"Es good," he stated confidently.
"Well," Esmeralda agreed without missing a beat. "Es is something all right."
Unexpectedly, Brianna turned to Charisma. "You mentioned the other day that Adam was in school," waiting for Charisma to nod. "He seems a little young for that," she commented, hoping Charisma wouldn't perceive it to be an accusation but an interested inquiry instead.
"He is, a little - at least for regular school. It is more than daycare and less than school. But the people who oversee the kids are certified teachers, so we call it school. He enjoys it and he's learning a lot - he'll be more than ready for school when it's time for him to go off to kindergarten."
"Is that a good thing?" Ruby asked, eyes widening when Charisma turned burning blue eyes in her direction. "Wait - I don't mean the being ready for kindergarten part. I think all children should know their letters and numbers and colors - you know... the basic stuff. But is it really fair to a child to make them start learning math and science and reading when they're so young? Is it so wrong to let them simply be kids?"
"I don't think it's wrong," Charisma replied softly. "I just think it's impossible."
"I don't understand," Saphira stated. "If it's not wrong for a kid to be a kid, why is it impossible?"
Charisma sighed. Though she'd had no clear course of action in mind when she'd decided to try this today, she certainly had never expected Adam to be the main topic of conversation. On the other hand, his presence had managed to break the ice in more ways than one. And in fairness, she understood that it was curiosity and not condemnation that drove the current line of questioning.
But before she could speak, Brianna presented a response. "From my observations, it's impossible because society had declared it to be. These days, your kid has to be faster, better, brighter and as a parent, you're required to do whatever you have to in order to have your child seen as such. No one wants an average child - everyone wants them to be exceptional."
"Well that seems somewhat unrealistic," Ruby commented with a frown. "If there's no average, how can you tell who's exceptional?"
"It's assumed," Charisma's disdain could be clearly heard in her tone, "that breeding will eventually out and their natural genius will assert itself as the child grows into school. But it's an accepted fact that without an early start, a child will never blossom into brilliance."
Ruby snorted. "That has got to be the stupidest idea I have ever heard."
"It is, really," Charisma agreed. "But it is also the way of things."
"And it didn't occur to you to try and change it?" Brianna asked, a hint of challenge in her tone. Charisma gave her a sharp look, then took a deep breath to keep from replying in the same manner.
"If I had been able to figure out a way without messing up his chances down the road perhaps." She looked around at the table. "It's not as bad as it sounds - the school Adam is in isn't so strictly structured that he isn't allowed to be a child at all during the day. It's one of the reasons Kent and I decided to send him there as opposed to any number of schools for young children that function strictly to teach. And it allows him time to play and be with children his own age."
"He doesn't get that interaction any other way?" Esmeralda asked, even though she knew the answer.
"Not as often as I'd like," Charisma replied while watching Adam eat. "My family... my parents and brothers... all live in the same part of my home state. And since they're there and we're here...."
"That must be hard," Brianna said softly. Charisma cut her eyes over and raised a brow in question. Brianna just shrugged. "I just remember going to visit and the fun we had. If I miss it, having had it for only the four years we were in college together, I can't imagine how you must feel."
This time Charisma turned and met Brianna's eyes with her own, and she held them for the longest time, searching. Brianna never flinched or backed away and finally Charisma dialed down the intensity of her gaze. She shrugged.
"It is hard sometimes," looking around at the rest of the table. "Are any of you from a large family?" watching Esmeralda, Saphira and Ruby all nod. Charisma chuckled. "Then you'll understand what I mean." She turned back to Brianna. "I do miss it... and them, but at the same time, sometimes I'm glad to be far enough away that they can't just stop by on a whim," seeing Brianna's eyebrow go up in query. "C'mon, Bri... don't you remember the times we had to duck out on the boys to keep them from driving us crazy?"
Before Brianna recovered from her surprise at the familiarity of Charisma's address, Adam decided it was time for his presence to be acknowledged again.
"Mama!!" grinning through the food that covered his face. Every head swiveled in his direction and Saphira laughed out loud at the sight.
"My word, boy - are you somewhere under all of that?" Adam laughed and made as if to jump down from his chair, only to find himself caught and held by Brianna's hand. "Br'anna!!" he complained, twisting to see if he could find what was holding him in place. Before he could complain any more, Charisma and Saphira both stood.
"If you could just point me to the bathroom...." walking around the table intending to remove him from the chair. She idly noted that Brianna's grip didn't loosen despite Adam's best efforts. Saphira reached for him and he lunged when Brianna let go of him at Saphira's nod.
"If you'll trust me, I'll clean him up."
"Are you sure?" Charisma asked. "He can be a handful."
"More than Es is?" blue eyes twinkling. And though she knew what Saphira was doing, Esmeralda couldn't let the remark pass unchallenged.
"I know where you live, warrior, and you have to sleep sometime," seeing Saphira's eyes widen in response. "Don't think I don't know this is just a ploy to get you out of dish duty."
Saphira tried to protest, but could only sputter incoherently as laughter rippled around the table. Even Adam, who had no idea what the joke was, laughed uproariously. When things calmed marginally, Charisma held up her hand.
"If you really want to try and clean him up, I have another outfit in his bag in the closet." She looked around the table at the rest of the women. "Lesson learned the hard way. It might be easier than trying to get all the food out of what he's wearing now."
Saphira nodded. "That'd be fine, Charisma." She looked at Adam. "C'mon, buddy - what say you and I go get clean and then we can go play."
Adam threw his arms around her neck. "Go, Horsie!!" he cheered, causing more laughter. Saphira took it in stride and galloped off towards the bathroom. An awkward silence settled in the room, and Esmeralda felt compelled to break it.
"Well, since our chief bottle washer has managed to skip out on her duty for the moment, I'm thinking maybe we should adjourn back to the living room and leave this for later," glancing around at the untidy kitchen. Brianna and Charisma traded looks and then shook their heads in tandem.
"Mama would kill us," Brianna murmured. Charisma nodded her agreement.
"No kidding - and she can find us," smiling when Brianna snorted. Esmeralda crossed her arms and tilted her head in question.
"What are you two muttering about?"
"You remember the mama thing we were talking about earlier?" waiting for Esmeralda to nod her head. "If we leave the kitchen looking like this, *her* mama will find us and do something drastic to all of us. And she CAN find us, you know."
"How would she know?" Ruby asked. "It's not like she's here and none of us are going to tell her."
Brianna and Charisma both snorted. "You don't know my mama," Charisma volunteered after a moment's hesitation and Brianna nodded her agreement vigorously. Ruby and Esmeralda exchanged looks, then shrugged.