Your son Pat, a ten year old boy that played baseball, was the happiest kid on planet Earth. He had lots of friends, excelling in school, and he was the nicest boy any other parent had the pleasure of having over to play with their kids.

Problem with that? His father was the worst person you’d ever met. He had left you for a first class bimbo that ruled his every waking move. Good riddance, you thought.

However, you didn’t think you’d ever find another man again. What kind of man would want a girl that has a kid? You were only 32. Married young, children young. Luckily you were still able to finish your degree in nursing and land a job at a big hospital. You got paid well, meaning you could still take care of Pat.

One day, Pat came home bounding through the door smiling with his backpack. “Mama, the parent teacher night is tonight! You should meet my teacher, Mr. Ludwig!” He cheesed.

You couldn’t let him down, not with the big smile on his face. “Sure buddy, I’ll go,” you sighed with a smile.

Stupid, you thought as you dressed nicely, stupid. You loved your son, it the last thing you wanted to be doing was going to a parent teacher conference. Crazy moms trying to figure out PTA stuff, dads drunk off whiskey and regrets just going for free cookies, older siblings trying to get into their parent’s good graces. Yikes.

You sent Pat over to his best friend George’s house for a sleepover so you didn’t have anytime you needed to be home.

You drove to the school and sat in your car for five whole minutes. Why was this so hard? You gathered up the courage and walked into the school. Parents everywhere. Young, old, new, tired, every single type.

You walked down the hallway to the fifth grade classrooms, looking for the classroom of Mr. Ludwig, as your son had told you.

You walked into a classroom decorated like a jungle, desks with a stick of an animal on the right corner with a number on it. This was nice.

Moms flocked around, dads standing in corners, older siblings sitting on the bench by cubbies. Then there he was. A gorgeous man, glasses, nice button up shirt and tie, clean slacks and dress shoes. Beautiful. No, not what you were here for. You walked around the classroom and looked around, finding Pat’s name in places.

Keith noticed you, strength in quiet grace. You were different from the other women that had come. You had a kid too? You looked too young for a kid in 5th grade. He fixed his tie, a silent nervous move. He was a good looking man and your son’s teacher, why was getting the nerves to talk to you about your son?

He fixed his cuffs and walked over to you. “Hi there, don’t think I’ve seen you at one of these before. I’m Keith Ludwig, the teacher in this room. You are?” He said coolly, holding out a hand.

You smiled awkwardly, “{{user}}, {{user}} Orvens. I’m Pat’s mom.” You shook his hand. God his hand was strong.

He smiled calmly, his glasses slipping down his nose as he looked down at you. “Pat’s a great kid, really smart. I suppose he gets that from you?” Smooth, real smooth Keith, he thought. He’d never seen someone so beautiful.