Hope was trying hard to live up to her name. Her family had always liked virtue names that they could aspire to. She snorted. Yeah, that hadn’t worked out so well. Cousin Patience had no patience. Cousin Mercy could be merciless. And cousin Grace was the clumsiest person Hope had ever met. Pax was a troublemaker. Probably because the poor guy had been saddled with the name ‘Pax’.
Still, Hope could be one of the rare exceptions. Or so she hoped. She hoped that her new job would be okay. She hoped that the kids would do well in school. But mostly, she hoped that she could get through breakfast without biting Olivia’s head off.
Her chances of success? Yeah, not great.
“Eat something, dear,” Auntie Joy cajoled, setting some toast in front of Olivia.
“Not hungry.” The teenager scowled down at her phone.
“Eat it anyway,” Hope ground out. “You’ll need your strength for school.”
A grunt. Fabulous. They were regressing.
“Jam?” Bella asked, blinking those huge brown eyes.
“Of course, sweetheart.” Auntie Joy bent and pressed a kiss to the kid’s head. “Strawberry okay?”
Bella nodded enthusiastically.
“Emmett?” Auntie Joy prompted. “Do you want jam?”
Emmett shook his head. “No, thank you.”
And they were back to silence. Auntie Joy shared a worried look with Hope.
“You okay, Em?” Hope asked, buttering her slice of toast. “You’re not anxious about starting a new school?”
The boy shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
Poor kid probably was.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll make some friends in no time,” Hope said as cheerfully as she could manage.
“It doesn’t matter.” Emmett shrugged. He drank the last of his orange juice and then stood. “I’m going to go get ready.”
“I’m gonna make new friends,” Bella announced. As always, she pronounced her Rs as Ws, making it sound like ‘fwiends’. The kid was just so stinking cute.
“Not much point,” Olivia grumbled. “We’ll only have to leave them again anyway.”
Hope wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or sad. Yeah, the attitude was a serious pain, but she knew that Olivia had a point. Their mother had moved them around so often that they were used to starting new schools and not bothering to get close to anyone.
“Not this time,” Hope assured her, biting into her toast. “We’re staying in Bearbank, so go ahead and make some friends.”
She was rewarded with a single grunt.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Hope asked the girl. “I can take you to school if you like—”
“I’m fine.”
Actual words. It was like a miracle. They could work on the tone later.
“Can you manage both Emmett and Bella?” Auntie Joy asked.
“Yeah, it’s not a problem.” Hope took one last swig of her coffee. “The nursery is attached to the primary school, so I can drop them both off and then get to work.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Auntie Joy began clearing up the table. “Once you know what your shifts are, we can talk about when you need me.”
“Thanks, Auntie Joy.” The woman was a lifesaver. With three kids in three different places, it would be difficult to juggle them with her job. Hope was going to need her aunt’s help. “And thank you for getting the kids enrolled at school in advance.”
Olivia abruptly stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked out the door. Not so much as a goodbye.
“Oh, she’s going to be a challenge,” Auntie Joy predicted. “But I survived my own kids and your sister.” She shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll survive Liv, too.”
If only Hope felt so confident.
An hour later, all the kids were where they were supposed to be and Hope was at her new job. The bakery was warm, and the scents of baked goods wafted through the air, making Hope’s stomach growl. She’d barely eaten breakfast as she’d been too on edge over the kids. The shop was cheerful and her co-workers friendly, so Hope found herself relaxing as the day went on. The kids were someone else’s responsibility for now, and they were safe. She could stop worrying, at least for a little while.
This was one of three bakeries in Bearbank and the only one that had been hiring. Still, it seemed to be working out. The customers were nice and there was plenty of work to keep Hope occupied. The day passed surprisingly quickly, and it would soon be time to pick up the kids. It had been a relatively short shift for her first day, but from now on, she was definitely going to need Auntie Joy’s assistance to juggle her shifts and the kids. She hated relying on Auntie Joy. The woman had already gone well above and beyond for Hope and Faith, and it wasn’t fair to expect her to keep helping with Faith’s kids. But what choice did Hope have?
Hopefully, they could at least get through the first day without any incidents.
That wasn’t too much to ask, right?
***
Adam only just managed to hold in a sigh. Teachers really should get a bonus in December. Or they should simply close the schools for the month. He was fairly certain none of the kids learned anything from the minute November ended.
No. Every kid in his class had a brain full of Santa, magical flying reindeer, and presents.
Well, every kid but one. The new kid. Emmett.
Adam glanced over at the boy, trying not to be too obvious about it. The last thing he wanted was to single Emmett out in front of his classmates. The kid was sitting quietly, not joining in with the others. Since class was almost over, Adam had caved to the inevitable and allowed the kids to draw. Predictably, the kids were all drawing Santa and snowmen. One-track minds, the lot of them. As always, Adam smiled and encouraged them, even as he wished it was January already and they could get back to the usual pictures of princesses, unicorns, robots, and monsters.
With the pathetic state of his life, Adam wanted nothing to do with the holiday season. He just wanted it over. But no matter how grumpy Adam felt, he was careful to keep it locked away on the inside. He might be miserable, but he hadn’t achieved Scrooge level yet. There was no way he was ruining Christmas for the kids. It wasn’t their fault that his life sucked.
He took another wander around the class, looking at the kids’ drawings and offering encouragement. When he reached Emmett, he looked down and frowned. Unlike every other kid, Emmett was not drawing anything Christmas-related. Instead, he was drawing trees and a fire-breathing dragon. Mentally, Adam shrugged. Perhaps the kid’s family simply didn’t celebrate Christmas.
