Chapter 14: Coffee Break

By the time Ashley returned from her lunch break, Sofia was at her wits' end. Of the four kids who had still been awake, three of them were still as alert as could be. The last had thankfully proven perfectly able to put himself to sleep. She wasn't sure she could have handled one more hellion in the mix.

The woman didn't seem phased by the development at all, simply reassuring Sofia and ushering her out to go eat. She didn't need to tell her twice.

So much for a relaxing naptime environment… That was absolutely awful.

She rubbed at her neck as she stepped into the break room, feeling the knots that had formed over the course of the last hour. When she got home, she'd take a long, hot shower to loosen them up. Hopefully that would help.

A stocky woman peered into the fridge, bending down slightly to see inside. A bright red tank top and exercise pants stretched against her muscular frame as if trying—and failing—to contain the brawn beneath. Her straight black hair was bound up in a high ponytail that fell down her back.

The woman straightened as Sofia entered, rising to her full height. She must've been at least six feet tall if not more. Her stern face looked like it had been chiseled out of stone.

“Uh… Hello!” Sofia found herself at a loss for words briefly, intimidated by the woman across the room.

“Hey.”

She waited for a moment, expecting the muscular woman to say more. When she didn't, Sofia decided to keep talking anyway. “I, uh, don't think we've met before. I'm Sofia.”

“Marge.” She answered simply. “You’re the new girl.”

She nodded in confirmation, although it had been more of a statement than a question. “Yeah. I'm in the Dragonlings room with Ashley. What room are you in?”

“Wyrmlings. Twos.” The woman bent down again and retrieved a container of what appeared to be chicken and rice. “You likin’ it?”

“Yeah. Well, for the most part. I just had a really rough naptime trying to get them to sleep…”

Marge grunted. “Been there before.”

As Marge moved toward the microwave, Sofia took her place in front of the fridge and pulled out her own lunch. Based on the woman's appearance, she was all but certain that this was the “orc” she'd hallucinated the day before. A realization that she honestly felt pretty bad about.

I mean, sure, she is jacked as heck, but it's not like she's ugly. She's just got really chiseled, masculine features. That's all. My subconscious really didn’t do her any favors…

The pair fell silent as they went about preparing their lunches. Marge’s curt responses indicated that she wasn't particularly interested in conversation at the moment, so Sofia didn't press for anything further. Which was why she was surprised when the brawny woman did speak again.

“Sucks there's no coffee.”

The words felt like an outstretched hand, one that Sofia certainly wasn't going to spurn. She glanced at the doghouse where the coffeemaker still rested. “Yeah… Do you know what the deal is with that, by the way? Is it broken?”

“Nah. Just misbehaving.”

The answer was just as vague and unhelpful as Ashley’s when she'd first seen an appliance shut up in the thing. Which was extra surprising considering how matter-of-fact Marge appeared—a stark contrast to the other teacher's dreaminess.

Sofia just shrugged. Maybe it's an inside joke that I just don't get. Seems like a lot of effort for something like that, but I won't say it's out of the question…

Still, the subtle bags under Marge's eyes made it clear that she really could have used a bit of caffeine. Sofia certainly wouldn't have turned it down either. She was even considering brewing a cup of tea just to perk herself up, even if it wouldn't be on par with her mom's.

The microwave chimed happily as it finished its work. Marge retrieved her bowl and headed for the door. Evidently, she wouldn't be eating in here.

“Nice to meet you!” Sofia called after her.

Marge grunted. “See you.”

The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Sofia alone once again in the empty break room. She looked around the space.

Dang. It really doesn't seem like people use this thing much, do they? Am I the only one who likes eating in here?

True, the forest was pretty beautiful. Eating outside was an understandably appealing option, and maybe she'd start doing that as well before long. But she'd assumed that hanging around here would be a good chance to meet the others working at the daycare. After all, she was still so new, and there were so many people she had yet to do much as see, much less talk to.

