Chapter 8: Mommy Issues

A few hours later, Sofia slumped into one of the break room chairs with a sigh.

I was right. That did get out of hand.

It hadn't taken much longer before the lap-sitting situation had spiraled out of control. Half the class became far more interested in securing their own spot in the queue than anything Ashley was doing, a situation that threatened to distract the other half as well. It got bad enough that, when Ashley suddenly asked Sofia to go grab her a whiteboard and marker from the back of the room, she took the excuse to continue standing and thus render the whole matter moot.

It was a stark contrast to the general lack of interest Sofia had experienced the day before—aside from that brief episode outside, at least. But it also made clear just how much influence she wielded, whether she wanted it or not. Evidently, it was something she'd need to be far more conscious about.

Rubbing at a tight spot in her neck, Sofia stood to retrieve her lunch from the fridge—a simple ham-and-cheese sandwich and the last of the leftover beef stew she'd had the night before. The stew went into the microwave to be reheated as she looked along the rest of the counter.

Oh, hey. The toaster's back.

A quick glance at the doghouse on the floor revealed that it was, indeed, empty. Its previous occupant had retaken its rightful place on the counter at some point, though she couldn't have said exactly when. The whole situation was still a little strange to her.

She briefly considered brewing herself a cup of tea to go with lunch, but decided against it. The varieties they had were of the prepackaged variety, the kind one might buy from a convenience store. And while there was nothing explicitly wrong with that, Sofia had high standards.

My mom completely ruined me on that front. Nothing beats her special home-grown blends.

As she finished heating up the stew and settled in to eat, the door clicked open. Another one of the daycare's teachers stepped inside, one she'd seen around but never officially met.

Midnight purple hair dyed down to the roots tumbled past her narrow shoulders in silky waves. A simple shirt and tight jeans hugged her lithe form, the casual attire somewhat at odds with the clear effort that had been put into her makeup. The woman's sharp features were accentuated with purples and blacks that matched her hair, the application somehow managing to look tasteful rather than garish. Gold jewelry dangled from her ears and wrists and tinkled slightly as she closed the door behind her.

"Hello," The woman called out, her voice deep and throaty. "You must be the new girl. Sofia, right?"

"Oh! Hey," Sofia replied, a little taken aback. The woman wouldn't have looked out of place on a runway somewhere. It made her feel shabby by comparison. "That's me. And you're…?"

"Lily. It's a pleasure." Her full lips curved into a smile. "Mind if I join you?"

Sofia gestured to the seat across from her. "Of course not! Feel free."

Lily let out a chuckle. "Don't feel obligated. I'm sure you've had more than your fill of conversation already with the little ones."

"Yeah… I wouldn't exactly call that 'conversation,' though. It's… more like an extended Q&A session."

Lily shook her head with amusement. Her hips swayed slightly as she walked toward the fridge, quickly retrieving what appeared to be a small container of Chinese takeout and sitting down across from Sofia. She didn't bother to reheat it, Sofia noted.

"So… how are you liking it here so far?" Lily asked. She produced a pair of chopsticks and popped a piece of what appeared to be orange chicken in her mouth.

Sofia scratched her cheek. "It's certainly… challenging. Interesting, too, so far."

"Hah," Lily snorted. "Not so easy as it sounds, is it?"

"...No," Sofia admitted. "It's not. Not that I thought it would be easy or anything. I've never really worked with kids before, so I knew there would be a bit of a learning curve."

The other woman nodded. "You're not the only one. People think that working with kids is all sunshine and rainbows. At least, until you get to the diapers and the biting and the snot. Then they change their tune real quick."

Soofia winced. That was a more accurate assessment than she wanted to admit. Of course, her class didn't have a problem with biting so far, and most of them were potty trained. But not all of them.

"Still," Lily shrugged. "I wouldn't give it up for anything."

"You really love this job, huh?"

"Of course. I've been doing it for three years and have no plans to stop until they make me."

That was a little surprising. From her perspective, Lily seemed entirely out of place here. She looked like she belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine, not in a daycare. The idea that she was treating this as a career instead of an in-between opportunity… Surely she had better options?

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"What made you want to work here?" Sofia asked, genuinely curious

The purple-haired woman shrugged. "Oh, you know. Unfulfilled maternal instincts. Same as pretty much everyone else here, really."

Sofia blinked. That certainly caught her attention. "What do you mean?"

Lily gave her a long look. "What do you mean?"

Sofia's brow just furrowed in confusion. She was missing something, here. She could obviously guess at what the woman meant, but…

At her blank look, Lily's expression softened. "Huh. Do you really not know?"

"I'm… no?" Sofia asked with bewilderment. "I don't think I even know what I don't know."

