How to be nice

Ella and Stacy didn't show up for dinner. Neither did Damien Jaeger and I found this really puzzling. What was he discussing with Ella that made him frightened when he thought I had overheard him? Damien Jaeger whose emotions you could never read, was outwardly shocked to see me.

"Pass the salad, Anna." Darcy's voice broke my thoughts. I gave her a good look to remind her of her manners, "Can you pass the salad please?"

"Sorry mommy." She said and I smiled.

"It's fine sweetheart." I said, "Anna, Darcy would like some salad please."

The little girl smiled and shyly passed the salad.

"But why does she need to say 'please'?" Elena asked with interest, "It's not like she's a begger or something."

"Yes. She's not a begger." I said, "But it's good to be polite when asking for someone's help. It makes them feel good when they offer something to you."

"Mommy never says 'Please'...or 'Thank you'." Elena said and for some time, she looked carried away, "And so I don't say those either."

Natalie mumbled under her breath. It was obvious that she wasn't surprised.

"Why don't you pass me some Paninis." I said and the little girl carried the plate in her hand and stretched it towards me. Anna, being closer to Elena, collected the bowl from her and passed it to me.

"Thank you, Elena." I said. She looked at me for a few seconds then a smile grew on her face.

"That does feel good."

"I thought so too." I concurred, "It's the same way someone else will feel when they help you and you tell them 'Thank you', or how you will make someone feel alot better by saying 'Sorry' when they're feeling sad or 'Excuse me' when you're in their way."

Elene's smile turned into a grin, revealing her teeth with a space on the upper gum bare and toothless. Natalie had stopped eating her food and was now smiling at me. I smiled back at her and took a bite of my Panini.

"How's school?" I asked. It was for any of the kids to answer. I thought it was a good idea to use this opportunity to get to know the kids better as Ella and Stacy were absent from the table and Damien Jaeger hated noise on the table.

"It's fun!" Elena was the first to respond, "I'm in the big girl's class!" She said with pride.

"Wow. The big girl's class." "That's kindergarten, isn't it?" There was a wide smile on my face.

She nodded so vigorously that I thought her head would fall off.

I turned to Anna, "And what about you, darling? What class are you in?"

She looked at me, as if unsure to respond. Then, "Kindergarten."

"Wowwwwwww." I said with exaggerated amusement. That earned me a laugh from Natalie, "You all are big girls."

"I'm in pre-kindergarten!" Darcy yelled out because she didn't want to be left behind.

"Yes baby, you're a big girl too." I said and Elena laughed. 'No she's not. She's still in Pre-k' She must have said under her breath.

"Kira darling, You want to go to school too honey?" Natalie teased Kira who nodded a no. Natalie laughed, "Good attempt, I guess."

Her eyes turned to me as I laughed. She briefly looked above me and almost immediately, I saw her straightening in her chair. She cleared her throat and faced her meal.

What was that all about? I wondered and turned to look where she had stared behind me. A gasp escaped my lips and I found myself straightening in my chair.

Damien Jaeger walked into the hall. He was dressed in black blazer, a pair of black pants and a black shirt tucked neatly into it. His hair was as usual- styled neatly with grease.

Taking his seat, he reached for the plate in front of him and his fork picked a piece of mutton which he slowly guided to his mouth. That left me wondering why he loved mutton so much.

"Well?" His voice broke. Natalie and I exchanged curious looks, "Carry on."

His eyes left his plate and moved to me, "I haven't shut your mouth with glue now, have I?"

I was startled, "Oh...definitely not."

I heard a low laugh from Elena. Then Anna giggled under her breath and Darcy, who wanted to follow her sister's examples, laughed.

I cleared my throat, "Well, I was just telling the kids how- good it is to be nice."

"Hmmm." He seemed not to have heard a single thing that I said, "Good to be nice." Apparently, he did!

"Is daddy nice?" He turned towards the kids. They looked at him with puzzled looks on their faces and stammered wordless replies. I found this little so comical that I roared with laughter.
Damien Jaeger gave me a curious look and this only made me laugh some more.

He frowned, "Did I make any jokes, Mélie?"

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." I said in between laughs.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way." I said as my laughter faded into the back of my throat.

He stopped his interrogation and for the rest of his dinner, he returned to Damien Jaeger who uttered not a single word when eating his food.

Dinner was done and dusted and we headed back to our rooms for the night. Natalie thought it was a good idea to watch a movie with the kids in the home cinema. It was indeed a good idea- but I had work to do and the kids had school the next day.

"Darcy's homework is also not done." I added apologetically, "Maybe we can schedule it for another day."

"Sure, no problem...we might as well make it a family game night then." She said with a light chuckle.

"I'd love that."

After telling each other goodnight, I headed back to our room with Darcy and dragged Darcy right down to homework.

"Come on Darcy, you're being lazy these days. Come write your alphabets." I said when Darcy had decided that the best thing to do at that moment instead of doing homework, was to dance without any music.

I couldn't help but laugh. She resembled a cute little frog. Then putting on a serious face, I said, "Darcy, if you don't write your alphabet, there won't be any Cinderella tonight."

She got my message and quickly took her place opposite me on the bed, "I'll write my alphabet and you will read me 2...no, 3 bedtime stories."

I sighed. This little girl was very good at making things go her way, "Fine. You'll get 3 bedtime stories tonight."

She cried in victory and quickly doodled her alphabet into her book.

"Now that is a good girl." I said once we were done with her homework, "Now, mommy will read Darcy 3 bedtime stories like she promised." I announced.

We got comfortable under the duvet and I flipped the first page. I still had work to do in order to meet the deadline. Reading bedtime stories shouldn't take so much time though, "The story of Goldilocks"

"Once upon a time," I began, "There lived a girl named Goldilocks…"

"...this porridge is too hot!' Said little goldie."

"I hate cold porridges too mommy!" Darcy declared, squeezing her face as she spoke.

"Of course darling, we all don't." I said and returned to the story.
~

"...the evil witch gave Snow White the poisoned apple…"

"Don't collect food from strangers, Snow White!" Darcy yelled as I read her the second book. It was the story of Snow White and the Seven dwarfs.

"And Snow White collected the apple and bit into it. Immediately, she fell into a deep sleep." I said with hyperbolic shock.

"Oh noooo. Not the deep sleep!" Darcy said, pulling her face in misery. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes baby, The deep sleep." I said and continued the story. Sleep started creeping into my eyes and I tried to stay awake as I read to Darcy. After she had fallen asleep, I grabbed a sweater from the closet, slid in my slippers and picked up my tote bag to head to the library for work.

This time around, I didn't find Damien Jaeger in the library as I walked in and this gave me a little fright. I moved myself to the exact spot he occupied the last time and this gave me a little sense of security as I imagined he was sitting right there with me. Dropping my bag on the table, I removed my laptop and quickly got down to work, ignoring the sleep in my eyes.

"Argh." I yelled as I felt my head bang a hard surface. I quickly regained my sitting position and rubbed my throbbing head. I had fallen asleep while working. I quickly checked my laptop in case it fell off the table and was glad that it was still intact.
The time read 12:43 a.m. I could work for a few more minutes then, I thought and got back to work.