Shrugging, she settled down at one of the tables and dug into her chicken noodle soup. If no one was around to talk, then that was fine. Honestly, she could use a bit of peace and quiet right now.

***

When Sofia returned to the class after lunch, she was absolutely astonished to find everyone fast asleep. Ashley had evidently worked some sort of magic to convince those last three kids to finally nap—though as everyone woke up for their afternoon snack, she did note that they seemed a little more groggy than usual.

“Don't beat yourself up about it,” Ashley reassured her. “Sometimes naptime is just hard like that. You'll get the hang of it, just like with everything else!”

Sofia wasn't entirely convinced. She could tell that she was slowly but surely getting better at interacting with the kids in a whole plethora of ways. But naptime was such a different beast. The goals, the tactics she could use, the need to keep everyone quiet or risk waking up even more kids… it had honestly stressed her out more than any other time of day.

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I didn't realize how good I had it, coming in for the second half after she's done all the hard work. Maybe it's better if we just keep it that way…

It was a bit of a selfish thought. Then again, looking at the tired faces of Naomi, Annie, and Todd, maybe it wasn't quite as selfish as she thought.

The rest of the day passed by in its usual blur of activity. After snack time, circle time, and a bit of indoor play, the kids headed outside for one last bout of playground time. The schedule worked out such that parents would begin to pick up their kids around that point, which was a pretty smart design choice in her opinion. Letting the kids tire themselves out a little bit before going home was a consideration that she was certain the parents appreciated.

Sofia heard the door to the daycare open and glanced over, then smiled. She turned back to the playground and called out. “Lina!”

The girl turned to look and gasped. Both teachers watched as Lina sprinted toward her father, a balding, ruddy-faced man with a bit of a belly and the quintessential dad sunglasses. He wore a polo emblazoned with the logo of a local mechanic, making it apparent he’d come here straight from work. His face broadened into an enthusiastic smile as he bent down to catch her, hefting her high above his head and spinning her in a circle. The little blonde girl squealed in delight.

Sofia smiled at the sight as Ashley called out. “Everyone say bye, Lina!”

“Bye, Lina!” The rest of the kids echoed her words, save for a few that were too thoroughly engrossed in whatever they were doing. The little girl waved to her friends from her dad’s arms as he nodded to Sofia and Ashley. “Thank you. See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow!” Ashley agreed, giving the pair a dreamy wave as they headed inside.

The scene repeated itself as, one by one, the kids headed home with their parents and grandparents. It was a familiar ritual at this point, but one that somehow managed to remain pretty darn adorable each time. At least, that was how Sofia saw it. But based on Ashley’s warm expression, she couldn’t imagine the woman would disagree.

Eventually, Ashley stretched toward the sky, her joints seeming to creak with the motion. “Well. It looks like it’s about time for me to be heading out… Do you need anything before I go?”

“Nope. Not that I can think of.” Sofia playfully shooed the woman off. “Go ahead and get out of here.”

The woman gave a light laugh. “Well, if you’re that eager to get rid of me… I suppose I will. Thanks for all your hard work today.”

Sofia gave her a wave and turned toward the playground. “Everyone say bye, Miss Ashley!”

“Bye, Miss Ashley!”

A majority of the remaining kids stopped what they were doing and locked onto the willowy woman like homing missiles. Before she could escape, they managed to wrap their arms around her legs and squeezed in a series of powerful hugs—well, powerful for the kids, that was.

Ashley giggled affectionately as the kids let go. “All right. I’ll see you all tomorrow, ok? You be good for Miss Sofia!”

The kids happily dispersed, returning to their previous activities as Sofia bid the teacher one last goodbye. Then, she returned her attention to the playground.

