stay on the rug. I’ll be right back.”
I rush to the door, opening it, finding Grayson’s walking away. “Grayson, stop! Come back. I can’t leave them alone,” I plead.
He freezes in place, then pivots around, heading back in my direction.
I hold out my hands to him, which he grasps tightly the instant he reaches me.
“I know I should’ve waited with Emilia, but I just wanted to see you with the children,” he explains, looking down at the floor.
I release his hands to touch his face. “It’s totally okay, baby. You can come in if you want. They would love to meet you.”
“No,” he declines vehemently. “I don’t want to scare them.”
“You won’t, I promise,” I reassure him. “And they’ve already seen you, so the cat’s out of the bag.” I reply in an attempt at levity.
He nods in agreement.
I take his right hand, leading him back into the classroom.
Ten pairs of eyes immediately zoom in on us. Some mouths open, but the room is silent.
I stand in front of the class, holding the hand of the man I love.
“Boys and girls, this is my friend Grayson,” I announce to them.
“Hello,” he says roughly, clearing his throat.
Some students reply a quiet “Hi,” but most of my second graders continue to stare silently.
Grayson’s hand grips mine, damp and shaking.
Without warning, Anisa rises from the rug, taking a few steps toward Grayson. She stops in front of him, raising her right arm upward, the fingers on her hand outstretched as if she were reaching for something.
Silent tears form in the corners of my eyes. “Anisa wants to touch your face, honey,” I whisper in his ear.
“Oh,” he mutters. He clears his throat once more. With his six-foot-three frame towering over Anisa as if he were a giant, he crouches down to her eye level. “Hello, Anisa,” he greets her.
She slowly touches Grayson’s scars, tracing them with the tiny pads of her fingers. “Hurt?” she asks him quietly.
Grayson slowly shakes his head, placing his massive hand over Anisa’s. “No, sweetheart. Not anymore.”
She nods with a wide smile as I wipe the corners of my eyes, coughing to rid the lump in my throat.
“Are you Miss Lily’s boyfriend?” Ramon boldly asks.
My gaze averts from the tender scene between Grayson and Anisa. “Ramon, that’s a very personal question.”
“Yes I am,” Grayson replies proudly in a loud voice.
I pivot back to Grayson, giving him an angry look as Ramon makes kissing sounds with his mouth.
“Ramon, that’s very impolite.”
“Good. Her last boyfriend wasn’t very nice. But you look nice,” Esperanza contributes to the conversation.
“Very nice,” Olenka adds.
I roll my eyes and shake my head, looking up the ceiling.
My love life is now a topic of discussion for second graders.
I sound another round of five claps to get the students’ attention.
“Boys and girls, the sooner we finish singing the song, the sooner you can go home.”
Ramon runs up to Grayson, tugging on his sleeve. “I want him to sit next to me.”
Olenka jumps to her feet, and takes his other hand. “No! Me!” she protests.
My heart blooms at the sight of my second graders accepting Grayson without hesitation, no fear whatsoever.
“Why don’t we let Grayson decide?” I suggest.
He gives me a grateful look, then looks down at Ramon and Olenka. “Next time, I’ll sit next to you, Ramon, but today, I think I know who I would like to sit next to,” he declares, walking toward Anisa and Zahra, taking their hands to ease them down onto the rug, one sister on either side of him.
How I love my sexy beast so much at this moment.
We all follow suit, sitting back down on the floor.
“And once more, here we go…” I declare.
My students, my boyfriend, and I launch into the song once more, Grayson following the children’s lead, singing right along with everyone else.
My eyes meet Grayson’s at the end, his wet from unshed tears.
“Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.”
I love you, he mouths at me.
I love you too, I reply, my tears now flowing freely.