Chapter 35 - The Parent-Teacher Conference
The first parent-teacher conference of the year was scheduled for a Tuesday evening.
Alex met us at the classroom door. He wore a suit, having come straight from his corporate office. Mark wore jeans and a sweater.
The teacher, a young, enthusiastic woman named Ms. Davis, looked momentarily confused when the three of us squeezed into the tiny kindergarten chairs across from her desk.
"Oh," Ms. Davis blinked. "I'm sorry, I was only expecting Clara's parents."
"We are Clara's parents," I said calmly. "This is Alex, her father. And this is Mark, my partner. We’re all invested in her education."
Alex shifted slightly in his chair, but he nodded. "We co-parent. Whatever you have to say, we all need to hear it."
Ms. Davis quickly recovered, pulling out Clara's portfolio.
"Well, Clara is a delight. She’s incredibly empathetic," the teacher smiled. "She always notices when another child is feeling left out. However, she does have moments where she seems highly anxious about the structural integrity of her environment. Yesterday, she asked me to assure her that the ceiling wouldn't fall down during a thunderstorm."
I felt a cold knife twist in my gut.
Alex dropped his gaze to the floor, his jaw clenching. He hadn't been in the tunnel, but the guilt of his absence that day still haunted him.
"We survived a structural collapse when she was a baby," I explained quietly, my voice steady. "It’s a fear we are actively working through."
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Mark reached under the table, resting his hand on my knee.
"She's strong," Mark said to the teacher. "She just likes to know the exits."
