Chapter 24
The visual that greeted Jessica at kinder would be best described as a giant sitting on a basketball.
Wearing the dentist version of scrubs. On closer inspection, Teddy’s top was more like what chemists sometimes wore.
With a short neckline that wasn’t a proper collar, angled buttons and his name stitched on top of his heart.
The poor guy looked utterly ridiculous on a kids’ chair.
And, also, ridiculously hot.
Jessica stifled a giggle, slipping further into the back of the kinder’s main room, hiding partially behind one of the waist-height bookshelves that divided the big mat from the art area.
One of Teddy’s hands was covered in a rubber tooth-shaped puppet (complete with cartoon eyes and a mouth), and the other held a jumbo-sized toothbrush.
On the table next to him was an assortment of condiments: tomato sauce, mustard, something green, and a bowl of water with a few cloths.
The kinder kids sat in front of him, entranced by the silly voices he was putting on as he performed a skit about why brushing their teeth was important.
“But I don’t want to!” the tooth said, in a whiny voice so reminiscent of a tired child that Jessica had to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing out loud.
“Who can tell me why it’s important to clean your teeth?” Teddy asked, and several hands flew into the air. Sam’s wasn’t one of them. He was sitting on the edge of the group, hands tucked under his knees.
Teddy pointed at one of the girls, and she wiggled up to her knees. “Because otherwise your teeth will fall out and never grow back!”
Jessica was struck with the urge to kiss Teddy’s bemused smile right off his face.
“It’s because we don’t want to get cavities. Who knows what a cavity is?”
He pointed at a boy sitting near the back, clutching a floppy sock monkey. “It’s when food eats your teeth! Nom, nom, nom.”
Several children gasped.
“It’s not quite like that,” Teddy said. “But food can damage your teeth, especially sugary stuff. This is where cleaning our teeth properly comes into play. But”—he leant forward and so did the kids—“it can be boring, right?”
“So boring!” someone called from the middle of the group.
“That’s why I’m here today. To make brushing your teeth fun, but I’m going to need a volunteer.”
The sea of hands reappeared. Jessica watched as Teddy’s gaze shifted over to where Sam was sitting.
“Sam!” Teddy said. “Come on up, champ.”
Sam picked his way around the rest of the children until he was next to Teddy. Teddy said something quietly to Sam, and her son nodded, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth.
“Okay,” Teddy addressed the rest of the group again. “Sam, pick one of the sauces, please.”
Sam wrapped his hands around the tomato sauce.
“Great choice. Who likes tomato sauce?” Teddy said, and a chorus of ‘me’s!’ rang out. “It’s so good with chicken nuggets, right?”
Sam whispered something in Teddy’s ear. Jessica’s chest clenched when Teddy gasped exaggeratedly and ruffled Sam’s hair.
“Guys, guys,” Teddy said. “My good mate Sam”—her heart squeezed as her son beamed—“tells me you can get dinosaur-shaped nuggets. Did you know about these?”
Giggles and shrieks of “yes!” filled the room.
God, Teddy was such a natural with the kids.
Jessica hoped he had children one day—if that was what he wanted.
He’d be such a good father. She pushed away the unpleasant ache that appeared at the thought of Teddy having children with someone else.
This crush of hers was becoming increasingly inconvenient with each day.
“Alright, bud”—Teddy gestured for Sam to bring the tomato sauce bottle closer—“squirt a bit on the tooth for me, please.”
Sam’s tongue poked out as he concentrated. The tomato sauce bottle made a loud, rude noise.
Giggles filled the kinder again.
“Excuse you, tomato sauce,” Teddy cried, a comically shocked expression on his handsome face.
He tilted the rubber puppet forward so everyone could see the blob of sauce on the crown of the tooth before guiding Sam behind the small table with the big bowl of water on it. Teddy knelt next to Sam.
“Alright, now we’re going to put some toothpaste on the big brush.” Teddy used his elbow to nudge a large green tube towards Sam, who did as requested.
“I’ll hold the tooth over the water, and you’re going to brush it. Make sure you do the top, the front and the back.”
Sam’s tongue reappeared.
“Brushing your teeth is like taking them through a car wash,” Teddy said. “Who’s been through the carwash?”
Several hands flew into the air.
“It’s fun, isn’t it?” Teddy’s smile and cheerful tone drew the kids in.
“So, our teeth are like the cars. And our toothbrushes and toothpaste are our cleaning tools.”
Bubbles were dripping down the rubber puppet as Sam scrubbed at it with the toothbrush.
“All done?” Teddy asked.
“Think so.” Sam giggled.
“Let’s give it a rinse and see!” Teddy lowered the puppet into the bowl of water. Several kids rose to their knees to watch.
“Look how clean this is now,” Teddy said, lifting the dripping puppet back up. “Wow, Sam. You did the best job.”
Sam smiled his biggest grin and clapped his hands together.
Getting emotional over a tooth-brushing demonstration hadn’t been on Jessica’s bingo card for today. She also wasn’t supposed to be imagining a future she couldn’t have.
Teddy looked up and their gazes met.
He mouthed Hi, Starshine at her, and she couldn’t help it. Jessica grinned her biggest grin.
It shouldn’t have kept surprising Jessica that Teddy was good with kids.
She knew this. Hell, everyone in Wattle Junction knew this.
But seeing him in a group setting in Sam’s world? The way he held their attention and listened to their questions? The way he encouraged the quieter members of the kinder to give things a go? How he made sure Sam was included?
It was doing dangerous things to her insides.
Warm, squishy things that made her ache in places that were getting harder to ignore.
“Mummy!” Sam called when he saw her. He wiggled on his bottom, legs still crossed in front of him, his big grin still stretched across his cheeks. “Did you see? I cleaned the tooth!”
Jessica nodded. Miss Molly gestured for her to come forward and join them on the mat if she wanted to, so she moved forward.
Tucking herself behind Sam, she relished the way he scooted into her lap immediately.
Every time he did this, Jessica noticed how much bigger he was getting.
How he was moving from a small child to an almost school kid.
It still hurt that he wouldn’t be going to school with most of these kids next year, but she knew it was the right decision.
He’d have to get used to a whole new class of children. But hopefully he’d make some friends.
If we’re still here in Wattle Junction.
His little hand tapped her on the cheek, and Jessica looked down.
“I like Teddy,” he said.
“Me, too.”
“While I have your attention,” Teddy said, and Jessica’s eyes snapped forward. “I wanted to tell you about my sports class.”
Sam sat up a little straighter in her lap.
“It’s every Wednesday afternoon at the oval near Kathleen’s Place.”
Sam’s smile at the mention of their former home triggered more complex emotions. She loved that he had fond memories of their time there. But knowing how dependent they’d been on the kindness and generosity of others would always be hard for Jessica.
Sam tugged on her sleeve. “Mummy, can we go?”
“To sports class?” she whispered.
“Yeah.” He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, and a few of his baby teeth appeared. He had the same gap between the top two that was in all her childhood photos. Not that there were many photos. Her mother had never cared about that sort of thing.
Jessica checked her watch. “Sure, we can go today.”
Sam clapped his hands together, his excited wiggle back. Jessica was relaxing against the wall when Sam’s hand shot into the air.
“Yes, Sammy?” Teddy asked.
“I’m coming to sports class!”
Teddy’s smile was immediate. “I’m so glad.”
“So’s Mummy!”
Teddy swept the strands that had escaped his man bun off his face and smiled.
“I’m happy to hear that.”
Then he did something even better than his confident wink: he blushed.
And so did Jessica.