People Change

Eight Years Later

“Jason! We’re going to make Ronnie late for his first day of school!” Sydney yelled up the staircase. She stepped briefly back into the kitchen to put Ronnie’s sandwich and Capri Sun pouch inside his lunch box, along with a banana and a little blue cooling thingamajig to keep everything cool. She snapped it shut and slid it off of the island counter, grabbing Ronnie’s backpack with her free hand and glancing at the clock on the wall. They had to get moving, and soon, or Ronnie would miss his bus.

“Guys!” Sydney yelled up the staircase. She sighed and ascended the staircase, slipping Ronnie’s Spiderman backpack over her shoulder. She walked towards Ronnie’s bedroom and pushed open the door to find Ronnie sitting on the carpet next to his bed, his little arms and legs wrapped tightly around a leg of his bed, staring up at Jason with wide, tear-filled eyes. He switched his gaze to his mother, and his bottom lip began to tremble.

“I don’t want to go,” Ronnie mumbled, pressing his face into his mattress. Jason crouched next to his seven-year-old son, rubbing his back soothingly and looking at Sydney with a face that simply said, “Help me out here!”

“Oh, but Ronnie, it’ll be loads of fun,” Sydney said soothingly, slipping a smile onto her face. She crouched down on the other side of Ronnie. “And it’s perfectly okay to be scared. Your Uncle Jimmy, on his first day of first grade, absolutely sobbed and begged Grandma not to make him go. Look at him now! No one will think any less of you just because you’re scared. It’s only natural.”

“He cried?” Ronnie asked, sniffling a bit.

“Sobbed,” Sydney corrected. Ronnie’s arms and legs loosened their grip on the leg of his bed. “I was young, but I engraved it into my memory for future use.”

“Just let that image sink into your mind a little, Ronster,” Jason added. Ronnie dragged his gaze back around to his father, blinking once or twice as his eyes dried up. “Now, are you ready to kick knowledge’s rear end right out the window!?” Jason raised his voice excitedly, standing up and holding out his hands for his son. Ronnie’s somber expression broke into a grin, and he nodded excitedly, releasing the bed leg and allowing Jason to grab his wrists and lift him easily up onto his shoulders.

“Duck, little man!” Jason called out as he stepped out of the door. Ronnie ducked down so he wouldn’t hit the door frame before straightening up again in the hallway. Sydney straightened up and, smiling, followed her favorite two men downstairs.

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“What if the other kids are mean to me?” Ronnie asked worriedly as Jason crouched in front of him, helping him slide the shoulder straps of his backpack over his thin shoulders. He glanced up at his mother who stood a few feet away, her long dark hair blowing in the gentle morning breeze. Sydney smiled into Ronnie’s startling blue eyes, stepping up and crouching next to Jason so she, for once, had to look up at her child. He’d definitely gotten the Sullivan height, though; he towered over kids even two or three years older than him. His thick, dark hair shifted in the wind, blowing across his forehead. He was a cute kid, and Sydney knew she couldn’t have asked for anything more.

“Just tell them that your father makes the Big Bad Wolf look like a yapping Chihuahua,” Jason answered, ruffling up Ronnie’s hair. Several other kids stood at the bus stop, most of them considerably older than Ronnie.

“Ronnie!” a little girl’s scream drifted towards them from down the sidewalk. All three of them looked around to see Brian and Michelle being dragged along by their hands by their daughter Nancy, who was the same age as Ronnie. She wore a cute pink dress with frilly white socks that she’d been so excited about wearing since she got them.

Sydney and Jason stood up as Nancy ran into Ronnie’s arms. Brian and Michelle exchanged greetings with the two of them before all four looked lovingly at their two children talking excitedly to each other. They knew Ronnie and Nancy were pretty much in love, and every time they saw them together, they couldn’t help but think of Forrest and Jenny off of Forrest Gump.

“I have never seen Nancy this excited,” Brian said, watching Nancy twirl a finger through her chestnut hair. “She jumped on our bed at six in the morning, as excited as though it were Christmas morning.”

“Really?” Sydney asked interestedly.

“Because Ronnie couldn’t have been less eager,” Jason finished. “He grabbed a hold of his bed post and wouldn’t let go.”

“I hope some of Nancy’s fervor will rub off onto him,” Sydney said hopefully, slipping her hand into Jason’s as the canary yellow school bus slid up to the sidewalk. With a hiss, the doors slid open. As the other kids stepped on, Ronnie turned and released Nancy’s hand, running over and throwing his arms around his parents.

“Have a great day, pumpkin,” Sydney whispered, rubbing Ronnie’s back. Jason said along the lines of the same thing, and they both kissed Ronnie on the cheek at the same time. Ronnie ran back to Nancy, and they linked hands once more before climbing up onto the bus.

“Looks like we have the house to ourselves,” Jason murmured suggestively in Sydney’s ear. Brian overheard and made a face before wriggling his eyebrows at Michelle.

“It’s been nice seeing you!” Sydney and Michelle called to each other as their respective husbands grabbed them around the waists and started dragging the two of them in opposite directions towards their houses. They waved to each other, the flashing yellow school bus disappearing towards the elementary school.