The New Ginger Princess

It's perfectly normal to go a bit crazy the night before a first day, wether it's the first day of school or the first day at a new job. Austin and Alan both understand this so when September 3rd rolls around they both mentally prepare for Marissa to go a bit crazy.

The morning goes fine, Austin working and Alan staying home with Marissa, who chooses to spend time playing games. Of course she makes sure to ask as many questions regarding kindergarten that she can think of. 

"How long is school?" Marissa asks while she takes her turn in Chutes And Ladders.

Alan thinks for a minute before saying, "You will go to school from 9 in the morning to around noon."

"What about lunch?"

"You will eat lunch there. I think that's the last thing of the day."

"Are we going to make my lunch tonight? Are we going to make sure everything is ready before I go to bed?"

"Yes to both."

The next hour continues like this, questions and board games until they decide to just watch tv and relax for a bit. Alan isn't really worried about much in the way of getting ready for Marissa's first day except for the issue of who will do her hair in the morning. It is still the most despised task for everyone involved, Marissa hating to have her hair brushed and both her parents not wanting to be the one who has to do it. Alan is actually tempted to call his mom up just so that Marissa can have her hair look extra pretty on her first day, but not enough to seriously call her. With a bit of consideration Alan decides that if he brushes Marissa's hair tonight then it won't be as bad in the morning, so Austin will be more willing to take care of it. 

It takes more than a little convincing to get Marissa to sit down and get her hair brushed, Alan having to promise that they can go out for ice cream after dinner. As far as how her hair will be in the morning Marissa makes a point of wanting her hair in pigtails, which Austin can do way better than Alan anyway. Alan puts on music to help pass time through the unwanted hair brushing. Luckily the detangling spray helps a lot but it still takes half an hour to take care of the giant knot in the back of her hair that admittedly the parents should have taken care of sooner. With the main chaos dealt with the rest of the little tangles are practically nothing and are gone in about five minutes. 

The most amazing thing is that both Marissa and Alan managed to sit through almost forty minutes of dealing with Marissa's hair. At this point, even if he hadn't promised his daughter, Alan would decide to reward them both with ice cream later. The two of them eat lunch and try to calm down, both wishing that they can just get ice cream now instead. It isn't like they can't get ice cream, because they could quite easily walk to the ice cream shop, it's the fact that Austin would pout if he comes home and finds out they got ice cream without him. 

The afternoon passes in preoccupied boredom, both of them spending their time doing little chores around the house to give them something to do. The tasks manage to help them kill time but it isn't enough to make the time fly by with fun. It does get the laundry done and the living room clean by the time Austin gets home from work, two hours early.

With Austin's early arrival the family decides to go out for ice cream early and then spend an hour at the beach. They come home and have dinner before using the rest of the evening to get everything ready for Marissa's first day of school in the morning.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's 7 am when Austin and Alan are brought into the world of consciousness by a very loud call of, "Dad, Daddy, wake up! It's time to get ready for school!"

Even Austin isn't exactly fond of being woken in this manner, but both parents are quick to sit up and acknowledge the five year old girl standing on the chair at the foot of the bed. She has a beaming smile on her face paired with a look of impatience at the fact that her parents aren't out of bed and getting ready yet. 

"We are getting up right now so you can wait for us in the kitchen while we get dressed," Alan says starting to get up out of bed while Marissa runs out of the room and shuts the door behind her. The two of them get dressed and make their way to the kitchen where Marissa is sitting at the kitchen table in her pajamas, not wanting to risk getting food or toothpaste on her new outfit.

Austin starts on some coffee and toast while Alan makes scrambled eggs, neither of them really in the mood for cereal or toaster waffles. When they join their daughter at the table with each of their plates they have to tell Marissa to slow down a little to stop her from scarfing down her food in a rush. 

The second her plate is clear Marissa is once again speeding off to get ready, brushing her teeth so she can finally put on the outfit she chose for today. Her parents continue to leisurely sip their coffee and adjust to the morning while Marissa gets dressed. In about ten minutes Marissa returns to the kitchen fully dressed with her hairbrush in hand.

In all honesty, both parents will admit that neither one ever expected to see their daughter willing to have her hair brushed. It is quite a shock to see her standing there with her brush, asking for one of her parents to do her hair. She doesn't exactly want her hair brushed but she wants her hair to look nice for her first day, which is worth the torture in Marissa's eyes.

With most of the knots taken out of her hair the night before the task isn't as difficult as it usually is and she sits through the fifteen minutes it takes Austin to put her hair in pigtails. When her hair is finished her parents have her take a step back so they can see how she looks. Her outfit consists of a simple black skirt over light pink leggings, a darker pink t-shirt with Elsa and Anna on the front of it, and a little pair of classic converse.

