Cathryne had indeed found the snack cabinet. She had handed out animal crackers to Luke, Bob, Selena, and Esperanza. All the other kids, with the exception of Tom and Sofia were trying to steal the gigantic tub of animal crackers from Cathryne.
Will ran over to grab the tub from Cathryne. Cathryne, who thought he was playing tag, ran between his legs. The other children laughed and shrieked, cheering Cathryne on. Even Tom was giggling. Cathryne continued her scheme, avoiding Nico, Reyna, and Will. On her third lap around the room, she passed the tub off to Luke.
Luke shoved the tub of animal crackers under his arm like a football. He continued Cathryne's game of handing off the tub. Esperanza got the tub, then Selena, Bob, Nick, Katie, Emily, Tom. By the time Sammy got the tub, Nico and Will had given up trying to catch the children. Reyna, who had been hiding from behind a cabinet, jumped out, scooping up Sammy and the animal crackers.
Reyna plucked the animal crackers from Sammy's arms. Sammy was grinning. Reyna couldn't help but smile. Sammy's smile was infectious.
Nico and Will walked over to the other children as Reyna set Sammy down.
"Welcome to daycare!" Will said, with a smile as bright as the sun. "I'm Will, the head manager. This is Nico," he gestured to Nico, who was standing beside him, "And Reyna." Reyna gave a small wave, and Sammy waved back. "Today we're going to get to know each other by playing a game."
Andy jumped up. "Is it a fun game?"
"Very fun," Nico assured him, nodding.
"Are you sure?" Selena asked, "Because once daddy told me that that we were going to play a fun game, but then he made match socks. It was not a fun game."
"I think you'll like this game," Will said. "Hiw you play is you take the first letter of your name and make it into a word. My name is Will. Will starts with a W. So can anyone tell me a word that starts-"
"Waffle!" Sofia fired off in the middle of Will's sentence.
"Okay... Waffle Will. It's as easy as that."
"Okay, me first! Uhh... Bouncy Bob."
"Awesome Andy,"
"Soggy Sammy,"
"So cute Selena!"
"Selena, you cheated!" Luke protested. "The word has to start with a S!"
"It does, doesn't it?" Selena stared at him. "So. S. It counts!"
"But you said cool after it!"
"That doesn't matter!"
"Cheater!"
"Can I go now? ... Soft Sofia."
"Eating Esperanza!"
"Cool Cathyrne,"
"Leader Luke!"
"You're not a leader!" Emily shouted.
"I could be! I can be anything!"
"Anyway, I'm Egg Emily."
"Egg?"
"Yeah, Eggs Benedict is my favorite breakfast!"
"Well I'm Nice Nick!"
"Scary Sarah! Boo!" She made Tom jump.
"Talented Tom..."
"Me last! Kute Katie!"
"Cute starts with a C!" Nick said.
"It does?"
"He's right." Tom agreed.
"Okay... Kind Katie?"
"Chuck, what are you?"
"Uhh... Chocolate Cake Chuck."
"Okay, well, now that we all know each other, you can go play." The kids ran off with Nico's last remark. Will smiled at him, wrapping an arm around his waist. Nico leaned in to Will, laying his head on Will's
chest.
Reyna looked at the kids. Sofia and Tom were reading. Luke, Cathryne, and Emily were playing swordsmen. The rest of the twins' kids were playing pirates and robots. Sammy had joined the robot team. Emily was playing family with Bob. Esperanza was playing cook for Selena. Chuck sat beside Selena, awaiting his 'meal'. Everyone was happy.
Reyna sighed.
