Work Text:
Cassie fixed the straps of her Hello Kitty bag resolutely, and turned to face the tall front door. She’d been on many harrowing missions - but this would undoubtedly be her most dangerous one yet.
“Mommy, I don’t want to go to school.”
Helena - or Mommy, as Cassie knew her - didn’t seem to pay her much heed. “You’ll do great, Cassie. They’ll love you.”
Cassie crossed her arms in a huff. That wasn’t the point.
“I’m staying at home,” she declared, quickly looking back at Helena to see what she might do. Helena didn’t seem to react much at all, while she continued to look for her keys in the drawer.
“Mommy? Mommy, I said I’m staying home.” Cassie refused to just… not be heard. That was ridiculous. Everything Cassie said had to be heard by someone.
“Really?” Helena asked. “And what will you do all day?”
Cassie thought for a moment. “I’ll play dinosaurs with Tim,” she decided.
“Tim’s at crèche,” Helena said. “But, maybe when you get to school, you can play dinosaurs with the other kids there.”
“But I want to play dinosaurs with Tim,” Cassie insisted.
“You’ll be able to do that later today,” Helena assured her, slipping the car keys into her coat pocket. “Now, are you ready for your first day?”
The door was open. Cassie knew she’d been excited about this earlier in the week. But somehow, actually going to school seemed very different than just thinking about it.
Helena crouched down to Cassie’s eye level. “What’s up, goldfish?”
Cassie didn’t know what was up. Instead of answering, she burst into tears.
“Oh, goldfish.” Helena brushed away her tears. “It’ll be fun. You remember when you were in crèche, yeah? Remember all the arts and crafts?”
Cassie nodded, sniffling.
“School isn’t going to be so different from that. You’ll get to do arts and crafts. Some of your crèche friends will be there too.”
Cassie wiped her face with her sleeve. “Will Georgie be there?”
Helena smiled. “Of course Georgie will be there. So, are you ready?”
And, as Cassie watched their house disappear from the car window, she felt the apprehension morph into something more like anticipation.