The parents tell Marissa that it is almost time to go so she runs to her room to grab her denim jacket and her backpack. While she does that Alan grabs her lunch out of the fridge and Austin gets his phone ready to take pictures. Marissa runs back into the living room with her backpack and jacket on, grinning ear to ear. Alan hands Marissa her lunchbox and they have her stand in front of the front door for pictures. Both parents are struck by just how adorable their daughter is and how big of a moment this is for them as parents.

The three of them get in the car and drive to the elementary school, taking Marissa to her classroom. They each give her a hug and tell her that they will be there to pick her up after school, wishing her a great first day before leaving her there while they head home. The two of them took the whole day off work so they could focus their day around this milestone in their lives.

The couple doesn't do anything exciting with their free time, they simply curl up on the couch watching Netflix together. It seems odd how quickly the two adjusted to the constant sound and excitement that their daughter tends to create. The feeling of just being the two of them is welcome, but it is also joined by a sense that something is missing. They both find happiness in the fact that their daughter has changed their lives in the best way possible so quickly. Austin and Alan both smile at how they are no longer just a couple, they are parents and have their own family. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alan wakes up to the alarm on Austin's phone going off, which he set when the two of them started dozing off so they would be awake in time to pick Marissa up from school. Austin looks at the time and sees it's noon, knowing that they have about ten minutes before they need to leave. 

They get to Marissa's school a little before she gets out and wait with the other kindergarten parents at the front of the school. Austin and Alan get weird glances from the other parents, for a couple of reasons, the fact that they are two dads and their age. It's pretty clear that Austin and Alan are the youngest parents there, but they also have been parents for the least amount of time seeing as they would have been about sixteen when Marissa was born, but they have only had her in their lives for two months. The glances don't really bother the couple, they are used to people giving them strange looks because of their relationship. Plus none of the people are looking at them in disgust so the two of them see it as a win. 

A line of kindergarteners walks out of the school, their teacher leading them over to their backpacks which are set against the wall outside of the classroom. The kids grab their backpacks and wait for their parents to find them in line, saying goodbye to their teacher before they leave so the teacher doesn't lose any students. Austin and Alan walk over to Marissa who is just beaming as she talks to the girl standing in front of her in line.

"Dad, Daddy, this is my new best friend. Her name is Fiona," Marissa tells her parents. They both say hello to their daughter's friend and let the girls say goodbye before they guide Marissa to tell her teacher that they are leaving. 

They get in the car and Alan asks, "So how was your first day?" This opened the floodgates to the excitement Marissa is so eager to share with her parents.

"My day was so amazing, I can't wait to go back!" This is the best news ever for the parents, all of their nerves from before are put at ease and taken over by happiness. 

"So what did you do today?" Austin asks, both parents looking forward to hearing Marissa recount her day to them.

The next hour is spent with Marissa explaining everything about her day, from the time they dropped her off until the time they picked her up. She tells them how she made two best friends, Fiona and a boy named Patrick, and how even though Patrick is a boy he is really awesome. The teacher, who is named Mrs. Collins, is really nice and started the day by having each person tell the class their name and favorite color. Mrs. Collins had the class write as much of their names, the alphabet, and numbers zero through nine that they could do. Marissa says that she did all of those things, but not everyone could do it, that some kids didn't even know how to write their name. The teacher told the kids that it is perfectly okay no matter how much or little they knew and that she just had to check so she knows what all she needs to teach. 

The students all gave the teacher the classroom supplies they brought, and they each were given a cubby. Marissa describes the classroom as colorful and tells them how there is a play kitchen one corner, and that another corner is called the Comfy Corner because it has a lot of pillows and that there are books in that corner for the students. Some walls are almost empty, but the teacher said that they will have stuff added to them over time. 

They got to have free time before lunch because it was the first day, and that they will have different classes that they go to on certain days of the week starting on Monday. They will just have another day like that one tomorrow, since it is easier to start at the beginning of their first full week and it allows the kids to adjust better. She explains how the morning class ends their school day with lunch, and before they go to lunch they do a goodbye song that Mrs. Collins sings while the kids clap the beat. 

Marissa recounts all of this to her parents with animated gestures and a giant smile, and when she is finished she makes a point to ask her parents about how their day was. They tell her how they just watched Netflix and ended up falling asleep until it was time to pick her up.

She thinks that their day sounded peaceful but after a moment something sparks in her mind. "That means you slept through lunch," she points out in a concerned tone.

"I guess we did," Alan says, neither parent really realizing until just then that they had in fact slept through lunch time.

"You should have a snack then. Lunch is important, even for grown ups," Marissa says, running to the kitchen and coming back with two apples. She hands one to each of her parents and has them eat their snack while they all sit in the living room just relaxing.

With the first day done the only thing they really want to do is rest so they can have enough energy for the next day, which is expected to be just as exciting but nowhere near as nerve racking.