Page 6 of Thalen

I glanced down at him.

“I kicked him the last time he spit on me,” he confessed, looking down at his shoes. “The other time I was sick and had to wait for Ms. Baines to come get me.”

“Ah, I see.” I looked back up at the secretary after first reading her name plaque. “No, Ms. King, I’m not his new social worker. I’m his new father. I’m adopting him.” I produced my paperwork with a flourish.

“It’s Mrs. King,“ she replied, pursing her lips.

Well, isn’t she just a little ray of sunshine?

The door behind her opened, and a red-haired woman wearing an oversized pair of purple-framed glasses peered out. Her clothes were as vibrant as her glasses - her linen trousers a bright shade of orange with a voluminous tropical print smock style top with a riot of orange, red, and yellow flowers.

“Are you here to see me?” she asked, locking eyes with me.

“I’m here to find out how to move schools. I’m adopting him,” I held my paperwork aloft once more, “and I live in a different school area.”

“Oh!” she said, coming all the way out now, closing her office door behind her. She beamed. “That’s wonderful! The adoption bit, not that your son will be leaving us.”

“Thanks,” I smiled back.

Were those toucans peeking out from amongst all those flowers and ferns? Yep, they sure are.

I was immediately envious of her blouse’s print. I’d love a Hawaiian shirt with the same one. It would be great to wear to a beach. Surely there were beaches somewhere on New Haven.

“I’m the principal, Eleanor James. All you need to do is take your paperwork and a copy of his birth certificate and immunization record to the school he’ll be attending, and they’ll request his records from us. We’ll send them right over. Beverly is very good about that, aren’t you?” She glanced at Mrs. King.

“Of course,” she sniffed.

Eleanor James shook her head, giving the other woman a look of fond exasperation.

“And does that apply if we move to, say, the Bride Fleet?” I asked.

Both women stared at me, eyes wide.

“Oh,” Eleanor finally managed. “Have you been matched?”

“No. We’re looking to claim land on New Haven, but it’s the Mylos that handle flights from here to there, so I think anything to be sent to New Haven would have to go that way, unless I have them handed to me and I hand carry them.”

“I see,” she replied. “Wow. You know, as a little girl, I always loved the Little House books. Our fifth graders are doing a read aloud right now of Little House in the Big Woods. I think it’s just adorable they named their little town Walnut Grove and are 3D printing buildings to give it that frontier town look, don’t you?”

“Oh, my yes! It’s all just so evocative!” I enthused.

“You’re such a lucky boy!” she told Jason. “Getting to move to a whole new planet with all that freedom to move around and such clean air! And with their technology to help keep it that way and to make life there so much easier! If I were fifteen years younger, I think I’d apply and see if they need a school teacher.”

“They’ve got real live dragon men and one of ‘em’s a prince, and he can fly! He’s the boss of everything there too!” Jason told her excitedly.

“Hmmph,” Mrs. King muttered, looking as unimpressed as she sounded.

“Anyway, to answer your question, if you move there and that’s his next school, we can arrange to have his records given directly to you. If for any reason, that’s not possible, we’ll send them over to Center with your name and New Haven listed as your address. If he goes to another school first, I’m sure they’ll do it that way too.”

I nodded. “Thank you. Right, he came to me short a few things, and if it’s alright, I’d like to go ahead and take him with me now so he can try on the clothes before I buy them.”

“Oh, by all means. Beverly, tell his teacher to mark him present.” She then tapped an open book on the counter. “If you’ll just sign him out and show us the paperwork and ID so I can confirm I verified you are legally allowed to have him, that would be perfect.”

I did as she asked, and after perusing the paperwork and making a copy to add to his records, they let us go.

“We really gonna go buy clothes?” he asked me as we left the building.

“Yup. First though, I’m calling us an Uber to take us home. I’m gonna drop this seat off and we'll take the bus to the store. I don’t want to wheel it around while we shop.”