Page 49 of Shattered Dreams

No one can ever really prepare you for it either. I wish I could say it gets easier every year to watch them head in with the sea of kids, but it doesn’t.

Every year it’s a new kind of ache. And every year you realize somehow, overnight, they grew up a little more, and it’s bittersweet. But when you’re at the beginning, it's a lot.

I watch as Rylee’s lip quivers and her eyes fill with tears as she holds onto Bacon J. Ham with a solid grip as Dre tries to take him off of her.

“Rylee…” Dre sighs, as the other parents and kids surround us, moving past us with unmatched confidence. There’s lots of picture-taking, teachers and aides meeting parents halfway to walk the kindergartners to their classrooms. Amelia smooths down Maddox’s hair, wanting to get another photo because she wasn’t happy with the first one, and of course, he tries his hardest to avoid her, failing miserably.

“Oh my God… Mom, stop!”

I can’t help but laugh at his annoyance, but it makes me a little sad, too. Next month, he’ll be nine, and before I know it, we’ll be in double digits.

“Okay, ready, and—”

Rylee’s cries reach my ears, and I head towards Rylee and Dre without question.

He looks pretty frazzled already, and I know this is a big day for him. Not just because it’s Rylee’s first day… but it’s his, too.

Though I’m sure coaching high schoolers is different from coaching a pro team in the NFL, I know everyone up at Rockridge High is going to love him like I do, and once he gets settled in, he’ll love it there, too.

But right now, I can tell my best friend is more than just out of his element. Knowing him, he’s probably overthinking everything, so I take the lead. This isn’t my first rodeo.

“You know, school can be a very scary place for a pig,” I tell her.

Rylee sniffles, and I kneel before her, giving her stuffed pig a pet between the ears.

“Don’t you think Straw Berry will miss him if you keep him here?”

She frowns, looking at the pig in her arms.

“Maybe.”

“You don’t want them to be alone, do you?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“And you’re going to be so busy having fun and making friends.” I smile wide. “He’ll be so lonely in your backpack.”

She lets Dre take the pig from her hands. Her gaze fixes on me.

“I can take him home so he can keep Straw Berry company. Until I come get you after school today. And then we can eat s’mores for dinner,” I whisper loudly. “And we won’t tell Daddy.” She giggles through her sniffling. “And you can tell them both all about your first day at school. Would you like that?”

Rylee sniffles again, but the tears have stopped.

She nods. “Yeah…”

“Okay, then.” I press the stuffed pig’s snout against her nose, and she giggles. “That’s Pig Latin for good luck.” Rylee laughs as I stand up, noticing the way Andre is looking at me, like he’s about to cry.

I shove the pig at his face, and Rylee laughs louder as Maddox laughs behind me, making snorting pig noises as Amelia tells him to stop, but I can hear her laughing, too.

“Good luck, Mr. Taylor,” I say, tucking the pig under my arm as I head back over to Amelia and Maddox.

Maddox makes another snort, and I give him a smile.

“You want one too?” I joke. I bop his nose with the pig and he laughs and then he does the thing I don’t expect. He hugs me.

Not a forced hug, or an obligated hug, but…

A real hug.