Contract Marriage: I Will Never Love You

Rebecca

"Okay, everyone, what sound does a cow make?" I ask with exaggerated enthusiasm, holding up a picture card.

"Mooooo!" the kids chorus, some of them giggling, a few dragging it out like a dramatic opera.

I grin and flash the next card. "And what about a duck?"

"Quack! Quack! Quack!" shouts Tyler from the front row, flapping his arms like wings.

"Very good, my little ducklings," I say, suppressing a laugh. "Now, who wants to come up and match the animal to the sound?"

A sea of tiny hands shoots into the air, some kids hopping in place, desperate to be picked. I call on Lucy, who marches up proudly and sticks the duck card onto the sound chart with all the seriousness of a surgeon.

"Perfect match," I say, giving her a high-five. "You’re all doing amazing today. After we finish our chart, we can go outside for story time under the big tree. Sound good?"

A cheer erupts from the group. A few kids bounce in place, one accidentally knocking over a tub of crayons. As I crouch to help him clean up, my phone buzzes in my cardigan pocket.

I glance at the screen.

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