Elijah heard them before he saw them.  A few gaping stares from those around him confirmed that he wasn’t the only one who’d taken note of the commotion.  One glance their way was all he needed, unlike some of the other nosey busybodies, who kept gawking.  Maybe they were eagerly waiting for some “disciplinary action” from the mother.  On second thought, make that two glances.  The stricken mother’s vibrant red hair earned her a second look.<br/><br/>It was disconcerting to him why some people chose to continually watch the drama unfold.  Clearly, the woman was losing her battle to extract her son from the car.  Public displays of disobedience happened to all parents eventually.  That naturally came with the territory of parenthood.  Elijah failed to fathom what made her episode so riveting that enough eyes were still locked onto them.  Well, he wasn’t about to join that flock of sheep.<br/><br/>He concentrated on his daughter instead and seeing her to the correct classroom.  Elijah grudgingly had to admit, however, that the little boy possessed a bark unequal to his size.  This reminded him of,<i>It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.  </i>Wondering if there was a father at home, he wagered a guess that there was not.  And right there he stopped himself, already aware that he was heading down the path of judgment.  It wasn’t for him to judge her, just as he’d be resentful of anyone judging him and Rosalie.  Single parents always seemed to be maligned anyway.  It was just the reasons that varied and were so easily swappable.<br/><br/>Although he didn’t know either the boy or his mother, it annoyed him nonetheless at some of the comments he’d heard.  Interestingly enough, all of the negative commentary came from women.  They were more than likely the types who knew, just knew, that they could do loads better than the fire-haired woman.  Which he considered complete bullshit.  Her son might just be having one royally bad day.  It was, after all, the first day of school.  I’d be pissed, too, he thought with a smirk, especially knowing summer vacation was now a thing of the past.<br/><br/>The young woman who’d escorted a few of the parents to their children’s classrooms was friendly enough, though it was clear that she wouldn’t be Rosalie’s teacher.  Elijah met her soon enough upon entrance to her classroom.  After quickly introducing himself, he hugged and kissed his daughter.  “You have a good day now, Rose,” he stated.  “I’ll see you this afternoon.”<br/><br/>“G’bye, Daddy,” she replied, returning his hug as tightly as she could muster.  Rosalie was already scoping out her classmates.  Shaking his head, he smiled and thought, that’s my girl.  As he approached the classroom’s door, Mrs. Giroux proceeded to begin the assignment of seats and desks, though not all of the children were present just yet.<br/><br/>The woman with flame-colored hair was sans her demon spawn, which was a huge relief to Elijah, if for no one’s sake but hers alone.  He just caught a glimpse of her son holding the hand of another woman.  There wasn’t a solitary peep coming from the once boisterous little boy.  Glancing at his surroundings, he took mental images of where he needed to be and go in order to pick up Rosalie this afternoon, and every day for that matter.<br/><br/>With his attention elsewhere, there was no way to avoid the impending body slam.  It was the same woman who’d already experienced a shitty morning in front of more than enough strangers, thanks to her stubborn son.  Unluckily for her, she just bounced off of Elijah while he barely moved, landing on her derriere.  Her expression, other than that of surprise, could’ve changed to either anger or tears.  However, neither would do for her, as she said, "Of course, where else would this morning end?  Sitting on my ass in a playground."<br/><br/>Although what she’d said was extremely funny to him, especially under the given circumstances, Elijah was careful not to laugh out loud.  She could, and probably would, misinterpret his amusement as laughing at her, which was quite far from the truth.  In such close quarters, even though she was still on the ground, he saw something he never did while she struggled with her boy at her car: her bright green eyes.<br/><br/>Without waiting for any kind of approval or an offered hand, Elijah gently clasped both of her hands in his and slowly raised her from her undignified seat.  “Uh, sorry about that,” he apologized, while she brushed herself off.  “Didn’t see you coming.”  Right hand extended in greeting, he stated, “I’m Elijah, um, Elijah Primeau.  My daughter’s Rosalie and today is her very first day of kindergarten.”  He smiled at her, hoping her day was improving somewhat.