First Day of School

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“Hudson, if we don’t leave now, you’ll be late for your first day of kindergarten,” I call up the stairs but don’t hear the thunder of small feet that I expect. “Huddy?”

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There’s a muffled sound that might be my five-year-old. I run up the stairs and open his bedroom door to find him sitting on the floor, his back resting against the bed, and his favorite stuffed animal clenched in his arms. 

 

“Hey, buddy, what’s going on?” I ask as I sit next to him. 

 

“I want to go to work with you,” he says.

 

“Ah.” I nod, understanding something I should have realized before now. “I’m going to miss having you on site with me, but you’ll love school. You’ll finally have kids your age to play with, and you’ll learn how to read and do math.”

 

He turns his gaze up to meet mine. His eyes are the same blue as mine, and his hair the same shade of dark brown. He’s my mini-me in every way, but he still sports the plump baby cheeks and innocent expressions. 

 

“But I already know my numbers,” he says. Then his brow furrows as he continues, “But if I learn to read, I can help you with the blueprints, right?”

 

“Yep.”

 

His face changes from sad to happy in an instant. “So, school will make me a better helper?”

 

I chuckle and stand. “Only if we’re on time.”

 

He jumps up and tosses his stuffy onto the bed. Then he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the door. “Come on, Dad. We’re already behind schedule.”

 

I ruffle his hair and realize we should have made a trip to the Cove and Curl for a trim. His hair is curling on the ends; it’s gotten so long. After running a hand through mine, I could use a clean-up cut myself. 

 

“I’ll call Jolene and make us hair appointments,” I say as we head out the door. 

 

“Okay.” 

 

I help my son into his booster seat in my truck. It’s another thing I should spend a few minutes pulling into shape. It smells like sawdust, drywall, coffee, and the faint scent of heated leather seats from the sun beating through the window. The front passenger seat contains rolled-up plans, my hard hat, work gloves, and lunchbox.

 

The back seat isn’t much better. Huddy is now holding his kid-sized hard hat, but I know there’s crushed Goldfish in the upholstery and floorboards, at least one water bottle, several crayons, and a sock or two that haven’t made it into the house. 

 

It should stress me out, but it makes me smile. Hudson is the most important person in my life. We’ve done pretty well on our own. Sure, we’ve got family and friends that would help any time we need, but for the most part, I’ve handled his care all these years. 

 

I just wish he’d known his mother.

 

Hudson is humming something in the back seat, watching the world fly past his window. I love him so much. Sometimes I’m glad he doesn’t look much like his mother, because it would hurt every time I looked at him. Other times, I wish there was more of her to hold onto.

 

Ginny was so excited to start our family, but it wasn’t meant to be. At least she got to hold Hudson for a couple of minutes before everything went wrong.  

​

“Dad?” Hudson’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. 

 

“Yeah, buddy?”

 

“After I learn to read, can I go back to work tomorrow?”

 

“Not tomorrow. It takes more than a day to learn how to read.”

 

“How long?” he asks. 

 

“Well, you’ll be in school for the next thirteen years. And then you’ll go to college. But after all of that, if you want to work with me, I’ll be happy for you to come back.” I glance in the mirror and see his brow furrow again.

 

“That sounds like a long time. I don’t want to go to school that long. You need me. Who will take messages to Uncle Adam or Kaleb?”

 

“I guess I’m going to have to learn how to use my phone,” I tease him. “You know, once you meet some of your classmates, you’ll have so much fun you won’t even miss me.”

 

Hudson grunts like he doesn’t believe me as I pull into the parking lot of Spruce Cove Elementary. It’s the same red brick building I went to school in forever ago. In fact, my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Ellis, is now the principal. 

​

I open Hudson’s door and wait for him to climb down from the truck. He’s still got his hard hat in his hands as I slide his new backpack onto his shoulders. There’s another twinge of sadness as I think that his mom should be here for this. 

 

He looks too small to be in school. For a moment, I want to put him back in the truck and head to work. It’ll be weird to know he isn’t hanging out in the construction trailer or following me around when it’s safe for him to do so. 

 

Instead, I point to his hard hat. “You going to leave that in the truck?”

 

He shakes his head. “I want to keep it with me.”

 

I wait, but he doesn’t say anything else. He’s holding it so tight that I don’t think I could pry it from his grip. It wouldn’t be worth the risk of starting a meltdown anyway. 

