The Principal's Office |h.s|

twenty seven

Quinn

Claire and Renee have definitely become some of my closest friends that I've met from Maggie's school. I've met a few other moms and have taken Maggie to some birthday parties for some of the kids in her class, but Claire and Renee are definitely my lifelines.

Maggie, Jason and Willa are always together for the most part, and always have so much fun. They definitely helped lift Maggie's spirits over the Christmas break and got her mind off of all the violence for a couple hours out of the day.

But as a result, Claire and Renee found out pretty quickly the truth about Reese and about Harry. Seeing their reactions to me telling them about Harry and I dating was definitely pretty funny, but they were both really happy for me that I was with someone during this time in my life, especially someone as handsome and supportive as Harry. He was a bit shy about it, mostly because he likes to keep his version of casual professionalism around the parents, but he's happy that I have friends who are supportive too.

It's been nice creating this tight knit little family for myself. I've only ever had Jordan, my parents, and Maggie. And now my family just keeps growing and growing. Hopefully one day it grows with Harry too, but I'm not getting ahead of myself. We are definitely not at that point, not even close.

But it's definitely something I think about.

How could I not? Maggie's about to turn six and I don't want her and any siblings to be like twelve years apart. I was an only child and I don't want her to have that same fate. Plus I mean, Harry would definitely make some pretty babies. But I would never tell him I'm thinking about this stuff. That would probably send him running.

We literally haven't even had sex yet so that's probably not a good thing to be thinking about before the relationship is even intimate in that way. I'm definitely in this mindset because of how good he is with Maggie and how their bond is strengthening every day. I just need to get my mind off of babies.

My month off from work is coming to an end, which is definitely going to be hard for me. I've been able to pick Maggie up from school since she got back and now my mom is gonna be the one to pick her up again. Thankfully, Harry has a new system in place for Maggie specifically that makes me feel a lot safer about who's getting her.

When Maggie gets out of class, she goes right to Harry's office so he could dismiss her to me, and now my mom, specifically. It makes him a little late to see the other kids off, but I've been getting there a little earlier anyway to see him for a couple of minutes before Maggie gets there. My mom has already assured me that she will get there early too so she could get Maggie and leave before it gets too crowded, but I just feel good about how we're handling this now.

Hopefully things get better and once Reese isn't around anymore we can just have her go back to a normal dismissal, but this is just how things have to be right now.

Today is a big step for me as a mom, especially during these times we're currently going through. Maggie's going on a sleepover. Her first official friend sleepover. She's gone to my parent's house or Jordan's house to sleepover, and we even slept over at Harry's once during the break, but she's never slept at a stranger's house before.

To say I freaked out when she asked is an understatement for sure. I knew I trusted Renee and that she would protect Maggie. I mean, Reese doesn't even know who the woman is. But it's just that I have no idea where he is or if he's watching us. I just couldn't imagine letting her go to sleep over someone else's house.

But she looked so sad when I said no and it killed me. I spoke to Harry and he listened to every little thought and feeling I had about this sleepover, and reassured me that everything I felt was valid. At the end of the day, I decided to let her go. But I'm picking her up early in the morning and I'm spending a little bit of time at Renee's to make sure they get there safely.