Learning to Fall

I slumped against the cold brick wall outside Ella’s classroom, watching in mild amusement as Logan toddled around, entertaining the many parents waiting anxiously for their children. A man was even smiling at him, obviously finding my son rather cute.

“Logan, don’t do that,” I called out lazily, as he started opening some of the small wooden lockers outside the classroom. He was probably hunting for more scissors. Logan looked up at me innocently and moved away, slowly walking to another area.

“Gerard?”

I snapped my head up upon hearing my name fall from a strangers lips, looking over to see the man who had been watching Logan before now looking at me curiously. His face split into a wide smile as I turned to face him, my mind completely blanking as to who he was. I studied him for a moment, taking in his well fitting jeans and hoodie, up to his dark brown hair that looked almost black. A lip ring glimmered in the light and his hazel eyes were shining brightly at me. He looked genuinely pleased to see me. It was just a shame I couldn’t say the same.

“Hey,” I said, giving a weak smile and deciding I would just try and wing it, hoping that I would soon realize where I knew him from. He did look vaguely familiar, but men like him filtered through my store on a daily basis so I found him hard to place.

“How are you?” I continued, making awkward conversation.

“I’m fine! How are you? It’s good to see you again!” he exclaimed, his smiling only getting wider.

I swallowed, taking my time to reply. “Good…it’s nice to see you too,” I lied, trying to be polite.

“Are you picking someone up?”

I nodded. “Yeah, my little girl started today,” I said with a proud smile at the thought of my Ella growing up so fast.

“Really? Mine too!” The man exclaimed, a full on grin making its way on his face as he showed his obvious joy. “Whose class is she in?”

My smile dropped as I tried to remember. I had no idea what the answer to that one was, just like I still had no idea who the man in front of me was. Maybe it was because I was getting old and losing my memory.

“I’m not sure. Logan- come here and stop pulling the leaves off that plant.”

Logan looked at me guilty, a look that seemed almost permanent on his face and toddled over, tugging on my pants to make sure I knew he was there. The mystery man looked down and laughed at him, obviously finding the action sweet.

“This is Logan, say hello Logan.”

Logan smiled and waved at the man, hiding his little body behind my legs as he did when he was feeling shy.

“Hi Logan,” the man said and waved back, before looking at me once more. “He’s adorable.”

I smiled my thanks. “He is pretty cute,” I agreed.

“He looks just like you!” The man went on and then blushed when he realized he had indirectly called me adorable.

I laughed. “I don’t think I’m quite as adorable.”

“Daddy!” Two little voices called out. I turned to see Ella and another little girl coming out of the classroom holding hands quickly, both appearing to be quite happy.

“Ella!” I said delightedly, as at the same time the man next to me called, “Sophia!”
I crouched down on the floor, as Ella let go of her friends hand and jumped into my waiting arms. Logan gave her a sloppy kiss on the arm, leaving half the saliva that was once in his mouth on her arm.

“Ew,” she whispered to me and wiped it on my jacket, not that I minded.

“How was your day sweetie?” I asked her. She started excitedly talking about her day, telling me about all the fun things she had done. I snuck a glance over at the man who had been next to me and noticed he was still embracing his daughter, whispering words into her ear and seeming utterly content.

I smiled, it was cute.

They broke apart. “Daddy, I want to show you my new friend,” the little girl said to the man and I quickly turned away, pretending I hadn’t been watching the exchange and had instead been attentively listening to Ella like any good father would have been.

“This is Ella!” The little girl with curly brown hair exclaimed, cutting Ella off mid sentence and giving her a hug. Ella hugged her back, after getting over her initial surprise of being hugged so unexpectedly. She then looked uncertainly up at Sophia’s dad, her little hand creeping into mine as her shyness kicked in.

“Hi Ella,” the man waved to her.

“Did you make a friend Ella?” I asked the little girl attached to my hand, who quickly nodded proudly.

“This is Sophia,” she informed me. I smiled at Sophia.

“Hi Sophia, I’m Gerard and this is Logan.” I looked over for Logan, who had yet again walked away and was trying to consume some Lego that he had found on the floor. “Logan, don’t even think about putting that in your mouth.”

Logan looked up at me, frozen with the Lego in front of his open mouth. He reluctantly threw it on the ground and came back over to us.

“Sophia, where did your other ribbon go?” the man whose name I had yet to remember asked his daughter.

She patted her hair, checking that it was in fact still missing and re-affirming that the second was still in its place.

“She gave it to me,” Ella said shyly, causing me to turn my head and see that my daughter was indeed wearing a different ribbon to the one she left the house with.