"Hmm." Lily rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "In that case…"

She gestured in a vague circle with her chopsticks. "Women like us? We all have something in common, despite how different we may seem. Having kids is… difficult for us. Some more than others. But for most, working here's as close as we'll get to having kids of our own for a long time—maybe ever."

Sofia's mouth dropped open. She stared at Lily, processing her words.

That's… wow. Is that really true?

"Wow, you really didn't know," the woman cocked her head curiously. "I'm surprised."

How was I supposed to know that?!

Sofia wanted to cry out in protest, but kept her mouth shut. Lily was acting like this was normal, as though she was the weird one for not knowing. But this wasn't something that had ever come up during her interview with Ginger—she certainly would have remembered.

That's so weird, though… is it a coincidence? Does Ginger specifically hire women with fertility issues for some weird reason? Even if she could, which would be wild, is that even legal? Or can't they adopt?

A dozen other questions danced on the tip of her tongue, but Sofia pushed them down. Despite Lily's cavalier attitude, there was a tinge of sadness in the woman's eyes that made her certain that this was a touchy subject, even for her. Better to leave it be for the moment.

Sofia realized that she was still gaping in a manner that had probably begun to seem incredibly rude. Snapping her jaw back shut, Sofia raised her hands placatingly. "Sorry! I… I didn't know! I didn't mean to pry."

Lily chuckled. "You weren't prying at all. I'm the one who offered to explain."

"But still, I'm the one who brought it up—"

The woman waved off her concern. "Don't worry about it. But, well, now you know. Hopefully this awkward conversations saves you from some other ones down the line."

Sofia nodded vigorously. It certainly would. Otherwise, she was sure that she would have asked at least one of the other teachers whether they had kids.

"I'm… sorry, by the way." She tried to offer her condolences.

Lily shrugged. "Meh. Not much I can do about it. I came to terms with my lot a long time ago. But that's why I'm so glad this place exists. This way, I get to take care of so many kids. Although, it does make me curious about you. What made you want t o work here? Seems like a strange choice of job if you aren't super into kids."

"Yeah… I know." Sofia admitted, a little reluctantly. She didn't really want to tell the woman that she was here because she had no other options. "I just wanted to try it out."

The pair sat in silence for a long moment, eating their respective lunches. The bombshell had left behind a cloud of practically radioactive awkwardness in the air, one that Sofia wasn't entirely certain how to dispel. But given that she still had the majority of her hour-long lunch remaining, she wanted to try.

"So, uh…" She rooted around for a different topic. "What class do you teach?"

"Me? I'm the Hatchlings teacher—twelve to eighteen months," Lily clarified, brightening. "It's my favorite age group. The way they bumble about when they're just learning how to walk, those cute little chubby faces… I can't get enough of it."

Warmth suffused her expression as she spoke, her affection leaking through as clear as day. Sofia couldn't help but smile a bit. It seemed that they really had found the right woman for the job.

"What about you? You're in Dragonlings with Ashley, right? How are you handling it?"

Sofia gave a small shrug and an embarrassed smile. "It's… a lot."

Lily popped another piece of chicken into her mouth. "Mmm. Feeling overwhelmed yet?"

"A little?" Sofia admitted, shifting uncomfortably. "Not too bad. But between watching the kids, keeping track of the schedules, logging the meals… it's just a lot of new stuff to keep track of."

"Yeah, I get it." The purple-haired woman nodded sagely. "Don't worry too much, though. It's your second day, you'll figure it out."

"Oh, I'm sure. But I still don't want to be three weeks in and still 'figuring it out' either, you know?"

"Meh. You worry too much." Lily shook her head. "Here, I'll give you the same advice that I got when I started."

Her chopsticks swiveled to point at Sofia. "The paperwork and schedules and bureaucracy? That's all important, but it's not the most important. As long as you loved those kids that day, you did your job. The rest of it… that comes after."

Sofia considered that. She had a point. Ashley was there to help her out and make sure that all of their t's were crossed and i's dotted, especially right now. So maybe she should spend more of her focus on her interactions with the kids?

I kind of am, though. That's why I'm trying to learn from Ashley as much as I can. But I can probably do a better job of prioritizing that. Maybe it'll help me avoid feeling overwhelmed, too.

The pair spent the rest of their lunch chatting about more casual topics. It gave Sofia a little more insight into the other woman's background. Evidently, she'd moved to the town of Mistlewood about a decade ago. Though she didn't have any family in the area, she "liked the culture and the people". She also had quite a soft spot for mystery novels.

Eventually, Sofia stood with a sigh. "I need to get back to work. It was nice chatting with you, though.

"Likewise," Lily said, the empty takeout container sitting by her elbow. "Have fun in there. Hopefully they don't give you too hard of a time."

Sofia chuckled. "Yeah… hopefully."

I think I've got a lot more to learn before that happens.