The next day, Joan woke up rather early. She spent some time fixing the first meal of the day in the kitchen. After that, and with some time to spare, she stayed in the dining room as she waited for Lucius to rise.
“Good morning! Time for breakfast,” Joan greeted Lucius who had just come out of his room, rubbing his eyes.
“Mom, you're up early. The parent-teacher conference is in the afternoon,” Lucius informed her, but not before letting out a yawn.
“Oh, it's not about that. Go get your breakfast,” Joan urged the boy.
“Are you going to the parent-teacher conference?” Delilah asked her from her spot on the sofa after the child left the room.
“Yes, of course,” Joan answered.
Delilah looked like she wanted to tell Joan something, but she eventually resisted the idea.
Life was always full of surprises. No one would ever know what would happen in the next second. Joan, for example, had not expected that she would bump into a familiar figure at the parent-teacher conference later in the afternoon.
“Ms. Young, do you think I look nice in this?” Joan nervously asked for Delilah's opinion.
Before she left the house that day, she had received a call from Lucius' homeroom teacher informing her that, as a parent representative, she would be giving a speech at the event.
“It's fine. You better get going now. There's no time to fuss. You know you look good in
anything,” came Delilah's rather impatient response.
“No, you have to tell me, Delilah. Do I look nice in this or not? I don't want to embarrass Lucius in front of the class,” Joan mumbled anxiously.
He's a child! Your appearance doesn't really matter to him! Delilah lifted her head to study the busy woman in front of her. Eventually, she let out a sigh.
“So, what do you think?” Joan spun around a few times in front of Delilah.
“Yes, yes, you look nice in that. Get going, alright? Quit dawdling or you'll be late!”
Without a minute to lose, Joan up and left the house with Lucius in tow, disappearing from Delilah's line of sight.
The school was crowded. Everywhere, parents and students huddled in small groups, forming an overall peaceful and harmonious scene.
“Mom, I did really well in the test! Look, I've improved so much!”
“Mom, our homeroom teacher gave us this reward!”
“That's wonderful, dear. You know you'll always be the smartest kid to me.”
Several mothers and their children were busy chatting among themselves, seemingly having the time of their lives. It was rather enviable.
Where's Lucius? Where did he go? Joan stood on tiptoes as she searched for her son.
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