At first, the prospect of spending any amount of time alone with the kids terrified her, especially on her first day. But it surprisingly ended up being not too bad. By this point in the day there were usually only two to four kids for her to watch over, which proved much easier to manage. Fewer kids meant fewer directions that her attention was being pulled in, as well as fewer opportunities for them to feed off each other and turn into little tyrants. Added to the fact that she was free to simply let them play as opposed to having lessons to teach or schedules to keep… It was one of the easiest parts of the day. Next to a second-half naptime shift, of course.

After the last of the kids was picked up, Sofia headed inside to do a quick once-over of the classroom. A few crumbs still littered the floor and not all of the toys were in their proper places, but other than that? It actually didn’t look too bad.

She went about straightening a couple of things here and there. After she left, the janitors would come through to clean up, sanitize everything, and prepare it for tomorrow. However, she still liked to help out where she could. After all, she only had this one room to manage. They had to clean up all of them.

She picked up the round crab plushie from where it was perched atop the play kitchen’s fridge and shook her head. The kids were generally pretty good at putting away their toys. But this one in particular was an exception. It seemed like it ended up somewhere different every day, though never in the pile with all the other stuffed animals.

How did they even get it up there, anyway? They must have climbed on a chair when we weren’t looking…

Plopping the crab down in its rightful place, Sofia began taking out the trash—the one part of cleanup that was actually her responsibility. As she did, a brief flash of color caught her eye.

Turning around, she saw a bright blue butterfly hovering above the counter, its iridescent wings shimmering brilliantly with every flap. One of the kids must have caught it and snuck it inside. They always came in here to grab their backpacks before going home, so it wouldn’t be too absurd a prospect. But however it had gotten in, Sofia had no intention of keeping it cooped up inside. The poor thing would die in here.

As she watched, it landed on the bag of frosted animal cookies they’d handed out for an afternoon snack. She crept up slowly, cupping her hands in hopes of not hurting the beautiful insect. Then she darted forward to capture it. The butterfly glided out of reach with almost contemptuous ease.

Sofia grabbed at it a few more times with similar success. She looked around for a net or bowl or something she could use to help, but to no avail.

“Hold still, will you?” She complained, grabbing for it again. “I’m trying to help you get out of here!”

The butterfly zipped out of her reach once more, spiraling into the air before diving toward the counter. It alighted softly on the bag of cookies again. Its wings fluttered in place almost impatiently where it sat.

It just keeps going back to the cookies… Maybe it senses the sugar or something?

She wasn’t even sure that butterflies could eat something like that. She knew they usually drank pollen or sugar water, so probably not. Then again, she was no expert.

After a moment of consideration, Sofia pulled a little plastic plate from the cabinets above the counter. The butterfly hovered nearby as she took a cookie from the bag and broke it in two. One half she placed on one side of the plate, while the other she set in a small puddle of water she made on the other side. If the butterfly could eat the cookie as it was, then great. If not, then maybe the cookie-sweetened water would prove an acceptable alternative.

It wasn’t a perfect plan. Maybe the sweeteners used in the frosting weren’t actually good for butterflies or something. Then again, all this stuff was handmade by Gretchen, so it couldn’t be that bad. Right?

What am I doing?

The whole thing made Sofia feel a bit silly. Why was she going through all this effort for a butterfly of all things? She was being absurd. Still, that didn’t stop her.

As she stepped away from the plate, the butterfly eagerly dived down toward it. To her surprise, it alighted on the dry cookie as opposed to the sugar water the other was steeping in.

Huh. Maybe it can eat it somehow. Or maybe it’s just too dumb to realize there’s an easier food source over there.

At least it wouldn’t starve to death. Probably. If it was still there in the morning, maybe Ashley could enlist the kids’ help with getting the stubborn little thing back outside. They’d certainly proven themselves more capable of catching insects and critters than Sofia was.

She tried to lift the plate and bring it outside a few times, only for the butterfly to take off in annoyance until she set it down once more. Shaking her head, she hefted the trash bag over her shoulder. Checking to make sure she had her belongings, Sofia flicked off the lights and headed out, leaving the butterfly contentedly resting on its cookie.