Finding a Family

Chapter 14

Freddie's POV
Some time had past since Hannah met the family. Overall, everything had gone well. The past few weeks Hannah has been opening up more to Alan's parents and my sister and we all couldn't be more delighted. My sister couldn't be happier that her dreams of being an Aunt were fulfilled.

A big milestone was approaching in Hannah's life: her first day of school. We found a school for children like Hannah, it seemed to be a great environment and all of their teachers were excellent. Although we did our best to prepare her, Alan and I were still pretty nervous. Hannah had never been away from us and we didn't know to how she would react to being in a classroom with so many new people without us by her side.

It was the morning of Hannah's first day of school, Alan was getting breakfast started while I went to wake up Hannah. "Good morning darling, time to get up sweet girl," I said rubbing her back, trying to wake her up. "No Daddy, sleepy," she protested as she rolled over. Hannah wasn't much of a morning person, Alan and I had been trying to prepare her by getting her up earlier these past few weeks but she still preferred to sleep in. "Sweetheart it's time to get up, it's your first day of school," I said. " Cuddles," she responded.  I couldn't resist,"only for a little while darling, we have to get you ready for school," I said as I pulled her into me. I could have stayed there all day cuddling her but we had to get going. "Okay darling, it's time to get you ready," she whined in protest but got up. I got her dressed, brushed her hair and teeth, then we headed downstairs for breakfast. "Good morning to my two favorite people," Alan said before he planted kisses on Hannah's cheek and on my lips. "Hannah I made your favorite, waffles with strawberries," Alan said. The waffles seemed to perk Hannah up a bit but she still seemed a little hesitant to head to school.

After breakfast we were getting ready to head out when Hannah came to me with Juliet in her arms. "Darling tell Juliet goodbye, it's time to get going," I said gently to her. "Daddy Juliet's coming to school with me," she replied. "Darling kitties can't go to school, only people," I told her. "But.... but... Juliet's my friend. I'm going to be lonely without her," she said with tears in her eyes. "Oh sweetheart don't cry. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends there. Tell you what, why don't you tell Juliet goodbye and you can bring Ellie with you. Does that sound okay?" I gently told her. "Okay," she said a little reluctantly. After getting all of Hannah's things together we all got into the car and headed off for Hannah's school. When we walked in the classroom I could tell Hannah was a bit nervous upon seeing so many new faces. As the three of us stood in the doorway a woman with brown curly hair approached us, "hello! I'm Miss April, I'm the teacher for this class. You must be our new student Hannah." Hannah clammed up a bit and backed up into me. "I'm Alan and this is my husband Freddie. I'm sorry we're just a little nervous today, Hannah tends to get anxious around new people." Alan said. "That's okay, I know the first day of school can be a bit scary but we're going to have a lot of fun today." April responded.  "Hannah brought her stuffie with her to feel a bit more safe, is that okay?" I asked. "Yes, of course that's okay. Having a friend with you can make things less scary," April responded. "So Hannah why don't you come with me and Daddy and Papa can get going,"April said as she reached for Hannah's hand. As soon as Hannah heard those words she panicked, "no Daddy, Papa don't leave me," Hannah said as wrapped her arms around my waist and grabbed Alan's arm. My heart broke as I heard those words. "Love its only going to be for a little while. Daddy and Papa will be back" Alan said. "That's right, everything will be okay. I think you're going to have a lot a fun with Miss April darling." I said to her as I hugged her a little tighter. April gave us a sympathetic look, "the first day is always the hardest." "Probably for both the parents and the child," Alan responded. April gave us a few more minutes and then said, "okay honey it's time for school to start, time for Daddy and Papa to go," April said as she gently pried Hannah off of us. Hannah started full on sobbing and it took everything in me not to pick her up and go home. "Love it will be okay, we'll be back later," Alan said. All I could manage to do was stand there staring at my poor Hannah. "I know this is hard but I find that it works best when parents leave quickly," April said as she struggled to keep a hold on Hannah.  "Alright I think it's time for us to get going. Hannah, Daddy and Papa will be back later, we love you." Alan said as he grabbed hand and pulled me towards the door. "Have a good day darling," I managed to say on our way out. From the hallway we could still hear her sobbing. I looked at Alan with tears in my eyes, "she going to be fine Freddie," he said as he pulled me into his arms. "I feel like the worst father ever," I responded. "I know but she'll be okay, she's our strong girl," Alan told me as he kissed my forehead. After a few minutes of comforting each other in the hallway we headed home. Now it was time to painfully wait until we could go pick up Hannah.