“Ella lost hers daddy, so because I had two, I gave her one. You always tell me to share, so I did!” Sophia said, her bright green eyes that matched her fathers shining brightly.

Sophia’s dad leaned down and gave her a hug, kissing the top of her curly brown head. “That was very nice of you, sweetheart,” he told her, pride seeping through his voice.

Ella tugged impatiently on my sleeve, suggesting I had been watching the father and daughter interaction for a bit too long.

“Can we go to McDonalds now?” she begged, her blue eyes going wide with anticipation. It was amazing how I could try and bribe her with an expensive dress, only to have her refuse but at a single mention of McDonalds she was easily cooperating.

“McDonald!” Logan echoed, the magic “M” word catching his attention and bringing him away from trying to catch a butterfly.

“Are we going there too? You promised Daddy,” Sophia asked her father.

The mystery man looked over at me, a wry smile on his face.

“The downside of bribes, huh,” I said to him, running a hand through my hair. A part of me had been desperately hoping that Ella would have forgotten about my little promise to go to the fast food giant after school, preferring instead to go straight home and crash in front of the couch watching Wiggles re-runs with Logan all afternoon.

“Yeah…”the mystery man said and laughed nervously.

“Well, guess we’ll see you there,” I said, causing my children to squeal with delight and the two girls to hug one another.

“Guess you will,” he replied, shooting me a large smile and taking Sophia’s hand before leading her towards the glass doors at the end of the hall.

I slung Ella’s pink backpack over my shoulder and took her hand, leaving her to hold Logan’s hand and lead him along. We made our way down the hall, walking slowly for the sake of Logan’s small legs which couldn’t move as fast.

“McDonalds!” Logan said happily, feeding off his sister’s excited mood.

“Now, what’s the rule when we go to McDonalds?” I asked them as we reached the glass doors.

“Don’t tell Mommy,” they chorused, knowing the aneurysm Miranda would have had she known about what I was feeding the kids behind her back.

“That’s right,” I said, as another thought struck me. “Hey Ella, you know your friend Sophia? Do you know what her dad’s name is?”

I looked at my daughter, my hopes becoming dashed as she pulled a weird face.

“No, I only just met her, daddy,” she said to me, squeezing my hand at the ‘just’ for further emphasis.

“Right.”

Damn, who was that guy and where the hell did I know him from?

---

We arrived at McDonalds in no time, with only two very serious discussions with Ella as to whether she would have the Cheeseburger or Nuggets. She decided to go with the nuggets, as she liked cows better then chickens and therefore wanted to spare them being eaten by her. I didn’t tell her no matter what she chose, that cow wasn’t coming back to life.

Ella jumped out of the car the minute we arrived, immediately skipping over to where Sophia was crossing the car park with her dad, and wrapping her in a big hug when she reached her. I smiled to myself, opening the car door and going to get Logan out of the car seat he was currently trapped in.

“They’re so adorable aren’t they?” said a voice behind me. I turned to see Sophia’s dad behind me, hands in his black jean pockets as he waited patiently for me.

“Very adorable,” I agreed, unbuckling Logan and letting him scramble down from his seat. I took his hand quickly, preventing him from running straight into an oncoming car and becoming something that resembled a McDonalds patty.

The mystery man lead the way in, holding the glass door open for Logan and me to walk in before him. I shot him a smile and guided Logan towards the counter. A quick scan of my surrounding area revealed that Ella was no where in sight, and neither was her friend Sophia. I turned to the man beside me with wide eyes, who looked back at me with a curious expression.

“Where are the girls?” I asked him, feeling completely stupid for not even noticing my daughter had been missing from my side.

He smiled at me, easing my fears with one simple expression. If he wasn’t worried, then I didn’t have any reason to be.

“Relax,” he told me, with a flick of his hand, “they ran straight to the playground.”

“Good,” I replied, grateful my daughter was safe. Well, as safe as you could be on a McDonalds playground notorious for syringes being found regularly there.

“Happy meal?” Logan asked, tugging on my jeans once more. I reached down and lifted him up, not wanting his small body to get trampled by the hungry patrons in the greasy fast food restaurant.

I considered his request for a moment. “How about you share one with daddy?” I proposed, knowing perfectly well he could not stomach a whole happy meal on his own. He nodded eagerly. I was pretty sure he just wanted the toy.

I turned to the man behind me, who was reading the menu printed above.

“Will Sophia want one too?” I asked, prepared to pay for his meal as a small consolation for having no idea who he was.

He nodded. “But I’ll get it. You already did so much for me today, I should be treating you for giving me the Maiden DVD!”

That was when it clicked.

My eyes widened, my mouth dropped open and I turned to gape at him, taking in his appearance once more.

“FRANK!”