 

“Do you want me to ask your teacher if you can keep it with you today?” I ask.

 

He nods. 

 

It’s weird for him to be so quiet. Usually, he talks non-stop. Maybe he’s feeling as nervous as I am now that we’re here. He reaches up and takes my hand after putting his hard hat on his head. We walk inside together.

 

We came to the open house last week, but yesterday I got an email letting me know that his teacher had changed from Mrs. Middleton to Miss Walsh. It didn’t say why, but I know his new room is across the hall from his original one. 

 

I remember a Heidi Walsh from my high school days. She was a couple of years behind me, so I didn’t know her well. As long as she is a good fit for Hudson, it doesn’t matter to me. 

 

We reach his classroom. The door is open wide, and there’s a paper tree covering the entire thing. The trunk is twisted paper that gives it a 3D feel, and there are twenty apples in the branches. Each one has a name on it. 

 

“Huddy, look, there’s your name,” I say as I point to the one with his name.

 

“They know I’m coming?” he asks.

 

“Of course I do,” a soft voice answers. 

 

We turn and find a bright-eyed, auburn-haired beauty smiling at us. Well, she’s smiling at Hudson. I don’t know if she even noticed me, but I can’t help but stare. I recognize Heidi Walsh. Except, apparently that girl a few years behind me in school became…

 

Well...

 

She’s wearing black slacks and a soft green blouse, and then she kneels next to my son like he's the only person standing in the hallway. 

 

“You must be Hudson. I’m Miss Walsh, and I’m so glad you’re going to be in my room this year.” She points to his hat. “Tell me about your hat.”

 

Hudson is standing tall as he knocks his hat with his fist. “It’s a hard hat. I wear it because I get to work with Dad out on the job site. It’s to keep me safe.”

 

“That’s so important. Do you like working with your Dad?” she asks, never taking her eyes off of Hudson.

 

“It’s my favorite, but he says I have to go to school now for a long time. Can you teach me to read faster so I can go back to work with him?” 

 

He’s so serious that it makes my heart ache. 

 

Miss Walsh smiles at him before she says, “I wish it were that easy, but school is just as important as work. In fact, you could say it’s your job for the next several years. The good news is that I promise to make it as fun as I can.”

 

Hudson sighs. “Okay, if I have to.”

 

Miss Walsh stands and finally meets my gaze. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet at the open house, but Hudson will have a great time in my classroom. Today I’ll send home all the information you need to get in touch with me if you have any concerns going forward.”

 

“Thanks, I appreciate that. Oh, he wondered if he could keep his hard hat with him today,” I add before leaving.

 

She appears to think about it for a moment before saying, “Absolutely. We’ll find somewhere special to keep it when you don't want to wear it. Why don’t you go explore the room? As soon as everyone is here, we’ll get to know all of our new friends.”

 

“Okay.” 

 

Hudson turns and hugs my legs. I bend down to give him a proper hug and find it hard to let him go. He’s growing up way too fast. 

 

“Be good for Miss Walsh, okay, Huddy Buddy.”

 

“I will, Dad.”

 

“I’ll pick you up at the end of the day, okay?”

 

He nods and then walks into the room. Without me. He doesn’t even look back as he joins some boys playing with wooden blocks. He stands there a moment looking down at what they’re doing.

 

“You can’t put that there. You need a foundation first,” he says. 

 

The other boys stare up at him in confusion. Heidi Walsh’s lips curve up as she watches the exchange, but she doesn’t go over there. I watch as Hudson sits beside them and starts pointing and talking to the other boys. At least he’s 

 

A light touch lands on my arm for just a moment, and then it’s gone. The shock that accompanies it is a surprise. It’s enough to pull my attention from my son to the woman standing beside me. 

 

“He’ll be fine.” 

 

Her expression is soft, and it soothes me just enough to take a step back. Now, I’m in the hall and can no longer see Hudson. I take a breath and retreat another step. 

 

“I know he’ll love it here,” I say. “I just don’t know how I’ll get used to working without him.” 

 

I don’t know why I shared something so personal, but Miss Walsh has a way about her that draws it from me.

 

Before she can respond, I wave and head down the hall thinking about Hudson. Mrs. Middleton seemed nice enough, but she was older. I think Heidi Walsh will understand my son better. 

 

Before I turn the corner, I look over my shoulder and see that Heidi is kneeling beside another new student. 

 

Yeah, it’s going to be a good year.