By the time the bell rang, Adam was exhausted. He watched as the kids raced out the door. Only half the kids had bothered zipping up their coats. Hell, a couple of the boys weren’t even wearing theirs, but had the hood on their heads and the coat billowing out behind them like a cape. Adam chuckled. Many years ago, he would have been one of those boys. Some things never changed. The noise of numerous children chattering at once was almost deafening, and the playground was a flurry of activity.
Adam and several other teachers watched over the scene, ensuring each kid went home with a parent. An all-shifter school, it was fairly small, and Adam knew each parent by sight. Honestly, he preferred it that way. He knew his little group of kids, he knew their parents, and he knew what was going on in each kid’s life. Which made it easier to give every kid the attention they needed. Adam taught the primary four class, which consisted of seven- and eight-year-old kids, and he liked that age group. Old enough to be reasonably self-sufficient, but not so old they were developing attitude. You could talk to these kids and have actual conversations. When it wasn’t December and their brains had turned to mush.
The horde of loud kids had thinned out now, and even the stragglers were leaving. Except for one.
Emmett stood at the gates, looking a little lost. Adam frowned. Who was picking the kid up? It was his first day at a new school, and Adam felt bad for the boy. Surely his mother could have made the effort to collect him on time. He hadn’t even met the woman yet. The kid had appeared in his classroom this morning, delivered by the head teacher, and Adam didn’t like that he didn’t know much about the kid at all.
Casually, he walked over to the boy and leaned against the gate.
“Excited for Christmas?” he asked.
Emmett shrugged. “Not really.”
“Your family doesn’t celebrate?”
Another shrug.
Yeah, Adam could relate. He didn’t care about Christmas either.
“How are you settling in?” Adam asked. “Making new friends?”
Emmett toyed with his bag. “It doesn’t matter. We probably won’t be here long anyway.”
Adam frowned. “I was under the impression you’d moved here permanently.”
Yet another shrug.
Adam didn’t like this at all. Clearly, the kid wasn’t happy and Adam had no idea what was happening in the boy’s home life. Not yet, anyway. And he wasn’t likely to find out until he’d gained the boy’s trust. Which wasn’t going to happen within the next five minutes. Dealing with kids involved superhuman levels of patience. Something Adam had been training for his entire life, thanks to having to live with Kyle and Frankie.
It was chilly today, and Adam was starting to get seriously pissed at this mystery mother when he spotted a woman hurrying toward them.
“Is this her?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Emmett slung his bag over his shoulder.
“Emmett,” the woman gasped, “I’m so sorry I’m late. We had a little accident.”
Adam froze. Two realisations slammed into him at once.
One was that the woman was carrying a little girl, maybe three or four years old, and the girl’s hair was stuck up in crazy shapes and covered in multi-coloured glitter.
The second thing was that the woman was his mate.
His true mate.
Well, hell.
Clearly, she’d had the same realisation, as she was now standing still, staring at him with wide eyes.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.
And then…
“I’m a pwincess!” The little girl beamed at him and he felt his lips twitch. The way she said ‘pwincess’ instead of ‘princess’ was far too cute. It would have melted the hardest heart. Even Adam’s own almost Scrooge-like heart was feeling a little gooey right now.
“You do seem to have the appropriate level of sparkle,” he said, keeping his tone serious.
“Oh God, I am so sorry,” the woman gasped. “Bella here decided to decorate her hair during craft time at nursery, and it took ages to clean her up.”
“This is her cleaned up?” His eyebrows shot up.
“Believe it or not, yes.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry I kept you waiting, Emmett. How was your day?”
“Fine.”
The woman winced. “I’m sure it’ll get better.” She flicked a glance at him, biting her lip.
Yeah, because this wasn’t awkward at all.
Meeting your mate in front of her kids, while one of them was uncommunicative, and the other had taken a glitter bath? Yeah, that happened every day…
“Umm…” Nope. Adam had no idea what to say. He sneakily looked her over. The two kids were adorable. Medium brown skin, black hair in tight curls, and enormous brown eyes. Their mother was pale, with straight blonde hair and blue eyes. And equally adorable. Maybe the kids took after their father.
The thought had his stomach knotting in jealousy. Their father. Was the woman already mated? What the hell was he supposed to do now?
What should he say? He had no clue where to even begin.
Apparently, neither did Emmett’s mum. She blinked at him and then managed to pull herself together.
“I should get these two home.” She looked at Bella and grimaced. “This is going to take a really long bath.”
The girl giggled. “With bubbles?”
“Okay, with bubbles. But no more glue, okay?” The woman put her free hand around Emmett’s shoulders. “Come on, Em.” She glanced up at Adam. “It was nice to meet you, Mr…”
“Roberts,” he supplied. “Adam Roberts. I’m Emmett’s teacher.”
“I’m Hope Phillips. Emmett’s—”
“I’m cold!” Bella burrowed into her mother.
“Okay, okay.” Hope smiled at him. “I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow. On time. I promise.”
Adam nodded. Although he didn’t want her to go, he also couldn’t have the conversation he wanted with the kids listening. Maybe tomorrow he could get a way to contact her privately.
He watched as the trio moved off, the little girl chattering away while Emmett remained quiet.
Would Hope… Yes, she did. For a moment, she turned her head and looked at him before she walked away.
Well, looked like life was about to get interesting.